Band:	Nibiru
Album:	Salbrox
Style:	Drone, Psychedelic sludge metal
Release date:	May 2019

01. ENHB
02. EXARP
03. HCOMA
04. NANTA
05. ABALPT
06. BITOM
07. RZIONR

I don't think it's controversial to say that Nibiru's sludgy spoken word drone noise thing isn't really everyone's cup of tea. But it sure as hell is mine.

Let me just say that I'm not that familiar with Nibiru's back catalog. I listened to Qaal Babalon when it was nominated in 2016 and I read that interview that Apothecary did with them. So this review might appeal more to folks who are also not familiar with the band as opposed to long time fans. But seeing their promo and being loosely familiar was enough for me to want to give this a shot.

Just so you know what to expect: Salbrox is a long album with long songs and it focuses on atmosphere. And generally the atmospheres are quite psychedelic, ritualistic and oppressive. if you like stuff like Dark Buddha Rising and Horseback, it's somewhat similar. And while a lot of the heavier moments are rooted in sludge metal, this is not a sludge album, or a post-metal album or whatever. There's way more ritual ambient and drone and noise than there's pedal to the metal riffs in here. But whatever metal there is, it's an amalgamation of doom, sludge, black and whatever feels most oppressive.

The whole of the album feels very intimidating and crushing in its sound, even in its less heavy moments. There's a constant uneasiness and pulsating dread of death. Hypnotic and trance-like as well as chaotic and experimental, Salbrox ticks a lot of boxes for being very unapproachable. It's unlikely that people here would be put off by noisy and heavy music, but rather by formless and droning music that could feel either boring or just off. So there needs to be some entrancing in order for the album to feel as engaging as it should feel.

As it falls in the "acquired taste" side of things, I'm not gonna judge anyone for not having Nibiru as their cup of tea. But if one lets this music hypnotize them, there's a lot to feel from this trance. Or at least to appreciate Nibiru for having more dynamics than Sunn O))).