This is definitely the most simple cover art I have seen in a long time: Rustic red background that fades to black around the corners with the bands logo in the centre, with the albums name Noko centred at the bottom. Not bad, simplicity is always a good way to go.

As far as the music goes, the band itself states that they play a mixture of Rock, Metal, Grunge and Alternative. Upon listening to the album I find myself in agreement, although not really impressed. The songs are slow, melancholic as well as simple – while there is nothing wrong with that, it just leaves me wanting something... More.

Noko (The name of their band as well as the name of this, their début album) are technically very good. The music progresses in its own tempo, drums keeping the guitars floating and the vocals soar above the tunes generated. That being said, they do not really offer anything else besides that.
All the songs sound pretty much the same (again, not necessarily a bad thing if you like this type of music), so you have to really be a fan of this type of music for it to speak to you – either you like them all, or none of them.

I will be the first to admit that I am not a big fan of the whole Doom and Sludge scene (the closest I get is Black Sabbath), however that put aside, I still tried to give this album an objective assessment (as objective as a review can get). This resulted in the following conclusion:

The band is technically very good and play calm, slightly melancholic music, worthy of the Doom and Sludge scene, and I would recommend fans of this genre to give the album a try – A person in the right relaxed mood might just find it very enjoyable.
http://www.myspace.com/nokoband


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