Witchcraft Rebellion [KLP128]

Modern American primitive deconstructionists Old Time Relijun return from the grave, toting their most potent pagan potions to date. Conceived over the better part of last year, Witchcraft Rebellion is OTR’s third full length album, spitting and hissing violently via thirteen brand new fiery voodoo gospel incantations. Old Time Relijun have certainly sharpened their forked tongue, for Witchcraft Rebellion is by far their best and most varied body of work to date. Expounding upon their frantic fusion of raw roots rock, latter 60’s ecstatic jazz and aggressive punk mutations, Witchcraft Rebellion seems to coalesce Old Time Relijun’s raging schizophrenic convulsions into one focused agenda. Their frenetic splatter of sound is even more unsettling than before, barking and howling with immensely menacing ferocity. Yet there is a subtlety running through many tunes, implying the band may have “matured”. Old Time Relijun have definitely honed their craft into an art-soaked shudder without any immediate peer. Elevating their stripped down sound of buoyant upright bass, one-string guitar clangs, garage-soaked drum thunder and paranoid yelps and hollers, OTR incorporate free jazz bass clarinet gymnastics and some mid-tempo funk erosion into their intoxicating brew, with optimum effect. “Vampire Sushi” shakes like Hazil Adkins exiled to Tuva; “Dark of the Male…” floats like a 70’s stag film directed by Captain Beefheart; “The Book of Life and Crime” coagulates dub and studio sampling into a psychedelic ramble over catchy bass lines; “Cuneiform” is a free translation of poetic liberty adopting text from a Mesopotamian erotic theme (literally!!!). Coloring the canvas with lyrical yelps about sex, mysticism, Mother Earth and religion, the confounding Old Time Relijun soak the pages with snake oil and pledge to heal all who enter their lair. Witchcraft Rebellion is an album of charismatic eclecticism by a band hitting their freaky genre-bending stride. In the end, Old Time Relijun make honest folk music, by the people and for the people. It’s the voice of the common person, can you hear it? The digital version of this album is available from Bandcamp. Mystery Language Cuneiform Vampire Sushi Dark of the Male, Light of the Female Mercury Snake Two Crows Fermentatio King of Nothing The Book of Life and Crime Treasure Map Maenads in the Android Brothel Crocodile Theater Witchcraft Rebellion