ALBUM REVIEW: The Holy Mountain – Bo Ningen
BO NINGEN are hardly new to the game, as they celebrate their 18th year together this year. Yet, even in their previous experimentation, reimagining a soundtrack to a film – The Holy Mountain in this case – is a fairly new idea and quite a concept, when you realise quite how much effort has to go into such a production. Coming in at over an hour and 40 minutes and split into six segments, each prefixed with a letter, it’s a quite lengthy body of work, further exacerbating the logistics behind the recreation of the music.
With the above said, BO NINGEN have done an absolutely sterling job of putting across quite how fever dream and eccentric the original film was. While the sections have been split quite well, they have done an excellent job of showcasing the different aspects and stages of the film, providing a strong body of work to complement what was clearly not an easy undertaking.
The layering is just about right, going between soft harmonious sounds at times, into a rather more surreal discordance, to an uptempo, urgent climax. The balance of the sounds themselves is also about right, with the times ranging from under two minutes to over ten, showing that they had no fear in taking their time to fully express an idea or to fit a segment, also embodying exactly what the original film was all about.
It’s also worth noting that the original funding for this film came from THE BEATLES and YOKO ONO, themselves known for their psychedelic approach to things at the time and not just the pop that may be more readily associated with them. The movie itself contains little in the way of dialogue and narration, focusing more on the musical aspect in support of the visual narrative rather than the characters fully setting the scene throughout with their words.
While this is a very good body of work, it is not one that is so easily approachable due to the sheer nature of its composition and it does take a certain level of appreciation for experimentalism to perhaps fully take it in. It is not, however, one which existing BO NINGEN fans are likely to shy away from. While there could also be interest for fans of the likes of HAWKWIND and similar bands, it is a journey deeper into their stranger side, meaning there is not the same level of approachability that accompanies the likes of Soko or Slider, especially given the instrumental and complex nature of the piece.
Rating: 7/10
The Holy Mountain is set for release on March 1st via Alcopop! Records.
Like BO NINGEN on Facebook.