Six Organs of Admittance
Burning The Threshold

The music of Six Organs of Admittance, the main solo project that guitarist Ben Chasny (also a guitarist for Comets of Fire and involved in various projects including collaborations with Current 93 and Magik Markers) has been carrying forward since 1998, is a kind of safe haven where one can ideally hide in what can be a meditative process and inner search that is not necessarily reflective or speculative in nature, but also simply about pursuing the attainment of a certain peace. A feeling of inner calm, almost childlike and primitive in its simplicity, like what we commonly refer to as the 'little things in life'.

Sensations, desires, and needs that seem simple yet apparently contrast with the technical abilities and artistic talent of an artist clearly inspired by musicians such as John Fahey or Sir Richard Bishop (Sun City Girls) with whom, alongside drummer Chris Corsano, he shares a more than interesting musical project—Rangda. In general, he consciously draws from the tradition of American primitivism, which continues to have a certain charm today, with many notable musicians dedicated to carrying on and even renewing the tradition (see Glenn Jones).

Renewing his partnership with Drag City Records, Ben Chasny released his latest work ('Burning the Threshold') last February: a record with 'gentle' traits, as Ben himself described it, conceptually inspired by this gentleness and 'courtesy' in the noblest sense of the term, in understanding the circular path of life built on powerful elements and sentiments like love and forgiveness.

With this same gentleness, the music of the songs strongly conveys the themes mentioned from the very first track, 'Things As They Are', where the typical characteristics of the Six Organs of Admittance project immediately become evident. A folk psychedelia infused with primitivism, where no note is random and is always instrumental to the broader and more comprehensive plan of the song.

Accompanied on these nine songs by talented musicians such as Cooper Crain from Bitchi Bajas on keyboards, Haley Fohr (Circuit Des Yeux) on vocals, Alex Neilson, Ryley Walker on guitars (in the instrumental piece 'Around The Axis', where Walker’s and Chesny’s guitars are each recorded on a different channel) and the aforementioned drummer Chris Corsano, the album also features special guests like Damon & Naomi, who deliver a poignant and important vocal performance on 'Under Fixed Stars', an acoustic track built on a color scale from red to violet, where the voices counterbalance the dispersion of sound.

Thus, instrumental pieces like 'Reservoir' and 'St. Eustace' (with notable contributions from Chris Corsano on the latter) and other vocal tracks like 'Adoration Song', a sort of hymn to beauty; 'Taken By Ascent', the most experimental track on the album, a seven-minute track featuring, uniquely, the sound of the electric guitar and instrumental arrangements typical of 60s psychedelia like electric organ and crystal synthesizers; the title track 'Threshold Of Light', where primitivism meets certain mysterious atmospheres typical of 70s progressive rock. Finally, 'Reflection', which might be considered the spiritual testament of the entire work, a meditative folk track where the singing is barely whispered and recapitulates the 'gentleness' that inspires Ben Chasny's music, making the work as a whole, besides being a little gem of folk music, something with inherent therapeutic content.

Far from being a charlatan or having any content of an acid-psychedelic nature, and inspired by principles like shamanism and ancient Vedic religions, the cure Ben Chasny proposes lies in searching for and rediscovering oneself in processes that are psychological but also more simply traditional to rediscover or find well-being: diaphragmatic breathing, contemplation of open and boundless spaces, a renewed relationship with nature, and in any case, the environment that surrounds us and feeling at peace with oneself and the world.