Ya Ho Wa 13 - 1974 - Aquarian Symphony/Penetration (full album)

  • 9 years ago
With Penetration, the Yahowa clan finally made the leap from idiosyncratic, and sometimes idiotic, semi-professional vanity/novelty records to a disc of real artistic accomplishment. On most of their previous efforts (whether by Yahowa 13 or Father Yod & the Spirit of '76), their obvious burning desire to reach and communicate on a mystical musical plane was totally doused by the limitations of their talents. Particularly to blame were the vocal and lyrical limitations of Father Yod himself. Here their compositional and instrumental abilities at last caught up, pretty much, to their aspirations. Father Yod is present here, but in a very low-key way, adding some atmospheric moaning and (probably) whistling. The record is almost wholly instrumental, achieving a genuine sustained menace with trance-inspired rhythms and psychedelic guitar riffs over the course of its lengthy four songs. The drums have a tribal boom, enhanced by the kind of gong washes characteristic of Pink Floyd in the Live at Pompeii era. Guitarist Djin Aquarian really comes into his own to carry the record, with swirling, rippling blasts that sometimes reach speaker-shredding intensity, at times coaxing violin-type distortion that would do the Velvet Underground or Jimmy Page-era Yardbirds right. The music builds, throbs, and ebbs with a dark mystery, sometimes evoking the brink of a hellish abyss. Were this some unknown '70s kraut rock recording, its unearthing would be hailed by cultists as an important discovery; it has the disquieting otherworldliness that kind of stuff is supposed to deliver, but doesn't often do. The album has been reissued as one disc of the 13-CD God and Hair: Yahowha Collection box set.

Credits
Bass – Sunflower Aquarian
Drums – Octavius Aquarian
Engineer – Zinuru Aquarian
Guitar – Djin Aquarian
Vocals – Father Yod

http://www.allmusic.com/album/aquarian-symphony-penetration-mw0000809075

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