Review: Anunnaki - The Chelaship EP

It's very rare for me to dedicate a whole post to one track, but when that one track is as huge as 'The Chelaship' I don't really have a choice. Anunnaki graced these pages back in January with their first EP 'Exploitations Of The Chiromancer', which I described as running the "gamut from passages of restrained power to flashes of beauty with everything in between and it's hard to believe that this glorious noise is only made by 2 dudes. This is not always an 'easy' listen but nothing worth having in this world is easy and it's that challenging that makes this so good - it subverts what we know about music and rebuilds from the ground up". This second EP as I have alluded to, is comprised of just the one track...but what a track; twenty three minutes of "Occult Psychedelia For The Initiated" (the band's words.) The band is just the two badass dudes: Arlen Thompson (Drums, microbrute, modular synthesizer) & Dave Read (Ibanez doubleneck bass 4/guitar 6, effects).

The track itself is the musical equivalent of listening to the news in these troubled times; rooted in despair and foreboding, flashes of optimism that are dashed against the rocks of hopelessness...however, it is brilliant! It takes several forms along its journey; there are periods of Lustmord like dark ambience, all muted choral chants and cavernous drones; passages of crashing percussion and deep bass notes and times when the electronica sounds like the pits of Hades itself. What is impressive is that it flows so well together, there are no clumsy segues - its fluidity and its cohesiveness make 'The Chelaship' a real journey. Like any journey there are ups and downs, hills and valleys and this is reflected in the atmospheres and soundscapes that these guys conjure.

On the strength of 'The Chelaship' and its predecessor 'Exploitations Of The Chiromancer', Anunnaki's first album, if happens (and I do hope so), will be a stonker! The guys have a knack, or rather the skill, to imbue real personality and vibes to their admittedly somewhat strabilious music. It is challenging but ultimately incredibly satisfying aural listen...best experienced in the dark when all is quiet! 'The Chelaship' is available from the band's Bandcamp page here as a limited CD (only 50) or as a download.