French Occultists Hua†a Deliver Cryptic Final Masterwork
~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~
Review by Billy Goate
Think you've heard it all and you're confident about closing the books on 2018 and putting out your best-of lists? I advise you to hold your horses, my friends, because you haven't heard this yet. Get ready for what is without doubt the grandest album of 2018. Guttural rumblings of bass collide with sublime organ tones, shooting holes through the dank chamber like laser rays of radiant sunlight. Soon this feast of sound will be joined by damning riffs and strangely majestic voices that layer melodies in shifting keys, one upon the other, until a spire is created like an ancient ziggurat.
The latest offering by French occultic doomers and Roadburn Festival alumni HUATA is like none other. The band, which recently made an appearance on our 'Doomed & Stoned in France' (2018) compilation, often configures as a five-piece. However, the consistent heartbeat of the project has been founding member, Ronan Grail, and long-time bassist Benjamin Morea -- both of whom constitute the backbone of the now 12-year old act that hails from Rennes.
Long renowned for their stirring live rituals, Hua†a have two extended-plays, two splits, and one previous full-length to their name already, the brilliant 'Atavist of Mann' (2011). However, nothing prepared me for the power of their crowning achievement, 'Lux Initiatrix Terrae’ (2018).
I find myself struggling for points of comparison to entice the reader to become a listener. Shall I draw parallels to the imposing architecture of Ufomammut, the sweeping compositional vision of Slomatics, the ardor of Inter Arma, the airy psychedelic soundscapes of Pink Floyd, the sanguine tenor of Pallbearer, or the harmonic resplendence of Chrome Ghost? At the risk of losing some of the faithful doomers, the most fitting association to the size, scope, and most importantly spirit of Lux Initiatrix Terrae comes not from the realm of metal, but from the world of classical music. I'm thinking of one ambitious work, in particular: Ferruccio Busoni's massive Piano Concerto in C Major, Opus 39 -- one of the most ambitious works ever written in its genre class. Like Hua†a, Busoni laced his work with cryptic references to the occult, ancient orders, and esoteric knowledge.
I hasten to add that Hua†a's magnum opus is not symphonic metal, though "symphonic" seems a most fitting adjective for it. Let's think of it as a rhapsodic fantasy marrying epic and gothic doom to atmospheric, surreal heaviness, whilst subtly flirting with spaced-out domain of psychedelic and occult rock. Some tracks ("The Golden Hordes Of Kailash," for instance) usher in surreal scales and unusual chord progressions that remind me of the creepy grandeur of the mutant worship service in Beneath The Planet of the Apes (1970).
This modern day Tower of Babel aspires to reach the heavens with a power, elegance, and resolute will encountered so rarely in the realm of metal or, for that matter, anything else across the many genres of contemporary music. During its exalting 70-minute run-time, I felt I was bearing witness some incredible modern cantata. This was more than my usual audit of a new promo; this was an all-absorbing listen and an altogether moving experience.
After hearing this record, I'm convinced that Hua†a have definitely given Batushka a run for their money at Psycho Las Vegas over the summer. No Vinyl Stage for these guys, though. Take them straight to The Joint, fellas! A sounds this large is worthy of the same immense theater that brought us Enslaved, SUNN O))), Godflesh, and Indian this year; Candlemass, Yob, Electric Wizard, and Sleep in the years prior.
I've been avoiding using well-tread power words like epic in much of my reviewing this year, but it's time to pull this one off the shelf. This is a special occasion, for Lux Initiatrix Terrae is the band's final work as Hua†a -- an emphatic punctuation to a long and fruitful career. You'll not encounter a band as fascinating as Hua†a or an album quite as majestic as the one before us this year, perhaps not even this decade. Make no mistake, Hua†a's strange, bold chef d'oeuvre will be discovered in this crowded year of excellent releases and, with any luck, reach wide appreciation. At the risk of sounding orgasmic, this record is a triumph.
Right now, you can sample two singles from the album -- its opener, "The Mystical Beast of Revelations" and the third track, "The Solar Work." Both will make you hungry to hear this regal heptad of hymns in all its fullness. On November 23rd, Hua†a's Lux Initiatrix Terrae will see a physical release on a very limited run of 200 cassettes via Sludgelord Records and Seeing Red Records, with vinyl available via French label Music Fear Satan.
To satiate the appetite while we wait, Doomed & Stoned is pleased to bring you the record’s finale, "Third Eye Nation." Though belying in the trippy ambience of its opening moments, the 16-minute monolith soon overtakes the soul.
Give ear...
