AKUPHONE

First vinyl release of Ak'chamel after a prolific cassette discography, The Totemist marks a new direction for the mysterious group. Equipped with studio quality recordings and a (somewhat) lighter tone, opposed to the oppressively lo-fi sound the group is known for. 

This is a deep psychedelic-folk album with hints of mysticism, some of which was written and recorded in a ghost-town in the Chihuahuan Desert in far West Texas - a place where the dead outnumber the living. Various overdubs and field recordings were captured in the historic Terlingua cemetery : an ancient burial ground filled with small grottoes and graves made of sticks and stones. This being the final resting place for miners who succumbed from illnesses derived from the toxic rare-earth element known as mercury.

Ak’chamel, The Giver of Illness are fourth world post-colonial cultural cannibalists circumcising the foreskin of enlightenment. Performing in homemade costumes and masks, they have played festivals in various cities around the U.S gaining international attention from Vice, The Wire, Tiny Mix Tapes, Consequence of Sound, and many more. Enter the fourth world now !

---

Credits:

Format:

Tags: Psychedelic Rock, Acid Folk, Outernational, Doom, Field Recordings

AKU1023

---

Reviewed at:

🧡”Ak’chamel inhabit dimly lit Fourth World backstreets where the false gods of neo-liberalism are sacrificed in psilocybin fuelled rituals on upcycled alters & questioning Americana floats effortlessly over borders to joyously copulate with North African & Oriental folk on Akuphone’s human folly circumventing trade winds” -Slow Music Movement

🧡”The music of the fantastically named Ak’chamel is an exotic and death-smelling toxic Middle Eastern drone-folk wonder formation, mordant and uplifting, desert daze...” -I Wanna Rock You (Hungarian)

🧡”World folk, psychedelia and stoner merge in The Totemist evoking ritualistic behaviours and shadowy objects just inside your peripheral vision. Whether the spirits summoned are good or malevolent, whether Ak’chamel are shamans or charlatans, the music is refreshing, exciting and engrossing.” -UK Vibe

🧡“Lots of bells, chanting, and drones, with the perquisite Middle Eastern/Indian sounding jams and a surprise detour into what I’d call ‘border exotica’. There’s a definite New Weird America circa 2004 thing going on here.” -The Sleeping Shaman

🧡”Amazing psychedelic, ritual folk music!” -It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine

🧡”The one-time black metal band’s (seriously, you wouldn’t believe it) adventure into a totemic, desert-embracing folk style is a mesmerizing trip through endless dunes, miles of sand, and parched atmospheres.” -Invisible Oranges

🧡”If music is meant to take you to a new place, Ak’chamel achieves it with this album while the listener doesn’t have to leave their living room to do so.” -Closed Captioned

🧡”Just as if, in our time, hypertrophic purity was intended to forestall allegations of ‘cultural appropriation’ or to lead them ironically to the point of absurdity, the band describes itself as "fourth world post-colonial cultural cannibalists circumcising the foreskin of enlightenment." -African Paper

🧡“The collective Ak'chamel, The Giver of Illness invites you to enter a 4th world, a dark and disturbing universe full of mysticism and yet oh so captivating.” -Jazz, Blues, and Co

🧡”Unusual, very interesting, has a wide range of various instruments that are very well-played, the production is excellent, and the whole LP is much less gloomy than the bands name suggests” -Prog Blog

🧡”The mercurial entity known as Ak’chamel, The Giver Of Illness lands his (their?) first release on LP for French label Akuphone. In similar fashion to the growing catalog, the release winds through a haunted sense of being lost in markets while language buzzes around from every side. There’s a foreboding tension, but also some sense of giving up to the whims of fate.” -Raven Sings The Blues

🧡”Throughout years they have designed a unique sound evoking a sort of haunting, deep psychedelic folk music. Their new album, The Totemist, out on the French imprint Akuphone, is a fascinating journey through funeral folk, mystic, psychedelic rock, and so on, and so forth.” -The Attic Magazine

🧡”The Totemist is a swirl of ritualistic atmosphere and repetition. The murky aura augments the contrasts between the sharp notes of the acoustic instruments and the omnipresent, sinister drone. The compositions morph in naturalistic ways, and subtle touches of jazz are worked in amid the faux-shamanic folk, resulting in something quite creative.” -The Elite Extremophile

🧡”I would not be surprised if Werner Herzog hired them in the near future.

And I hope that Ak'chamel, The Giver Of Illness will one day visit our country and take us to the land of whispers.” -Przekroj Magazine

🧡”This is one of the greatest psychedelic folk records I've heard come out in a long time. Plenty of Latin-American flavor, global lutes, backmasked black magic, super riffage, and more. Sure to delight fans of Master Musicians of Bukkake and weirder psychedelic music.” -Koonaklaster (Rate Your Music)