A while back I posted Danava's song from their split with Earthless and Lecherous Gaze and it ripped! Today I bring you "Demon Lady" by the aforementioned Earthless who rule quite a lot. Serious buy this split, it brings the fun back to the concept and the whole thing jams hard. Fuck yeah!
After the last bit of touring on Unonou, my #1 record of 2008, Danava dropped off the face of the Earth. Between then and now, they had a secret lineup change and have been writing: exciting stuff.
The first evidence of quality to come is "The Illusion Crawls", a new track featured on a 3 way split 12" with Earthlesss and Lecherous Gaze. It rules to say the least.
Solid record is metal goodness, kind of prog, all sorts of amazing. Danava was a shining star this decade, and I am grateful for them. Also maybe the best show I ever saw.
NOTE: As the year winds down and we look back at the records we've come into, it's a good time to figure out what may have been missed. This week I will take you there, and over the weekend there will be 2 bonus posts of albums you probably didn't miss, but I'll talk about why I think they rule and maybe open a dialog. Fuck yeah!
Danava's "UnonoU" came out very early on in 2008 and I got around to posting about it in April. So it's very possible that you might have missed out on it when it was released and/or covered. Not a problem, let's talk: people this year have been trying new genres out left and right, be it punk rock or dance pop, but metal seems to still be a dirty word with those who don't play in that sandbox. Fair enough, it's what makes that music so great and rewarding in that it's scary and sends off listeners who aren't serious about their intentions. There were a lot of great records that came out this year, but one that is eying my number one is "UnonoU" by Danava.
7 songs of rock and roll brilliant, peppered all over with out of place but proper fitting puzzle pieces like horns and synths to build up to one delicious meal. You'd be shocked how many times I've played this one and created converts out of the unexpected. THAT is what makes a great record, and this one has it in spades.
Light up, grab a pint, whatever, but it's party time when you jam out on this one. Find it before you make up your mind on 2008 friend.
PS. For those of you wondering, the video is for the single "Where Beauty and Terror Dance". Radical.
"UnonoU", the first official full length effort from Portland's Danava may be one of the most creative "metal" (if that's what we're calling it) albums made in recent memory. It's fully laced with horn parts and layered organ tracks over the group's typical 5 minute plus epic stories, making it a unique and utterly enjoyable listen.
In fact, since I got this record a couple of months back, it rarely has left my regular listening rotation, and when it does it is always sorely missed and shortly returned to the stack.
Thanks as always goes to Kemado, for continuing to release the Earth's greatest music. We all appreciate it greatly.
ps if you dig this, don't forget to catch the band's self titled ep that came out awhile back. it's just as fan-fucking-tastic as this gem.
I honestly have no idea how I missed out on Danava for so long. I saw promos of it lying around all the time when I was working at a record store, they're on the wonderful/near flawless Kemado Records and they're from Portland. But they went over my head, until recently when my friend was bumping their self titled record on red wax. It was described to me as Black Sabbath meets Led Zeppelin, which I can totally agree with, though I'd suggest you add drugs into that.
The songs are long (I don't think any of them are under six minutes) but they fucking rule beyond all belief. It's an album that will have you pressing play over and over again, as it flows into itself. 5 songs never sounded so good.