Lux Initiatrix Terrae by Huata
Interview by Shawn Gibson
with additional question by Billy Goate
Recently, I sent away for Hua†a's new cassette and can't wait to get it! I already have 'Open the Gates of Shambhala' (2010) and 'Atavist Of Mann' (2011), but 'Lux Initiatrix Terrae' (2018) is my first preorder. I must have listened to album's opening track, "The Mystical Beast Of Revelations," four of five times in one sitting already. I play it as loud as I can during my daily commute. It's an amazing song that takes me to places not of this earth! The vocals sound different than the first two albums. The music sounds more sharpened and honed, though still very much the Hua†a we know and love. The organs add to the uniqueness and mesh well with the heavy, doomy vibe of multi-faceted gem of doom, ritual, occult, and psych metal. It was high time we interviewed the band, I thought. Following is my recent exchange of words with , in which they take us behind the veil of secrecy for a rare look at the musical minds that make up Hua†a. (Shawn)
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I used to have a radio show and played "Diving In The Swamp" and "The Imperial Wizard," which I absolutely love. Your new album comes out on November 23rd, which happens to coincide with a full moon. That's a great time to release an album, intentional I would imagine. I'll make sure to listen to 'Lux Initiatrix Terrae' under the light of the full moon and be transcended!
Ben: Thank you for those kind words. We like "Thee Imperial Wizard," too. It was a good song to play live, really deep and slow, as we enjoy.
Who is presently in the band?
Ben: I play bass in Hua†a and also guitars on Lux Initiatrix Terrae, plus fx and synths. I am responsible for a lot of the musical arrangements and composed both the music and lyrics with Ronan.
Ronan: Currently, Ben and I remain in the band, but the last album was recorded with David Barbe on drums and Gurvan Coulon on organ. At this point, we must say it's hard to hold Hua†a alive. We've had a lot of lineup changes. As the founder and last remaining from among the original members, I played with dozens of guys. I don't feel proud of it at all and I can't deny the help and devotion we had from many of the former members. I just wish I had not to deal with these lineup changes.
"At this point, we must tell the truth. There won't be Hua†a anymore."
So Hua†a is now a two-piece? What does that bode for the band's future?
Ronan: At this point, we must tell the truth: there won't be Hua†a anymore. This album will come as a posthumous album. This is due to musical disagreement and I now realize why many bands used the same argument and how it's difficult to explain! I personally don't want to stop playing music like Hua†a, because it's a strong thing I need to do in my life. Like, making it real, see? The thing is, Benjamin is at least as much in Hua†a as me and I can't deny it. So what I want to do now is make music again and all the ideas that could help me to make music like Hua†a did would be welcome.
Ben: As Ronan says, we weren't on the same page, musically and emotionally speaking, anymore after 10 years of doom worshiping to continue this project. We started to write this album in 2013, record it in 2015, and release it in 2018. This lapse of time weighted on us very much, in terms of how we wanted to continue this band. Our wills, visions, and expectations have changed throughout this hiatus and this split is for the best. Now I'm focusing on my other project, Fange, which grew up fast and good, as well as a new experimental hip-hop act called Bienveillance.
Lux Initiatrix Terrae by Huata
Who did the artwork for Lux Initiatrix Terrae?
Ronan: Ben has done all the artwork in Hua†a, from our first release onward. He did all the T-shirts, too, all of Hua†a's imagery remains his vision.
Related to that, when you’re not making music what do you like to do?
Ben: Creating visuals, having nice drinks and meals with friends, playing board games, watching the NBA, and listening to music, obviously.
Ronan: I am currently training for adults undergoing kite to become a Cook. I had a lot of jobs before. I'm like a regular guy; I like to eat, to drink. I like those good things we can take in this world, as I tend to be epicurean. For example, I like to drink and discover a lot of IPAs.
What's a damn good book you've read?
Ronan: I am now reading, again and again, 'The Morning of The Magicians' (1960) from Bergier and Pauwels, and I can tell that the power of this book remains in the themes it tackles. Hörbigers’s Welteislehre, especially, retains my fascination.
Ben: 'The Morning of the Magicians' is definitely inspiring and so is 'The Secret Doctrine' (1888) from Helena Blavatsky. A few books from Robert Charroux were also big inspirations for us in the writing of Hua†a's lyrics and philosophy. Otherwise, ‘2001, A Space Odyssey’ (1968) from Arthur C. Clarke is brilliant, as is the Kubrick's movie adaptation, my favorite of all.
What makes you laugh?
Ben: Monty Python, The IT Crowd, Black Books, Ricky Gervais, etcetera. English humor is the very best. Ace Ventura is also one of my favorites, along with Les Visiteurs.
Ronan: Monty Python! I love the absurd humor.
I love to cook and eat. What are some good French foods you love?
Ben: All of it, man. Don't mess with French people about food. This is more than a cultural institution here; it's a freakin' religion! (laughs) French gastronomy is a masterpiece -- from meats, cheeses, and wines, to fishes and seafood, to even offal, snails, and frogs. All are great, without mentioning the quality of our pastry. But if I had to choose one stuff it would be the bread. Everywhere else's bread is shit.
