To say this album has had its trials and tribulations would be an understatement. Well it didn’t actually get a trial but was found guilty without one. It’s been well documented that following a name in the thank you credits just as it was about to be released the album was dropped by label Relapse and former members of the group from Voivod, War/Plague and Misery were disassociating themselves from it and ties to innovator Rob The Baron Miller. There is no doubting that holocaust denial is abhorrent as are many of the view-points of that name on the credits, Gerard Menuhin. Rob’s motives for inclusion are beyond comprehension for many considering that his musical journey is so associated with Anarcho punk band Amebix. Only he can answer these charges himself but one thing is certain this mistake, if it were one, has led to a lot of blood sweat and tears in building things up again, taking the roots of the original album and constructing it again from scratch.

So, for those that have not dismissed this album entirely and also due to the solid power and strengths of the previous two, to say that he has a mountain to climb here would not be overstating things. Then we come to the involvement of the other two musicians on the album Talamh drums and The Kurgan guitars; who are they? This is something else Rob is being tight-lipped about and for the moment at least will have to remain a mystery. I had heard names associated with the album back at the start of it being re-recorded but these have apparently changed during its progress and like Rob’s beliefs in Gnostic Cosmology & occult magic traditions add a depth of mystery to it all. Having heard the original album a couple of times before, the instant this new recording swung into action on opener ‘Yaldabaoth’ the strengths are evident. The melodies and hooks are memorable enough to be well and truly stuck in the head despite having not heard them for some time and the recording and ballast behind it all is if anything even greater and more powerful in construct than it originally was.

Post-punk guitar furrowing welcomes us in along with that instantly identifiable craggy voice. Some keyboards and clean vocals give it that Killing Joke vibe of the arcane and for sure Rob sounds like a doomsday messiah heralding the end of the world. “Religion is our downfall” are words that can certainly be agreed on as bells chant and we flow into an Eighties guitar chug and next track ‘Hollow Earth’ and it’s defining call of Shambala. Jagged and full of urgent clamour once in your head, there will be no budging this and many of the other tracks here. This is an album that once witnessed does not let go and one that you will be compelled to repeat playing again and again; just like the other two. With the beat picking up the rampant ‘Burn With Me’ is a fiery immolation with a vitriolic feel of vibrancy about it; the fire burns bright and it is one of the best songs in its own right heard in a while. The chances of witnessing it performed live are considered and sadly the conclusion is evident, it is highly unlikely for obvious reasons. The words “So you seek the truth” at the end are whispered sinuously and yes you cannot help but wonder about beliefs and ideas behind songs like ‘Black Cadillac’ the title of which is bound to have conspiracy theories flowing through the head. Perhaps it is easier sticking to the music and this rafter raising motor-bastard song is another classic a belter; plain and simple. The pulsating ambience and psychedelia at conclusion is just like being taken off in a spaceship, is there more than a hint of the human reptilian eye here?

The biblical ‘Violence Of The Lord’ flows from sweeping clean vocals to thumping tribal drum bombast, the title spat out and the message that picking up any “holy” book will confirm is hammered home. This is an album you could tie yourself in knots of paranoia listening to and overthinking, the title track a case in point and you have to wonder if you should just feel gloriously charged by the music or go in search for the “key to understand” further as mentioned in the strange and sinuous ‘Babylonian Death Cult.’ Looking for clues the biographical material does state the album should “lead the listener to some serious food for thought.” That is very much the truth..

Add in the subtitle to ‘Three Tides’ (Or the Triale of Pyrat John Bellamie and Seawytch Annabel Green) and no doubt as the sea hits the shore you too will be looking for information on pirates and witches of olde. Essentially the violin and beatific clean vocals give this a folk twist as the album simmers to conclusion. The whimsical traditional feel of an old workers song on ‘Sorrow Draws the Plough’ leaving the listener gathering thoughts and trying to tie them all together knowing they have heard something great even if it does need further interpretation.

Obviously, there is much to take onboard here, good music should make you think, it is there essentially to wake you up. Handled well and put in the wrong hands it can be a dangerous thing. I don’t consider that to be the case here but the esoteric eccentricities of its creator should definitely be considered.

(9/10 Pete Woods)

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