Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Purchasable with gift card
$10CAD or more
Cassette + Digital Album
The new Anunnaki LP 'Martyr Of Alexandria' is now available on a limited edition burgundy C32 cassette. Only 50 copies made in total!
Includes unlimited streaming of Martyr Of Alexandria
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 3 days
edition of 50
Purchasable with gift card
$10CADor more
T-Shirt/Apparel
Anunnaki logo T-shirt designed by the Lord of the Logos himself, Christophe Szpajdel (Emperor etc etc). T-shirts are available in 4 color options: 1) BLACK shirt with WHITE print, 2) RED shirt with BLACK print, 3) WHITE shirt with BLACK print (last ones), & BRAND NEW BLACK shirt with RED print. Printed on 100% cotton American Apparel shirts.
ships out within 3 days
Purchasable with gift card
$22CADor more
Killer black & red embroidered Anunnaki patch, 3"x4", perfect for any battle jacket. With the new Anunnaki logo by the legendary Lord of the Logos, Christophe Szpajdel
Limited edition repress on Deep Space Purple #9 vinyl, only 99 copies!
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Heads up we have a killer repress of our latest LP 'Martyr Of Alexandria' out now. Strictly limited to only 99 copies on Deep Space Purple #9 vinyl. As an added bonus, everyone who orders the LP before January 3rd will be entered into a draw to win a test pressing of our first LP 'Two Treatise On Gnostic Thought', from a forthcoming 5th anniversary remaster out Spring 2022. Buy 2 LPs, get entered twice, etc etc. Odds are pretty good to win!! The draw ends at 11:59pm on January 2nd, winner will be notified by email. Full color LP jackets, 4/1 insert and black paper sleeve, in poly bags.
Includes unlimited streaming of Martyr Of Alexandria
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
"...once the gothic space-rock bass riff and tortured fuzz of ‘Golden Gate Of The Sun’ starts up, it’s hard to dispel visions of a pair of speed-freak psychonauts locked inside a very dark room, producing lightsucking noise. ‘Cyril The Fanatic’ is another headlong plunge into the void, the filthy chug of a nuclear-powered craft burning a path through the cosmos. But the best track here is the extended ‘Cries Of Hypatia’, ambient feedback and a slow beat joined by a glowering choir of voices, building towards an impressively monumental climax."
~Joe Banks, Shindig! Magazine Issue 119, September 2021
Across their previous seven releases the Nanaimo, BC Canada-based instrumental duo ANUNNAKI have explored such intriguing sources of inspiration as Hermeticism, Japanese UFO folklore, and beckoning the Apocalypse. These topics considered, it will surprise few that on their new EP, Martyr of Alexandria, the bicephalic psych-drone-rock powerhouse have turned their exploratory gaze to specific events that occurred in 5th century Alexandria.
Indeed, having named themselves for mythological Sumerian deities, DAVE READ (Moths & Locusts) and ARLEN THOMPSON (Wolf Parade) suggest an intent to operate as wide-eyed sonic archeologists on a quest for truths both musical and spiritual, and as such are delving deeper and deeper into their historical fascinations with each successive release.
With three brain-melting tracks occupying 30 minutes, on Martyr of Alexandria Read (basses/guitars/synths/effects) and Thompson (drums/synths/samples) have crafted a visceral aural tapestry examining the harrowing demise of Hypatia, a pagan philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician known in her day as a teacher possessed of great wisdom. As a victim of accusatory rumours emanating from a complex religiopolitical situation at a violent time in history, Hypatia was martyred following her brutal end at the hands of an incited, rabid Christian mob in 415 AD: 1,606 years on, ANUNNAKI pay tribute.
The EP opens with GOLDEN GATE OF THE SUN, a psych-rock blitzkrieg urgently propelled by Read’s menacing, Lemmy-esque bass and Thompson’s heavy drum attack. The gate in question was an architectural feature of ancient temples, here interpreted by ANUNNAKI as a powerful introduction to the harrowing account of Hypatia’s fate.
CYRIL, THE FANATIC portrays the figure at the centre of Hypatia’s murder: Cyril, the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444 AD. His feud with the Prefect Orestes, who was politically backed by Hypatia, ultimately led to her assassination. ANUNNAKI visualize Cyril’s implicit role in the crime with ominous synth swirls giving way to a storm of thundering drums and scything, phased guitars in an all-out 10-minute assault.
Unwinding over 16 epic minutes, Martyr of Alexandria’s closing track, CRIES OF HYPATIA, reflects her final moments in an intense leviathan that sonically harnesses the drama and horror of the event. The remote voice of Canadian mystic and author Manly P. Hall (1901-1990) dwells within a gradually thickening fog of dissonant drone, before a funereal drum beat enters at the 6:40 mark, then the emotional final third of this huge composition sounds as if a thousand-voice male chorus mourns the fallen luminary, bringing this compelling EP to a potent conclusion.
As intellectually profound as it is musically breathtaking, Martyr of Alexandria was self-produced, mixed by Thompson, and recorded at hip hop giants Swollen Members’ ROB THE VIKING’s downtown Nanaimo studio, The Chamber – Rob acting as engineer – and at Tiger Mountain Studio in nearby Lantzville, engineered by ANDREW HALLIWELL. The mastering was undertaken by DIETRICH SCHOENEMANN at Complete Mastering in Connecticut.
credits
released October 8, 2021
ARLEN THOMPSON
Drums
Doepfer analog modular
Dave Smith Mopho analog synth
Arturia Minibrute analog synth
Korg Mini-Kaosspad for samples
DAVE READ
Fender Bass VI
Ibanez 4/6 guitar/bass doubleneck
Roland GR77B bass synthesizer
Waldorf Streichfett string synthesizer
Moog Minitaur mono synthesizer
Ampeg SVT
Traynor YBA1
Effects
"The Golden Gate Of The Sun" engineered by Rob The Viking at The Chamber, Nanaimo BC
"Cyril, The Fanatic" & "Cries Of Hypatia" engineered by Andrew Halliwell at Strangeways Studio, Lantzville BC
Mixed by Arlen Thompson
Artwork by Dave Read
Photos by Jason Felker
Mastered by Dietrich Schoenemann
Anunnaki logo by Christphe Szpajdel
Special thanks to Dave Cambridge and you
Imagine a cross between Motorhead’s Lemmy & Philthy Animal and Kraftwerk’s Ralf & Florian, together channeling the kozmik
vision of Alice Coltrane through Sunn O)))’s amplifiers, and with influences varying from Klaus Schulze to Acid Mothers Temple, from New Age to Black Metal, Madame Blavatsky to Thich Nhat Hanh, and you’ll start to get the idea of what Anunnaki is all about....more
supported by 36 fans who also own “Martyr Of Alexandria”
"If you’re a long-term fan of one or more of the participating groups or of modern acid rock in general, you won’t need much convincing to add this gem to your collection. But even if you’re completely unfamiliar with this whole scene, yet interested in dipping your toes into the wide world of spaced-out guitar music, I would highly recommend this idealized ISS homage as a gateway experience to the genre."
my full review on Veil of Sound:
https://veilofsound.com/2022/09/23/VA-ISS_Vol1.html Der Ohlsen
supported by 35 fans who also own “Martyr Of Alexandria”
Fantastic world music-inflected kosmische/krautrock with a heavy rhythmic backbone. This is the type of record you can put on and zone out to any time. Levrikon
This searing, four-track split from Bog Wizard (Michigan) and Dust Lord (Colorado) pairs stoner rock riffs with hard fantasy themes. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 10, 2021
