Neutomic Keyboard

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Neutomic Keyboard
Neutomic Keyboard, 2006. Left to right: Father Francis, The Reverend, Brother Caine
Neutomic Keyboard, 2006. Left to right: Father Francis, The Reverend, Brother Caine
Background information
Origin Rhinelander, Wisconsin, USA
Genre(s) Experimental/Rock/Improvisational/Drone Metal/Performance Art
Years active 2005 – Present
Label(s) Unsigned/Self Released
Website Official site
Members
Brother Caine
The Reverend
Father Francis

Neutomic Keyboard was started by its two members: Brother Caine and The Reverend in late 2005. They came together while searching for the perfect balance of electronic and acoustic music, the result was the experimental track "Kontra Yamu Ach", in which several musical styles and instruments were recorded on-the-spot and live using only one keyboard to create the signature sound of Neutomic Keyboard. Following the creation of "Kontra Yamu Ach", Brother Caine and The Reverend got to work on their string of albums, which were ongoing experiments with sound and music, each getting deeper into a unique view of religion, and a seemingly abstract form of composition including long mechanical drones and unconventional instruments/recording techniques.

Contents

[edit] The Religion of the Sounds

Along with creating a new form of experimental music, Neutomic Keyboard also claimed to have created a new religion known as "The religion of the Sounds". This belief states that God was a composer (known only as The Great Composer) who dictated and directed the notes of the universe to create the ongoing symphony of life. Along with this, Brother Caine and The Reverend claim to be prophets and soldiers of The Great Composer, sent to restore the majesty and artistic worth to modern music using their own music as a weapon and path to enlightenment. As of yet, they have offered no proof of such a divine purpose other than their music (which they claim is divinely inspired).

To go along with their outlandish claims of their new religion, Brother Caine and The Reverend have adopted a paramilitary/clerical public image, each donning a cassock and their Vietnam issue jungle boots along with other military garments to represent their roles as both musical soldiers and prophets.

[edit] The Quadrilogy

The Quadrilogy of Neutomic Keyboard is the combined works of their first four albums. With each one came a new piece of their revelation, and showed the progress of the band towards their stable image. The titles, when assembled in order, spell out "God is a hermaphrodite, with a mustache on Tuesday.". The meaning behind this message has yet to be explained (if there is any explanation at all), however it can be safely attributed to the band's often blasphemous and sacrilegious form of satire.

[edit] Part I: God is a Hermaphrodite Era (2005)

The first album released by Neutomic Keyboard: "God is a Hermaphrodite", is the first part in the cryptic message spelled out by their album titles. The album was recorded in single takes for each song, with both Brother Caine and The Reverend playing multiple instruments at once in an enclosed space. Several songs are punctuations of the signature drones employed by Neutomic Keyboard as transitions between songs or instruments while performing, although were featured mainly in this album as tracks in their own rights. There are also two tracks that consist of the loud and furious banging of various percussion instruments accompanied by screaming of both Brother Caine and The Reverend, and very fast distorted guitar parts, none of which follow any conventional musical structure. Several other songs are improvisational keyboard pieces in which Brother Caine and The Reverend each took opposing ends of their keyboard and played in unison. Overall, the album gives an uneasy, and practically unlistenable air of presence to Neutomic Keyboard, but leaves the listener wondering what they would create next.

[edit] Part II: Who is God Era (2006)

The sophomore album by Neutomic Keyboard: Who Is God is a more guitar/percussion oriented album, in which several actual songs emerge. The songs containing keyboard parts can be best described as "spacey", and lend a very dreary feel to the songs, while the weeping guitar melodies help emphasise the importance of the tracks. Some of the more nonsensical tracks still exist, however they are more refined than their predecessors from "God is a Hermaphrodite". A mysterious voice can also be heard on one track that sounds like a person rapping to a drum beat over a telephone, this mystery contributor was later featured prominently on Neutomic Keyboard's third and most extreme album to date. Several of the spacey and depressing tracks of Who Is God lend some musical credibility to Neutomic Keyboard, and paved the way for their third release. It was during this time that the band began to focus more on having a stable "feel" throughout an album, and was a time of more conventional instrumentation as opposed to pure experimental tactics (although they were still present).

[edit] Part III: With a Mustache Era (2006)

The band in their attire coming off stage from their first concert.
Enlarge
The band in their attire coming off stage from their first concert.

The third album by Neutomic Keyboard: With a Mustache is a conceptual album detailing the corruption of an unknown person. The haunting opening lines of album; "My soul is being crushed by the weight of my sins" backed by an insidious growling voice and droning noise leads on to a very outlandish song featuring not two members of the band, but rather three. The third member was identified only as "Pope Andrew I". The experimental and strange side of Neutomic Keyboard reared it's head again on several other tracks that consist of only strange noises and complex rhythms using percussion instruments, while several of the most prominent tracks featured the first true vocals of the band, however with the pitches stretched to extremes to create a child-like piercing chorus. Several of the songs resemble rap music, however with a nonsensical and evil tone added to it.

Another picture of the band during first concert.
Enlarge
Another picture of the band during first concert.

Profanity is featured in surplus on this album, and the use of repeated phrases is also evident in each of the tracks. Other tracks feature the praise of Satan in a stereotypical fashion with a very heavy presence of satire. Along with the false praise of Satan, the band promotes a fictional product called "Christ Cakes" in several songs to add another layer of offensive blasphemy. Towards the end of the album, several exotic instruments such as a pipe chanter and digeridoo are introduced, and yet another mystery contributor is featured (although only instrumentally), whose identity remains a mystery. The album then ends with a more extended and extreme version of the opening track to signify the complete corruption of the man upon whom the album is based. This era showed the full emergence of their clerical/soldier personas, with the first public showing of their music and image in Rhinelander, Wisconsin in early September.

[edit] Part IV: On Tuesday Era (2006)

The fourth album (and said to be the last of their "old sound", a tribute of sorts) of Neutomic Keyboard is a Best Of compilation consisting of tracks from God is a Hermaphrodite, Who Is God, and With a Mustache, as well as some unreleased tracks that are rumored to have been pulled from the Neutomic Keyboard demo reserves. It is the final album in the "quadrilogy", finally solving the riddle of what the message would be that was spelled out by the album titles. The entire sentence is "God is a hermaphrodite, who is god with a mustache on Tuesday." This leaves future albums in the open as to how they will sound, and the band claims to be working on several albums along with videos and other forms of media related to the next segment of their quest. Some tracks featured in "On Tuesday" are also leftovers from the various recording sessions, and as one would expect, the tracks are generally the best (as in listener friendly) by the band to date.

[edit] Future plans

Future releases by Neutomic Keyboard have been hinted at in interviews as well as on their MySpace. The next release is called Night Soil, other than that, not much is known about the band's exact plans. They debuted several new songs at their first concert in September, however where they belong is still a mystery.

[edit] Discography

Release Date Album Title Record Label
August 28, 2005 God is a Hermaphrodite self release
April 20, 2006 Who Is God self release
July 16, 2006 With a Mustache self release
October 25, 2006 On Tuesday self release
TBA Night Soil TBA

[edit] References

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