Being out and about in modern society is nothing unlike being invited to a cocktail party at a shareholder’s meeting. We can pat ourselves on the back about how civilised we’ve become. We can compliment each other on the success we’ve been having. However, we are all required to adhere to a certain code of conduct. Do or say the wrong thing, and you are thrown out.
Now, it only makes sense that the music being played and the ideas being discussed would fit this atmosphere. Just listen to most of the songs in the charts. They’re about nothing, and that doesn’t bother anyone. Most of them sound harmless, and nobody has any reason to get too excited about hearing them.
It’s a wonderful thing to assume that humans have always been this peaceful or at ease with their role in the world. But this just isn’t the truth. People have fought each other and even fought themselves with the goal of reaching something meaningful about their lives.
Neomantra’s hypnotic doom metal, which includes ample elements of stoner and doom metal elements, has little to do with thinking matters over sensibly and everything with getting in tune with one’s deepest feelings in full. Neomantra could just be your cheap therapy.
And while the songs on the 5-song EP, “Paranosis”, deal with topics of an esoteric nature, there’s a barrier that all metal bands worth their salt erect. That fence involves distorted guitar riffs and even more distorted singing. For longtime fans of metal, the height of the fence can never be too high. Everyone else will just have to find the courage to jump it.
It’s worth taking the leap. The EP opener, “Consciousness”, is built around circular, detuned guitar riffs and has the singer screaming about chaos magic and higher plains of mental activity.
Like the band’s name would suggest, these are not songs that lead to any conclusion in the way that a straightforward pop tune might. No, they have more in common with mediation, with mantras, and with the ceremonial practices that these accompany.
Listen to the anguished pleas of “Astral Prison” or the short breather provided by the track “Dualism II”, and you may think think you’ve been running around in circles. But just like every breath follows each one rhythmically when meditating, Neomantra also wants you to get lost in their doom-laden compositions.
“Boltzmann Brain (Thought Experiment)” lends weight to the theory that bands who play slowest are the ones able to access the deepest reservoirs of heaviness. Finally, “Atman/Brahman” takes Neomantra back to its original mission statement – to be forward-thinking while sounding as sludgy as possible.
Where does it all leave us? Aclimatized to a heavy-metal-powered kind of meditation. And just like any practice that involves trying to modify the spirit, hopefully, we find ourselves wanting to return to it.
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