Search - Bardo Pond :: Bufo Alvarius

Whoa!!! Shouted the Universe after the Big Bang was Over

greymouser | Tartaros | 06/01/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The intuitive shamans of mellifluous chaos and incorporeal turbulent travelogues open the gates and the Cosmos becomes a wonderful mess. Like doing peyote under an electric storm while a saguaro cactus performs acupuncture on the battered remains of your medulla oblongata, after the merciless, ultra-distorted geetar excursions of the Gibbon brothers move on over your unsuspecting perceptive system like a friendly hurricane across the Bermuda Triangle. Meanwhile, a pack of wild chihuahuas stomps all over your ego at the arrhythmic and ponderous pace set somnambulisticly by Joe Culver, as Isobel Sollenberger mumbles cryptic incantations in what English would sound like if frozen at absolute zero and placed under the Iguazú cataracts for safekeeping. And it's all washed in a golden halo of fuzz. An electrocuted nirvana."

Psychedelic Knights!

12/10/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I won't even try to match Greymouser's cryptic, yet, colourful review of "Bufo Alvarius" (see below!). However, as a collector of psychedelic music, I will say that very few bands are able to create the sonic sound sculptures that Bardo Pond aim for and successfully produce. Reaching somewhere near Venus, these guys (and one chick!), are able to make space with their instruments. Yes, the lyrics are mostly inaudible, but Isobel's voice is just one more tool used to create the final piece. Fine Art never sounded so good! For the un-initiated, the Pond are dense, thick slabs of swirling, regurgitated fuzz and distortion rolled up with a fat, chunky rhythm section and a faintly heard vocalist. Surprisingly enough, there is a melody underneath it all, however, the layers are so thick your brain can barely register it all. Think My Bloody Valentine/Sonic Youth/ and throw in some super underground 60's psych (i.e The 13th Floor Elevators) and you are getting somewhere near their toxic brew. Superb stuff and highly addictive once tried!"

Noise party

Nuno Leal Da Silva | Lisboa, Portugal | 09/21/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you ever listen to this record, prepare yourself to dive into a big sonic tunnel where light is always some more miles ahead. Guitars over guitars, almost sludge noise that oils our thoughts. Imagine Galaxy 500 on highly psychedelic drugs. Verrry good indeed!"