At first, I was filled with a strange sort of mix of fear and fascination: fear because what I was hearing was like nothing else I have known before; fascination because what I was hearing was like nothing I would hear after. This was an emotion I still cannot shake upon further listenings of GNOB’s jam-single ‘High Priestess’.
I have known that music is a powerful thing and it can shift and weave emotions. I have known that I happen to feel a lot with music myself, but this ‘self-recorded trip’ gives the same aura of a fortune-teller who you do not know if the fate she reads to you will be in your favor or not. Or like the very edge of daybreak when it is still mostly night across the horizons, and for a moment it seems like the sun will not rise, leaving an eternal darkness. But it comes up like it always does, and you revel in the dawn.
GNOB calls the track “part jam, part ambient” and it was recorded after Luke Tomkins joined the band with Morten Jorgensen and Ben Kenobi le Marchant. I am not familiar with the band’s previous material with former guitarist/vocalist Nicholas Georgiou, so I truly did not know what to expect when the music started. . .
And then the music hit me as the trip began.
The band describes the track as “a raw and self recorded trip, comprised mainly of a jam room improvisation from October 2019, just a few weeks after Luke Tomkins joined the band”. Going in knowing this vague idea of their self-described Eastern/Arabic/Psych and Stoner Fuzz sound, I still felt that I had little idea what to expect - but I have found that the band’s own description is accurate and telling of what you hear.
It starts off slow. . . You sit in anticipation, wondering but not worrying; hoping but not hurrying; it begins.
As all good jams start, it does not flash all its teeth at you upon the initial meeting. Yet, it is still hypnotic, intriguing, pulling you nearer as the base is placed down.
I initially listened to the track in an environment that did not allow for me to fully appreciate nor understand what I was hearing: a well-lit room in the middle of the day, where my mind was not fully focused on the music. Sometimes, you have to listen to a song in a certain environment: in this case, I listened again, this time in a dark room where no distractions would be present.
Instantly, you are transported to some strange emotion. You almost don’t notice it before the groove reaches you in some strange osmosis-hypnosis crossbreed. Everything is subtle in the beginning: strumming of a guitar that you almost feel more than hear; light percussion; then the near mantra-like vocals kick in.
This is where it all starts - properly starts as the waves of music wash over you. The drums build, accenting and hard-hitting. The ‘lyrics’ pull from the title of the Major Arcana tarot cards.
This was something that I had not made the connection to when I first heard the track, but now that I have realized it, it certainly supports the otherworldly atmosphere the track conveys.
The first musical movement is driving, pulling elements from hard rock and comes at you like the first hill on a rollercoaster as you slowly climb up, knowing there is to be a drop on the other side.
Then, as the music keeps coming at you, it slows its climb; and suddenly, you are there, floating endlessly through space, at the top of the hill. And you know there is a point where you will lose your balance and fall to let yourself be taken and shaken by whatever is on the other side.
But until the fall occurs, you find yourself sitting there at the top, almost content. The anticipation from the beginning returns in a somewhat darker element. Fear and excitement enter your thoughts simultaneously as two sides of the same coin. And you find yourself drawn to the music, all the same, if not even more than you were at the beginning.
Musically, it is very interesting. The slower tempo and shift in style as it reclines builds intrigue. Then, as you find yourself falling into the slower hard rock, it changes. A synth wanders its way into your ears, forming an interesting contrast. All the while, the mantra of the tarot card names continues.
The track builds and shifts again; the concrete, focused percussion returns and the bass continues its drive. The guitar soars. The fall has begun! The rollercoaster of a track goes on, and you never find yourself bored. Instead, you find yourself seduced by fascination and wonder in a hypnosis.
At first, you nearly think that the second half of the track is going to return to the hard rock of the beginning - but the fun of the track comes from the unpredictability. The vocals cut out, and the focus shifts to synth sounds that evoke chills and that captivation of hypnosis. This is where some of the Eastern influence shines through, and I find it very much fitting into the psychness of the track.
Let’s take a minute just to admire the sheer impact of the track: despite being 20 minutes long, I never found myself getting bored, nor did I think any of the movements were too short or overbearing in length. From the first listen, fascination struck me, and I find myself still fascinated by the music upon later listens. For reasons that are hard to explain without simply hearing the track, I find the music to be beautiful, hypnotic, and fascinating.
GNOB describes the background of the track as:
“It was all recorded on a Tascam portastudio via the onboard mics, just a raw rehearsal room sound, no frills. It was our second rehearsal with Luke on guitar and was literally the first thing we jammed that day after plugging in. We often record our rehearsals as a reference for writing and planning sets, and we were glad to capture that jam.
When we decided to release a raw EP, the intention was really just to get something of the new line up out as we were already playing shows and our latest release was with the previous line up. We had studio time booked in to record a split album last May with our friends Madmess, but Covid messed those plans up unfortunately. We'll be back to jamming again later this year. We're all looking forward to gigging again :)”.
While this has been my introduction to GNOB, I would think it is a wonderful introduction! This ‘raw’ side of the band made for an intriguing rollercoaster of a track, and I look forward to hearing their future work.