Rangda

For the second fl ight of the shadowy witch-god brothers, Rangda have changed their status from False Flag to Formerly Extinct!

Upon examination, theres reason beyond their rhyme-free wanderings. Since the last album, see, Rangda have been all around this world as the wise men and the fools alike in lands both high and low. Theyve seen the young and invest-less kneel amp-side, waiting for musical succor, then in the next town over theyve felt the cold chill of being left for dead and seen their music dubbed so wrong it must be Rangda strictly for some local pen-lifters personal chuckles.

How we can even claim that Formerly Extinct! displays a greater fluidity than the well-oiled zero-to-60Khz hairpins of False Flag is a matter of debate around DC corporate HQ. It seems to depend on how you defi ne the semi-metallic element of sound sometimes called sharp. False Flag featured a tune called Serrated Edges, which made sense in the knife-fl ying arc of that album. Sharp is a claw-like quality in generous supply on Formerly Extinct! as well a graphic picture in sharp focus, perhaps with cleaner edges yet unmistakably gruesome subjects. While False Flag found these slingers in a whirlwinded shred-fest, each trying to out do each other with what they brought to the Rangda lair (er, recording studio), Formerly Extinct! blossoms like the home-grown hybrid of a three-headed beast well-practiced in its body. A lean n amazingly mean, greased-up, child-eating machine.

Born to the lower-income caste of the bohemian, Rangda maul the underbelly for fun and profi t. Thank Kali that all they need is love! Thesesongs, newfangled and shrouded by ancestral awakenings, bore deep into the layers of consciousness to divine meeting. Like, dig Majnun, for instance.

Everybody always talks about Layla, but when does anyone ever pull Majnun out the hat? Enter Rangda with sympathy for the obsessed. To them, thePersian wanna-be lover of classical lit and lore is worth more consideration than George Harrisons ex-wife! Thats the way the Rangda madness lies.Theres no value among the fl ies of the marketplace unless you fi nd a copy of Rangdas latest there. Formerly Extinct lives large, no matter howsmall the arch overhead.

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Rangda is the holy pagan union of Sir Richard Bishop, Ben Six Organs of Admittance Chasny on guitars and Chris Thousands of Free Jazz credits + Bjrk Corsano on drumkit.

Formerly Extinct! is the second Rangda album, trailing two years in the wake of their furious debut, False Flag.

The cover image for Formerly Extinct was painted by the British artist and musician Karen Constance in collaboration with her daughter, Elkka Reign Nyoukis. Together they produced an image that captures the child-eating mood of Rangdas mythmother without getting too literal.

Formerly Extinct was rendered whole at Black Dirt Studio, a mini-mecca these days for freak-minded musicians and their wild plans.