PHALLUS DEI - Black Dawn

PHALLUS DEI - Black Dawn
22,50 € * | 2LP

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Black Vinyl, lim 250 copies, LP with 16min Bonusmaterial "Corpus"  (not on CD), label:... mehr
Produktinformationen "PHALLUS DEI - Black Dawn"

Black Vinyl, lim 250 copies, LP with 16min Bonusmaterial "Corpus"  (not on CD), label: DarkVinyl 2017

feat. Jacqueline Hamelink (Cello on Starman and Zauberwald), Peter Brötzmann (Tenor Saxophone on Starman), Niels van Hoorn (Bass Clarinet on Corpus) and Merzbow (Electronics on Corpus)

Review BLACK Online Magazin: "Ganze 7 Jahre nach dem Album „A Day In The Life Of Brian Wilson“ und dem folgenden Remix-Album... erscheint jetzt endlich ein neues Werk von PHALLUS DEI. Nicht ganz überraschend schlägt das inzwischen 7. reguläre Album der Band mal wieder eine völlig andere Richtung ein und „Black Dawn“ dürfte wohl das bisher dunkelste wie harscheste Werk der Band sein. Bis auf wenige geflüsterte Worte im „Zauberwald“ und auf „Corpus“ diesmal komplett instrumental gehalten, gestaltet sich „Black Dawn“ als pechschwarzer Malstrom aus strudelnden Noise-Drones, scharfkantige Gitarren-Feedback-Riffs, wuchtigen Doom-Drums, hektischen Streichern und nervösen Free Jazz-Attacken. Als BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE treffen auf die SWANS, PAINKILLER und MERZBOW könnte man das Ganze recht treffend bezeichnen, wobei letzterer selbst auf dem abschließenden Track „Corpus“ als Gast vertreten ist. Dieser Track ist übrigens gegenüber der CD-Ausgabe exklusiv, auf welcher sich dafür aber „Stigmata“ mit ebenfalls MERZBOW-Beteiligung befindet. Ein weiterer illustrer Kollaborateur auf „Black Dawn“ ist dann Peter Brötzmann, der mit seinem schrillen Tenor Sax den „Starman“ in noch weitere Höhen treibt. Die Aufteilung der insgesamt 5 zum Teil sehr langen Tracks auf die 4 Vinyl-Seiten finde ich sehr passend, da man so nicht völlig von der dröhnenden Wucht im Ganzen erschlagen wird. So hat man auch genügend Zeit und Muse, sich in die einzelnen Stücke rein zu hören und dabei immer wieder neue Details wie Facetten zu entdecken, die sich beim normalen am Stück hören nicht gleich auf den ersten Blick erschließen. Ein wahrlich großartiges Album, dessen Sound übrigens ebenfalls absolut treffend durch das gesamte Coverartwork illustriert wird. Das Doppelvinyl im prächtigen Klappcover ist hervorragend wie sauber gepresst und es wurde hier selbst nicht an gefütterten Innenhüllen gespart! Neben der Auflage von 300 Stück im schwarzen Vinyl gibt es noch nur direkt über Dark Vinyl Records 49 Exemplare im marmorierten Vinyl zu beziehen." (Marco Fiebag) 

TRACKLIST 2LP

1.        Slewed

2.        Starman

3.        Zauberwald

4.        Krieger

5.        Corpus (16 min. Bonusmaterial, not on CD)

 

Review BLACK AUDIO / April 2017:

"With an extensive musical career behind them and releases stretching back to 1988, you could be forgiven for thinking that a band like this is way past its peak.  Far from it, if this new material is anything to go by.

Droning guitars are savage in their approach on opening track, ‘Slewed’. Industrial clatters and Dark Ambient fill out the backdrop of a cavernous production that adds to the brutality.  In stark contrast, the Darkwave synths of ‘Starman’ provide their own drones, doubling up in a loop with organic instrumentation.  The resulting hypnosis, becomes all the more peculiar once the Jazz lunacy of saxophones, blare out unexpectedly, providing a visceral, apocalyptical backdrop to the proceedings.  If anything this was reminiscent of some areas of SWANS’, ‘The Seer’.  Great stuff.

