I had a super weird dream last night. I dreamt that Shakespeare’s Weird Sisters were at my bed singing their oracle hymns and probably predicting all kinds of ominous things for me. Except they sang in a weird language unknown to me, so I could not make anything out of it.
I woke up, checked my email, and found this new band called Horte in my inbox with a new outlandish album titled Maa antaa yon vaientaa. When I first listened to it I was immediately struck by lightning: this was the singing I heard in my dream.
I had already heard of this Finnish band, as they are related to one of my all time favorite Finnish bands Oranssi Pazuzu by their producer Juho Vanhanen, and through fellow dark psych brooders Dark Buddha Rising by the mix which was done by Saku Tamminen. Was I stoked? I was beyond that, this was an altogether mesmerizing experience.
Although their hazy psychedelics and weird atmospherics ties them together with their illustrious Finnish brethren, Horte plays some completely different music. Maa antaa yon vaientaa consists mostly of heavenly female vocals, fuzzy basslines, and songs that hold the line somewhere between modern Radiohead and Portishead. Just once, on Väisty Tieltä, they completely let go of all constraints and sound as erratic and otherworldly like Oranssi Pazuzu might, but mostly their sound is majestic and soothing.
I think presenting themselves as a shoegaze band, or a female vocal act in the vein of Chelsea Wolfe is selling Horte short actually, because what they have created here on this album is quite unique. It’s a psychedelic dream I like to dream some more, if only I knew what those Weird Sisters were singing…
I saw the members of Dark Buddha Rising at the Roadburn Festival, performing together with their Finnish brethren Oranssi Pazuzu in their collaborative project Wast Of Space Orchestra. It was by far the best show of the entire weekend. Central to their performance was a sense of ritual, of complete concentration towards some higher (or lower) goal. The repetition, the otherworldly visual presentation, the menacing sonic cathedral they were building was quite magnanimous. On their own albums I was never so convinced about Dark Buddha Rising as I was that night, that is, until now.
For Mathreyata brings back that similar feeling of focused ritual, a slight difference being that this time the performance is even more repetitive and persistent. You kind of get the creeping suspicion they are up to something, as if you probably should not play this too loud at your home at night. Strange things might happen…
Strange things might happen…
We start the journey with the mesmerizing Sunyaga, thirteen minutes of pulsating doom. The band takes you on a plodding pace downwards in a spiraling maelstrom. The earthy pathway starts to become warmer, and as the endless repetition becomes heavier and more intense, a creeping sensation of dread envelops the listener: we are heading towards the earth’s core! As Dark Buddha Rising’s shamanistic vocals start screaming, your ears want to wake up from this nightmare, but still the dark forces move you down, down, down, plod, plod, plod, into the fiery pits of hell.
Nagathma starts with the realization of this dread, and a desolate outlook upon Hell’s outer reaches on which nothing grows. The vocals sound mournful now, panicked at times, and the atmosphere is so extremely dense and suffocating that you start to hallucinate. A strange and frightening kind of psychedelic vision unfurls, and still the repetitive chants lead you onwards. Halfway through the music builds a tower of angry screams, which rain down like lit arrows. You start screaming with chorus in agony, and then it is suddenly over and Suni begins.
Suni takes us deeper through the maelstrom where its cavernous tunnels only hold a faint mysterious glow. You hear drums in the distance, and completely entranced you stumble on. Dark Buddha Rising controls your every move now, and you have ceased resistance, this reverb drenched bliss starts to feel quite nice actually…
Mahatgata III is the equalizer. Its majestic tones lead the listener to the album’s final altar, deep underneath the earth’s crust in a pulsating atmosphere. The path strangely leads us up now, to a broad set of stairs and towards a maddening spectacle. On top of the stairs an altar becomes visible, and behind it Dark Buddha Rising’s members stand with long ritualistic daggers in hand. As the shaman vocalist starts to scream unintelligible mantras, the other two mercilessly grab your arms and force you on the black stone table. You look up and the sky begins to spiral as twenty-thousand daggers start to come at you from all sides. A piercing final scream, and then darkness.
Mathreyata is a monolithic experience. Strange, dark, lethal. I guess I would recommend it to listeners that would like to experience the true meaning of the word doom in doom metal. However, this review also comes with a warning: the first time you listen to this album completely from start to finish might also be your last…
Weirdo Shrine 