An instrumental band equally as equally accustomed to travelling along the outer rim of avant-black metal circles as they are hobnobbing with the giants of Krautrock such as Faust, Grenoble, France’s Aluk Todolo are about to follow up last year’s head-spinning Voix album with a retrospective album digging into their yet more mind-melting past.
Released on March 24 via Temple Of Tortuous Records, Archives Vol 1. reaches back into the band’s first 10 years and digs up eight rarities, recording experiments and alternate versions from the vault. But whereas Voix’s perpetual grooves, ever-shifting centre and spangled riffs like a starburst gone wrong seemed to be gearing up to a sublime state, Archives… is more likely to meticulously pick your brain apart. Comparable to the arcane and sprawling noise deconstruction of cult heroes Skullflower, this is a more rudimentary yet still delirium-inducing take on the slippery Aluk Todolo sound.
From the proto-Oranssi Pazuzu pulse of IV XII MMX through the rubberised groove below layers of corroded scree that is XXVI IX MMX to the DIY summoning of X IX MMVIII, Archives Vol. 1 is far from easy listening, but for those who want to journey to the frayed edges of sonic sensibility, or who are curious about the raw material that got refined into Aluk Todolo’s current state of dislocated grace, this will provide a cornucopia of unnerving delights.
“We selected these tracks, because they were still in our consciousness after all these years,” say the band themselves. “We approached the release as a whole, assembled the tracks focusing on dynamics, like we did for Voix (instead of making it chronological). For us it’s a way to revisit our 10 first years, and use recordings we made on our own, be it rehearsal tracks, or work-in-progress steps, rare tracks releases or just experimentations. It’s a collection, and here is Vol.1, we have no clear plan about the Vol.2, but time will tell..”
Enter the weird and frankly disturbing world of Archives Vol 1. below!
Check out Aluk Todolo’s Facebook page here.
Having played Roadburn in 2011 at the behest of that year’s curators Sunn O))), Aluk Todolo are returning in April. Check out their full list of European dates below.
April 18: Belgium Kortrijk - The Pit´s - with Witch Trail
April 19: Germany Berlin - Urban Spree - with Oranssi Pazuzu
April 20: Poland Poznan - Las -
April 21: Germany Hamburg - Markthalle - with Oranssi Pazuzu
April 22: Tilburg, The Netherlands - Roadburn Festival, 013 - with Mysticum, Magma, Oranssi Pazuzu…
April 23: Belgium Bruxelles - Magasin 4 - with Oranssi Pazuzu
April 24: France Colmar- Grillen - with Oranssi Pazuzu
April 25: Switzerland Zurich - Ebrietas - with Antiversum
April 26: France Paris - Petit Bain - with Oranssi Pazuzu
April 27: France Nantes - Le Ferrailleur - with Oranssi Pazuzu
April 28: France Toulouse - Le Rex - with Oranssi Pazuzu
April 29: France Montpellier - The Black Sheep
April 30: France tba
