As Voivod once stated in a futuristic voice “We are connected” and although musically very different, that is what we have here, an epic album taking to the outer limits and providing a cautionary tale of the near future for good measure. The two minds in this hive are Gordon Bicknell (ex Esoteric and current twiddler of knobs at Lysergene). Here he provides all music and soundscapes. Responsible for both story and its narration is Stuart Harris of Sect 37 whose music I have covered previously and is best described as electronic and darkwave. Put them together and they have composed this whopping 78-minute album.

You can follow the story as the album progresses and it is one that could well be familiar for the dystopian science fiction reader. Set on earth of the not-too-distant future an extra-terrestrial plan is forged to save the planet Earth from its own imminent destruction. Arthur C Clarke’s 1953 novel Childhood’s End could certainly be a reference point. The first part of the album tells the tale of “The Watchers” via ambient distortion and synthesized voice. Unfortunately, although the planet is up for salvation, after some distinctly Numanoid synthwork, on ‘The Denouncement’ we are informed “We the hive, bring forth the plan. We the hive, shall remove all man.” Oops is there a Vogon destructor fleet outta here? I’m not telling the whole story, it’s very Gaia-centric and its great listening to it told in a voice perfect for Radio 4 or a nature documentary by Stuart Harris, who has a voice as calming as the ebb and flow of most of the musical pieces that accompany it. Individual passages be it narration or just music are lengthy as you would expect. You find yourself not so much as nodding off but nodding out a bit as things swirl around you. There’s little in the way of aggression, drum beat is just a slow pulse and what we are listening to is very (dare I say) new-age ambient. It’s all very mellow and laid back I guess, exploring worlds touched on from everyone from Brian Eno to Tangerine Dream, to Hawkwind on the ambient anarchist trawls, The Orb & The KLF related instrumental albums. By the time our overseers are done we hope we will literally be in another green world.

The Chapter of forth part ‘Then Came The Rain’ starts the process of the doomed populous and as thunder crashes in the background the music moves taking in (Towers Of) dub and the gentle flow of chill-out room techno. It’s probably my favourite passage musically and provides plenty of time to make and settle down with a cup of herbal tea and relaxant of choice. There’s an air of stasis as mankind on the whole slumbers not to awaken, replicated as the music floats almost like the planet has been put on hold. Some may find this lengthy segment a bit of a paint-drying experience to be fair but survivors are sporadically holding their own as a feel of barren neglect and mourning pervade with a female voice somewhere out there in the background. ‘The Annihilating Angels’ eventually come in to “search and destroy”. Panic-stricken radio speech faintly takes up the story although musically it is still very calm despite the image of again Voivod and that ‘Target Earth’ cover that accompanies the image in my head. A beat finally comes back in and we enter a transitionary stage as the music again takes over. It’s a fitting requiem for a planet whose inhabitants lost their way, greed leading to inevitable demise. Hopefully I have done my part and given you a good indication of what to expect here whilst leaving the last couple of parts and ¼ of an hour’s work a mystery to those wanting to seek this out.

One final thought that occurred is that we very much have a director’s cut of ‘The Edict Of The Elohim’ here. If it had been sent to a studio for release, I think they would have cut some parts and made it a more accessible length. Thankfully though Aesthetic Death and Warner Bros are worlds apart and somehow the label managed to just fit this all on one disc. Essentially this is one for those who love settling down with a talking book and the ambient armchair enthusiasts out there.

(8/10 Pete Woods)

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https://aestheticdeath.bandcamp.com/album/the-edict-of-the-elohim

https://www.aestheticdeath.com/releases.php?mode=singleitem&albumid=5560