Byzantine Liturgical Music is like Gregorian chants on steroids.

[Aristus]

It's like: "We can sing to God, or we can fuck your shit up. Your choice..."

[Mme. Defarge]

1. Proud to have introduced this album

to my favorite DU drinking buddy! 🍷

[Aristus]

2. I can't thank you enough, Madame!

I'm absolutely entranced. I listen to it all day, every day. For me, it's not even the spiritual meaning. It's like traveling back in time to, like, the 10th Century or something. It's like time travel in a way that listening to a Mozart symphony from the 18th Century isn't. It's immediate, forceful, spellbinding...

[Mme. Defarge]

3. A convert is a convert

so do be careful, mon brave.

[Aristus]

6. I will be.

I don't think any demon summoned by these guys would be brave enough to actually show up. I mean, these guys sound bad ass...

[petronius]

4. Amazing! Thank you for posting! (nt)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Cool stuff! Thanks!

[malthaussen]

7. Well, Psalm 140 is some nasty shit...

Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men;
preserve me from violent men,
2
who plan evil things in their heart
and stir up wars continually.
3
They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's,
and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah

4
Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
preserve me from violent men,
who have planned to trip up my feet.
5
The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,
and with cords they have spread a net;[a]
beside the way they have set snares for me. Selah

6
I say to the Lord, You are my God;
give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord!
7
O Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation,
you have covered my head in the day of battle.
8
Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;
do not further their evil plot, or they will be exalted! Selah

9
As for the head of those who surround me,
let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!
10
Let burning coals fall upon them!
Let them be cast into fire,
into miry pits, no more to rise!
11
Let not the slanderer be established in the land;
let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!

12
I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted,
and will execute justice for the needy.
13
Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;
the upright shall dwell in your presence.

-- Mal

[Aristus]

8. Well, these guys sure get their point across by the way they sing it.

That's some real take-no-prisoners singing...

[myccrider]

9. I saw a special about Hagia Sophia

that showcased the incredible acoustics in it. I think that’s part of the bad ass sound here.

Thanks for this, I have and love Gregorian chant albums, I’ll have to get this one, too. I’m an atheist but I can enjoy beauty no matter where it comes from. The Parthenon and Stonehenge are gorgeous and impressive whether I believe in the goddess Athena or ancestor/solstice worship or not.

[Aristus]

10. This is the NPR article Mme. Defarge linked us to.

It's how I discovered this stuff.

https://www.npr.org/2020/02/22/808404928/listen-the-sound-of-the-hagia-sophia-more-than-500-years-ago

[myccrider]

11. Oh! Wow!

That was great. That balloon pop was unbelievable. Thanks.

[Aristus]

12. Amazing, huh?

The acoustics in the Hagia Sophia can make a balloon-pop sounds like an artillery blast. In a related article, I read that the duration of the acoustical resonance inside the Hagia is an astonishing seventeen seconds...

I listen to the "Lost Voices" album nearly every day. My car has a terrific sound system. I'll put on the album and just let that alien, entrancing sound just wash over me...

[myccrider]

13. I'm a rock 'n roll girl but

I put on Gregorian chant, Mozart, Miles Davis, etc every once in a while for the wonderful feels I get from those other musical genres. This Byzantine/Hagia Sophia stuff is definitely going into my rotation.

[Aristus]

14. Lounger DemoTex taught me that classical music

was just the rock and roll of the 18th Century.

Liking all kinds of music is cool...

[myccrider]

15. Whatever rocks the vibes is good by me. n/t

[Aristus]

16. The Hagia Sophia music definitely will.