Masstishaddhu

In 1988, Steven Stapleton's United Dairies label released the one-off album called Shekinah by a trio consisting of Metgumbnerbone members Sean Breadin (aka B. Sedayne), Matt Watson and Richard Rupenus (also of The New Blockaders). A limited quantity was pressed and, for the most part, it was overlooked and fell into an abyss of collector-talk and rumors. Thanks to the reintroduction by the new label Psychedelic Pig, and the remastering job by Colin Potter, Masstishaddhu's Shekinah can be heard again and appreciated for its insanely mystical tone and occult allure.

Everything about this release suggests esoteric happenings: the title, the cover, and the music all recall bloodied altars, unfathomable rituals, and mystical learning. The low and buzzing drone of secret instruments underscores a lava flow of nonsense chants, violins, grunts, and various percussion. The pulse of these sounds is simultaneously warm and frigid as though through the music the difference between life and death was seperated. Whatever words might be spoken during this procession of yearning melodies and utterly ethereal voices is perhaps best left for the Gods. The word "shekinah" is Hebrew and translates roughly as "the presence of God" or as that light which is visible in the presence of God (as God appeared to Moses and others, for example). The title is highly appropriate as the two twenty-plus minute tracks often shine in an inexplicable way. The music burns slowly and washes the space it occupies with sweet and smokey incense, but the interplay of the voices and instruments emanates a bright and insistent energy that escapes the world of words and can only be described, with caution, as a feeling or a presence. Whatever secrets the music holds, they are a fountain of spiritual beauty and unknowable terror.