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side a - 5:37 " Aluk Todolo (France) plays Occult Rock. |
MAELSTROM Ah, vinyl. There's still something so warm and immediate about the format that CDs, and certainly downloads, can never approximate. More tactile, bigger, solid, even the scent hints at treasures hidden within its groove. And a larger palette for the artwork, where the visuals have room to breathe, gives a broader impression of what waits inside before the needle ever hits wax.
Aluk Todolo doesn't disappoint in this anticipatory slavering. Although comprised of members of the very grim and kult French black metal hordes Diamatregon and Vediog Svaor, the band takes a very different — although no less intense — approach to their sonic conjurings.
Trading in buzzing guitars and shrieked exhortations, the band's debut is dark, ritualistic, occult rock jammed into a kraut rock framework.
"Side A" (no song titles, only symbols) is a modern prog fan's wet dream. Evoking the very large spectre of Finnish heroes Circle, the track's loping and circular — yea, that's right, I said it — rhythm builds and builds, repetitive, insistent and rarely wavering until it blows itself out in an exhausted sigh, riding out the end on the staticy murmurings of Aleister Crowley."Side B" alters the approach, coming on as more post-punk via Laddio Bolocko — driving rhythms underscored by squiggly, angular guitar and a bass line you want to take home and love for the rest of the night. Midway through it fades, reduced to a deep drone, only to explode back into existence, like a rebirth, more emphatic and propulsive than before. A fine intro to a potentially great band. |
THEONETRUEDEADANGEL : Now this is what I call swank shit -- ritualistic, tranced-out occult rock from members of the black metal bands Diamatregon and Vediog Svaor. The band's name (roughly translated as "worship of the spirit of ancestors") comes from an obscure ancient religion still practiced on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, and the band combines traditional instruments (drums, guitar, bass) with magick theory to create altered states of psychedelic trance music. The first side is a eerie rhythmic piece built around tribal rhythms that builds to a dark and forbidding howl, only to dissolve into a brief spoken paean to the occult as the bass and guitar swirl into droning fog; the flip side is even more rhythmic and heavily repetitive, with black droning guitar and an insistent beat, that eventually fades into a heavily-reverbed death drone -- only to have the drums explode back into action as the guitar turns into an air-raid siren that devolves into pure chaos, even as the bass and drum figure never wavers. This is brilliant
stuff, and the only flaw here is that there's not anywhere near enough of it. Many, many bonus points for the amazing black and silver packaging, which folds open from the back to reveal a black and white landscape of what I would assume is the island from which they have taken their inspiration. Note that this is a limited pressing of 500 copies, and once word gets around about just how brilliant this is, those copies will disappear like... like... like magick! (So sorry, I just couldn't resist.) |
CRUCIAL BLAST Featuring members of such esteemed French black metal iconoclasts as Vediog Svaor and Diamatregon, Aluk Todolo's debut EP is an amazing, occult-tinged eruption of heavy drone/Kraut/trance rock that uses the bands driving motorik formations to explore transcendental consciousness and trance-like states. Each song on this 7" is identified with only an arcane set of runes, and the compositions are based on music conjured during Aluk Todolo's live improvised sessions.
The A side sports a rhythmic drone rock jam that builds into sheets of guitar sound similiar to Rhys Chatham overlaid with recordings of legendary occultist Aleister Crowley.
On the B side, the band generates a powerful krautrock influenced number that pulsates like a darker Circle/AMT jam. The riff is totally trance inducing before it fades into a cavernous grey drone, then exploding suddenly back into full-on heavy hypno rock. This EP is a killer debut, and I'm dying to hear more from this band.
Aluk Todolo's take on kraut/drone influenced heavy psych rock imbues the music with the sort of bleak blackness that you'd expect from their black metal projects. There's parts of their jams that make me think of the obvious modern heavy hitters in the field of heavy trance-psyche, like the aforementioned Acid Mothers Temple and Circle, as well as Circle side project Pharoah Overlord, as Aluk Todolo can get pretty heavy...but I also hear that Rhys Chatham/Robert Poss/Band Of Susans brand of overloaded guitar drone in parts of these songs that push the intensity level even further.
