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Der Blutharsch and the Infinite Church of the Leading Hand/Aluk Todolo
Der Blutharsch's sudden transition from militaristic industrial project to perverse psychedelic rock band was jarring and abrupt, and always a bit baffling. The albums since Time is Thee Enemy! have moved more and more into that direction, but often laden with a sense of identity confusion: the pieces never seemed to come together quite right for me. In this collaboration with Aluk Todolo, however, both embrace their hallucinogenic tendencies in unison, resulting in a brilliantly cohesive album that is equal parts krautrock, psychedelia, and dark experimentalism.
This collaboration emphasizes the best elements of both artists, with Albin Julius and friends' use of stereotypically psych rock sounds, such as organ and distorted guitar, but as an extra piece to the dark textural soup that characterizes Aluk Todolo's sound.It makes sense for the two to collaborate, since both artists have been moving in similar directions sonically.
Across the four untitled tracks, each around ten minutes, the rock guitars, organs, and big live drums are balanced out by vintage analog sounds and unidentifiable passages. The opener starts with a classic old school drum machine loop and distorted bass before the "rock" comes in, leading it down a path that mixes the organic with the alien.It definitely leans into unabashed rock territory, but there is always an undercurrent of subtlety to be heard.
The closing piece is cut from a similar cloth, opening with stiff beats and electronic loops before the guitar/bass/drums get piled on.In comparison to the first track, there’s a greater sense of rhythmic variation, with a constant evolution in sound from beginning to end; it just never sits still.
Sandwiched in the middle are two tracks that owe more to the early 1970s krautrock scene instead of the LSD and 'shroom drenched psychedelia that dominates most of Der Blutharsch's recent output.The second song opens with echoed drums, organ and bass that's quite reminiscent of Tago Mago era Can, including the inclusion of vocals that are subtle and work well as an instrument rather than the overall focus, a la Damo Suzuki's contributions.
The subsequent song's breakbeat opening lends a decidedly Germanic sense of funk as a backbone, rapid and taut with a stainless steel precision.While it is probably the most repetitive of all here from a structural perspective, the lack of rhythmic variation is the perfect underpinning with the addition of electronic elements and organ improvisations.
While I have had mixed opinions on Der Blutharsch's more recent direction, where some of the tracks have been brilliant while others fell flat for me, here the entire album is a winner.I don't know if it's simply Julius and crew settling in to their new voice, or the helping hand of Aluk Todolo, but the result is a great combination of psych rock and dark ambiences that sound like no one else, in the best possible way.
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