HATHOR

Delving into the world of the mystical and occult on his third album HATHOR, IGOR WAKHÉVITCH dropped much of the modern classical instrumentation found on his first two releases and focused more on a dark, spooky mix of keyboards, synthesizers and looping techniques along with a larger swath of percussive embellishments. The other major emphasis was on vocal performances which included not only poetic narrations reminiscent of Ruth White's electronic poetry on "Flowers Of Evil" but also employed a collaboration with the Paris Opera choir which took the vocal experimentation to a whole new level. A seamless flow of seven tracks, HATHOR refers to an Egyptian goddess but the Hebrew character on the album cover clearly makes references to the mystical traditions of the Kabbalah. In effect, the album is a rather pan-mystical experience that can make you feel like you're having an out of body experience.

HATHOR evokes a 34 minute occult ritual soundtrack that takes you on the darkest abstruse journey through sound that you could possibly imagine. The full title hosts the appellative subtitle LITURGIE DU SOUFFLE POUR LA RESURRECTION DES MORTS which translates from the French language as "Liturgy Of The Breath For The Resurrection Of The Dead," so just from the title alone you can surmise that this will be one electrifying ride! Having recently collaborated with Terry Riley earlier in 1973 on his "Happy Ending" soundtrack, WAKHÉVITCH picked up some tricks from Riley and married them with his own avant-garde sensibilities that resulted in an odd mix of early Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream, Mort Garson (especially as Lucifer on "Black Mass") and even a bit of early Cluster in tandem with some of the most uncanny avant-garde vocal performances and high-spirited percussive sequences.

Permeated throughout with a magical and ritualistic ethos, HATHOR segues the tracks together perfectly as one morphs into the next without failing to sever the connection to the overall liturgical ambient intent. Percussive heavy motifs accompanied by eccentric keyboard exhibitions give way to vocal outbursts that range from narrations (en français) to shouted out tirades and operatic choirs delivering a more traditional requiem. The most bizarre and alienating track is surely the penultimate "Amenthi" which delivers a droning effect for nearly eight minutes accompanied by a monks' choir, oscillating kosmische sound effects and a whole range of freakily manipulated gothic vocal performances that extend from the highest registers to creepy baritone vocalists that sound like they're on the verge of breaking out into some sort of throat singing technique.

The dark, ethereal atmosphere only add an extra layer of horrific dirge-like ambience to the mix as fluttering spacey sound effects randomly emerge and then sputter out of range. In fact, the strangest moments with the vocal performances and eerie synthesized backdrops make me believe that surely Philip Glass must have heard this album to inspire his stylistic approach on "Glass Works" and the "Koyaanisqatsi" soundtrack. Even the track titles are creepy! Lengthy French headings like "Rituel De Guerre Des Espirits De La Terre" (Ritual Of Spiritual War Of The Earth" only evoke a great metaphysical cataclysm that remains utterly imperceptible to the five senses. The soundtrack to another realm just beyond our dimensional perception that we are allowed in this 3D construct. This album is put together so perfectly that it's impossible to distinguish where one track ends and the other begins.

A true oddball creation even within the already bizarre world of WAKHÉVITCH's eccentric palette, HATHOR is the scariest and even most mystical musical experience i have yet come across with a seamless delivery that wends and winds its way through the fabric of some imperceptible reality that lies outside our ability to detect. Like a prolonged meandering peregrination into the darkest recesses of occult ritualistic practices, listening to HATHOR for the first time is like a experiencing a happenstance discovery of the occult ceremony of some secret society and the awe of encountering something completely alienating in relation to our every day world. Musically unclassifiable, WAKHÉVITCH produced the perfect musical chimera that fused classical, progressive electronic, choral, tribal percussive and horror synth into one monstrous mystical masterpiece. Utterly brilliant from beginning to end.