Entheogenic - Anthropomorphic - Review

Artist : Entheogenic
Title : Anthropomorphic
Label : Universal Symbiosis Records
Release : May 2013
Genre : Psychill, Psydub, Psytrance
Rating :

Entheogenic are back with a surprise new release, a four track album called Anthropomorphic. Some may debate that a four track release can hardly be called a full album. However each of the track are over or close to 10 minutes in length so I think it's fair enough to go with album rather than EP this time. 

 Tracklist :

1. Luminous Child 11:19

2. Tonglen 09:51
3. Spirit Molecule (Wounded Man Pech Merle Mix) 09:59
4. Soma (Veda Mix) 11:22

Entheogenic remain one of the best loved acts in the psychedelic ambient music scene. Their twisting melodies and deep basslines have gained them thousands of fans worldwide since their masterpiece self titled debut release in 2002. 

Subsequent albums were met with mixed reviews as they tried out different styles of music. However over the last two or three releases then have regained some of their original psychedelic brilliance which has never been more wonderfully demonstrated than on Anthropomorphic.

The album begins with the 11 minute spiritual carpet ride Luminous Child which will melt you right into your sofa and tingle your pineal gland with multilayered sparkling crystals of hyper dimensional resonance. 

I felt a sense of Entheogenic coming home on this track. Like they have rediscovered the roots deep within that inspired them on their first album. They seemed to have really gotten a handle on processing vocal samples now too. The long meditative chants within this track fit beautifully alongside all other elements far better than any of their previous tunes that have attempted to utilize spiritual harmonies. Superb trip-out track that moves in waves over the horizon to distant shores of folding time.

Entheogenic members : Piers Oak-Rhind and Helmut Glavar

This is then followed up with the track Toglen. This one moves in darker shadows with a heavier bass and flashes of strings providing dramatic overtones. 

It sounds like a universe unfolding in symmetrical cuts right before your eyes. The 303 synth lines are so precisely processed that they give you goosebumps and massage your spinal cord as they float down your spine like two intertwined galactic serpents bathed in DMT. 

The word Toglen refers to a kind of Buddhist meditative practice that involves a sense of giving and taking. That is to say one breathes in the suffering of others with one breath and breathes out pure happiness and love towards them with the next. Which just about sums up this track perfectly.

The third track on the album, Spirit Molecule (Wounded Man Pech Merle Mix), is another long offering inspired by the groups visit to the Pech Merle cave system in the Midi-Pyrénées region of France. The cave is famous for its ancient cave wall art with some paintings dating back as long as 25,000 BC. 

The title of the album is also a nod to these ancient discoveries as there are a number of human-animal like hybrids painted on the walls as well. If any of you have read Graham Hancock's book "Supernatural" you will know that the idea of anthropomorphic beings is something present in cave art all over the world.

Moreover, some authors go so far as to suggest that they may have been beings that the artist met while in trance or while being guide by psychedelic mushrooms. Anyway, this is another amazing track that paints its own picture on the walls of your mind - a picture of shimmering shards of reflecting strands of DNA linking the ancient past to the present and beyond.

Entheogenic in the studio ?

The fourth and final track, Soma ( Veda Mix ), is an uptempo affair with a four-four beat, rolling bass, and gorgeous synth lines that combine to create a sound that is easy to thrown off as just another psytrance track. However I think that would be a huge mistake. 

There is something going on in this track that leaves a lot of modern psytrance in the dancefloor dust with discarded beer cans and veggie burger wrappers. This track has an energy within that feels so real you can hold it in your hands like a glowing orb of untold mystery and power. 

It is so funky your 90 year old invilid grandmother would throw down her wheelchair and stomp up a cloud of thunder and lighting that would crack open a hole on the dance floor and release an army of anthropomorphic beings hell bent on partying like it's 25,000 BC once more !

So to wrap things up I am overjoyed to say that this album is the best thing Entheogenic has done in a long time. Not to missed by any Entheogenic fan.  

The first three tracks are classic Entheogenic but so much more mature and purposeful and the final psytrance track , well , I played it three time on repeat after the first listen and I don't remember that last time I did that with a psytrance tune ! 

The album is now available through Itunes and the Entheogenic Bandcamp page

Oh and if you have read Supernatural then be sure to check my handy list of psychedelic books for further reading on the topic.