Baphomet by Retribution Body

The goat which is represented in our frontispiece bears upon his forehead the sign of the pentagram with one point in the ascendant, which is sufficient to distinguish him as a symbol of the light; he makes the sign of occultism with both hands, pointing upward to the white moon of Chesed, and downward to the black moon of Geburah. This sign expresses the perfect harmony of mercy with justice. One of the arms is feminine and the other masculine, as in the androgyne of Khunrath, whose attributes we have combined with those of our goat, since they are one and the same symbol. The torch of intelligence burning between the horns is the magical light of universal equilibrium; it is also the type of the soul exalted above matter, even while connecting with matter, as the flame connects with the torch. The hideous head of the animal expresses horror of sin, for which the material agent, alone responsible, must alone and forever bear the penalty: because the soul is impassible in its nature, and can suffer only by materializing. The caduceus, which replaces the generative organ, represents eternal life; the scale-covered belly typifies water; the circle above it is the atmosphere; the feathers still higher up signify the volatile; lastly, humanity is depicted by the two breasts and the androgyne arms of this sphinx of the occult sciences.

- Eliphas Lévi, ”Dogme et rituel de la haute magie” 1861

As winter gives way to the spring thaw, Full Spectrum Records welcomes Matthew Azevedo’s Retribution Body into the fold, who graces us with their immense new work, ‘Baphomet.’ The official follow-up, of sorts, to releases for Glistening Examples and Type Records, ‘Baphomet’ stands tall as a roaring statement of intent, all visceral sturm und drang, utterly enveloping drone, and infrasonic frisson.

Drawing a direct line between the acoustic sensibilities of Pauline Oliveros, with whom Azevedo studied at Rensselaer Polytech in 2010, and the earth shattering sonics of doom titans SUNN O))), the focus of the Retribution Body ethos has always been centered on the behavior of physical sound in space, combining eurorack synthesis with a custom backline amplification rig dubbed the “Siege Tower.” This behemoth system is capable of putting out a clean 117 dB sine wave at 20 Hz and thus far has proven indestructible, despite Azevedo’s most deliberate efforts.

Where albums like ‘Enemy of the Good,’ ‘Aokigahara,’ and ‘Self-Destruction’ aimed to capture the effectively physical experience of Azevedo’s live performances to varying degrees of success – an early master of ‘Self-Destruction,’ in fact, carried so much low frequency information that it produced virtually no sound whatsoever on common consumer-grade speakers – they set out to create a more expressly listening-focused work. After being brought in to handle some acoustical consulting at Methuen Memorial Music Hall and hearing their 160 year old Great Organ, replete with 85 stops, 6,088 pipes and a frequency range that extends down to 16 Hz, and the hall’s natural four-second reverberation, Azevedo knew that this would be the birthplace of ‘Baphomet.’ The pandemic shutdown of 2020 meant that the hall was less busy than usual and Matthew was able to rent the space for two full days.

After capturing several hours’ worth of material, Azevedo set about whittling this raw mass of sonic material in a coherent whole. During this process, they kept returning to the image of Baphomet, the idol of the Knights Templar’s heretical mystery religion that was given modern form in the illustration of Eliphas Levi’s 1856 book ‘Rituel de la Haute Magie.’ Often misappropriated in popular culture as a symbol of Satan, Baphomet’s true nature is one of universal duality – human / animal, male / female, light / dark, above / below. As a nonbinary-identifying, neurodivergent person, this symbolism resonated deeply with Matthew and reflected what they heard in this music – sound / vibration, acoustic / electric, loud / inaudible – culminating in the pairing of their modern electronic synthesizer and the Memorial Music Hall’s Great Organ. A fitting symbol for this monumental work.

Physical copies available at https://fullspectrumrecords.bandcamp.com/ or catch me on tour.

M Azevedo (b. 1977) is a Providence, RI based composer, mastering engineer, and acoustician. Their work as Retribution Body uses custom subwoofers and modular synthesizers to auralize the architecture of performance spaces though dense fields of standing waves, crafting work that is simultaneously minimalist and overwhelming.

retributionbody.com