DISCOGRAPHY

Artwork:

Liner Notes:

Deep in the hinterlands of Sumatra, there is a village whose only claim to minor historical notoriety is an annual procession around the ruins of an ancient tower. In a ritual of dark heathen origins, this tradition is accompanied by some of the finest music you have ever heard. Music that is shunned by the ignorant masses on the basis of its embrace of its savage origins. During a chance visit to Sumatra, a disease of slow insanity, started to descend upon us. Every night, half-asleep, half awake, we were hypnotized by the gamelan music of a local radio station. After the orchestra finished, we were entranced by the radio static that seemed to be part of the composition. Any thoughts of sleep left us, and after a few days we couldn’t help but seek out the origin of the music. What we found were social misfits, dismissed as primitive savages or "country bumpkins". However, these musicians were able to create gamelan with a love of raw, pagan nature. Musicians who understand that drama is the supreme rule of all music. They embrace unbridled lust and poisonous vitriol in a carnal philosophy of life that seems to permeate their every performance. Naturally, we invited them for a three-day-long recording session and proudly present the results with this new EP. But just what makes they're so different from other traditional orchestras? Ostensibly, their unique brand of gamelan portrays romantic, but canonical, journeys of brave explores. Featuring slow, melancholy beginnings, representative of primal darkness; bombastic overtures in the spirit of the blessing received by another blazing sunrise; massive, contrapuntally complex third acts that are just as tumultuous as the raging sea. It is these meandering third movements in which their brutally ritualistic edge shines through. Like a dream of a witches' sabbath, these movements paint the pictures of gigantic primordial landscapes full of spiteful gods and life's struggle to exist in them. Despite their appeal to the demonic, their compositions of turmoil are ultimately followed by an apocalyptic, triumphant finale. Their explorers conquer death. Just as we do, for by hearing their works you will feel their essence moving within you. And you, too, will be transfigured. 

Additional Liner Notes (MC Version):
"HYPERBEAST RECORDS IS DEAD! Two weeks ago we had a hit put out on the guys who ran it. For years, they refused our repeated request to release our music on physical media. Not only did they refused to release the music themselves, but they also prevented us from releasing our works on other labels. So, they ended up paying the ultimate price for their pathetic greed! Some dark web gangsters brought them to a backwater shithole in Germany, and we had them beaten and slaughtered like the filthy pigs they are. We watched them die on live stream, and it was fucking grim. We had their heads bashed in until there was blood, puss and grey stuff all over the room. Not only that, but we were surprised by how long they were able to continue moving. So, we had one of these degenerates eat his own liver. The other one bled to death after we had his tiny dick and balls cut off. We had their rotten carcasses dumped in some sewage ditch, but not before organizing to have some mementos send to us. It was the best decision we ever made. Now, we are free from their feeble-minded pettiness and ignorance. We already have new labels to release our music on physical media. ... I am still angry about the wasted years of opportunity. Their shit philosophy catered to faggy hispter kids with a mental patient haircut and ironic jogging suits. Fuck them and their moral ideals! We killed HYPERBEAST RECORDS AND DECLARE WAR! Our muzak is not there to be easy and conveniently consumed like a disgusting soy product. People must fear our muzak! We must take it back to what it was in the past! We killed HYPERBEAST RECORDS because we are dedicated to the true ancient Stygian laws of the jungle. It means loincloths, machetes and coconuts. You know, bands like Royal Scam-era Steely Dan, early Dr. John and Hellhammer."

- Gore, December 2021

New York Promo (by @718TV):

Reviews:

On the Fringes of Sound

Twisted, dark, and ritualistic excursions into sounds that very narrowly ride the already thin border between music and noise. The backstory behind this album is... odd, much like the back story for most of the Anatomy of the Heads' other works as well as the project as a whole. It's all very slow and grinding, but with a rather chaotic element to all of it, that feels as though we are listening to some very old pagan ritual as it occurs with a definitive overtone of horror.

Much of the time, the album strikes a purely ominous tone with tracks such as "Invoking the Almighty" with far-away sounding chants and dark textures that incorporate distortion and unnatural reverbs. Other times it is much more pointed in its horrific composition with "Towards the Funeral Demon" being a great example of this. This track actually reminds me of the scene in the movie Event Horizon in which the crew fully decodes a transmission only to see and hear the most horrible things. If terror is the point, then they hit it perfectly with this album.

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 I Thought I Heard A Sound

Every once in a while I'm sent an album that I struggle to make sense of. This is by no means a problem. My brain needs the work-out if I'm going to keep my neuroplasticity up while headed into my golden years. Also, as a rule, just because I'm not sure what I've caught, doesn't mean that I'm averse to sharing it with you. I'm generous in that regard- for better or for worse. And this is how I'm choosing to introduce Anatomy of the Heads, whose latest LP, Jungle Cult Terror, I enjoyed quite a lot... even if it caused me to become suspcicious of every random groan emitted from the wood in my apartment or every shadow I happened to spot out of the corner of my eye. AoftheH (as I think they prefer) is comprised of three named individuals (Michael van Gore, Jonas Heidenritch, and Jérôme Fisch) and was formed on the island of Kiribati (allegedly) in 2015. They describe themselves (among other things) as a "psyop" on Bandcamp, which is probably true. They're very strange and their music makes me feel like I'm being manipulated in a profound way. How isn't clear- but the impression remains. Allow me to explain, if you can imagine free jazz performed in the style of raw black metal with some Pacific island motifs embedded throughout like obsidian cobra scales, then you have the basics of their sound- but not the whole story. There is an environmental factor to AoftheH's work, especially on Jungle Cult Terror, that surrounds you like a paranoid fog. A horror as light as air, one that flows into your lungs and pulls you down and into their world like your chest was filled with stones. Even though these sounds appear to be perilously close, it never feels like you can ever quite pinpoint their origins. Your line of sight is always obstructed somehow, as if the drums and moaning player responsible for this cacophony are ducking behind rotting trees or wallowing in the mud under a dense carpet of untamed underbrush. They are a mosaic of dark patterns and even darker enterprises. This eerie ambiance is summoned by the spot-on mixing, which replicates the temperature and texture of a Herschell Gordon Lewis film- wicked and uneven, but manifested with a purposeful, maligned intent that is bafflingly clear and dismayingly inviting. I don't have that much more to say about this one, other than give it a whirl, and if you need it, BetterHelp is just a web query away.*

