reviews / 2007

VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA - Wisdom Thunderbolt

Name: VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA – Wisdom Thunderbolt
Item: Wisdom Thunderbolt
Rating: 5
Author: Antonio Ciarletta

2007 (Vhf)

drone

by Antonio Ciarletta

I've already come across glowing reviews for the new Vibracathedral Orchestra record (not counting the vinyl "The Sun Balance/The Open Knot" released on Qbico), and I'm not all that surprised given the enormous credit good old Neil has earned with the specialist press.

Largely deserved, to be fair - after all "My Gate's Open", "Dabbling With Gravity" and "The Queen of Guess", alongside the work of Richard Youngs and Matthew Bower, have significantly renewed the grammar of drone music, acting as a bridge between the tradition of historic minimalism (La Monte Young, Tony Conrad, Pauline Oliveros) and the new generation of the contemporary avant-garde.

That said, "Wisdom Thunderbolt" - without Campbell, who left in 2006 - is as dull as almost anything I've heard in the first half of this year. Seven compositions that crave a focal point without ever finding one, muddled and lacking the sharp, transcendental vision Campbell had accustomed us to. The sound leans toward the psychedelic acidity of Sunburned Hand Of The Man, without possessing the same hallucinogenic intensity. Disappointing.

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21/03/2011

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This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Antonio Ciarletta, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition