Composed in the classical ‘Requiem’ format, “Rising” follows the ‘Trilogy Of The Cross’, a series of records that recounts the journey of the fictional character Father Murphy, and subsequently the band itself. The album was mixed and mastered by long-time collaborator Gregory Saunier (Deerhoof), who is instrumental in helping craft Father Murphy’s sonic descent over the years. Across the Italian occult duo’s 2015 ‘Trilogy of the Cross’ (the Calvary cassingle, Croce LP, and Lamentations EP) Father Murphy’s sound reached down into grave new depths, more inspired than ever by music from their Catholic heritage. The band has long been integrating a wider variety of field recordings, empty space, drones, and sonic processes alongside their core elements of pounding percussion, ecclesiastical organs, gnarled guitars, and ritualistic chanting. “Rising” adds something new to the group’s music. The format of a requiem mass for the dead—in this case for the late Father Murphy himself—brings with it all manner of traditional structural codes, musical reprises, and lyrical rhyming schemes.

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