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CAVE DWELLER MUSIC

by James Sweetlove

Mysterious experimental act Anatomy of the Heads return to make people uncomfortable, blur genre and style lines, explore dark mystical concepts and make genuinely unsettling music. Their upcoming EP uses a blend of dark ritual ambient, harsh noise, world music, drone and black metal to achieve this. The album tells an engrossing story focusing on dark rituals taking place in the jungles of Sumatra and the music transports the listener there and then prevents them from leaving or looking away.

Anatomy of the Heads became known to me after they shared their music last week on a Bandcamp Friday post I made requesting new music to listen to and I am so glad that they did. I was lucky enough to hear a full advanced stream of the project’s upcoming album Jungle Cult Terror, set for release on March 22nd. The project is a fictitious band claiming to hail from Kiribati and who have created a whole world of lore surrounding themselves and their music (learn more HERE). As with each of their previous concept driven albums, this release focuses on telling the story of the band embarking on a mystical, mind-altering adventure to dark and foreboding places. On this latest morbid outing, they offer us what is described as being a Sumatran pagan ritual. The Bandcamp description claims that the EP was recorded over three days after the band sought out local musicians playing dark ritualistic music in the jungle, music that appeared to play mysteriously over late-night radio stations in the area. You can read the full album premise on the Bandcamp page, and I highly suggest that you do as it really adds a depth and richness to the album.

With a basic understanding of what the band and the album are about, you’re ready to dive into the music itself. The EP is 6 tracks of genre defying, genuinely unsettling soundscapes. It brings to mind the music of Shibalba, relying heavily on dark ritual ambient and noise elements. These elements are then projected through a dark world music lens, featuring what comes across as haunting folk instrumental elements. All of this is then fed through an even finer lens of feedback and distortion, with black metal vocals layered over the top of it.

Inhuman howls and screeches, dark ritualistic spoken vocals and bestial shrieks can be found on numerous tracks on the EP. The band really know how to world build, as the elements presented on the album make the epic backstory come across as almost being believable. You begin to question if they had stumbled across some demonic ritual in the jungle in a remote region of Sumatra. More importantly though you want that movie to be made and for this EP to be the soundtrack to it, because personally that is something I would gladly go to the cinema to see (and hear).

Each track has its own unique flavour to it and presents its own sort of theme. Track 4 Battle with the Yan-gant-Y-Tan has a real tribalistic feel to it. Having actually been to Indonesia and heard this music played in temple rituals myself I can appreciate the chaotic nature of the instruments employed on this track. However, the band have gone so far beyond that and made them feel truly menacing, as if leading up to something evil approaching. The second half of this track delves deeper into this sense of dread with haunting ritualistic vocals layered over feedback, with these instruments emerging out of the void towards the end of the track. I chose this track in particular to examine for two reasons, one its one of my favourites on the album and two it’s the only single available for you all to listen to at this point in time. Just know that each track on the album feels very different to this one and as you may have noticed those black metal vocals, I discussed are nowhere to be found on this one. You’ll have to wait for the full album to be released to hear more!

From start to finish though the band never break character and never deviate from the album’s theme and essence. Overall, I was a huge fan of this release and now have a new band that I’ve become obsessed with. Keep in mind though that their previous releases are vastly different and each experiment with different genres and styles. If this album is not to your liking, then maybe their previous album A Banishment of Bloodshed and Superstition’s progressive jazz fusion/rock/world/noise will be more to your liking. Personally, I enjoyed the darkness and chaos captured on this album though and appreciate their stylistic direction.

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Credits:

Anatomy of the Heads are:
Gore - Hateful Litanies and Extremely Esoteric Devices
Heidenreich - Paraphernalia of Indoctrination
Ikan Raja - Disdain for Lesser Beings

Additional Personnel:
Sutikno - Kempul
Iskandar Purnama Wibowo - Kenong
Adi Cahaya Hadiman - Bonang, Celempung
Deddy Bambang Dharmawijaya - Demung, Keprak
Tri Harta Darmadi - Saron, Kecer
Suzanna Bondar - Rebab, Suling

This epic piece of black magic was recorded during the last full moon of 2020 in the Raffles Ritual Chamber, Indonesia.

All compositions were revealed through Jailangkung. Anatomy of the Heads plays exclusively untuned.

DEATH TO ALL HIPPIE WIMPS! HAIL HORROR HAIL! Directed by Joe D'Amato. For more information, visit www.aoftheh.com