Sabbath Assembly - Ye Are Gods (2012)

Country: U.S.A
Genre: Psychedelic, Folk Rock
Style: Religious, Process Church of the Final Judgment
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© 2012 Svart Records
Review by "Amy" for CVLNation.com

How refreshing! It’s amazing to finally come across a group of musicians who so freely are able to express and conjoin esoteric ideas of occult philosophy, cosmological christ-hood, dichotomies of sin and sainthood, god and lucifer, light and dark; not enacting as enemies, but as parts of a whole that feed off of one another in order to fulfill unity.  Filled with processean liturgy and praise, Sabbath Assembly‘s Ye Are Gods stays true to 60’s-70’s psychedelic cult hymnals and takes you to a place of mysterious inner worship — this time in a very Crowley-esque manner. In contrast to ‘Restored to One’, ‘Ye Are Gods’ evokes a much more authentic, yet more open and inner home for the idea of universality; of everything and nothing as holy, as sacred, as cosmological, and as pure. Musically, I am reminded a bit of Crowley’s “The Great Beast Speaks”, and I can’t help but see a few parallels with some selections from The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud‘s A New Soldier Follows The Path of a New King, which subtly also explores sanctity and salvation in an esoteric manner. Filled with processean liturgy and praise, Sabbath Assembly‘s Ye Are Gods stays true to 60’s-70’s psychedelic cult hymnals and takes you to a place of mysterious inner worship — this time in a very Crowley-esque manner. In contrast to ‘Restored to One’, ‘Ye Are Gods’ evokes a much more authentic, yet more open and inner home for the idea of universality; of everything and nothing as holy, as sacred, as cosmological, and as pure. Musically, I am reminded a bit of Crowley’s “The Great Beast Speaks”. Also, I can’t help but see a few parallels with some selections from The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud‘s A New Soldier Follows The Path of a New King which subtly also explores sanctity and salvation in an esoteric manner.

If you’re one who enjoys seemingly historical and ritualistic liturgy, ‘Ye Are Gods’ is for you; processean or not – ultimately, it is all in personal interpretation and individual theology. With lyrics such as, “What is the Law of the Universe?” “Where is Heaven? Where is Hell?”, perhaps that is the ultimate goal.

Most importantly, though, I adore how this compilation nudges us to take a second look at “religion”; What is salvation? What is sanctity? What is sacred? What is god? What is love in its purest form? What roles do archetypal religious figures actually play? Oh, let the mysteries reign!!