Atomic Simao - Nodo (2014) review

Atomic Simao - Nodo (Cosmic Eye Records, 2014)

Listen: https://atomicsimao.bandcamp.com/album/n-do

Another excellent Cosmic Eye release, Atomic Simao's "Nodo" lifts off into space in the smoke-filled jam of the orgasmic 10-minute opener "Voodoo Chilum". Wah-wah pedals and delay effects, intense drumming and trippy guitars drive along an invisible, bluesy, mind-altering highway to the stars. The ride is neither slow nor fast, allowing the passenger to observe the sonic landscape in all its grandeur at ease. The second and final track of the first side of this splendid vinyl version ("Stoned And Spontaneous") slows down the ride after the preceding heavenly intercourse of the first track, for the listener to get off and take another seat above a stagnant lake of colours, only to find themselves observing a giant whirlpool in the middle that merges myriads of colour shades into shimmering sonic subtleties. This tripped-out stoner ambience frequently interrupted by sudden, funky accelerations of wavy loops via noisy breaks only to hurriedly return to its initial speed is similar to the 18-minute "Asteroid Masterpeace" found in the download-only version of the album. 

The similarly -only more guitar-meandering- interwoven sounds of "Do What You Do" that open side B are followed by what could be fireworks popping up in darkened skies, continuous explosions of anti-climactic relaxedness like rhythmic, semi-melodious ejaculations of scattered notes. "Beauty Does Not Belong To Anything" doesn't sound like a proper song title, I'd rather change it to "Beauty Belongs to Everyone" should the band allow me to, since the spacious psychedelic beauty of this sound should be allowed to become anyone's mistress in case of interest. The hollow ambience of "Dancing Emptiness" that sums up this accomplished debut visits the pre-prog Floydian era in a stately stoned-out manner, the spaceship returning to launch station after a long absence.

Atomic Simao were formed in Kiev, Ukraine three years ago and jumped onto the thriving contemporary space-rock train equaling the best instrumental bands of the genre, a band exploring the unlimited possibilities of percussion-led/guitar-dominated/bass-driven/keyboard-surrounded head music. Listen to Nodo with headphones on, eyes closed and a mind open to any changes the universe might bring to your listening perception.

Review by Spyros Hytiris/2016

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