“Blaze the Light of Ten Thousand Suns!”
So cries Elizabeth Clare Prophet, spirit channel and avatar of the Church Universal and Triumphant as she calls upon all the gods and goddesses in existence to grant her beloved victory. Her mission? To destroy The Beast and the Dragon That Gave It Power. The Dragon is rock'n'roll, its power the syncopated rhythm of the fallen ones and the misuse of the four-four time. I suspect that through her prayers, and those of her followers, Elizabeth Clare Prophet has unwittingly given birth to Guapo. Guapo is a force of nature; an infinitely expanding climax, a controlled catastrophe, a sun forged in sound. It can be shaped, controlled, even tamed; but the strain of trying to contain it is etched into the contorted faces and flailing limbs of those brave and foolish men who take it upon themselves to do so.
Guapo are a recently expanded quartet of musicians from London. With this, their sixth album, Guapo have conjured a harrowingly complex and unflinchingly epic piece of work. Heady and hypnotic, driving and relentless, tumultuous and visceral, sonic and serene, the sheer odyssey that is Black Oni encompasses many paradoxes in its massively dynamic scope. Picking up where they left off from their previous Cuneiform Records release Five Suns (2002), the band continue to expand on their palette of dexterous chamber-rock anomalies, modal transcendence, and apocalyptic death marches, and like its predecessor, Black Oni is one singular piece of music, making it the second record in a trilogy of large-scale symphonic forms. Incorporating elements of prog, avant-garde jazz, kraut-rock, minimalism and a range of folk mediums from Britain to Indonesia, Guapo take their cue from a disparate array of influences including Magma, King Crimson, Boredoms, Goblin, Sun Ra, Charlemagne Palestine, Univers Zero, Tangerine Dream, This Heat, Rush and Popol Vuh. Black Oni is Guapo’s most monumentally unreserved offering to date. Ipecac records had the pleasure of releasing this one, and its owner, Mike Patton had this to say about the record (“An enchanting journey, like a rollercoaster ride in the dark, every sound and odour a delight to the senses. A haunting orgiastic ritual with magnetism you won’t soon forget. The listener doesn’t stand a chance!”).
Since the departure of Matt Thompson, the trio of O’Sullivan, Smith and new bass master, David Ledden have toured Europe extensively, both headlining shows and moonlighting with fellow Ipecac comrades, Fantomas. The band has since added Kavus Torabi (formerly of the avant-psych pop group The Monsoon Bassoon and current Cardiacs axeman) to the fold. The band’s intense live show continues to progress and expand, as the influences heard on the records are thrown into the air and reassembled as an incendiary mixture of plate-spinning dexterity, telepathic instrumental interplay and extreme avant-noise. The assembly of Dave Smith’s explosive drum assaults, David Ledden’s massive bass anomalies, Daniel O’Sullivan’s ethereal keyboard reveries and Kavus Torabi’s pointillist guitar excursions telepathically collide in an augury of rich and cinematic musical ceremony. The current line-up is guaranteed to destroy everything in its wake. Expect blue-faced monsters, gong banging gargoyles, militant intimidation tactics, and a cloud of incense. You have been warned! —Otto Amon, Strange Attractor, 2002