Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 17:41:35 +0000 From: "Desmond K. Hill" METABOLIC ALCHEMY: In the midst of the witching hour, bodies move tirelessly in oceans of sound, entranced by the drive and pulses of rhythm. Beams of white light cut into the darkness. Strobing colours synchronise with the music until time ceases to exist; light and sound become momentarily indistinguishable. Dancers locked into a ritual as ancient as humankind itself. An instinctual motion, flowing force. Bodies alive, reborn in rhythm. To Psychick Warriors ov Gaia sound is not just a transmitter to communicate rather intriguing ideas, but a direct means of resistance. "We contest structure, in the sense that we want to break down social control. By working within pop cultural media, you see the mechanics, the conditioning mechanics, and the changes. Most important are our own personal structures." To Reinoud the quest is literally for survival. From birth until death our desires are reduced to marketable commodities. Our emotional lives are defined by price tags and an eternal cavalcade of latest things. There is a deeper meaning to be found in obsolete, concealed techniques. "We are very interested in the methods of 'those primitive peoples' who used dance throughout the ages, as a celebration of life or a way to communicate with spirits. To be spiritual is a strange word now but you can break the structures of conditioning with that physical experience. That's the side we're interested in. In voudoun music the percussion always functions and the timing must always be precise. That's such a delicate way to treat dancers and place them into states to connect with or become possessed by spirits." The pagan origins of techno music are almost detectable in its distinctive sound. Quartz crystals present in computer micro-circuitry are mined from the earth. Reinoud closes his eyes to think aloud. "It is very basic matter, basic material. It's not music. It's just a structure related to time," he announces, flicking stray wisps of blond hair from his eyes: "House is not music, in a sense, because it breaks down that emotional structure." Contemporary electronic sound, created specifically for physical movement is completely functional and completely primal. "It is not new music. It's based on dance, and dance is as old as humankind. All over the world people want trance because sound is a way of speaking." The most direct and intuitive function of sound is to accelerate, alter or awaken visionary states of consciousness within communal celebration. Powerful and profound, trance is literally an intense rhythmic accentuation, with an ability to dramatically alter respiration, metabolic rate, blood pressure, and cognitive functioning. Metabolic alchemy by any other name. Indigenous cultures throughout time have recognised this and utilised trance in rhythm. In Papua New Guinea large sacred flutes vibrate the air against itself causing mental revelatory states and precognition. In Morocco the Joujouka players use high pitched pipes to reach ecstatic states, conjuring Pan and effecting enchantment. In Tibet singing bowls, bells and thigh bone trumpets are used in apparent illogical combinations to cure migraines, mental illness and other metabolic imbalances. The heads of demons are split asunder and exorcised from those possessed. The perspectives may be different now because technology has blossomed. The principles remain the same. At PURE in Glasgow, the liquid electricity of futuristic techno affirmed these changes. The heavy metallic resonance of Indonesian gongs inundated the room, competing with screaming feedback and hundreds of whistles. A layer of white light above the bodies pierced dark space. Hi-tek frequencies collided with the unfolding pulses of rhythm and body functional sounds, building up and up until the dance began. The mystical militia's current project is 'Psychick Rhythms Vol. 1', a twin 12" combination of records purposefully made for one another. It's an ideal tool for mixing 3:4 beats with 4:4 beats, to create complexity and chaos. Performed live it becomes just one track in full glory, recognisable but deliberately manipulated. With thoughtful emphasis Reinoud contends, "It's our first experience with a much older culture, using very complex patterns like in Indian music or African music where you have all kind of beats working together. One of the dictates of House music allows you to make a mix as empty or as harsh as you wish, but it is finite." Critics might assume this techno-shamanic soundtrack merely possesses the bland qualities of muzak, piped out of elevator speakers or down telephone lines on hold. That does not overtly concern them. "As long as people write about you, you seem to become someone who you never were before. I don't truly know even what we are. In my opinion our sound is a matter of ideas. Some work, some don't. I don't think we have a true style." Prior to their live work in Scotland, Psychick Warriors