“O Quam Tristis…”
Le Rituel Sacré
Palace of Worms
If you’ve ever wondered what the Latin mass would sound like if a darkwave group performed it instead of a priest, “O Quam Tristis…“‘s gorgeous new album, Le Rituel Sacré, is your answer. Heavenly female siren songs and soothing, monk-like male voices combine with synths, electronic and acoustic percussion, bass and acoustic guitars, flutes, bagpipes, chimes, and much more to evoke the mystery and magic that underlie the familiar Catholic liturgies. All the vocals are in Latin, taken from the Mass and other sacred texts, and deal with such topics as the glory of God and the resurrection of Christ (the band’s name, also in Latin, means something like “O such sorrow…”). But you don’t have to be a believer in Christ to become a believer in “O Quam Tristis…” – one time through this album is all it will take for that.
As you might expect with all the vocals in Latin and the use of some period instruments, much of Sacré has a shadowy, medieval feel, which fans of groups like Arcanta, Love is Colder Than Death, or The Soil Bleeds Black should enjoy. But that’s only part of what makes this album so incredibly unique and original (the closest comparison I can really make, in spirit at least, is to another little-known French band, Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus, and even that is a stretch). Who would have thought to set Latin liturgical texts, normally chanted by monks and intoned by priests in musty cathedrals, to twenty-first century dance beats? Who would have thought the results would be so deeply moving, both on the physical and spiritual levels? Every song on this album is hypnotic, addictive, building from a single voice and simple beat to a throbbing, trance-inducing, spiraling crescendo of visions of the light within deep darkness and sounds of the spirit in ecstasy. And the musicianship is exquisite, especially the singing, which was one of the highlights of this all-around outstanding album for me.
Palace of Worms Records: http://utenti.tripod.it/palaceofworms • “O Quam Tristis…”: http://site.voila.fr/o.quam.tristis
