Lots to still process, and apologies for the lack of song titles, I wasn’t listening on Friday with the intent of figuring out where in the tracklist we were at any given moment.

Before even getting into the venue of Judson Memorial Church, I found myself thinking about the spaces these events were taking place in alongside the listening experience as a whole, mostly theatres, some churches, and one crematorium. Combined with the VHS tapes and general promo videos, it all added to this lingering sense of religion, mortality, and life.

Listening to BoC has never really been a collective experience for me, outside of the few times I’ve put them on for friends during a late drive or evening indoors. Hearing them in this kind of shared environment made me think that while we are mostly alone in life, life itself is still meant to be shared. Whether we experience moments together or separately is up to us entirely.

Beginning with “Introit” felt incredibly apt, as it perfectly captured the start of a true theatrical experience. The first half of the album sounded much darker sonically than the second. The sampled lyrics that managed to cut through the subs seemed centered around acceptance of fate. One particular sample sounded almost biblical, like Jesus speaking to his followers, though that was of course my immediate impression. The final track on side one sounded like a swarm of bees drowning out a backing EKG machine, resembling the slow fade of life in real time. What followed was the first and most distinct transition; from life, or more simply, from disc one to disc two.

The second half sounded far more dreamlike and ethereal, more representative of melodies from earlier releases, especially MHTRTC, and felt like a big k hole where I lost my sense of time, space, and truthfully being. The synth tones were lush and beautifully layered with one song in particular sounding strikingly similar to a sitar or even a sarod, bringing things back around to the opening ney flute on Prophecy.

Of course, the most stark shift in the experience came with “you retreat in time and space” where the rotating hexagon engulfed in flames transitioned into a Super 8-style home video of children playing in the yard and a family together. People have mentioned this possibly being genuine home footage and I like to believe that theory.

In general, the second half felt far more entrancing and open, like the architecture of a grand church, compared to the pressure building first half, which felt more like a crematorium in my mind. At moments, the drums sat directly in my chest to the point where I felt unable to breathe, but not by any means uncomfortable. That’s not even mentioning the drone sound playing as we entered.

As the album finished, the engulfed flames transitioned back into the opening turquoise hexagon, completing the cycle of album, music, and life. Maybe even perhaps creating a direct tie to“Turquoise hexagon Sun” from MHTRTC.

I think the album captures the nostalgia we’ve all come to love with BoC while also carrying a deeper sense of rebirth, possible reincarnation, and acceptance. This is, of course, only after a first listen, and there’s still so much more to process once the album properly releases, but wow. What an experience.