Reviews
Indian: From all purity
12/03/14 || Dinu
Indian is a four-man doom metal band from Chicago, IL and they have been active since 2003. They have released four full-length albums and one EP. “From all purity” is their new full-length and the six tracks on this album are a welcome reminder of all that is good about Indian. Top-heavy doom and harsh noise reverberate all over this album and Ron DeFries bass rumbles and grumbles its way through some thunderous drumming by Bill Bumgardner. Dylan O’Toole and Will Lindsay, who previously played second fiddle on most of the Indian records emerge full-fledged on this one and the album has a solid well-written high tempo feel.
“Rape”, the album opener runs for eight minutes and is full of manic energy. There are plenty of guitar tones abound and the riffs are wide and thick. “The Impetus Bleeds” follows “Rape” and this is a disturbing seven minutes filled with a paranoid screech lurking beneath all the layers of Ron DeFries immense riffs. “Directional”, the third track is all low-key and the harmonic chords intersect with a chatter of bass riffs. The lead and the rhythm section build up a lot of momentum on this one and overall this song made me feel as though these boys packed in a lot of stuff and succeeded at making it sound good within the six minute frame.
“The Rhetoric of No” packs a wallop and has some dramatic chord sequences and the drums on this track are killer. The song threatens to leap out of its frame and has some impressive doomy riffs in the middle. This was the standout track on this album for yours truly. “Clarify” is the fifth and penultimate track and has enormous growls interspersed with pure noise that chokes on itself and struggles to reach its end. “Disambiguation” is the final track and creates a musical blizzard. This finisher has everything going for it. Thick riffs, distortions, thunderous drums, cool time-signatures that are impossible to detect and become obvious only after the tenth-listen, growls, tight chord sequences and an endless sense of despair running throughout.
Those who have heard the previous Indian albums might complain that its not all that different from their 2005 effort “The Unquiet Sky”. Mark Solotroff of Bloodlust! is a welcome change to the quartet and his presence is noticeable on “Clarify”. Indian have notched up their production quality on this album and every song seems polished and they have not taken a single misstep on any of the songs. Predictable fare done exceedingly well! sign me up for more!

- Information
- Released: 2014
- Label: Relapse Records
- Website: Indian BandCamp
- Band
- Ron deFries: bass
- Bill Bumgardner: drums
- Dylan O’Toole: guitars, vocals
- Will Lindsay: guitars, vocals
- Mark Solotroff: electronica
- Tracklist
- 01. Rape
- 02. The Impetus Bleeds
- 03. Directional
- 04. Rhetoric of No
- 05. Clarify
- 06. Disambiguation
