Sokushinbutsu Project - Kristu
Third physical release from this enigma act from Italian. A small EP/mini-album with only 3 tracks. The theme for this EP? Something about Christ I think, gonna do a google translate on some of the Italian spoken words here. The whole thing comes beautifully packaged in a sort of thick parchment paper with some great-looking print, sealed shut by the iconic Industrial Ölocaust Recordings seal! I also managed to locate some info regarding the background graphics of the cover artwork itself:
A detail of cross engravings left over the centuries by pilgrims at the sanctuary of La Verna, in Tuscany (Italy).
The physical release is of course a limited release, how many? I don't know... not much info on either Discogs or the website of the record label. But who cares, get it while it´s hot people!
The first track is simply called Kristu. Starts with a thumping and reverbed metallic sound while fades away into silence, followed up with a religious-sounding spoken word about well... Kristu (I think)... Some heavily distorted bass loops in the background, while some highly distorted clicks override the sound. Kind of hard to accept these distorted clicking sounds, but I do think that they are meant to be there.
The second track Seconddo Kristu continues the spoken words, while some highly distorted guitar sounds add further texture to the clicking sounds. Kind of like a trashy noise version of Ain Soph. The layers of screaming guitar distortion actually sound cool.
The third and last track Mantralantico (Ancient Mantra) adds more of the over-distorted sounds with some ritualistic dark-ambient sounds in the background. Also, some distant spoken words are in there somewhere, hidden behind the walls of distortion. The track ends with a more dramatic and aggressive harsh-noise sound, imagine dark-ambient with someone pushing the distortion button. Again, the distortion bugs me, but it intrigues me because... I can actually hear that there is some other stuff, going on in the background? The best track is the last track here if you ask me.
And that is that. Makes me think that this short (and mysterious) release serves a specific esoteric function in some way. To chant to maybe? A short chant to Kristu, morning and evening maybe? I don´t know. It´s an interesting release without a question, and it does leave a lot of questions for the listener as well. Although (I must admit) a bit disappointed with the release, their masterpiece of an album about the Sokushinbutsu rite totally blew me away (and took my breath away!)... and I am still waiting for the follow-up to that album. Maybe this EP was just a small appetizer, something for us to kill time until the second full-length album hits the streets? Nevertheless, since being a sucker for this act I will still cherish this release nonetheless. U can hear some excerpts from the album on Youtube, see the links below!
Official website (label):
Discogs (label):
Facebook (label):