Aluk Todolo – Voix
It’s impossible to find a proper way of starting this, but others have tried, with pathetic results. Calling Aluk Todolo, direct quote, “an autistic version of Wolves in the Throne Room” is offensive. Not to the autistic, or to Wolves in the Throne Room, but to music criticism. That was the best you could do? Really? Those were your points of reference? Don’t even bother with the rest of it, trust us, because comments like “they finally found a distinct, uniform sound,” makes it obvious you haven’t listened to them before last month. You don’t get it, and therein lies the problem. Aluk Todolo is beyond jokes and genre, they are the ancient, dark soul of music that persists, revealing itself rarely through only the truly bizarre, which never has shape or form. It’s been said, somewhere, that some bands are not bands but a force, one force, all extensions of some giant, amorphous eater of worlds. Super black holes that devour all that is popular, all that is current, revitalizing and destroying in the same gigantic implosion. When your ears breach the event horizon, the sounds experienced further inside cannot be explained to anyone unless they are swirling in the same torturous spiral. You forget about that former life of yours, floating, expanding, shrinking, or whatever the hell else happens in a black hole, as bands like Aluk Todolo provide the soundtrack. Unlike the typical soundtrack, however, it need not apply to you, or anything, it merely is. But what is it, this Voix?
That requires at least some basic understanding of what is this Aluk Todolo. We first encountered them several years ago when the older version of the site was still active, but two years ago reprinted that review as part of our special “The Vault” feature. Start there, then return here. Good, now we continue further into that dark funnel. Though billing themselves as “Occult Rock” since they ate away at the universe starting in 2004, there’s much more to it than that, but simply boiling it down into a fizzing puddle until the pot melts on the stove with genre tags is never a good idea with these guys. And relying on a Wolves in the Throne Room reference is so far below us we’re not even going to mention that band ever again, even outside of this particular review. It’s best to simply accept whatever Aluk Todolo does and observe it as a thing in itself, all part of the greater purpose of an anti-force consuming the symbolic sun that is your sense of meaning. Our only real complaint is the art, which is entirely lacking in presenting any sense of what this band is about, and especially this release. You went with an Aleister Crowley reference? This is not Voix. But what is it?
Voix is Aluk Todolo at their finest. It would perhaps serve as a great introduction to how the band works, and may be considered more “accessible” than some of their previous releases, but really accessible is quite a loose term in this context with practically no meaning, that’s why it’s in quotes, because it’s almost ironic, and one cannot consider this a grower, or something to listen to begin the path towards Aluk Todoloness. Simply listening to a single track is fruitless and amateur, because none of them stand alone They’re all named for the amount of time they pass, thus “5:34” or “7:54”, for example, but don’t search for a reason. Don’t try adding those numbers, because you’re searching for meaning you’ll never find. Remember, this is a force incarnate, not mere music. If the sound is the shape of a black hole, its voice, or perhaps rather its chant-like scream, is Voix. Each track builds into the other, not on, for an almost circular experience. The bass twists endlessly, the drums beat out continuous tempo that pulsates, and the guitars, forming the central gravitational pull, warp and decay through various effects, suddenly emanating riffs that would horrified the inventor of the electric guitar into committing suicide. Once it’s over, you could start it again and never know it began, or ended. It’s beautiful for that, sickening even, an example of what is truly bizarre, and what deserves a proper ear to understand its meaning. It’s not meant for initiation, you must already be in the know. Do not start here, for here is endlessness. Here is Voix.
Written by Stanley Stepanic
Aluk Todolo: Voix
The Ajna Offensive, Norma Evangelium Diaboli
4.7 / 5
