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Nadja > Corrasion > Reviews
Nadja - Corrasion

Could have been a lot better. - 84%

grimdoom, May 1st, 2008

Pure oppressive Drone Doom is what’s on display with Nadja's 'Corrasion'. This (the re-release) CD is over a mixed bag of good and bad. Thankfully the good out weighs the bad.

The production is weak. This sounds as if it was recorded in someone’s basement without the aid of a sound engineer. Still, there is something positive to be said for this as it adds a raw feeling to the music. The other real flaw is that the drums (which are programmed) sound sloppy and out of time in certain places on almost every song. This could have been corrected but apparently wasn't.

The last point of contention is that there is too much fuzz in the guitars. They sound as if they were run through a couple of distortion pedals with the amplifiers built-in distortion with the tone turned off.

The songs are great (aside from the issues above). The chord progressions and song structures are highly original and somewhat innovative. This is a very heavy album once you cut through all the fuzz. The bass more or less follows the guitars.

All other instruments are lost in the mix. The lyrics are passionate, poetic and thoughtful. The vocals are a distorted mixture of clean somewhat sung/spoken words and possible growls.

Over all this is a pretty good DIY band/album. Even with the short comings listed above, this band is worth a listen and recommended to all Drone Doomsters out there.

Unleash Your Dark Side With Nadja. - 90%

Perplexed_Sjel, December 4th, 2007

Nadja have become my midnight treat. Whenever I feel stressed, or I cannot sleep, I tune into Nadja and let them take me away from the day-to-day running of life. Nadja have some of the most picturesque music I have ever heard. To some, especially those who have never heard what Nadja are all about, may find that weird, even hard to believe. The very notion that something that had to be heard can sound picturesque is quite an odd thing for a lot of people. Nadja are one of those 'special' bands. The kind of bands that can paint a picture with sound. The kind of band who has the ability to take your mind away from where ever it is to where ever they want you to go. Nadja are exquisite when it comes to creating sonic soundscapes that dwell in a persons mind for a long time.


Like the image the music portrays, the music itself has the ability to linger. As i'm sure i've said one hundred times before about Nadja, their music is slow. Downright slow. Again, I must reiterate the fact that you need a fair amount of patience to be able to appreciate this obscure Canadian act. Their music is long and in no rush to get anywhere. Nadja remind me of a long journey. You gaze out of the window at all of the landscapes, the further you travel, the more different things become. Well, the same can be applied to Nadja's music. Like a long journey, things take time to progress. 'Corrasion' is just another fine example, in a long list of examples, that indicates to everyone that Nadja are worthy of your patience. Nadja are no longer just a band, but they're life itself. Which each minute that passes, you feel like you've gained a year's worth of life experience. This experience is pivotal in understanding Nadja. The complexity that lies underneath the scarred surface.


If you peel away the facade of this delicate band, you'll find a vast array of emotions at the core of Nadja. Nadja is a living, breathing entity. It feels all the emotions any human could possible feel and 'Corrasion' is just another outward show of Nadja's ability to be able to connect to their audience. By far and away the most pleasurable thing about 'Corrasion' is it's ability to connect with me, with who I am and what I feel. It's deep and dark emotions steadily rise to the surface as each song slowly progresses. 'Corrasion' to me, is possibly the darkest Nadja release so far. It's simply amazing how much emotion is packed into such little variation. An element that makes Nadja one of the leading drone bands out there. As previously stated in the other review, this is solely riff-driven. The ambience we've come to expect from Nadja still exists, but to a much lesser extent. However, unlike the previous reviewer, i've actually come to like this aspect of Nadja. It's different. The riff-driven Nadja has just as much to offer as the Nadja which bases it's sound entirely around ambience.


As I touched on before, 'Corrasion' is possibly the darkest sounding Nadja release yet. The vocals, which aren't usually a factor in Nadja releases, are incredibly distant and eerie. The vocals have never played much of a part for Nadja, but here they do. They enhance that dark depressed feeling tenfold. They are a glorious addition to the new face of Nadja. Despite the hallow production, Nadja manages to weave their soul around the instruments and grasp on tightly. To me, the somewhat hazy feel is perfect to the atmospheric tendencies of 'Corrasion'. The production gives off a disturbing feel, much like most of the other elements that are involved here. 'Corrasion', at this point in time, is possibly my favourite Nadja release.

Could be better, could be worse... - 73%

caspian, July 14th, 2007

Like most bands doing something that's ambitious and/or groundbreaking, Nadja took a little while to get into their stride. It wasn't really until Bodycage (Or Truth Becomes Death.. whichever came first) that the production and the songwriting were finally up to Aidan Baker's vision. Sure, Skin Turns to Glass and the original Touched were both good albums, but when compared to the later releases they don't really compare that well.

It's strange though.. Despite this being Nadja's 3rd full length, to me it seems the most primitive. There's some loud guitars and big riffs, but to me, this seems to be Nadja's most stripped down recording, and it's the album that they sound most like a typical doom metal band. Whether that's a good thing or not will depend on your perspective.

Indeed, this is quite stripped down. The title track is Nadja stripped totally bare, no extra layers, no drums, just droning, fuzzy n buzzy guitars for a while. It's a pretty good track, but quite bare and hard to listen to all on it's own. It's a somewhat odd choice for a leading off track, and there's much better on offer. As I've mentioned, this one is pretty doom-y. You Are as Dust has a few really huge riffs and some really eerie vocals buried way in the mix. Base Fluid is an attempt at a more ambient styling, but there's a big freak out near the end. Unlike the newer version of this, though, the drum programming is pretty good and fits the freak out part quite well. For those familiar with newer Nadja, well, it's not too different, just a bit less layered and more riff-driven.

There is one quite annoying problem with this album, though- the production. It's weak, it's confused, it's flaccid. It's murky, but not in a good way.. Every instrument is stripped of most of it's power by the excessive amount of mid-range frequencies. The drums are way too quiet and somewhat ineffective. The guitars are just too muddy. The Nadja style demands a big wall of sound, sure, but some sort of clarity is also demanded. This albums achieves the unique feeling of being both too muddy yet not bassy enough. Mid Range frequencies are not your friend.

Still, despite some flat production and slightly primitive songwriting, this is a pretty enjoyable album. Chances are that the re-recorded version is a fair bit better. It will be interesting to see how Baker remakes these tunes. I'd recommend you'd get the newer version, personally, but if you're new to Nadja, I recommend you get Bodycage or the rerecorded Touched first.