The threatening atmospherics of ‘Zauberwald’ provide genuine tension; as layered instrumentation build into a huge monolith of sound, with only the whisperings of lunacy and distortion for company.

With the spacious ambient of ‘Krieger’ providing the only break in the proceedings; it’s worthy of note that this still also manages to belt the listener with hammer-like doom precision, leading up to the guitar noise of the end game that is ‘Stigmata’, that provides its own horrors.

In parts, ‘Black Dawn’ is heavier than a sack of spanners.  The true genius lies in Phallus Dei’s attention to harmony amongst a sea of aural bloodshed; providing an intricately layered slab of an album that is as impressive as it is destructive.  It could just be the best new album I have heard this year. (9.5/10)

Review TERRA RELICTA / April 2017: " Black Dawn is the latest release from Phallus Dei; the veteran German industrial/darkwave project with an extensive discography who are currently celebrating their 25th anniversary since inception. Noted as "one of the most important industrial/darkwave projects of the 90s", they certainly do not fail to deliver with Black Dawn.

Phallus Dei would translate as 'God's Penis' or maybe 'Penis of God', a name which reminds me of the mysterious and sometimes notorious faction of the Catholic Church/Vatican known as Opus Dei or the 'Work of God'. The title Phallus Dei clearly has both sexual and religious connotations and this is also echoed throughout the band's aesthetics and iconography, as well as the overall sound and the feeling it evokes.

While Black Dawn utilises the darkwave and industrial sounds, there is also a definite influence from drone music such as Sunn O))) which also elicits a deeply religious/spiritual feeling; a primordial feeling that can be traced back through ritual music inherent in many cultures both modern and ancient; from the Buddhists to the Babylonians, the Celts, the Nords and even back to the pre-historical tribes of the Australian Aborigines and the didgeridoo as they danced around the campfire in the moonlit desert sands.

The Phallus itself has been an object of worship since the dawn of man, way back to the time of the flood and undoubtedly well before then. Ancient scholars maintain that Phallic worship as well as Yoni (Vagina) worship is amoung the earliest forms of worship; along with the worship of nature, esp. trees (with the Druids of Ireland) and serpents (with the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians and the indigenous Australians). Phallic/fertility worship predates even Sun worship. It can be seen in monuments such as the obelisk which can be found in most civilizations from Egypt, Sumeria, Phoenicia, Rome, Greece and modern day America with the Washington Monument; and probably many of you ladies still worship the phallus whenever you get the chance, some of you almost every night, and sometimes just after lunch. At the end of the day, the phallus and the yoni are indeed sacred and the source of all humans and most creatures past, present and future.

The opening track, "Slewed" is reminiscent of Sunn O))) with a massive textured and distorted drone sound taking off like a war jet into the desolate abyss that is the Black Dawn. It's destiny is the brutal and relentless carpet bombing of unsuspecting souls far below. The crashing of rough steel melds with the distorted drone sound adding tension to the overall scene as buildings begin to fracture and the primal chaos is unleashed as it has been so many times before. Crashing cymbals and electric squeaks carry the fleet onward, further into the darkness and the haze. The gate begins to open on the horizon, but a gate to what, to where? The air is thick and smog clogs the engines as you rattle forward into oblivion with squinted eyes and ringing ears.

The overall sound and use of texture is perfected throughout the album. The sound is thick, deep and satisfying and the texture is raw; just the way you like it. Definitely a case of 'less is more' with this album where the minimum is maximum and major concern is focused on the minor details. There is also a great variety of styles and approaches utilised throughout the album which separates each track from the others without breaking character. The base structure of each track is simple and repetitive while somehow avoiding becoming monotonous. The music is walking a fine line, like a tightrope walker effortlessly crossing between two buildings without hesitation or reservation. There is also the added variety of some well placed saxophone instrumental sections that really lift the listener to unexpected levels of appreciation. There is a definite pattern in which tension is created then sustained throughout each track and built upon tastefully before the listener is brought back down to rest easy at the end with a very definite conclusion. Quite brilliant.

I really could go on and on about this album but I probably shouldn't as you really should be listening to it and finding out what it has to offer for yourself. All put on your Sunday best and worship at the temple of Phallus Dei. The Black Dawn is upon us and the new day is full of promise and veneration.
Review written by:Evceles / Rating: 9/10 "

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