Planned for what seems an age, the next Feral Child is finally ready to roll and it’s another solid gem from the mighty STUDIO KOSMISCHE. Following the hugely successful, super quick sell outs of the trio of themed full lengths earlier in the year, the band follow up with a superb re-imagined score to the infamous Kenneth Anger “Lucifer Rising” flick which began in ’72 but only saw release in 1980.
The story of the original soundtrack is pretty well known, Bobby Beausoleil (with The Magick Powerhouse of Oz Band) recording it whilst incarcerated (for the murder of Gary Hinman w/The Manson Family) after a bust up between Anger and Jimmy Page who was initially roped in.
Anyway, fast forward to 2023 and the Studio Kosmische take is utterly fabulous! Heavy on cosmic drone and ambience, with a percussive feel akin to aspects of Popol Vuh’s incredible “Aguirre” soundtrack. The ideas behind this new work are perhaps best left to Dom Keen from the band to explain: “Countless musicians have created their own scores for the dialogue-free Lucifer Rising since Beausoleil, Jagger, and Page. Some (including myself) will see this new rescore as an act of sacrilege; all I can say is that it was created in awe of, and with great respect to, everyone involved in the original work(s).
In a fortuitous parallel to what I feel is the mood of the film Lucifer Rising itself – half rooted in dream-logic; non-linearity; subconscious image-generation over conscious rational decision-making – the process of making this record was a spontaneous happening. It was an occasion formed from what manifested as more than the sum of its parts: it felt as though it created itself, I just happened to be at the controls.
Writing in 2023, the month after Kenneth Anger’s passing, my hope with this record is that it goes some way – however small – to help spread the futuristic visions that Anger dreamed when he first filmed Lucifer Rising over 50 years ago”.
The story of the original soundtrack is pretty well known, Bobby Beausoleil (with The Magick Powerhouse of Oz Band) recording it whilst incarcerated (for the murder of Gary Hinman w/The Manson Family) after a bust up between Anger and Jimmy Page who was initially roped in.
Anyway, fast forward to 2023 and the Studio Kosmische take is utterly fabulous! Heavy on cosmic drone and ambience, with a percussive feel akin to aspects of Popol Vuh’s incredible “Aguirre” soundtrack. The ideas behind this new work are perhaps best left to Dom Keen from the band to explain: “Countless musicians have created their own scores for the dialogue-free Lucifer Rising since Beausoleil, Jagger, and Page. Some (including myself) will see this new rescore as an act of sacrilege; all I can say is that it was created in awe of, and with great respect to, everyone involved in the original work(s).
In a fortuitous parallel to what I feel is the mood of the film Lucifer Rising itself – half rooted in dream-logic; non-linearity; subconscious image-generation over conscious rational decision-making – the process of making this record was a spontaneous happening. It was an occasion formed from what manifested as more than the sum of its parts: it felt as though it created itself, I just happened to be at the controls.
Writing in 2023, the month after Kenneth Anger’s passing, my hope with this record is that it goes some way – however small – to help spread the futuristic visions that Anger dreamed when he first filmed Lucifer Rising over 50 years ago”.