Popol Vuh
In Den Gärten Pharaos

Nobody like Florian Fricke has been able to combine rock with the purest mysticism, to make it metaphysical and religious, to unite this Western art with the atmospheres and cultures of very distant countries. Fricke, together with Klause Schulze, is the most important figure of that extraordinary generation of musicians operating in late 60s Germany. A student of Karlheinz Stockhausen, he played in the major groups of that era (Tangerine Dream, Amon Duul), but more than others, he combined his extraordinary abilities with the exploration and study of very distant arts, from Indian to Aztec, to Arab-Middle Eastern. With his work, he laid the foundations for new age and Ambient music, and thanks to his collaboration with filmmaker Werner Herzog, he created music that comments on images alone (watch "Aguirre, the Wrath of God"). Unfortunately, he passed away prematurely, but in his long career, Fricke was never banal or static, always experimenting with sounds and new forms of multimedia.

Unlike other German groups of the time, his Popol Vuh focused less on the experimental and electronic side, emphasizing the "traditional" component by using instruments such as the sitar and tablas. This album is the first absolute masterpiece of Fricke's project; from 1971, it precedes another extraordinary masterpiece, "Hosianna Mantra", but plays a fundamental role because it fully centers the artistic coordinates that Fricke did not reach with "Affenstunde" from the previous year. It has often been said that to simply imagine kraut rock, one just needs to combine avant-garde electronic music with the orgiastic psychedelia of "A Saucerful Of Secrets", and this album indeed leads this fusion. The goal it achieves is different from the albums of CAN and Amon Duul, it does not provoke disturbance but ecstasy, oblivion.

The album is composed of two long suites: "In Den Gärten Pharaos" (17:38) and "Vuh" (10:09). It begins with a rush of waters, lush gardens unfold before the senses, a martial rhythm punctuates tranquil moments, distant echoes of exotic wildlife can be heard. The electronics are used wisely, Fricke’s Moog dispenses peace and oblivion until a tribal rhythm takes over, leading the listener into a wild, primordial bacchanal. Popol Vuh's music digs down to the deepest roots of humanity, probing the purity and innocence of physical nudity. The second immense track is a psychedelic liturgy, with Fricke's organ notes soaring high, tablas, timpani, and cymbals punctuate the spiritual delirium, the ecstasy. Arcane choirs fuse with the organ, it feels like attending a mass for some ancient idol, a god inhabiting every individual. No one before had rendered rock so intangible and light. No one before Fricke had created rock music as a means of spiritual ecstasy.

Before this album, words are superfluous; in the face of the immense creativity and poetry of this group, Dead Can Dance appear surpassed and secondary. Popol Vuh have created something immense and unreachable, and it would be a shame if it were unknown.