{"title":"Pharaoh Overlord","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"6-1","title":"6","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen two planets collide in any solar system, the catastrophic result will most likely reduce both to dust and ash, sending warm debris hurtling through space. Yet from destruction, comes creation. So to the new and sixth record by Pharaoh Overlord - a cataclysmic clash with bewitching results. The band’s current duo of Tomi Leppänen and Jussi Lehtisalo first channelled their love of krautrock-damaged monomania into synth-driven motorik soundscapes on 2019’s \u003ci\u003e5 \u003c\/i\u003eyet this new exploration is a step way beyond, into a chilly and captivating electronic panorama. Beholden to the melodies and textures of Kraftwerk yet also the cinematic austerity of EBM and the effervescent pulse of classic Italo-pop, it’s further abetted by fierce and corrosive vocals from longtime collaborator and Sumac \/ Isis \/ Old Man Gloom seer Aaron Turner, which stand atop these futuristic serenades not unlike the fevered delivery of a dystopian hellfire preacher. The result, richly coherent yet startling even for the unpredictable world of this band, arrives like a series of otherworldly epiphanies. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe opening\u003ci\u003e Path Eternal \u003c\/i\u003esets its stall out in style, marrying Moroder and Mayhem with a hint of the apocalypse manifesto of Skinny Puppy lurking in the middle distance.\u003ci\u003e Arms Of The Butcher \u003c\/i\u003eis a strident anthem for a modern pandemonium, \u003ci\u003eBlue Light Hum\u003c\/i\u003e meanwhile comes on like a robotic Neu! summoning end-credits euphoria. And most audaciously of all, ‘Without Song All Will Perish’ takes the urbane yet decadent sound of \u003ci\u003eVoulez-Vous\u003c\/i\u003e-era ABBA and reinvents it as a venomous disco Gotterdämerrung. Aaron Turner was sent this material by Tom and Jussi and initially ask to contribute to two or three songs to a sharp deadline, but the results soon revealed themselves to be so powerful that he ended up writing lyrics for the whole album, his vicious but uplifiting vision taking inspiration from the melodic yet scabrous likes of Killing Joke, Leatherface and Kill The Thrill. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWritten as the pandemic began to dominate world events in 2020, the resulting emotional turmoil couldn’t help but heavily affect its lyrical slant of this record. \u003ci\u003e6 \u003c\/i\u003ehas therefore become a record based on separation – the physical distance between the band members themselves, as well as the isolation of the quarantine itself. Yet it’s also a record concerned with finding a way forward amidst the modern cataclysms that surround - channelling negative experience into a positive change. True to form, like a brightly underlit disco dancefloor flashing out a warning of danger, the alchemical force of \u003ci\u003e6\u003c\/i\u003e is equal parts hedonistic rapture and dark revelation.Let him who have understanding reckon the number of the beat, for it is a human number. Its number is \u003ci\u003e6.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rocket Recordings","offers":[{"title":"Yellow | LP","offer_id":50447284896075,"sku":"1104164","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Pink | LP","offer_id":50447284699467,"sku":"1104165","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50447284502859,"sku":"1104158","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/a8b49fe4-4857-4abe-8fb6-f679ec3e493c_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727075312"},{"product_id":"louhi","title":"Louhi","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the world of \u003cstrong\u003ePharaoh Overlord\u003c\/strong\u003e, little is ever as it seems. This band is less comprised of tricksters or mischief makers than fearless obsessives whose musical instincts take twisted and wild pathways.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNow, fresh from forays into Italo-disco and synth-pop, they have thrown another still more mighty statement of intent into the universe. \u003cem\u003eLouhi\u003c\/em\u003e is a thunderous and majestic epic of joyful repetition and earth shaking power. A two-track minimalist-rock monolith forged from guitars, synths and hurdy-gurdy, inspired by the band’s eternal touchstone influence \u003cem\u003eOutside The Dream Syndicate\u003c\/em\u003e by Tony Conrad and Faust, and constructed around a single riff and melodic idea, it builds and evolves to fearsome pinnacles of elemental intensity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLuminaries and constant compatriots in the \u003cstrong\u003ePharaoh Overlord\u003c\/strong\u003e headspace were recruited for this voyage into the ether. Vocalist and longtime collaborator \u003cstrong\u003eAaron Turner\u003c\/strong\u003e (\u003cem\u003eSUMAC\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eIsis\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eOld Man Gloom\u003c\/em\u003e) and Tyneside maverick \u003cstrong\u003eRichard Dawson\u003c\/strong\u003e were equally keen to get on board, the former taking a spontaneous and improvisatory approach to his vocal parts, and the latter largely playing a part consisting of one guitar chord.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eYet whatever routes \u003cstrong\u003ePharaoh Overlord\u003c\/strong\u003e take to their destination, a common theme is the consciousness-warping singularity of the riff and the mantra, and the temporal disorientation this can provoke mirrors the broader designs of this record, which takes traditional folk elements and transports them in the band’s singular time machine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“It’s our 25th Anniversary this year, and from time to time we hear wishes that if just we could play more of the stuff that we did twenty or more years ago” relate Jussi and Tomi. “We totally understand this. You could say we used Louhi to reset ourselves to the past, to be able to continue again to the future.” \u003cstrong\u003eAaron\u003c\/strong\u003e puts it another way, evoking simplicity in the chaos – “The world of \u003cstrong\u003ePharaoh Overlord\u003c\/strong\u003e is a magical one - every album is an invitation to enter that place and rejoice in doing so…”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rocket Recordings","offers":[{"title":"LP - Pink Smoke","offer_id":52034413134155,"sku":"R7791-4813","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":52034413166923,"sku":"R7791-1776","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/c9efd47e-ecdc-334a-4a08-3d506dc69b02_ec4368f3-2afa-49bc-b41d-313b8c9a8342.jpg?v=1752296019"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/pharaoh-overlord.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}