Ondo is the work of Sweeden’s C-J Larsgarden. This latest release on Tuguska is CD-R in some pretty neat packaging (which, I believe, is either black with a black and white insert or red with red and black insert). The insert has a pretty neat overlay image of a sort of hooded figure over a sort of wooded background. It gets the gist of this album across. ‘Regression’ is typified by down-tempo drones and acoustics like from echoing caves—very blackened but not harsh, moody but not pathetically so. ‘Regression’, at its core, trys out various ways of getting this darkness across, which makes it both captivating and listless in one go. But Regression presents itself with a lot awesome directions in which future releases might go, all of which any fan of the dark and churning would certainly want to get their hands on.

The opener ‘Regret’ focuses itself pretty heavily on Ondo’s clear metal influences, it is (almost, and in a flattering way) like a chopped and screwed version of some first-wave black metal track, with the blast-beats removed of course. Deep subdued screeching drones with churning, de-tuned electric guitar synths, along with some piano and organs thrown in for good measure. The electronics and underlying noise is pretty cool, but I wish it were a bit more focused. As well, buried deep, are vocal-like noises that are really fucking cool.

Perhaps the best work on ‘Regression’ is the acoustic track ‘Recipe For Sadness’—some excellent, down-temp, folksy guitar work with a very subdued droning background that slowly overtakes the track and leads into some string-type instruments, etc. This is Ondo at his most focused—clear progression and attention to detail make ‘Recipe For Sadness’ winningly meditative. Lord knows if you’re a sucker for the foreboding, Ondo has some very satisfying stuff. ‘Lomsk’ even explores some interesting electronics, making good use of an Autechre influence, as it sounds as though some almost-dance-music was brutally mutilated and slowed down.

I suppose it all depends on what kind of (dark, blackened, et al.) drones your looking for. Ondo isn’t as bone-crushingly brutal as some other dark drone stuff out there, but I think that’s in some sense the point as the focus is on experimentation and multi-instrumentation, which certainly sets this outfit apart from perhaps some of the stuff that otherwise bleeds together in an ocean of slow-churning, burnt-out blackness. It’s a nice listen, and, for the record, I’d opt for the white with the red and black insert. 6/10 -- John Ganiard (10 June, 2009)