Six Organs Of Admittance : Luminous Night :: Review
Six Organs of Admittance return to moody territory on “Luminous Night” their follow up to “Shelter From The Ash.” Recorded and produced by Randall Dunn at Aleph Studios in Seattle, “Luminous Night” features accompaniment by Eyvind Kang on viola and Hans Tueber on alto flute expanding the signature sound of Ben Chasny’s guitar. Although scheduled for release in August on Drag City, I was lucky to acquire this album early and it has not been out of reach on many occasions. On “Luminous Night,” Ben Chasny expands his songwriting credit beyond the realm of ragas and incorporates doom-laced stories that make for a heady listening experience.
The opening drones of the Greek inspired myth, “Actaeon’s Fall (Against the Hounds)” set a foreboding tone on the latest Six Organs of Admittance album. “Actaeon’s Fall” had me scouring Wikipedia to brush up on the Greek mythology surrounding the tune. The opening track tells the story of Actaeon, a Greek hero who spotted goddess Artemis bathing in woods. Artemis became angered by this and cursed Actaeon for if he spoke, he would be turned into a stag. Upon hearing his hunting party, Actaeon called out and was transformed into a stag. After the transformation, Actaeon is immediately torn apart by his hounds who were unaware this was their former master. Ben Chasny’s take on this legend features a sixties folk vibe accentuated by viola, flute and martial drumming which depicts the attacking hounds.
“Anesthesia” follows and although it didn’t require a search on Wikipedia, it does feature a Pink Floyd like vibe as Chasny’s vocals sound at times like Roger Waters. With its gauzy approach, “Anesthesia” is miles apart from the opener in tone rather than mood. Early listening highlight, “Bar-Nasha” references the Aramaic name of Christ in a raga featuring hand clapped percussion and flute. “Cover Your Wounds With The Sky” ends with what could be perceived as the first side of the album with a fuzzed out ambient interlude. As side two opens, Chasny returns to the folk storytelling of “Ursa Minor” revolving around a family’s desperate attempts at survival. Chasny’s characters question their existence as they solemnly accept their fate.
The eastern influenced “The River of Heaven” follows speculating that this is where the inhabitants of “Ursa Minor” ended up. “The Ballad of Charley Harper’ required me to complete another internet search and the only result that was prominent focused on the Cincinnati-based American Modernist artist who was known for his wildlife paintings. Maybe there’s something that I’m missing here, but maybe not as the distorted lyrics focus on “Taking the great and small..wings and all..” “Enemies Before The Light” closes the album with a droning raga freak-out that fans of latter period John Fahey would find favorable.
“Luminous Night” is an album that is made for repeated listening as it doesn’t reveal all of its charms on a first take. After repeated exposure however, this is one album you’ll return to time after time.
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