The period between Dec. 2019 - Feb. 2020 has been ... very strange, very difficult, a death-and-rebirth moment (ironic in this time of so-called 'pandemic,' with its unrest; I feel as if I'm coming alive while the rest of humanity is concerned with the threat of pestilence and imminent death).
I had stopped drinking in late Jan. 2020, switching to CBD-dominant cannabis instead, which has been nothing short of a miraculous 'game-changer' for me (a subject I've touched upon in other entries, but have yet to make detailed post about it specifically).
The reason I mention it at all, is because of the influence it has been having in musical direction as of late.
I never thought I would, but have begun enjoying the Psychedelic Rock of the 60's and 70's (but please... no Beatles!). The curiosity struck me as I was reading about Genesis Breyer P-Orridge's work with Psychic TV, his devotion to Brian Jones, and his experience of the Rock n' Roll scene in his youth.
Realizing that I'd never investigated into much of this style (beyond whatever 'Classic Rock' I was into as a kid), it seemed like uncharted territory. I have long grown weary of the 'extremity' of Metal music, so often just loud, brash, and "Rah-rah-rah! Look at us, we're so brutal with our art! Arrrrghhh!"-type of mentality presented in the great majority of Metal music made for its own sake
[Note: A comparison can be made within Rap/Hip-Hop, where the very artform exhibits attitude and braggadocio as a prerequisite, often making for music that is unnecessarily angry, and in-your-face. Having said that, watch for my next insanely brutal and unnecessarily extreme 'War Metal' project: OXSHHATTGH (coming out next week)].
For those reasons, among others, I've been increasingly interested in alternate forms of music which are more meditative, reflective, spiritual, etc. (whether dark or light... or both).
Enter Pentagrammaton, which is what happens when I try my hand at Psych-Rock/Blues, with an 'Occult' flair.
I guess most of this article is just filler at this point, because Pentagrammaton (as a project) was literally put together cohesively within the last 2 days.
The material presented in the two albums made under this project concept is stuff that I've been working on for the last two weeks, pretty much.
("iii" album cover, a demo... sort of.)
iii - The three songs on this album were my first attempts at 'Psychedelic'-whatever, and since they led to the material on the next album it seemed appropriate to release them as a demo, or at least a precursor. I really didn't know what to do with these songs after I'd made them. At first I thought of putting them under Rotting Serpent, but that didn't seem right (even though they would've fit as extensions of musical/ideological themes stemming from "Breath of God," and other songs on Legends of the Sawyerville Cult). "iii," is, of course, a reference to the 3 songs that make up the album, and the font was chosen because it makes two crosses.
(Rock for warding off evil.)
Apotropaic Rock - Regardless of whether or not the songs on "iii" go with it, this album stands alone on its own merit, in my opinion. It's quite unlike anything I've ever done, at least in more recent years. Musically, it hearkens back to my own roots of primitive guitar-playing. If one remembers that my primary influences have always been Danzig, Type O Negative, Dissection and Xasthur, what is offered here shouldn't come as much of a surprise.... even if it sounds relatively like nothing from any of those bands. Songs on this album are literal embodiments of my own spiritual philosophy, and the challenges I have gone through lately. As such, the very process of making the music itself is for the purpose of 'keeping the darkness at bay,' and a chronicling of what went into that process. Of course, it just sounds like music, doesn't it?
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