SBRODJ

3.5

First, let me clarify (since no one else has) that Karaboudjan is more or less a joke band, inspired by the Belgian comic Tintin. "Karaboudjan" is the name of a ship, "Plan 714 Til Sydney" means "Flight 714 to Sydney" and is one of the Tintin comics, as are "Den Svarta Ön" (The Black Island) and "Den Mystiska Stjärnan" (The Mysterious Star).

That being said, the music is quite good, which is what one would expect from Swanö, and very eccentric (track 2 features steel drums and a crazy Zorn-worthy saxophone-drum-guitar solo section, preceded by a doom/sludge/whatever segment) Track 3 is however very chaotic and I find bits of it difficult to listen to even on a good day.

A good EP, though perhaps not worth the import price.

"Sbrodj" is the debut EP release by Swedish experimental/avant garde metal act Karaboudjan. It´s a three track EP released in 2001 with a total playing time of 18:59 minutes. Karaboudjan is yet another project by prolific Swedish musician and producer Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity, Nightingale, Unicorn, Bloodbath, Pan.Thy.Monium...etc.).

The music on "Sbrodj" is unmistakably the sound of Dan Swanö but it´s definitely one of his more eccentric projects (Read: Weird). The three tracks "Plan 714 Till Sydney (Flight 714 to Sydney)", "Den Svarta Ön (The Black Island)" and "Den Mystiska Stjärnan (The Mysterious Star)" which all share translated Swedish titles with three Tintin comics by the famous Belgian comic book artist Hergé (the name Karaboudjan is the name of a ship in the Tintin comic with the original name "Le Crabe aux pinces d'or"), are all more or less melodic avant garde metal/ rock. Even though there are no death metal riffing or growling vocals on "Sbrodj" it´s still Pan.Thy.Monium that the music on this EP reminds me the most about. The sudden outburst of saxophone in "Den Svarta Ön" is a quite obvious reference but the overall avant garde/experimental approach to music is also something Karaboudjan have in common with Pan.Thy.Monium. Besides some really melodic and memorable synth lines in the songs that at times remind me of Nightingale there is one dominant feature that is present throughout the album and that´s the distinct fuzzy sounding distorted bass (it might be guitar but it sounds like bass to me). There are no vocals on the album but there are some samples from the Swedish translation of the Tintin movies that appear a couple of times. The unconventional song structures need a mention too. This is not your regular vers/chorus structured songs but rather an innovative and unusual approach to songwriting. It doesn´t always seem cohesive but it´s certainly interesting. There is one flaw on the album that I have to mention and that´s the last couple of minutes of "Den Mystiska Stjärnan" which to my ears are just senseless noise. It´s plain annoying and makes me wonder why?

The production is a treat. A well produced EP this one.

I suspect that the "Sbrodj" EP by Karaboudjan is a one-shot project by Dan Swanö since there hasn´t been a sound from the act since 2001. That might turn out to be the right decision by Dan Swanö because as interesting this EP is, I´m not completely sure that I would enjoy a full-length album in this style as much as I enjoy "Sbrodj". This is an interesting and unique experiment though and I´m sure fans of Dan Swanö will find it an interesting listen. A 3.5 star rating is deserved.

This EP was a one-off project for Edge Of Sanity member Dan Swano. As far as I know, this is the only thing he has been involved with that I have heard yet. What got me interested in hearing this was the song "Den Svarta On"(which can be streamed here on PA). That song blew me away. Just incredible. All three tracks are great avant-metal. The whole thing is based on the Belgian comic Tintin, of which I know nothing. In fact, the fact that I don't understand anything being said only makes me enjoy the music more. Love the use of synths here. Since I haven't heard anything else Mr. Swano has done, I can't compare this to anything else.

"Plan 714 Till Sydney" is probably the most 'normal' song here. Nice mix of riffs and synths. This track gets more interesting as it goes along. Only gets weird at the end with the saxophone and spoken voice. "Den Svarta On" is the highlight. Excellent song. There's so much going on, it changes a lot and never gets boring. Love the riffs and the synth parts. More vocal samples here than on the other two songs. Great melodic synth playing at times. Nice use of percussion in this song. After a brief noisy and cacophonous section, you hear steel drums playing a melody. Then the guitars and drums play over top of it with an awesome guitar solo. Later some funky clavinet gets joined by drums and distorted guitars. Trippy synth sounds as well. An earlier synth melody gets reprised at the end.

"Den Mystika Stjarnan" starts with someone talking in Swedish (I'm assuming). Some organ here. Compared to the last song this is pretty straight-forward. Synths in the middle are great. Basically the last half of this song is noisy cacophony, including some skronking and someone making weird vocal noises (think Mike Patton). I would enjoy a whole album like this stuff. The production and playing is great. This is a short EP but at least there is no filler and the most annoying and pointless part of the whole thing is at the very end. Listening to this makes me curious about Swano's other projects and bands. I'll give this a 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.