Wrekmeister Harmonies and Bell Witch bring the noise

Music | February 16th, 2016

Since their first recording in 2009, drone band Wrekmeister Harmonies has offered an ever-growing collaboration between musicians from numerous bands. Their latest release, “Night of Your Ascension,” has a cast of over 30 musicians with members coming from bands such as Indian, Cave and The Body.

The Chicago collective will play the Aquarium along with Seattle doom band Bell Witch on Feb. 19. Unlike the large ensemble which plays on their records, this will be a lighter version of the group doing their interpretation of “Night of Your Ascension.”

In addition to Wrekmeister Harmonies musician and composer J.R. Robinson, the band will also feature violinist Esther Shaw and both members of Bell Witch, who will play with the band in addition to playing their own set. Robinson describes Bell Witch as sounding like the inside of the Earth, with tectonic plates loudly grinding against one another.

Much of the group’s existence is owed to film, having been set up Robinson to record a film soundtrack. The band even takes their name from a film, with Wrekmeister Harmonies being a bastardized version of Hungarian director Bela Tarr’s 2000 film Werckmeister Harmonies.

But it’s not just from film that Robinson gets his inspiration. His art is influenced through reading and from life itself, as is apparent on “Night of Your Ascension.”

The newest album sees Robinson tackling two infamous figures, including Don Carlo Gesualdo, who murdered his first wife and her lover, and Father John Geoghan, who was accused of molesting over 130 children, and once imprisoned, was murdered by his cellmate in 2003.

The album is made up of only two tracks. The 30-minute title track is devoted to Gesualdo’s murders and the madrigals he composed in the 16th century. The piece rearranges Gesualdo’s “Ahi Dispietata e Cruda” to fit in the key of A and to give them room to expand upon the piece. Singer Marissa Nadler makes a guest appearance, offering a haunting vocal performance.

It’s in the track “Run Priest Run” that we see Robinson asking what’s worse, the crimes Geoghan committed or the fact that members of the Catholic Church kept quiet about it and allowed him to continue? It’s through this indictment of the Catholic Church that Robinson explores the dark urges of humanity with people committing such horrible acts they lose any chance of redemption.

Wrekmeister Harmonies has formed a reputation for their collaborative nature and their eccentric music, but they’re also known for performing in some unconventional venues. Past performances have been in the Andy Warhol Museum, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bohemian National Cemetery in Chicago. Part of “Night of Your Ascension” was even recorded in the cemetery’s crematorium.

IF YOU GO:

Wrekmeister Harmonies with Bell Witch, Still and Bergeron

Friday, Feb. 19, 10 p.m $7 cover

The Aquarium (Dempsey’s upstairs), 226 Broadway N., Fargo

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