Search - John Zorn :: Six Litanies for Heliogabalus

Beyond expectations.

Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 03/29/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In the liner notes to Moonchild, Zorn asserts that record is the "first realization of a project that has been gestating for over three years", a combination of composition and improvisation in a rock format. For that record, he assembled a trio to record freewheeling avant-hardcore sort of stuff-- vocalist Mike Patton, bassist Trevor Dunn and drummer Joey Baron. The music on both Moonchild and Astronome was fierce and powerful yet somehow quite agile. It also set expectations for "Six Litanies for Heliogalabus", the third record in this series, but this one is entirely different.



Augmenting the Moonchild trio with the composer on alto sax, Jamie Saft on organ, Ikue Mori on laptop electronics, and a trio of female vocalists (Martha Cluver, Abby Fischer and Kirsten Sollek) serving as a chorus, "Six Litanies..." is significantly more than its predecessors, in many ways, it's the culmination of Zorn's work (barring Masada) over the past few years.



Trading with the hardcore of Moonchild (with Zorn and occasionally Saft joining in to augment) are passages of exotica-tinged organ music reminiscent of the work on The Gift (one could just hear how Ribot would wail over the top of parts of this), haunting, droning sounds with whispered vocals not unlike parts of IAO: Music In Sacred Light and interspersed vocal chorus passages that could have been lifted straight from "Frammenti del Sappho" from last year's Mysterium. It's quite a shock when the explosive hardcore sounds yield to a three-part, sustained, wordless vocal, with nothing but a flutter from Ikue Mori to signal the transition, but like the best of Zorn's work, it all fits together. It all flows from part to part and piece to piece, and throughout, Zorn seems to get nothing but stunning performances out of his musicians (including an extended solo voice performance from Patton on "Litany IV" where he pulls out everything from sounds of vomiting to screeches, screams, chirping, blowing and even some downright fantastic falsetto singing).



A couple quick notes about the presentation-- this record just sounds fantastic-- Zorn produced himself and brought in Bill Laswell on the mix and both did a fantastic job. The CD is housed in a small hard cardstock envelope contained as part of a mini-LP sleeve with the artwork displaying rose petals on a white background. It's actually quite a nice looking product.



There's a lot to love here-- Zorn and Patton's call and response at the beginning of "Litany II", Zorn leading Dunn and Baron on a freewheeling improv that ranks among the best of his frantic work on "Litany V" (where somehow all the elements of the rest of the record seem to come together), Saft just wailing on exotica sounds throughout the record, or the downright haunting droning organ and whispered vocals in "Litany III" are the best examples that come to mind. And really it makes for quite a listen, constantly unexpected and intriguing. If you like your music adventerous, this one's for you. Highly recommended."

Heliogabalus Killing 'Em With Roses

El Duderino | Kalifornia | 06/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Apparently the Roman emperor who inspired this album had an affinity for smothering his dinner guests to death with perfumed rose petals. Imagine it, you're at a Roman "house party" sitting there eating your meal and hanging out with some friends when you notice some pretty rose petals floating down from the ceiling. "Hey that's a nice touch" you think as you raise your cup of wine in approval. The host, Heliogabalus, smiles and raises his cup in acknowledgement. Next thing you know the delicate sprinkling of rose petals has turned into a freakin' downpour. You start to think "Ok now he's overdoing it," but you don't get up because you're at the emperors party and getting up and leaving abruptly would be tantamount to going over and slapping your host in the face. The level of rose petals begins to rise and rise. Next thing you know they've covered your face and you're struggling to get out but the sheer volume of petals overpowers you and you begin to lose the ability to breathe, with the emperor smiling all the while. After a few minutes you and other equally unfortunate guests are motionless each of you with a mouthful of rose petals. As unlikely as that scenario may seem the experience of being killed by rose petals is quite similar to the music contained on "Six Litanies for Heliogabalus". At one moment you are relaxing to the soft chorus of voices accompanied by a calming organ piece. The next minute you are pulled out of your comfort zone and bludgeoned with high pitched screaming, jagged saxophone blasts, distorted bass and chaotic drumming. John Zorn made a good decision to expand the core trio of musicians (Mike Patton, Trevor Dunn and Joey Baron) to not only include himself but multi-talented Jamie Saft, noise maker Ikue Mori and a chorus of female vocalists. If you dug on "Moonchild" or "Astronome" then don't hesitate to get this."

Unconventional Beauty

Avernus | Weatherford, TX, USA | 12/13/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"To begin, I feel I must inform the reader that I am, by no means, an authority on John Zorn or any of his projects. In fact, the only John Zorn album I own other than "Six Litanies for Heleiogabalus" is "Naked City," providing me with the relative advantage of reviewing this wonderful album totally on its own merits, and not in the context of previous releases. Regardless to the extent that the listeners musical horizon is used to brash dissonance and stark contrasts, nothing outside of John Zorn's catalogue, (nor within it, as far as I know) can prepare you for the experience that "Six Litanies..." delivers. What we are treated to with this release is an odd barrage of noise, weeping organs, almost medieval choral arrangements with a twist of modern minimalism, and of course, Mike Patton.



For the sake of the unprepared listener, it is quite unfair to call "Six Litanies..." Patton's best vocal performance. I bought this album solely on that premise and being a big Mr. Bungle fan, I expected Patton to experiment, but to experiment while singing. Mike Patton does not sing, in the conventional sense, on this album. What you will hear protruding from Patton's versatile vocal chords is a quite cacophonous serving of everything he is capable of doing besides singing, including wordless, screams, shrieks, babbles, chatters, laughs, coughs, screeches and clicks. If this doesn't sound like something you can stomach, then do not purchase this album. There is an 8 minute solo vocal track right in the middle of the album consisting solely of Patton's inhuman nonsense. The absolute unconventionality that Patton's vocals bring to the table bring down this release a bit for me. The cacophony that is Patton is effective for experimentations sake, but is simply not that enjoyable. If you are capable of overlooking this unconventional and inaccessible feature however, you will be rewarded.



After you become accustomed to Patton's unusual vocal approach, it will be easier to appreciate all the other many wonderful things about "Six Litanies..." John Zorn's alto sax attacks surprisingly do not show up as much as I had expected. When they do they are in the noise-experiment sections, and are completely atonal. The noisy parts are largely driven-besides by Patton's vocal assault and Trevor Dunn's distorted and heavy bass riffs. There are several moments where Dunn's bass lines actually begin to groove into a more straightforward beat, adding some diversity into the chaos. The aspect of this album that really makes the chaos shine are the contrasting, slower, atmospheric moments. Absolutely brilliant minimalist work by Jamie Saft (Organ), Ikue Mori (Electronics), and the chorus displaying the beautiful voices of Martha Cluver, Abbey Fischer, and Kirsten Sollek, really turn this album into something completely captivating. While the slower parts are utterly simple compared to the impossible complexity of the dissonant movements, they are nevertheless extremely atmospheric and creepy. Forlorn voices intertwine with mournful organ dirges accented by Ikue Mori's Edgard Varse-influenced electronic soundscaping to create an unusual and original masterpiece in a modern age where it seems that all musical ideas have been mastered. "Six Litanies..." Is definitely a necessity to lovers of experimental music.

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