The sense of ritual is pretty thick from the outset in the video for the three-part track “Bethel” from Redlake Circus‘ 2016 album, Thelema. While a strong current of progressive metal runs through much of what surrounds, “Bethel” itself basks in post-rock and heavy psychedelic fluidity, and its stated themes of spiritual exploration remain consistent with the rest of the record, even perhaps the frustrations expressed in the subsequent “Sedloc,” which opens with the line, “I am fucking sick of this motherfucking world.” Hey man, we all have those days. Usually on Tuesday.

Anyhoozle, “Bethel” with its parenthetical subtitle listing the three parts, “Enki,” “Enlil” and “Anu,” appears as three separate tracks in the first half of Thelema that are also bundled together at the end of the digital version of the album, streaming on Bandcamp and whatnot. The nine-minute entirety is instrumental — that in itself is a departure from the rest of the record — and the video focuses on the live experience of the band on stage. It’s all in slow motion, giving a real sense of the atmosphere, and there’s incense, enviable hippie-pants, deep colors and deep tones that are no less expansive for their weighted grounding. Again, it’s a departure, but that seems to be the point.

And while Thelema might be a little more aggro than will sit easily with some heads — I suspect for others it’ll be just about right; that’s how these things usually go — the obvious aesthetic consideration Redlake Circus put into their work and the distinct progressive tinge lend the output a sense of reach that many others don’t have while still holding onto such charge. Again, the album’s been out since 2016, so I don’t know if the trio are working on something new or anything like that, but their live show, in fast or slow motion, seems like an immersion all on its own.

You’ll find the video below, followed by some explanatory comment from the band.

Please enjoy:

Redlake Circus, “Bethel (Enki/Enlil/Anu)” official video

Redlake Circus on “Bethel (Enki/Enlil/Anu)”:

Song is called BETHEL ( ENKI – ENLIL – ANU). Bethel is the third single from our latest album “Thelema.” Bethel is a 9 mins instrumental.

Song divided in 3 sections:
Enki representing our earthy emotions, the body , the creation… the dance of the snake.

Enlil brother of Enki, representing the water, the flood, as Ouroboros, cycles, sometimes we need to destroy something to be able to build again a new thing, this could be physical or emotional. From our material possession to our spiritual believes and state of consciousness.

Anu the father of both, representing fire, the explosion of our emotions, releasing the anger, sufferings or love and euphoria inside of us, the connection with something way beyond our minds. This part ends with a soft tapping melody which represent the air, a soft cleansing experience, unity between the three. Time to breathe and start over again.

Redlake Circus is:
Santana: Vocals & Guitars
Mateo Morandi: Bass
Johannes Möckel: Drums

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Tags: Berlin, Germany, Redlake Circus, Redlake Circus Thelema, Thelema, Unsigned bands

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 11th, 2018 at 5:01 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.