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Released on May 25, 2015 via Ritual Productions
Newcastle’s spaced out drone pioneers Bong are back with a new album entitled We are, we were and we will have been, which is out now on Ritual Productions. This is just a year after they released the rather incredible Stoner Rock so they are becoming fairly prolific for a bunch of weed obsessed hairy guys who you’d imagine live their lives at around 2 miles per hour.
Bong have become an institution of innovation. Ever since 2011’s Beyond Ancient Space I think every album they’ve done has been simply divine, but also moves in slightly different direction, which is just magic. Their songs have a real timeless feel, like they could have been recorded at any point in time. For example, it could be the soundtrack to the big bang or swirling around a bloodied battle field in the 1600s. I’m not sure where that came from or what I’m on about so let’s just get stuck in.
First up it’s ‘Time Regained’, which comes in just over the 17 minute mark. It has that wonderful signature guitar tone, which instantly pulls you into Bong’s supernatural dimension, but complemented with hints of eastern strings drifting in and out. It goes up another level when the drums kick in, all warm and inviting, but with a sinister underbelly. The chanting vocals, which have evaded the last few albums are back, so fucking spooky and a pure delight. It’s slow as fuck, but still a little fast for Bong, there are little delicate noises interwoven in the tapestry and there’s absolutely nothing you can do apart from surrender and let it explore the corners of your brain you hardly ever use.
Next up is ‘Find your own Gods’, which starts with David giving us some spoken word:
“Find your own Gods / not in dreary chapels and dismal shrines / but under the stones and streams / in faint mist and familiar hills / through soft morning light / behind the shadow of trees”
When these words drift away Bong take us into territory we’ve never been before, gone is that signature drone guitar tone and in its place is an ambient journey that holds you like you are drifting on a cloud. They are absolutely right though, God isn’t some man in the sky that was made up a few thousand years ago who said you shouldn’t fuck before marriage etc. God is the tree that grows because of the light from a ball of fire 93,000,000 miles away, God is the wind that blows nutrients from the Sahara desert to help fertilise the Amazon rainforest. We’re lucky to experience this kind of stuff and beautiful music like this enhances the experience even further. It’s pretty fucking good!
