Katchaturian — This Is The End
2011
Electro
Lisbon, Portugal
"This Is The End". A truly daring minefield in which to adventure. Lyrics ripped from the vocal chords of a scorched myth, those of Jim Morrison. Lyrics that bring to mind the no less charred images of a Vietnam scorched under the napalm falling from American helicopters in "Apocalypse Now." Through both sounds and images, "The Four Last Words" are heavily referenced. Add to this the subject of "no issue" that is extensively chronicled in rock'n'roll, (often complacently), as if screaming about the end somehow issues a certificate of authenticity to one’s rage. With such an overload of references, the Lisboan band Katchaturian fortunately chooses to not howl with the wolves. Performed from the outset so as to clear the air, "This Is The End" installs a timeline after the cataclysm, therefore leaving a free rein to perform seven tracks that weave the fabric of a new era. Songs full of hope and renewal played whilst proclaiming the end of time (an approach reflected on the album cover : a mountain that can be seen either as an unsurpassable obstacle or a challenge to a fresh start). From their studio BFMI in Barrio Alto (a former anti-globalization squat that became their headquarters), the twelve members of the band deliver their approach to layering sound through synthetic samples played over recordings of wind, landslides and rain, giving meaning to their utopian views by inviting a guest musician on each track : Miranda Bentoiu’s harp sprinkles like rainfall on "Adagio", Jaime Battista’s seemingly bewitched trombone on "Muzak" (a tribute to Brian Eno), Calakuta’s abrasive percussion on "Septet" and Wolfram Feuz’s furious guitars on "Kibetan Trance" (an experimental track inspired by Merzbow). Thus is conceived Katchaturian’s music ; free and nuanced like a fresh burst of oxygen in a saturated world. What can also be seen to be ironic is their "debt-free" borrowing of inspiration from one of the formal classical composers of the Soviet Union : Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978).