Awesome stuff, highly recommended. Our buddy J.R. at Public Guilt did a killer job of presenting this EP as well, packaging the 7" in a simple but effective glossy gatefold sleeve printed in silver and grey inks, with cabalistic symbols and photography. |
STONERROCK
So wow, a seven inch, two song record from a band that names themselves after an obscure Indonesian religion and plays "Occult Rock." The song titles aren't even words, they're symbols right out of actual occult Grimoires and textbooks. Luckily, they managed to get a copy to a guy like me, who actually can recognize some of the symbols and translate a bit. “Side A” is designated by the symbol for the demon Marbas - I knew that one when I saw it. Its origins are Goetic, though they depict it a little more symmetrically than it usually is drawn. “Side B” is a bit of a puzzle; it looks similar to the Angelic Script for the Arch-Angel Michael, but there are slight deviations, and I don't really have time to dig through all my books. Besides, just because the band goes all ga-ga about this kind of stuff doesn't mean that you have to, and it doesn't mean that I have to bore you with the finer points of occult tradition. Let's get down to the music - it's trancey, instrumental psych rock, and it sounds mostly improvised. It's really about mood and dynamics over musicianship, placing the tunes along the lines of fellow occultists The Warlocks' lengthy instrumental freak fests, with a touch more darkness and weirdness. There's an Aleister Crowley sample at the end of Side A that's pretty nicely used (no, not the same one that Nebula used on Atomic Ritual). Apparently this French three-piece features members of the black metal bands Diamatregon and Vediog Svaor, but this certainly isn't really even in the same realm as black metal, or even
any metal for that matter. It's not heavy, it's heady. Think Amon Duul's Phallus Dei and you're on the right track. I've got to say that as much as I'm enjoying these tracks, I betcha the real treat is seeing them live, as their label makes it out to be a real "ritual" involving magical experiments and altered states. I'm game for that.
Anyways, if you're into bands like Can and Faust, you probably will really enjoy this. Pick up a copy, they're limited to 500, and the packaging is pretty slick as well. |
AQUARIUSRECORDS : Holy fuck, this record is amazing! You'd never guess it, but Aluk Todolo is the occult trance rock side project of French black metallers Diamatregon. OK, maybe it doesn't seem that off the wall, Diamatregon definitely dabbled in strange rhythms and distinctly non-black metal sound forms. But this is definitely something else altogether. Ominous krautrock rhythms over Einsterzende style industrial clatter, some lost seventies psych rock holy grail channeled through modern post rock. Dreamy and dark and mesmerizing. Hypnotic guitar lines and simple shuffling rhythms that build into clattery propulsive jams, all clanging angular riffs and dense tangled drumming. VERY This Heat like, and reminiscent of the late great Laddio Bolocko. Some sort of dangerous and mysterious postrock / krautrock hybrid, lo-fi but thick and dense and amazingly heavy. Gorgeous packaging, white and silver on black, a fold out die cut sleeve with a Japanese style obi, and a cover image that manages to be totally familiar ('got yer nose') but somehow creepy as hell. |
JULIANCOPE : First off has to be the debut 7” single from French trio Aluk Todolo, whose two raging strung-out dark untitled instrumentals come across like a Wodenist ‘Komakino’-period Joy Division. You can find them at www.impliedsound.com, but hurry, because it’s a beautifully packaged limited release of 500 copies. |
PARADIGMSRECORDINGS : Thundering occult krautrock from France. Mammoth psyche fueled by magikal theory through live improv ritual. Presented at 33rpm on limited seven inch vinyl in wonderful alchemic packaging. Recommended. |
DUSTEDMAGAZINE : In which a trio of French men (two members of which have performed with/as black metallers Diamatregon and Vediog Svoar) play to the bleakness of their craft with a different set of expectations. The results are incredibly dark, carry a weight and intensity akin to their grim counterparts but a less stringent, more melancholic romp into the nethers of that dark forest of misery. Both tracks here are demarcated by runes, the one on the A-side locking into a two-note haunt that swells with occult intensity, and its flipside counterpart content to grind out in A with horizontal depth and a percussive imperative, racing towards some sort of outcome that belies the “do what thou wilt” philosophy I anticipated from the descriptions. That B-side is something, too, trading in one of those chords for a gear-driven space-rock windup and more confident sense of improvisational limits. I wouldn’t laud these guys for making this because of their backgrounds, and admittedly, many have come before and done better with direction-poor instrumentals than these guys, but there’s a rough mystery about their approach that will keep me tuned in, at least until next time. |
