Hexadic Dreams Me

Six Organs of Admittance is a succulent, sweet piece of fruit hanging ripe and ready on the grand old tree of American music. A welcome gift, like a persimmon's sugar sparkling delight in late summer, Ben Chasny has guided me on long road weary highway journeys up and down the eastern edge of this rot worn country - his angelic hymnal of guitar ambiance and his Sybillian, lullaby voice giving me space to feel safe as my shoes collect a thin layer of purified piss in the temple space of truck stop bathrooms and my stomach gets a ragged layer of sacred scar tissue from sipping slow drags on the hot acid nectar of rest station automatic coffee.

Hexadic, the latest offering under the guise of Six Organs, gives us all a new language for dreaming. God smiles and devils dance to suck on the thirsty throb that underlies these vicious guitar musings. These trustworthy truthes have been assigned by an unseen hand of The Process  - I would advise you to whisper then a blessing, if you understand that hidden gift guiding the album's composition. This selection of songs is a visceral act of divination, created using a self-developed system inspired by Cornelius Agrippa, Raymon Llully, and whatever quiet spirit of genius stirs in St. Chasny's magnificent mind.

"The System builds all of the tonal fields, chord changes, scales, and lyrics on Hexadic, creating the framework of the songs that the musicians engage with. Yet the System is open; within the framework, Chasny's own personal aesthetics - such as the production mode of loud guitars, the order of songs, the editing of length, were all conscious decisions made to communicate the pieces. The exact same combinatorial patterns used on this record would generate infinite results, depending on the choices of the individual. Ben's years of study have produced an operational agent that has not only built all the songs on Hexadic but is also a system anyone can use to restructure their ways of habit."

A French review of the album says that the listening experience accords with "stabbing the listener tirelessly for 9 tracks and 38 minutes that seem to be 666." This is Dario Argento pushing his production aides aside with a sensuous smile, slipping on the black glove and stabbing with the most delicate and meaningful thrusts imaginable. When Hexadic, unflinching, slaughters you screaming in the gaudy red and blue light of true musical mastery, you know you were slaughtered with love.

As Ben says:

"This release is the result of years of working on a new way to compose music. We’ve been using the word “system,” but it would probably be more accurate to describe it as an “open system.” It is very malleable. The particular songs on this record were bent toward the idea of rock music. I composed 30 pieces using this system. Of those 30 songs, I chose 9 that could best be worked into a rock format for Hexadic. I wanted to make a rock record. So there you have it."

Bow your heads children, we are moving into holy space - emptiness and light dancing with unrestrained delicacy and wanton sensitivity. Lay down and let these sounds wash you clean again, if you feel a darkness, it is within you already and if you feel a freedom, sing it out to those who can bear to hear it.

God save such a lovely one as this - thank you Ben - thank you.

To order this gift - go to Drag City by Clicking Here.

To read some thoughts on the composition from Ben - Click Here.

Or, just lean back and enjoy a selection from the album...