Search - Revolutionary Army of Infant Jesus :: Gift of Tears / Mirror / La Liturgie

An Anarcho-Christian Collective Kisses The Earth & Sky

Michael Thomas Jones | Huntington, WV | 03/06/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This record is easily one of my favorite albums of all time. It's proof of an unjust world that this album has scarcely been available over the past ten years. Except those rare copies offered at prices of an arm and a leg. Eschewing economics, the beautiful music of RAIJ has bucketloads of passion, mystery, innocence, and is rife with an adventurous spirit of experimentation. You can literally hear the joy in their musical discoveries, from track to track. In it, you'll hear a valid attempt invoking the spirit of Europe: From otherworldly Gregorian-style chants to madrigal acoustic guitars/flutes to echo-chamber percussion and floating electronic soundscapes, even excerpts from Cocteau's movie ORPHEE. That is, a musical journey from medieval times to our electronic era. And it's breathtaking to hear such imaginal leaps through their sound. It wouldn't be too off the mark to consider their music in the "apocalyptic folk" tradition of, say, Current 93, Death In June, etc. And like this style, it takes acoustic instruments and collides them with electronic manipulations. But this collison is done in a way that is totally singular and without peer.Only an anarcho-Christian collective like them could have brought all of these elements together: Acoustic-electronic, innocence-wisdom, lucidity-confusion, Christian-pagan."

Indescribable

Mrs. Danielle Marsden | 03/31/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lots o fairly nice stuff on this album, sorta interesting mix of folk/industrial noise with religious overtones. What makes the album for me, though, is the one track "Dies Irae", 8 minutes+ long, and indescribably beautiful and haunting. If you can find the album, buy it. I lost my copy in a fire five years ago and am still looking for a replacement"

Forgotten jewel

Golovanov Alexey | Limassol, Cyprus | 08/05/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This unique album by an obscure band from Liverpool (actually, these 2 albums - "Gift of Tears" and "Mirror") is like a pearl thrown before the swine, first issued as Sanatorium Project in 1987. It is a disgrace that there are no re-issues available. To describe the music is a very ungrateful and useless task - let's say, "goth before goth"? - in the same sense as "Closer" by Joy Division might be considered goth... Anyway, it is full of sorrow and tragedy, mesmerizing Gregorian chanting of angelic female voice is craftly enchanced by tribal shamanic drumming. The singing has very deep roots - first used by "Group 1850" (Agemo's Trip to Mother Earth). There is a feeling of Christian rock. It is just beautiful, depressive, apocalyptic... I would say it is a lament for vanishing civilization. One of the best albums I've ever bought"