Adding in atmosphere to almost any subgenre of metal and you are left with, usually, a solid album. Take sludge metal and add atmosphere to it and you get Naisian. Their latest self-released EP release, Rejoinder, absolutely shreds and left me needing more. Three tracks are all there is on this quick EP, but that is the nature of the beast; beast being the perfect term here. Normally the EP releases fly under my radar and I catch up at the end of the year. I am glad this one fell into my lap.

The first track, ‘90ft. Stone’, starts off with a thunderous riff and an experimental lead over the top right before the vocals kick in. This track is the most straight-up sludge song on Rejoinder, but you start to feel the progression into more atmosphere as the song moves towards the end. ‘Mantis Rising’ continues with another heavy riff that compliments the first track but still maintains its own character.

Halfway through, the song completely flips with a different riff and then starts slowing way down to close out the track. To fill out the EP, Naisian saved the best for last, ‘Lefole’. With vocals that give off excruciating agony and eerie clean riffs, I knew this release was ending with a bang. A nice tempo kicks in after the second verse and again after the third verse which, with the riffs and vocals flying over the top, is sure to give you goosebumps. The last minute of the track is the climax of the whole EP and certainly finishes strong.

Once again, the year of 2018 has been quite the year for doom/sludge metal as we add Naisian’s Rejoinder EP to the list of fantastic releases. The UK atmospheric doom group was also on a hiatus prior to this release so it is good to see what these guys can do after a break. At this point, I am very excited to see what their future holds.

8.5/10

TIM LEDIN