Death In June and Boyd Rice - Scorpion WindRenamed, repackaged and reissued Scorpion Wind by Death In June and Boyd Rice was originally issued as Heaven Sent by Scorpion Wind, a group comprising an unholy alliance of Boyd Rice, Douglas P. and John Murphy in an album that delineated Boyd Rice's worldview at the time and celebrated the Gnostic deity Abraxas.Scorpion Wind shared a musical kinship to Douglas P.'s Death In June where precision strummed guitars are forged with strings and cello to startling and at times symphonic effect. From the opening bars of the Morricone flavoured 'Love Love Love' the theme is set for these bad guys to lay down the law. 'Paradise of Perfection' is an appealing combination of delicate guitars and keyboards. 'There Is No More Sleep' is beautifully melodic with a tantalisng trumpet score, and 'The Cruelty of the Heavens' features a string section from hell colliding with Teutonic rhythms. Of course, all are offset by the unfaltering tones of Boyd Rice who uses the work of Eckhart, Devi, D'Annunzio and De Sade to illustrate his philosophy of the world; of natures eternal fascism, and of the Gnostic deity Abraxas, which he describes as " a perfect schematic for how the world works. Sort of a balance point between good and evil, light and darkness, and creative force and destructive force". This edition features a couple of extra tracks: 'A Toast' and a 'Funeral For 3'. The latter comprising instrumental versions of 'There Is No More Sleep', 'Some Colossus' and 'In Vino Veritas' which I presume are dedicated to three British youths who committed suicide during their travels in America. Prior to entering a triple suicide pact Jane Greenhow had contacted the publishers of ANSWER Me!, Jim and Debbie Goad, to verify their mailing address. Those messages - dubbed "Nazi's Desperate Calls To Rape Mag Boss" in the Daily Mail - are included on Scorpion Wind. About a week later Jane Greenhow shot herself in California; a day earlier her two friends, Ruth Fleming and Stefan Bateman, shot themselves in a gun range in Arizona. Hours before her death Greenhow posted the ANSWER Me! publishers her life savings prompting tabloid headlines such as "Gun suicide girl's sick legacy". Death In June and Boyd Rice's subsequent collaboration Alarm Agents centred around Boyd's Gnostic research with greater emphasis on solar and lunar themes but Scorpion Wind illustrated Boyd Rice's worldview through historical writings with lush, dramatic and spacious music. I recommend this years ago and it remains a great record. Boyd Rice, Douglas P., John Murphy: March On! For more information go to www.deathinjune.net or www.soleilmoon.com |