ov Gaia performed on September 23rd in Holland for a literary gathering dedicated to novelist William S. Burroughs, the elder statesman of uncourteous dissent. His ghostly presence was there via telephone. Hindered by conventional language structures, Burroughs popularised the cut-up method in the 1960s, which he considered, revealed the true meaning of words - quite literally by taking scissors and cutting up text to displace linear translation. To what extent do such techniques actually liberate the mind? To Reinoud, it is the art of believing. If you believe, then it will happen. "That is why we have returned to rhythm." On the dance floor the bass physically hits you. The higher notes lift your emotions. The entire spectrum of sound effects us in ways we do not even understand. It becomes an act of invocation. As Reinoud believes,"You can sing about freedom, you can shout for anarchy, you can scream for revolution, but if you are good at it, rhythm came make those things happen at that moment." His eyes are alive with mischief as he speaks, the corners of his mouth curl up into a warm grin. These spiritual storm troopers have a reputation as inhabitants of the dark side, with an attraction to the nether-world of demons much frequented by occult luminaries Aleister Crowley or Austin Osman Spare. A world which looks different and claims to be different yet is surprisingly familiar, with archaic hierarchies of orders, practitioners and strategists. For Reinoud, "The most important thing is to open perception to a point where nothing is true. The only truth in ritual is that it opposes our logical systems. We are born and grow up very much within conventional structures. Magick can certainly help to break them, but my personal opinion is that you should be careful how you do it, with whom you do it, whatever you do. Before you know it you are in some kind of similar state with a new set of beliefs: astrology, kabbalah, whatever." It is all a question of discovering new ideas and outlandish notions. Their album, 'Ov Biospheres and Sacred Groves (a document ov new edge folk classics)' serves as a compilation reflecting a variety of thoughts. It blends physical dance music with interludes of obscure noises and stifled voices. Can metabolic alchemy be reproduced in packaged form for people to use as soundtracks to private rituals, entrancing themselves into occult realms? The influential factors in any medium dictates what form is contained, for what length of time and how the product is marketed. "The Medium is the Message," chants Reinoud, invoking media philosopher McLuhan: "We tried to make that point with a mix of music, noises, and samples that can be treated in many ways. Musically it is interesting, but the impressions of the experiment count for more. It is personal search, each individual's struggle with recollection which makes life worthwhile. Do not ask me what it would feel like, or how you would experience it. I don't know, I simply don't know." Life's mysteries are rarely answerable. The key is discovery in itself. Finding inspiration is the first phase, then experimentation whatever the consequences. Ultimately, as Reinoud acknowledges, experience is all we can ever achieve: "Instead of becoming a more enlightened person, I've become a less believing person. The more I sense a feeling of knowledge, the less I really can control. I can only say I don't know anything. It makes me desperate sometimes. You can only do small things, make do with a very human level." If you can live by being creative, that's one achievement worth pursuing. "Because part of this process involves doing interviews, you confront me with myself and I am forced to admit that part of my consciousness is in that particular place." By working within the music industry, Psychick Warriors ov Gaia can observe how economic structures operate, itemising Imagination, Innovation, Magick and Temptation as products for consumption. "This is a very nasty industry. All the big machine producers own the record labels - Sony have taken over CBS, Phillips own Phonogram and most of the pressing plants. They are killing themselves. Why should anyone own music? The way to look at it, I think, is to be more sober like tribal cultures, where music is part of life as a whole; the musician is just someone in a village, living next to a farmer. No one talent is more important than another." Peculiarly displaced by the night's relentless rhythms or crude lack of sleep, travelling home provokes a memory of new life following rain: rich ochres and dark soil, fawn grasses dried by the wind and sun, deepening green fronds, mallards rising from a lake, crows converging on telephone wires, sky and trees: an earth unearthed, Gaia. Reinoud's recorded voice plays back: "I still believe in Life, and think it is the art to only enjoy it. Then again, maybe I just want to do perfectly nonsensical things." (written December 1993, published April 1994) Desmond K. Hill des@anubis23.demon.co.uk