Black Bombaim – Far Out LP review

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This is an LP scheduled for release on 12 May 2014 by Cardinal Fuzz (CFUL028) printed on transparent coloured vinyl. It will be available from Cardinal Fuzz online shop It is available now for pre-order.
Far Out is a 2 track LP by Black Bombaim, a Portuguese trio who describe themselves as Piri Piri spiced psychedelic rock.  The LP comprises of tracks Africa II and Arabia.
To put it simply, I was very impressed. This is a very accomplished offering in every way. The first thing that grabbed my attention was the artwork, it just drew me in. Then the playing, tone and production on the LP are all spot on.

Africa II starts by growling, like the sound of a slumbering animal being woke up. The bass is also reminiscent of a galloping animal. I’ll stop with those sort of animal comparisons now. The song builds with some great guitar playing which doesn’t just have great tone but great variety of tone too, from distorted to clean. The tempo slows a bit and a saxophone comes in around the 7 minute mark. I wasn’t expecting that. The track takes on an almost jazz improvisation sort of feel. The tension builds nicely as a prelude for the guitar coming back in with yet more cultured and expressive playing which backs off just a little to build tension for the completion of the track.  This is a very well played and produced track. Each element has skilful playing and great tone.

The second track, Arabia, starts with a delayed percussion like the rumble of thunder then explodes into a great 18 minutes of instrumental rock. As with Africa II there is great guitar playing propelled by bass and percussion with a subtle middle eastern flavour. The song maintains this drive and at about the 7 minute mark ‘The Astroboy’ complements the track very well with some subtle synth playing before another very accomplished guitar solo maintains the energy ending the section with a chunky riff.  A cleaner toned tremolo part follows building up to another solo followed by a return to the cleaner toned tremolo sound which rounds the song and LP off perfectly.
So to summarise, Far Out is a work of real quality and an excellent example of this genre. Highly recommended listening.