“badawi”
Badawi
The Heretic of Ether
Asphodel
I love Bass. I play bass, also, but I need to say that I love Bass, that low-frequency rumble that rolls out of speakers like a perfectly curled wave, washing over you with uniform irresistible force. The thumps coming out of tricked-out trucks don’t constitute Bass, nor the ones coming out of expensive dance club speakers. The Heretic of Ether is full of real Bass, heart-stopping and menacing hits coming at you in the low range. Elsewhere in the mix, we find a very mid-eastern slant to strings and percussion. Raz Mesinai (aka Badawi) is joined by Erich Shcoen-René on cello and Ralph Farris on violin; Mesinai himself handles all keyboards and percussion. “Fatal Confrontation (The Death of Gashka Gavör)” is a lethal dance on drums. The subsequent “The Etheric” builds on an insistent violin, buzzing like a insect scouting ahead of the swarm.
The Heretic of Ether is an extremely well-paced album, revealing facets of Raz Mesinai’s influences in a manner that will keep even the most closeted Anglophile fascinated. As songs parade by, different mixtures of rhythm and melody make themselves evident, and nothing blends into a generic world beat miasma, an effect that happens too often with unfamiliar musical modalities. A stunning accomplishment; seek and expand your boundaries.
Asphodel, P.O. Box 51, Chelsea Station, New York, NY 10113
