Hrodebert McGodhead - In Praise of the First Cause- A Meditation
It’s no wonder 33soteric has released his latest album In Praise of the First Cause- A Meditation under new artist name; the work is completely different than the work that predated it. Release yesterday on Halloween, the 31st of October, the album is mildy spooky. Though like the classic cult-classic Evil Dead (1981), its subtle humour makes it more camp than anything. Blending ambient and plunderphonics may seem like an unoriginal mix, though Hrodebert McGodhead shows there’s still a lot to be discovered within these domains.
The longest track, Occult Club 2 Brain Scrubbers LTD, is impeccable. It may be the quintessential 33soteric ambient piece, and easily his best work to date. The piece incorporates an immaculate set of keys, and the track is very similar to Raphael’s Angels of The Deep, though with a considerably higher degree of progression and a commendable amplitude of synth work. The second longest track on the album, To a Clown World in 3D Utopia, is perhaps also the second greatest piece of In Praise of the First Cause- A Meditation. Whereas the former track maintains class through, the latter instead submerges the listener into a frantic world of synthetics, only using acoustics sparingly toward the end to relieve the madness. Both tracks are incredible and carry the album. Sadly, not much else on In Praise of the First Cause- A Meditation reaches the highs of these two tracks, bar the immaculate The Darkest Path to Enlightenment Has Been Sought Over and the smooth opener The Original Moment.
Much of the remaining album sounds like a compilation of leftovers. Hot Tar is High Fashion (Concert City) is a lovely ambient piece, though its vapourwave segments are lame. The Glory of those Digital Quixotes is simply awful. One could easily assume the clown only included it in the track listing to troll his audience. Tracks such as Cosmic Censor and Green Room at the Annunaki Puppet Show are too similar to tracks such as Jupiter and Saturn on New World Orechstra. Unfortunately, while they gave a refreshing relief to the madness on the latter-mentioned album, they struggle to have the same impact on an album comprised entirely of similarly-structured tracks. Aside from the two lognest tracks, the only notable remaining track is the opener, The Original Moment, which boasts an impressively smooth buildup.
Whereas New World Orchestra felt focused and unique throughout, in contrast In Praise of the First Cause- A Meditation fluffs about far too much. The ambience works very well, though at times it doesn’t sound different from other air acts. Even though his voice was electronically modified to the point where it was indistinguishable, its absence is sadly noticeable. The included voice samples do not suffice. Moreover, there’s a noticeable range in quality throughout In Praise of the First Cause- A Meditation. Its highs could be considered among the best work the clown has ever produced, though its lesser tracks drag the overall experience down. The artist should be encouraged to edit down his track listing in future; this could have been a mesmerising EP. Nonetheless, I highly recommend you check out its noticeable tracks.
Good
Listen to it here:
https://double-digits-anon.bandcamp.com/album/in-praise-of-the-first-cause-2
Hrodebert McGodhead - In Praise of the First Cause- A Meditation
