JOHN ZORN — Ipsissimus (with Moonchild Trio) (review)

JOHN ZORN — Ipsissimus (with Moonchild Trio) album cover Album · 2010 · Eclectic Fusion Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Slartibartfast
What can one say about this album? The cover sleeve blurb says "Weaving sonic dramas around the legacies of Magick and Alchemy." Okay, I'll buy that and I did. "Powerful secrets are realized through intensity and extremes of experience." John Zorn. Can't say I wasn't warned.

Seven Sigils kicks the album off in high gear with a heavy driving bass line by Trevor Dunn thunderous drums from Joey Baron and then its whoooaaaa de deen heh hah he huh heh whoooo de naahh - Mike Patton doing scat language vocalizations, and then John Zorn appears and starts to strangle a saxophone. But it works and that's the important thing. However this one album I probably never ever ever be able to play for anyone I know in its entirety in one sitting. Maybe only many of the parts for a few seconds at best.

It really is like a soundtrack to a really intense horror movie. Not one of those boring slasher affairs but one that keeps you on the edge of your seat in a more intellectual fashion. Maybe more like a David Lynch flick. In fact you could pair this up with either the Lost Highway soundtrack or Octaves Of The Holy Innocent by Hellborg/Buckethead/Shrieve. The Book Of Los eases the tension of the opener a little, but still has a spooky aspect to it. Marc Ribot's guitar takes center stage on this one, the searing guitar branding your ass flesh. And thennnneeeooogghhh lalalala nnnddduu mmmsoo tnndkllll. OK, you really have to have a little sense of humour with the vocalizationsAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrruuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

So anyway, be expected to be taken on a ride of dissonance and wonder and darkness and harmony and horror and beauty and whatever the hell else you want in it or aauurrgghh. If I had an odd division in my collection, I'd have to place it there.

On a final note. The art of the cover isn't dead with the CD: this one's a digipak with three dark themed paintings I don't recognize. It is contained within a gold slip cover that has an equilateral cross cut out in the center of the front and a circle on the back, revealing two of the paintings.
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