There is only the Emperor, and he is our Shield and Protector.
— Second Book Of Chantings
Death to the false Emperor!
— Chaos Space Marine War Cry
The astropathic message screamed into the warp. When it arrived the image was of a space marine librarian clad in red Mark VII armor, a golden warp-eye staff in his left hand, the right conjuring a ball of warp energy as he strode forward, his massive metal boots crushing rocks (or are they skulls…?) with every step. The symbolism of the message was quite clear to one with the proper training and aptitude.
A new album from Psychic Hood is coming.
Blindness may be the price I pay for the God-Emperor’s sacred touch, but I see more than you can possibly imagine. I see worlds rolling countless and wondrous beyond, I see colours and sights that would burn your mind to cinders by their merest glimpse. I see…Them, lurking in the spaces between realities, their claws ever scratching to get in, ever wanting.
— Astropath Plenipotentiary Aldus Col
Due for release on September 6, Warp Ritual is the fourth album from he who calls himself Psychic Hood, a follow-up to 2023s fantastic Era Indomitus. I reviewed that album HERE in a post that includes an interview with the artist worth reading.
While Era Indomitus took a more orchestral approach to the glory and squalor that is the Warhammer 40K universe, Warp Ritual bathes itself in the oppressive religiosity of the Imperium of Man and its worship of the God-Emperor, his spirit locked in what remains of his physical form as it sits rotting on the Golden Throne. In fact the album opens with a track entitled “The Golden Throne,” the deep pipe organ intro followed by the slow, echoing drum and chanting placing us squarely in the mindset of being inside a very old religious structure. Instead of it being a mouldering stone cathedral, however, it’s the inner chamber of the Sanctum Imperialis, miles under what were once the Himalayas, where tech priests sacrifice thousands of psychics a day to keep the Emperor “alive”. You feel the sheer weight, not only of the billions of tons of rock above your head, but also of the onerous responsibility of trying to maintain the Emperor’s life force, the sonic density conveying a sense of enormity.
Tracks such as “Warp Ritual” put a more uplifting, hopeful spin on the overall feel, the chanting choir raising their voices in… something that isn’t quite celebration, nor even hope, but more… imploring, reaching across space to let the Emperor know yes, we are here, and we still need your light. “Beyond the Emperor’s Light” captures the feeling of traveling through the coldness of space, out beyond the visibility of the Astronomicon, the light cast into the void by the Emperor on his Golden Throne to illuminate Holy Terra as a navigation point. You are alone out here, beyond the reach and psychic sight of the most powerful human who has ever lived, alone to face those enemies that would destroy the Imperium of Man. It’s icy synths and simple chords mirror the numbing frigidity of the dark void, which slows particles to a crawl. “Vox Espiritum” does the most to break free, an intriguing and delicate dance across the surface of spacetime, tip-toeing with Eldar-like grace past the dangers of an unwelcoming universe and toward something more noble, like a Harlequin’s performance
Warp Ritual is another outstanding release from Psychic Hood – he continues to put out compelling music that both fits the Warhammer 40K universe while also being perfectly capable of standing on its own, free of the lore. Relics of the Eternal City will release a limited run of CDs on their Bandcamp page HERE, while Psychic Hood will have copies on cassette on his Bandcamp page HERE. I suggest you jump on these, because they’re not going to last long.