AIN SOPH

"Kshatriya" (reissue)

Hau Ruck! SPQR - 2007

CD

It was rather puzzling that, among the massive campaign of reissues of Ain Soph's historical catalogue operated in the last years, there had been no room for what undoubtedly remains their unmatched masterpiece, "Kshatriya", diamond edge and final chapter of the group's first industrial-esoteric incarnation. Released in 1988 on vinyl and eventually reissued on CD in 1994 by Musica Maxima Magnetica, it was out of print since many years. Hau Ruck! SPQR has now remastered the original recordings and packaged them in a black and white digipack, faithfully reproducing the austere aesthetics of the LP's cover.

The elusive Roman avantgardists were known at this point mostly for their private tape releases and the excellent "Ars Regia", final chapter of the Nekrophile Records adventure. "Kshatriya" was the first vinyl production for both the band and their label Misty Circles, and left a deep track in the way to deal with traditional and magick topics, so many years before the current overcrowded scene. The famous "orange sheet", an explanatory insert, came together with the record and introduced what we could label as "the Ain Soph manifesto", a strong and proud opposition against the modern world and its materialistic values. We now find that document in the booklet, together with an appendix written in 1993 for the first CD reissue on Musica Maxima Magnetica, and a final bitter statement about the present.

Exalting the courage of action and the ability to bear its consequences, celebrating the true magician, the heroic "Kshatriya", quoting Nietzsche, Julius Evola and Aleister Crowley, Ain Soph showed a clearness of intentions and a determination to pursue them of rare effectiveness. Even if they maintained that music never was their aim, but rather a mean to express their ideas, what you listen on "Kshatriya" is extremely outstanding. Opening piece "Decimus Gradus" will haunt you with its glacial, obsessive piano theme and the all-consuming female vocals, whereas "Monsalvat" is likely to blow your heart away, starting with a subtle, distant ritual chant and then suddenly exploding in a wall of distorted strings and sepulchral organs. "I.A.O.", that originally closed side A of the vinyl, is another disturbing ceremony of bells, thuds and sinister subterranean melodies.

Side B opened with what is probably their all-time masterpiece, "Kshatriya", a furious, ravaging hymn shouted on top of a menacing noise symphony. "Fedeltà è più forte del fuoco / rialzarsi, risorgere / creare una forma e un ordine / in piedi tra le rovine / scelgiere la strada più dura / forgiare il nostro coraggio / rinati fino nel sangue / forti del nostro onore", directly from the controversial philosophy of Julius Evola. The closing ritual, "Stella Maris", is a long suite leading you to final catharsis through its hypnotizing chants, echoing bells and creepy, hieratic atmosphere.

"Kshatriya" is still today, neary twenty years after its original release, an outstanding work of art, music and poetry, surely one of the most impressive items to ever surface from the Italian underground. Now that it's finally available again in CD format, don't hesitate to get hold of this burning piece of history. And if the Kshatriyas have retired to their towers waiting for the fall, to eventually appear again standing on ruins, you can be sure that Ain Soph's music was conceived somewhere in those places, where they are dwelling.

- Simon V.

Website: http://www.hauruckspqr.com

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/ainsophroma