South Korean trio Jambinai release their latest album, A Hermitage, on Bella Union. Jambinai sound less like a band than a force of nature, fusing the full dramatic range of post-rock dynamics with Korean folk roots to create an exhilarating, vivid and unique fusion. In Korean, Hermitage translates as "Eun-Seo" - a person, or creature, who is hiding like a hermit, or undiscovered...

Jambinai’s instrumental music is coloured by Bomi Kim’s fiddle-like haegum, Ilwoo Lee’s guitar and piri (a Korean flute made of bamboo) and Eun Youg Sim’s geomungo, a Korean zither.

A Hermitage is not an album for everyone. The odd fusion of cultural musical styles may be a little too much for some to get on with. In places it skirts around folk music, and at other times it's full on thrashing rock music. It's very unlikely that you'll enjoy all of this album's 8 songs (47 min, 16 sec), just because of how diverse the album is.

While I didn't really enjoy this album, with the possible exception of 'The Mountain', I did appreciate the band's diversity and what they set out to achieve. Sadly it's not something I'd want to listen to for entertainment, but no doubt there are plenty of people out there who will love what Jambinai have crafted here.

5

Nick Smithson