CREATIVEECLIPSE : Implied Sound ist das 7" EP-Only Label von Public Guilt, die kürzlich unter anderem Still von Dälek oder The Psychic Paramount CDs veröffentlichten. Aluk Todolo kommen aus Frankreich und spielen "Occult Rock". Der Name passt, wenn man weiss, dass mit Aluk Todolo eine alte Religion gemeint ist, die noch heute auf der indonesischen Insel Slawesi zu finden ist. Musikalisch wird auf die traditionellen Rock Instrumente zurückgegriffen und so entstehen Lieder für die jeder Can, Circle und The Psychic Paramount Huldiger ein offenes Ohr finden wird. Auf der EP sind zwei esoterische, psychedelische und krautige Improv-Rock Stücke enthalten, die durchaus den Live- und Jam- Charakter der Band auszudrücken wissen. Die EP ist vielversprechend mystisch aufgemacht und natürlich wie alle Implied Sound Veröffentlichungen auf 500 Stück limitiert. |
VERSUS : Trio basse/batterie/guitare dans lequel on retrouve des membres de Diamatregon & Vediog Svoar deux groupes black metal underground, Aluk Todolo donne dans l'occult rock. A savoir une musique influencée par le rock psyché seventies, le krautrock et certaines théories magiques. Tout un programme. Ce premier 7" offre deux compositions intenses enregistrées live pendant une "improvisation rituelle" pour un résultat bluffant : cru, crade et hypnotique. Une excellente surprise.O.D |
VS-WEBZINE : Il y a quelques temps, alors que je parcourais le site de Amortout dont j'avais reçu quelques productions, je tombais sur ALUK TODOLO, un groupe dont Amortout distribuait le vinyl. "Voilà bien un truc que je ne risque pas de recevoir" pensais-je alors. C'était sans compter sur la perfidie des évènements et de mon facteur qui décidait de déposer dans les minutes qui suivirent le dit 45t (ou plutôt 33t au format 45t pour être précis) dans ma boîte aux lettres. Je me voyais déjà ressortir ma platine de son carton (où j'ai dû la mettre faute de place et surtout parce que je n'écoute jamais mes vinyls) mais heureusement pour moi, le-dit vinyl était accompagné d'une adresse où télécharger les deux titres de ce single, ce que je m'empressais de faire. ALUK TODOLO est un side-project comportant des membres de DIAMATREGON et VEDIOG SVAOR. Il n'a cependant musicalement aucun rapport avec ces groupes. Il n'a même aucun rapport avec le métal. La musique d'ALUK TODOLO ne ressemble en fait à rien de ce que j'avais écouté jusque-là. Le style s'appelle de l'Occult Rock. Il utilise les instruments traditionnels du style (basse, batterie et guitare) et des théories magiques pour atteindre une trance psychédélique et des états supérieurs de conscience. Personnellement, je dois bien avouer que je n'ai rien réussi à atteindre du tout, je suis déçu. Trêve de plaisanterie, il faut bien avouer que cette musique est très intéressante, psychédélique en effet, très rythmée et semblant sortit d'une autre époque. Le son m'a personnellement rappelé le PINK FLOYD de la période Syd Barrett, on pense aussi vaguement aux vieux groupes de prog des seventies, mais également au Krautrock (Un rock expérimental pratiqué en Allemagne durant les 70's), voire à la batcave. Quoi qu'il en soit, que vous soyez familiarisé avec ce style ou pas, je ne peux que vous conseiller de consacrer au moins quelques minutes à ce groupe au moins en écoutant le MP3 qui suit. Sheb. 4/5 + |
THEAJNAOFFENSIVE : If all of those proggy jam bands with occult themes from the '70's were actually listenable and good, you would get Aluk Todolo." |
SIGNALTOINOISE : This is one of the best advances in rock rock rock to come along in years, and it's in keeping with philosopher Anton LaVey's advice to not offer advice until someone asks for it. |
THEWIRE : What they conjure up on their debut single is neither generic nor even easy to place inside known space/time continuums |
PROGARCHIVES : The shape of “Occult Rock” to come.This is Aluk Todolo’s debut single. It’s the first music they managed to release and it was only a mere example of the things to come. The two songs presented on this single are around five minutes in length and shows the band at an early stage void of any industrial influences and with a post-rock-like cleanness in their sound.Side A is the song that closest in spirit to the music in their debut, but, like I previously mentioned, the sound is cleaner and stripped from all of the harsh and disturbing effects that will dominate the band’s later release. Side B sounds like a completely different band. The music here hits you hard and fast. There’s not a single trace of “occult rock” to be found on this song and it actually sounds like something that Neu! would release if they where still alive and kicking in the 21st century.The music on this single is very different to that on their full-length debut. Aluk Todolo sounds a bland and lacking personality on this single. This shows a band that’s still looking for their own sound and luckily enough they managed to found it within the same year. If you really want to know what Aluk Todolo are about then you’re better off listening to their full-length debut, “Descension”. Chamberry |
PROGARCHIVES : This EP works much better for me as the following full album. There's no dark 'occult' atmosphere coming up here - on the other hand it's not so unique of course.ALUK TODOLO is starting Side A in an industrial mood which intones what 'Descension' delivers later on but is leaving the path a little bit arranging a dramatic post rock wave afterwards similar to ISIS for example.Side B is a high speed jam, much more Krautrock inspired in the vein of Amon Düül 2, with a hypnotic and powerful punching bass and weird psychedelic guitars. I would prefer to hear more of this ... Rivertree |
