Gamma Pope

It was the second night (I can’t be too sure though, definitely the first week) that I was living in Boston, and I was still in that transitional phase of sitting on the edge of my bed looking around my freshly unpacked room trying to brand the image of “home” into my brain. Walking circles down and around the adjacent blocks surrounding my building still felt like I was just an observant visitor. Through some hazy course of events, however, a group of friends and I made our way to the beautifully dingy Xenogogue that night where unbeknownst to me I would find some solace in knowing that Boston is where I am meant to be thanks in part to this band (at least for the time being). Not trying to make this some dewy-eyed sentimental ode to youth; although it slowly is becoming a dewy-eyed ode to youth <3. This is about Gamma Pope, and their stellar new release Triptych.

Triptych, comprised of three viciously abrasive songs, is sculpted of bone marrow, muscle fibers, and brain matter. Detailing a body reversed, organs outside the skin, displayed with bravery rather than bravado. There is an overwhelming sense of intention within the three pieces that unifies them like the erratic narratives of a Bosch altarpiece. The album is rough, but it is not sloppy and there is a carefulness to the arrangements that highlights each players ability to restrain and liberate themselves from quiet musing to triumphant testimony. Dog People, for instance, opens with a myth (and this is the last time I will talk about lyrics because those are for you to decipher and reflect upon) that follows a submissive tribe with a hauntingly simple opening, but later explodes with irreverent vivacity. Garden Rose (The Fly) features guest vocals from Dent’s Lane Shi, which lead us to a sort of climax in the Aristotelian arc of the album. Garden Rose is the most consistently “hard” of the three. This does not mean that the final song is any kind of resolution and falling action, ha, far from it. Aggression/Dominance is the final twist of the knife, and the gleaming exclamation point that closes the astonishing statement that is Triptych.

To know this band is to see them live, and to experience Alessandro Maione’s honest and visceral performance tackling both emotions and instrumental equipment, supported by a band (Peter Landry, Austin Birdy, Bill Cunningham) that performs with equally as much skill and gusto. Nevertheless, take this time to be able to utilize the rewind button and fully digest the craft and vision of Triptych which is streaming below and out now via Braindead Media. - Boston Hassle - Cole Hadyn

Boston’s Gamma Pope is blowing my mind. Triptych starts quietly. The first song is like a Bauhaus ballad caressing your ears. Things get crazy from there. All of a sudden you wake up in a nightmare and find yourself in a Virgin Prunes or Suicide album that was never written. By the end of the record it’s turned into more of a Butthole Surfers or Swans heavy noisy jubilee, with traces of Sleep Chamber and Psychic TV. This is definitely a candidate for album of the year, pick this up and expand your consciousness. (Eric Baylies) - Thenoise-boston - Eric Baylies