Review: Ye Gods ‘Los’
I often wonder where artists and musicians draw their inspiration from when creating a melody, a poem or even a song, but the latest release from Antoni Maiovvi leaves little room for interpretation, as it arrived directly from a dream.
In this dream, Maiovvi tells us that legendary Killing Joke frontman Jaz Coleman ‘took him to task for easing off on his longtime study of hermetic ritual magick’ and instead he should make amends and record an album ‘under the name of Ye Gods’.
In a display of cosmic symmetry and after some investigation work, that name was found to be an imaginary ‘70s supergroup invented by none other than British satirist Peter Cook, so there’s something, eh!
This was a new adventure for me as I dig deeper into the treasure trove that is Rocket Recordings, and what I’ve found is that Los is a labyrinth of hypnotic, expansive noises that are spread across three tracks, forging a cacophony of textured and complementary rhythms. On the promo I received, there were five tracks, but the last two were edits and mixes of Outlier, which takes your mind on a further capacious journey, if the original hasn’t already done that.
The mesmerising album begins with Wishful Thinking as the opening monologue is launched over a droning noise, with further ambient notes interjecting. I wasn’t quite prepared for what was happening as bangs and crashes collide all over the composition, with long stretches of elongated tones adding to the mystique. Around the midway mark, it’s like a machine gun going off. It rises from the depths of a hole, expanding the horizon with the vocals and music intertwined, emphasising what Maiovvi wanted, as he stated the songs are ‘antithetical to AI’ and a ‘deliberate fuck you to the obvious musical ideas.’
full of intensity and depth, whilst forging a cinematic, atmospheric pathway for us to tread…
We have the aforementioned Outlier next, which has an intro that takes me back to my trip hop days and listening to the likes of DJ Shadow. It’s another track that doesn’t fit the norm or conventions of modern music, but who wants that in any case? Give me experimental, creative and textured sounds any day of the week, and with the arrangements flowing beautifully, it’s hypnotic and piercing. Partway through, there’s a wonderful synth with angelic musings floating over the aura as the beat picks back up to carry the sonics further into the abyss.
With the help of guest musicians from his base in New Haven, Connecticut, they added to the eccentricity of the innovative process. The final performance, Handmaiden, is a journey like no other, full of intensity and depth, whilst forging a cinematic, atmospheric pathway for us to tread. When you hear it, you’ll think of Swans and Jesu, as there’s a dark ambient nature that surrounds the narrative. You seem to be forever waiting for the tempo to kick in as the slow-natured pace ambles along with a sprinkling of electronica, droplets of echoed vocals and alien-sounding voices.
Whistles, saxophones, trumpets, and whatever else was lying around get picked up and abused around the halfway point, before calm is restored. It continues for another ten minutes after this, but I don’t want to spoil it any further; suffice it to say that it’ll send you far away and then some. A space odyssey indeed.
Label: Rocket Recordings
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Matthew Williams
