Six Organs Of Admittance

Six Organs Of Admittance

The Sun Awakens

[4/5] By the time most artists reach their ninth album (if they even get that far), they’re usually running on putrid fumes. Not so with Six Organs Of Admittance-a.k.a. guitarist/vocalist Ben Chasny. The Sun Awakens finds the Bay Area player in peak form. With tasteful help from Tim Green (tone generator), John Connell (Persian ney [an end-blown flute], vocals) and his Comets On Fire bandmate Noel Von Harmonson (drums), Chasny continues to mine fertile folk-rock gold. “Bless Your Blood” reveals Chasny’s resonant tone on the acoustic guitar and his ability to wrench gloriously melancholy chord progressions that are at once reminiscent of John Fahey and Popol Vuh. It’s a hushed, majestic ballad that harks back to some ancient era when everything was more solemn and beautiful. The disc climaxes on the 24-minute finale, “River Of Transfiguration.” Featuring Om bassist Al Cisneros (ex-Sleep), the track conjures a nocturnal uneasiness with its malevolent fridge hum, forlorn monk chants, momentous organ drones and gong splashes. This is on some haunted, Druidic, Day of Judgment trip. If some fool were to remake Apocalypse Now, he should use this in the scene where the Doors’ “The End” originally appeared. (DRAG CITY) Dave Segal

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