Unholy levitating black monks Batman, what on earth is this? Well it certainly looks rather splendid turning up here on 180g vinyl and I prepared for a lesson in grim one-man black metal but one should never judge anything by the cover. Hailing from Worcester, Massachusetts, a place where odd things obviously happen in corn fields, this is not what was expected on first impressions in the slightest. Neither black or indeed metal the sound we have here is rooted in electronics of a ritualistic nature as well as film scores of very strange movies. It is thematically inspired by Ħal Saflieni, a Neolithic subterranean structure in Paola, Malta and a chamber within known as The Oracle chamber with incredible acoustic qualities. No doubt a very strange place and one where the echoes of history probably haunt the present. That is apt here as the futuristic sounds of Patrick Murphy and cohorts very much linger in the past too as they make eerie sounds via arcane keyboards and sound panels along with pianos, drums, bass and guitar.
‘Born From The Mouth Of God’ we go with gentle waves of orchestration building gradually and sounding fantastic. Ominous and slightly threatening we are embedded in ancient rock face and travel on astral spheres through a sound that harks back to mysterious Krautrock of old and big hitters of instrumental strangeness such as Tangerine Dream and Vangelis. Pulses make warped sonic noises and the feeling is one of travelling through times and mystical portals perhaps from alien planets on a voyage of discovery by a vast intelligence on a sightseeing trip to see the monoliths left by an extinct mankind. It builds up gradually and the listener is immersed in a kaleidoscope of colourful sounds as the senses align with it. The thud of drums at the end of the first track bring a feeling of danger and the ‘The Face In The Shroud’ appears in a spectral fashion. Perhaps the overlords of the race our visitor is from have broken through telling them they are in forbidden terrain and due to the planet having torn itself apart they are abandoned here never to return. The tinkling keyboards the tears of abandonment in the face of being cast out and the plod of the slow drumbeats their weary trudge through a desolate irradiated landscape. It is easy to make your own tale here as the music continues or you could simply watch the video tracks The Oracle have laid down to accompany them. They are much more earthbound than the visions in my head.
Sinuously we flow through 6 tracks and just over 30 minutes running time and explore as the gentle soundscapes wash over us. The timeless mysteries of the planet are our guide as we traverse ancient Jerusalem via ‘Akeldama’ and a booming resonance and militaristic sound that is near martial in scope brings some up-tempo panic to our ears. Turmoil in the Holy Land brings a strident epoch devouring pitch to things, the sound of birdsong strangely entwined within it, the sound of ruinous history unfolding. Take a deep breath it is time to turn this otherworldly black platter over.
A pulsating siren is far from the calm origins at the start of this journey, clamouring away through ‘An Ascension’ making one wonder if our visitor tripped a self-destruct mechanism and how long they have left to flee? Dust will be all that remains and the soundtrack orchestration of the keyboards richly build up around this piece bringing a sense of wonder to it all. We briefly gaze into ‘The Road To Heaven’ but admittance seems barred, our visitor rejected, it is not his world and he has no place here besides existing from nebulous ether they cannot ascend the true death and are left to continuously wander amongst the place it was all conceived, ‘Bethlehem A.D.’ The long finale is a floating trip through the aeons perhaps re-creation is the answer and the planet will begin to regenerate and be given another chance; maybe our visitor will evolve into a higher being able to repopulate it but the sudden rise in dangerous dramatics and drone suggest otherwise. This is one of those instrumental expeditions to let your mind do the work and tell the story and it is one that has certainly got the imagination run riot, meaning as far as I am concerned it has done its job admirably. All that is left is for you to click the link below, experience it yourself and see just where it takes you…
(7.5/10 Pete Woods)
Leave a Reply