LET'S GO TO HELL

An overt continuation of the Univers Zero aesthetic and ethos. Arcane horror music with careful vigilance always to maintain a kind of sonic beauty. It's a caricature of real horror, and has nothing of rot and fetid stink. It rarely breaks out into anything like a funky Zeuhl groove, but there's a lot of marching of the troops of Mordor.

Play-by-plays of the tracks:

Schrödinger's Friend - Very dense harmonies in the first rock section. A sensitive passage for violins is enweirded by pitch bent bell tones. The Zeuhl bass growl is a key sonic element. Forlorn interlude of piano and violin. A Morse code rhythmic pattern enters with an odd lady voice melody. This gets developed in the next rocking section. Lots of harmonium. The piece as a whole is evenly divided between slow, forlorn music and more drum-driven, dense rhythmic material. Acoustic instruments dominate with the bass as the constant electric voice. A final pounding dirge builds up ever thicker harmonies.

The Flagellant March - Escalation of ominous chords. The first groove that enters features a bass line that sounds like a development of the medieval Dies Irae. A fragmented march rhythm with keening harmonium chords introduces a "ta-dum ta-dum" figure sung by the ladies Rexed and Bergqvist. Bass clarinetist Yann le Nestour gets a featured solo over toy piano. Callas/theremin-like synth lines. A long section develops a 9/8 rhythm - "ta-dum dum ta-dum dum dum.," culminating in a synth solo by Robert Elovsson. Agren is so impressive. There's a bit of a false ending before the ta-dum rhythm re-enters for a final jam with pretty guitar strums.

Zombie B. Goode - Dissonant but functional harmonies and a a long-note melody sung wordlessly. Once again, a big 9-beat rhythm but it doesn't persist for long. Episode to episode it advances, continuously lovely/brutal. Fanciful polyrhythms. A slow procession of dense harmonies develops from the halfway point of the piece. This dissolves into oily mire-space. A chanting male voice intones something in French or Swedish as church bells begin to toll in the background. A long fade gets interrupted by a dark march infused with the screams of the damned. Liturgical chant ladies close the album with a beautifully executed cliche.