ETHERISEDZINE : Aluk Todolo are one of my favorite discoveries of late. Hailing from the happening French BM scene, Aluk Todolo bring black metal sensibilities and dark ambient seasonings to the world of Psychedelia. Sure, they have a full length, but truth be told all you really need to hear to fall in love is their debut 7", which is nameless and just referred to as "the 7 EP." The 7 EP starts out with a quiet, pulsing rhythm, then a thick and sloppily precise bass line kicks in, building up a sort of circular tension. The first few bits are only the "You must be this tall…" sign for the upcoming rollercoaster of absolutely freak out zap your mind. The repetitive Jaws-half-step bass line is topped by some building sparse guitar. The track swings into its funk before you even know what's hit you, eventually coming to a sort of figure-eight-ish transition into complete free-form delay jams, but still maintaining the haunting feeling of circularity. The track eventually digresses into a genuine chanting temple-like ambience, topped by the oh-so-soothing voice of Aleister Crowley. Then the fun begins. Side A ends on a quiet note, only to be overtaken by the pulsing Sunburned Hand of the Man-esque Side B psychedelic rock. Side B retains the pulsing of Side A, but what was once a circular wandering turns into a foreword-driven march. The track subsides briefly in the middle, but jumps back into its demoniac acid-possession with an even increased fervor. The rhythm section builds the perfect atmosphere for the out-of-this-world sounds of the guitar as its solo burns up like a forest fire glutted on fuel. Side B is a track you almost want to dance to, were it not so bizarre that you need to stop and listen to every new instant of sound. The energy of this album is the kind that has you tense and on the edge of your seat every second, and exhausted the second its over. And the energy just keeps coming, until the track ends with a dead-stop, leaving you like a heroin addict without a fix. All in all, The 7 EP earns a 100/10 for me. 18 minutes of ecstatic auditory, emotional, and physical sensationalism. |
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FOR THE GREATER GOOD: Now I know I described this as psychedelic rock, but if you're expecting something along the lines of Pink Floyd or the Grateful Dead, you're in for a big shock. Aluk Todolo builds from a format of improvised droning (post-)rock to create a delirious, pounding haze of sound with such a cold and ritual undertone that it might as well have wafted hither from Lovecraftian realms of diabolical cults and unspeakable ceremonies, etc. etc. Point is, this brings to mind a procession of flagellants, skin in bloody tatters, mouth foaming in ecstatic worship, rather than an acid-fueled foray into space. Be warned. |
| progarchives.com The debut release by ALUK TODOLO came out a year before the first full-length album in the form of this eponymous EP that contains only two tracks simply named "Side A" and "Side B." This one was only released on 7" vinyl and debuts this French experimental band's fascination with incorporating magical theories with traditional rock instrumentation to create new forms of consciousness and meditative states. Although they don't incorporate black metal into the mix quite yet, they are often associated with black metal because of members involvement in Diametregon and Vediog Savior. "Side A" begins with a repetitive bass ostinato with cymbal action and drumbeats accompanying. The guitar takes on a post-rock type of role as it dances around the groove and creates hypnotic riffs. The track picks up steam gradually and ratchets up the tension while the cymbals and drumbeats become more powerful. In the middle there's a slow down but picks up the tempo again as the guitar becomes more frenzied and murky in the mix. It ends with some spoken dialogue by Aleister Crowley. "Side B" is a lot more energetic than the "A" as the drums take a prominent role in fast and furious rolls while the bass while still repetitive has a more complex ostinato riff that has a touch more melody to it. The guitar floats in screechy sustained distortion mode but also has the role of extending the sound structure to include a dissonant riff while background ambience bleeds in to create a sinister sounding backdrop which is more poignant when the instruments drop out for a while and only its spooky howling is heard. The band jumps back into the groove and the guitar adds more antics and effects and i also detect a slight surf rock type of guitar riff popping in towards the end. Not a bad start for ALUK TODOLO as this would establish their hypo-groovy mix of no wave and Krautrock. The no wave aspect is more in play at this stage with jangly dissonant guitars reminding me of early Swans but the mesmerizing repetition certainly brings Kraut classics by Neu to mind as well. This one doesn't sound much different than the first full-length album but isn't quite as dark and spooky as the following releases become. siLLy puPPy | 3/5 | 2017-1-18 |