Ronan: (laughs) Well, I'm actually learning a lot about this topic, as a future Cook. I'm now attending to make a "Poulet vallée d'Auge," a chicken flamed with calvados -- yummy! -- cooked with onions, fresh cream from Isigny, mushrooms, cider, and all of this with roasted potatoes and a good Merlot from our many varieties of wine grapes.
What are your influences musically?
Ben: The first bands I ever listened to as a child were Magma, Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, and a lot of '70s rock, thanks to my father, so these records really influenced my musical approach. Black Sabbath is the obvious one, because I'm devoted to the art of the riff. Also John Coltrane, Karlheinz Stockhausen, John Zorn, and Trent Reznor are some composers I really admire, among many others. But for Hua†a, my influences were much more from the '70s psychedelic era than the doom-stoner one.
Ronan: I hear from my childhood rock, blues, folk and pop music. I'm not that much into metal music; I mean, not all of it. I'm now exploring some progressive rock music.
Hua†a is from Rennes, so I'm curious about some of the bands from area that you guys dig?
Ronan: I love Eat Roses. What they did was so deep and beautiful. Totorro also does good music. I'm not that much into thrash or death metal, but Hexecutor or Cadaveric Fumes are doing an excellent stuff. And the wave of garage rock bands -- I'm from Rennes -- is quite cool too, I even found Le druide du Gué Charette, which is from this wave and also wear monk robes like we did!
Ben: Eat Roses was the best, but DEAD and You, Vicious! are also quite good in the post-punk scene in Rennes, along with my mate, folk singer Dany von Del Baüt of Malaad Roy, and Straw Hair, who play hip-hop.
How is the metal scene in Rennes?
Ronan: There are the Roazhon Underground productions, Black Karma's new festival, and of course the "Tendresse et passion" scene. A lot of foreign bands visit the Mondo Bizarro or Terminus bars.
Ben: There was a big hardcore scene in Rennes in the late-'90s 'til the mid-2000s, but the metal scene didn't really grow up here. Can't say that there are obvious bands or venues, except the Mondo Bizarro, to really federate everyone, but some promoters are doing a good job to make it live.
What has been an awkward moment as a band?
Ben: Too much to remember, but most of them were more funny than weird moments, which makes good anecdotes, at least!
Ronan: There are so many I can't tell!
Your music has always had religious overtones, thematically and especially instrumentally -- namely through the use of organ. Do any of you have background in Christianity and Catholicism? I'm imagining, perhaps, the music of the cathedrals of your childhood, the grandiosity of the organ music there.
Some of us have been baptized and/or followed catechism class as children, but this has nothing to do with our reason for using an organ in our music, even if we are very impressed and enjoyed by organs in churches. There is nothing about religion in Hua†a, but there is spirituality and the will to cite many cults and convergences between ancient beliefs and occultism throughout history.
For this recording, what did you work with, organ-wise? It sounds like one of those incredible, elaborately piped church organs.
We would have loved to record a proper piped church organ, such as the one you can see on the alternative cover of Lux Initiatrix Terrae, but as with previous albums, we just recorded with a 1961 Hammond Organ -- which actually was used in a church in Brittany, back in the day. We chose to add an organ to our music because of our '70s musical background, but you're not completely wrong by saying that the majestic tones and serenity brought by the organ tones fit well with our musical purpose!
I'd love to probe the depths of each song, because I'm sure there are all kinds of fascinating details there our readers would love to know about. That said, I can understand if the band desires to preserve some mystery and leave it to the prerogative of the listener to search these things out. Certainly there are many rabbit trails to explore, not the least of which is the band's name.
Our lyrics and universe are very deep, indeed, and we do like to let our audience get into this if they want to. There is a big part of our work which remains hidden -- that's the purpose of the occult. To be honest, only a few really dug the lyrics, which are written in an ancient German code in our records, so you have to unscramble them in the graph way and by their meaning and references.
That is truly fascinating. Also, I noticed there were quite a number of contributing artists credited on the record.
We have had so many musicians throughout the years that it might be difficult to follow, I admit! We recorded Lux Initiatrix Terrae with a proper line-up, but summoned several extra-musicians to help us in expanding our musical palette. Their collaborations were even very mysterious, as we didn't meet in person with any of them -- except Laetitia, whom Ronan knows. They all recorded their own parts. We've only reached out to them with ideas of what we wanted and they managed to write what we were expecting.
I imagine there was a deliberate rationale for this?
Nothing extravagant, I'm afraid. They were just living in different areas of Brittany and the recording process took place in several spots over a two-year period. But it definitely fits the purpose not knowing who they are and having no interactions with them.
Not to end on a sour note, but I’m saddened to hear this is perhaps Hua†a's last album!
The decision to split apart was quit recent, but we were already in a hiatus for three years and no ceremonial activities in four years. As you may have gathered, we're a bit outside all these preoccupations we had back in the days, but it's always interesting and a pleasure to picture the whole frame of Hua†a with new disciples!
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