It may seem odd that I'm recommending a soundtrack from a movie about Jesus Christ for use in Kemetic rituals and meditation, but anyone who has listened to this CD will understand why. It's an absolutely beautiful disc, weaving wonderful musical landscapes and conjuring ancient worlds with its timeless rhythms. Peter Gabriel created a revolution in the world music scene with this release, bringing prominant African and Middle Eastern artists such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Youssou N'Dour, and Baaba Maal to Western awareness.
Almost two decades later, the influence of this CD can still be felt in the music of popular artists ranging from Eddie Vedder, Sting, and System of a Down. Echoes of this music, bordering on plaigarism at times, can be heard in the soundtracks of films such as The Crow, Exotica, and Mel Gibson's recent masochistic biopic The Passion of the Christ.
What makes the Passion such a singularly great piece of music, standing head and shoulders above its pale immitators, is Peter Gabriel's ability to evoke the full range of human emotion within his lushly orchestrated soundscapes. There is the dawning awareness of the Mysterious in The Feeling Begins; aching heartbreak and loneliness in Before Night Falls; the exultant triumph and celebration of With This Love. One has but to close their eyes and they'll find themselves transported to the dirty, crowded streets and the ancient, God-haunted hills of 1st century Palestine.
Of course purists may argue that the instruments and singing styles that Gabriel employs are not, in fact, those of Jesus' contemporaries - but in fact is music more characteristic of Northern Africa and the Middle East. Which, of course, makes this recording all the more apropriate for use by Kemetics. The range of instruments used is absolutely incrtedible - surdus, doholles, tablars, finger cymbals, tambourines, Armenian doudouks, Turkish ney flutes, oboes, coranglais, and African, Moroccan, and even Brazillian percussion. Richly layered over all of these stunning instruments are a number of different vocal forms including Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's haunting Qawwali, the powerful Arghul droning of Mustafa Abdul Aziz, lilting Armenian folk singers, and even a traditional Egyptian piece incorporated within Zaar, which was traditionally performed to fend off evil spirits.
Although I've listened to a lot of traditional Middle Eastern music since purchasing this CD a while back - some of them of a much better quality, offering a purer glimpse into the musical soul of the Arab world - there is something powerful which keeps drawing me back to Peter Gabriel's Passion. I've gone months with it in my CD player, and never grown tired of listening to it. Every note is filled with a dark, beautiful, and enchanting spirit which whisks your soul off to ancient, nameless lands where the Old Gods still walk among men. I cannot reccomend this album highly enough.
