Candiria

These have been sitting in the "to be listened to eventually" pile for quite some time.  I never actually heard the band before (that I can recall--due to the name similarity I used to mentally associate them with the Relapse band Candiru) but may as well throw these on and give them a fair shot.

Post-listen spoiler alert: they suck.

Candiria - The Process of Self.Development (1999)

Cost: $1.00

This CD is for trade.

A prescient warning of unfortunate musical trends to come.  I know the band is still going, but this album could easily sit among contemporary stuff as avant-garde -core or jazz-influenced mathcore.  I remember a big fuss (both pro and con) being made about the rap influences here, so I was half-expecting something like Stuck Mojo.  The core (pun intended) of the music is relatively standard -core--perhaps with throatier vox--but of course with all sorts of disparate elements added to the mix.  On paper, with rap sections, pure jazz instrumental parts, trumpet, a bagpipe outro to one song, etc., it sounds way more chaotic and experimental than it actually ends up being.  Due to the fusion aspects, I can see where comparisons might be made to Mr. Bungle or some of the jazzier stuff on Ipecac, but this completely lacks the fun and zany atmosphere.  Also, the album isolates and compartmentalizes some of the influences it brings in.  There are entire rap tracks and entire jazz instrumental tracks (given the history of the band members, keep in mind it's not just a jazzy rhythm or jazzy bassline like you might find on a DM or prog. metal album--this has pure instrumental jazz sections).  So ironically, rather than hating all of the fusion elements from a purist standpoint, I thought the jazz parts and mellow instrumental tracks were well-played and completely overshadowed the rather boring -core part of the music.  But since I'm not combing bargain bins for jazz discs, this ended up being pretty uninteresting.

Candiria - 300 Percent Density (2001)

Cost: 50¢

 This CD is for trade. 

This is far more angry and NYHC sounding than the previous album, so I immediately liked it even less.  The fusion influences seem more directly integrated into the music, and have also been changed up a bit.  There's more of an emphasis on rap and hip-hop influence and rap-like vocals, and while there are still jazz influences, there are no longer any dedicated jazz tracks.  There are also more world/tribal music and ambient influences.  Yet again, an instrumental piece outshined everything else.  There's a hidden track at the end that uses ambient guitar and bongos to create a very dreamy soundscape that makes me feel like I'm on a tropical island staring at clouds.  It's not the main focus of their music and not what I'm looking for when I buy music though, so no reason to keep this.

Just from a few minutes of poking around online, it's embarassing how often this band is called metal--without any extra descriptors, no less--and by people who should probably know better.  I'm not sure if it's just sheer ignorance, or a lazy way out of trying to describe the band's multifaceted sound.