ACCLAIMED EXPERIMENTAL COLLECTIVE WREKMEISTER HARMONIES, LED BY MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER JR ROBINSON, ANNOUNCE EUROPEAN TOUR IN MAY & JUNE
PERFORMING THE ATMOSPHERIC AND STUNNING ‘NIGHT OF YOUR ASCENSION’ LIVE ON HEADLINE DATES
SUPPORTING MARISSA NADLER ON SELECTED SHOWS
“Night of Your Ascension faces rote themes like killing, death, and despair from a fresh perspective that aspires to be illuminating. It’s also, strangely enough, an album listeners can use to make new friends.” – Pitchfork
“Peppered with overlapping moments of angelic beauty and bone-shaking doom.” – The Quietus
“Incredibly personal and easy to fall in love with, Night Of Your Ascension is a wonderfully multi-layered composition.” – Metal Injection
“Night of Your Ascension is truly an experience. It is an intricately layered musical experience crafted by a master composer with extraordinary vision and an obsessive attention to detail.” –CVLT Nation
In light, or rather darkness, of their latest release, Wrekmeister Harmonies announce a European tour shortly after a U.S. tour alongside Bell Witch, a collaborative set withGodspeed You! Black Emperor, and as a live score ensemble to the 1922 classic film “Haxan.” The European run will include members J.R. Robinson and Esther Shaw with guest musicians.
Full list of dates below.
Nearly a year in the making, and including a cast of 30 musicians, J.R. Robinson delivers his towering third album as Wrekmeister Harmonies entitled Night of Your Ascension. As with previous Wrekmeister albums, the ensemble is made up of an all-star cast of musicians from the metal, new music, and rock communities. Musicians includeLee Buford and Chip King from The Body, Alexander Hacke (Einsturzende Neubauten), Cooper Crain (Cave), Marissa Nadler, Mary Lattimore, Olivia Block, Eric Chaleff (Bloodiest), Dylan O’Toole and Ron DeFries (Indian), Bruce Lamont, Sanford Parker (Twilight), Mark Solotroff (Anatomy of Habit), Solomon Lee Walker, Chris Brokaw (Come), and Jaime Fennelly (Mind Over Mirrors). Robinson has long been fascinated with those whose habits or actions have set them beyond the reach of redemption. Through his video art and his music, Robinson continues to explore humanity’s darkest impulses and society’s response to them.
The death of Father John Goeghan and the life of Don Carlo Gesualdo were starting points for the two compositions on his new album. The title track, “Night of Your Ascension,” was as much influenced by Don Carlo Gesualdo’s horrific act as it was by the extreme nature of his compositions. There are many that have been inspired by Gesualdo’s imaginative and complex works, from Herzog’s “Death for Five Voices,” to Igor Stravinsky who created “Monumentum pro Gesualdo.” All were perhaps drawn to the unanswerable question whether or not the violence of his life was related to the violence of his music. Robinson, while intrigued by that question, focuses on evoking the extreme nature of Gesualdo’s act while using the man’s music as a vehicle. The resulting composition is compelling, essentially becoming both a re-imaging of Gesualdo’s complex musical work and the re-enactment of the famous murder.
“Run Priest Run” traces the death of Father John Geoghan, a priest convicted of molesting some 150 children who was violently executed by a fellow inmate while held in solitary confinement. The piece opens in a cold, dank space, evocative of the cell where the violent scene played out. As rumbling bass and brooding drums usher our killer into the frame (the hair raising shrieks of The Body’s Chip King), the track takes us into the depth of horror of that cell and the minds of those within it.
J.R. Robinson perceives life as a long, gradual process of decay. Lightness fades into darkness, while innocence succumbs to the evils of modern society. His music reflects not only this worldview but also his emotional response to it.
Wrekmeister Harmonies’ pastoral doom has earned praise from Pitchfork, The Quietus,SPIN, Decibel, Invisible Oranges, Noisey and The Wire as a new form of metal composition and performance involving a wide variety of instrumentation.
European Tour Dates:
Tue May 3rd Prague, Czech Republic – TBA
Wed May 4th Berlin, Germany – Bei Ruth
Thu May 5th Hamburg, Germany – Grüne Jäger
Fri May 6th Utrecht, Netherlands – DBs [TIX]
Sat May 7th London, UK – The Black Heart [TIX]
Sun May 8th Bristol, UK – Cube Cinema [TIX]
Mon May 9th Bruges, Belgium – Cactus [TIX]
Tue May 10th Lille, France – La Malterie
Wed May 11th Paris, France – Les Instants chavirés
Thu May 12th Lyon, France – Sonic
Fri May 13th Bologna, Italy – Freakout
Sat May 14th Láquila, Italy – Asilo Occupato
Sun May 15th Avellino, Italy – Godot
Mon May 16th Roma, Italy – Dal Verme
Tue May 17th Perugia, Italy – Giardini del Frontone
Thu May 19th Milano, Italy – Sacrestia
Fri May 20th Delémont, Switzerland – SAS
Sat May 21st Aachen, Germany – Blast over Aachen Fest
Sun May 22nd Leipzig, Germany – UT Connewitz
Tue May 24th – Brighton, UK – Prince Albert [TIX] ^
Thu May 26th – Manchester, UK – Soup Kitchen ^
Fri May 27th – Glasgow, UK – Broadcast ^
Sat May 28th – Dublin, Ireland – Button Factory ^
Sun May 29th – Cork, Ireland- Cyprus Avenue ^
Tue May 31st – Leeds, UK – The Brudenell Social Club ^
Sun June 5th – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso ^
Wed June 8th – Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega [TIX] ^
^ supporting Marissa Nadler
Wrekmeister Harmonies on:
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