Jambinai is a band playing a mix of post rock/metal and Korean traditional music. They equally incorporate guitars and traditional instruments, developing music that’s traditional and modern at the same time, offering the listeners a clash of cultures in the form of compositions sounding ethereal, progressive, modern, complex, ancient, and just so damn good.
The music itself can be described as a mix of the sound coming from acts like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Explosions in the Sky, and Mogwai, with a twist. New variables in the formula are presented in the way of Piri, Geomungo, and Haegeum, three traditional instruments responsible for the unique sound Jambinai has to offer. And it all works so well. A Hermitage is a wickedly weird journey through the post-rock sound, worthy of calling it a groundbreaking album.
Songwriting takes a classic build up formula of post-rock/metal but does it much better than most other acts. While listening to it, you’ll get a feel of musicians being right next to you, composing the songs in real-time, like they are improvising. Haegeum serves as a vocal substitute, giving the music a layer of tortured high-pitched melodies, perfectly replacing the mostly absent vocals, telling tales which can be interpreted in more ways than one; it all depends on the listener.
Songs can start hellish, after which the atmosphere changes into sounds of silence, only to be rupturing its way out at the end. Vice versa can also happen, and while this can be described as a classic way of songwriting utilized in post genres, it’s done way better compared to most other similar bands. There are bursts of energy, like the ones found in Wardrobe, calm parts presented in the form of For Everything That You Lost, or a mix of the two best seen (or heard to be exact) in Deus Benedicat Tibi.
A Hermitage would be the most original piece of guitar-driven music released this year but since 2016 also seen the release of Zeal and Ardor’s Devil is Fine, I must place the album on the second place of 2016’s most original music works. It’s a shame that two albums got released one after another because both are beautiful works of art, and both deserve to be called masterpieces. On the other hand, I can’t remember when was the last time I heard two shockingly impressive albums in such short time, and can only feel blessed for finding them both, and for getting an opportunity of listening to them.
