The band Tona from Novi Sad, Serbia sended me their debute album called 1000 (Tona means Ton or 1000 kg in Serbian). This is a very good sounding album. You really should get it.
Coming from Novi Sad, the town in sleepy northern Serbia's province of Vojvodina, TONA started playing loud in summer 2005. Right from the start, this 5-piece aimed at creating versatile and original sound, combining the best of rock, metal and punk music of the last decades.
Anything that can be combined into a powerful sonic blast is put into the band's cauldron and cast into a solid piece of rock, making the unique sound of TONA.
The band just released their first full-lenght named 1000. The album is released for SKC NS, regional government sponsored label that aims to promote alternative culture in Serbia.
(From MySpace)
"...THIS IS A BEAST OF AN ALBUM, the accomplished production shifting it up a gear from their previous recordings. It's quite clearly one of those that fits into the category of music that has to be played fucking loud to be properly appreciated. Just as Johann Cruyff pioneered the concept of total football, TONA are exponents of TOTAL ROCK. Every instrument attacks, with vocals used rhythmically to intensify the hit.
From the outset there's a claustrophobic, machine-like quality to the music, making you feel you're locked in for the duration. The opener "Red Cylinder" is a choking, Motorhead-inspired anthem, and the frantic pace continues with the bluesy, ZZ Top-esque "Pieces". Some temporary relief comes in the first half of the slower, mournful sounding "Box", still my favourite tune, before that too gives way to fist-smashing, Bitch Magnet style riffs.
Even when it slows down, however, such as in "Go Slow", there's no letup in the monstrous heaviness of the impact, in fact the effect is even heightened by the knowledge that another crushing blow is about to be delivered. You can tense yourself in preparation, but you can't escape from its relentlessly pounding, superhuman power.
Yes, of course it's a macho thing (they're Serbian, for fuck's sake!), a slightly masochistic kick for those who love a bit of visceral aural punishment. And what kind of indie-pop wanker doesn't? HIGHLY RECOMENDED..."
(From Frothing Spleen)
Tona - 1000 (2008)
Melbourne, Australia's Ahkmed is really on to something. Their self-described sound is "post-stoner," and that's an apt description, as the band fuses the more traditional psych and fuzz utilized so often by the best of the stoner bunch with the more atmospheric instrumental approach of bands such as Pelican and the more recent Mogwai albums. Cool concept - it's like somebody put chocolate in my peanut butter, and peanut butter in my chocolate, and I'm loving it. What's even cooler is that this trio isn't afraid to throw a little kraut into the mix as well, and while that might sound really disgusting if we were still talking about peanut butter and chocolate, musically it works well.* I hear echoes of Neu!, Amon Duul II, and Tangerine Dream in some of these sprawling tracks. Oh, and for the record, the last track has vocals; the other three do not. These guys have been around since 1998, and it's a shame that they haven't gathered more notoriety, because this is pretty intriguing stuff, and they actually manage to take modern heavy psych and put their own spin on it. I really can't recommend this enough. Now come to America so I can see it all live.
Coming from Novi Sad, the town in sleepy northern Serbia's province of Vojvodina, TONA started playing loud in summer 2005. Right from the start, this 5-piece aimed at creating versatile and original sound, combining the best of rock, metal and punk music of the last decades.
