Direct Transmissions from the Hunab Ku CD review
c-ville weekly Issue #19.50, 12/11/2007 - 12/17/2007
by John Ruscher
http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=1990812060534937&ShowArticle_ID=11431012073672297
If
colonial legend and Wikipedia are
correct, Hunab Ku was the supreme
deity
of
the
Mayan civilization.
The
god,
without
a physical form, is represented by a symbol (somewhat similar
to the Chinese yin and yang) that signifies the solar calendar,
balanced forces and an embodiment of the center of the Milky
Way, the "galactic core."
Hunab Ku constructed the Mayan world from the catastrophe
that spewed forth from the mouth of a sky serpent. The first
movement
(at around 15 minutes each, the four tracks aren't so much
songs as segments of an epic saga) of Galactic Core's new
record, entitled "Attunement
to the Mind of Light," spews sweeping waves of sound.
In the spirit of the title, echo-laden sounds swirl around,
searching
for some precise alignment, some ideal tone. As the movement
progresses, the landscape gradually comes into focus. The unwieldy
storm gives way to contemplative, calming drones while rattlesnake-like
cymbals and shakers slowly morph into heavier, more tangible
percussive reference points.
With "Ritual Entrance into Timelessness" the dust
has settled. Matthew Clark's drums seize upon a steady rhythm
and
Brian Thackeray's spaced-out guitar coats the cadence with
a satisfying mystic language. Abel Okugawa's synthesizers swell
like ether somewhere in between, resembling inconspicuous primordial
murmurs rather than their synthetic source. The track meditates
upon its own parts with kraut rock-ish persistence before easing
into the darkness.
"Dark Rift (Descent of the Skywalkers)" takes on a crunchy,
apocalyptic tone. The title is a reference to the region
of the Milky Way with which the sun will purportedly align during the
winter solstice in 2012, the ending date of the Mayan calendar.
The thick, morphing atmosphere of "Attunement" merges
with the grooves of "Timelessness" to form a murky
horizon of ominous clouds.Direct Transmissions concludes
with "Thirteen," again
a reference to the end of the Mayan calendar, whose final
and 13th cycle will end in 2012. The track plays like the
reverse
of the album's opener as it turns from tranquil noises to
fluctuating, chaotic clamor, which in turn dissipates into
minimal liquid
resonance, the final drips of the universe.
The orbit of Direct Transmissions circles at a perfect speed,
balancing an abstract universe with a steady, mesmerizing
progression. It seems that, whether or not it was an uncanny
connection
with an unworldly being, something significant aligned during
the
summer solstice, when Galactic Core recorded the album. Mythology
aside, Clark, Thackeray and Okugawa came together to create
nearly an hour of far-reaching sounds that neither overwhelm
nor bore.
Get Direct Transmissions from members of the band, at Yarnlazer.com and soon at Monkeyclaus.org.
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