Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Phurpa - Gyer Ro [Cyclic Law - 2017]

Phurpa is a prolific Russian group that plays ancient Tibetan spiritual music from the Bon religion.  They have existed since 2003.  This music is characterized by gutteral resonant throat singing in unbelievable low registers,  mesmerizing single note chanting separated into odd, asymmetrical phrases.  This new double album "Gyer Ro" on dark ambient label Cyclic Law is one of several releases in 2017. 

This music apparently takes extensive breathing exercises and vocal practice to perform.  It is quite monotonous but deeply entrancing, producing a noticable muscle relaxation after a few minutes.  Like listening to the wind, there is a pattern to be discerned, though it is not regular.  its shape seems to possess a meaning, to function as some kind of profound philosophical statement, yet it is abstract and difficult to clarify or paraphrase.  The effect of the music stems partly from the palpability of the group's deep concentration.

I've also heard a previous album from 2009, "Trowo Phurnag Ceremony".  Both are immediately identifiable as the same group, but "Gyer Ro" is more nebulous and sparse, unattached to rhythmic structure and patiently immersive.  Both albums proceed at a very slow, measured pace, but "Gyer Ro" charts an even deeper vastness with mammoth tracks like "Laughter Of To-Nag-Ma", the 78 minute piece which solely occupies the first disk.

Unlike "Trowo Phurnag", this album includes several passages in which the voices are absent in favor of a wailing horn.  Its sound is wavering, rough and dissonant, but haunting in its strange rough-hewn way.

The album sounds like it was recorded in a cave, a thick natural reverbation shrouding the voices and instruments.  This proves a perfect vehicle for amplifying the psychic force of the vibrating throats.  The sound is physically pleasurable and inviting.

In the sense that they create acoustic ritual ambient music, this group could be compared to the likes of Arktau Eos.  However, Phurpa seems to possess a greater authenticity and focus, clearly highly invested in the precise recreation of powerfully psychoactive ancient sounds.  Their approach contains no excess, using the voice as a direct conduit to the otherworldly and the beyond.

This album and other works by Phurpa are highly recommended for those looking for mind altering drone sounds, as well as those fascinated by throat singing techniques.  Those looking for music with progressions and cohesive rhythms will be disappointed, but I deeply appreciate this group for their dedicated preservation of primal methods of reaching altered states.

Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5

Josh Landry
Latest Reviews

Phurpa - Gyer Ro
Phurpa is a prolific Russian group that plays ancient Tibetan spiritual music from the Bon religion.  They have existed since 2003.  This music is ...
110725   Pitchshifter - Peel Sessions...
100725   John Scott - Symptoms OST
100725   Torsofuck - Feasting On Carve...
100725   Dachra - Dachra(VOD)
100725   Transmission - Transmission( ...
100725   Up! - Up!( Blu Ray)
100725   Jack The Ripper - Jack The Ri...
090725   A Day At The Beach - A Day A...
090725   Iggor Cavalera / Shane Embury...
080725   Sebastian Tomb - Even in shi...
Latest Articles

Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sharp t...
It’s fair to say the Sharksploitation genre is often tried, tested, and to be honest, tired. Fear Below is a 2025 Australian film that tries to do some...
180625   Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sha...
280525   The Residents - Visits From T...
090525   Ennaytch - Of walls, abused ...
150425   Dead, Dead Swans interview - ...
110325   Sebastian Tomb - Walls of unb...
040225   Alien Sex Fiend - Possessed B...
231224   Best Of 2024 - Music, Sound &...
191224   Splintered - Somewhere Betwee...
031224   Shane Ryan-Reid - Coerced and...
221024   Whore’s Breath - life’s h...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom