The Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus: Beauty WillSave The World press

Click image above for Dropbox containing MP3s, artwork, photos, etc.

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Uncut, review:

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The Listener (NZ), review:

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On The Tracks (NZ), review:

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Off The Radar (NZ), review:http://offthetracks.co.nz/the-revolutionary-army-of-the-infant-jesus-beauty-will-save-the-world/

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R2 magazine, review:

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Harmonic Distortion, review:http://harmonicdistort.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/revolutionary-army-of-infant-jesus.html

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Pretty In Noise (Germany), review:http://www.prettyinnoise.de/the-revolutionary-army-of-the-infant-jesus-beauty-will-save-the-world.htmlRough English translation:http://occultationrecordings.tumblr.com/post/133867864885/translation-of-

pretty-in-noise-raij-review

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CFRC (US), airplay:http://anatomy-lesson.tumblr.com/post/133236169356/november-14-2015-another-episode-of-the-anatomy

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Rockerilla magazine (Italy), review:

Original Italian Rough English translation

REVOLUTIONARY ARMY OF THEINFANT JESUSBeauty Will Save The WorldOccultationTwo albums between 1987 and1991, an EP in 1995 and then,twenty years on, a new work: viathe commendable OccultationRecordings, the obscure (andmysterious) London band releaseBeauty Will Save The World, analbum of austere and enormousbeauty. The RAIJ sound is lesssevere and industrial than some oftheir earlier material, and it picks upon their more static, sleepy side,

mixing (apocalyptic) folk and sacredmusic, electronics, field recordings,film samples and urgent, almostethnic rhythms. This results in achallenging journey but one withsublime expressive power. There canbe no doubt that it’s been worth thelong wait: IF BEAUTY REALLY WILLSAVE THE WORLD, THIS ALBUMCOULD MAKE A KEYCONTRIBUTION.Francesco Amoroso.

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Music Won’t Save You (Italy), review:http://musicwontsaveyou.com/2015/11/17/revolutionary-army-of-the-infant-jesus-beauty-will-save-the-world/Rough translation:http://occultationrecordings.tumblr.com/post/133463326005/revolutionary-army-of-the-infant-jesus-beauty

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Tracks magazine (Switzerland), review:

Original German Rough English translation

Revolutionary Army Of InfantJesus – Beauty Will Save TheWorld

The Revolutionary Army Of InfantJesus is a Liverpool bandshrouded in mystery who prefernot to talk but to let their musicspeak for them. The trio of PaulBoyce, Jon Egan and LesHampson hardly give anyinterviews and rarely appear onstage. Even on the internet, apartfrom a Facebook page, theydon’t have much of a presence.Since they formed in the mid-eighties they’ve released onlytwo albums ("The Gift of Tears",1987 and "Mirror" 1991). So TheRevolutionary Army Of InfantJesus, whose name is takenfrom a Luis Buñuel film,continueto behave in their usual mysticalmanner on their third officialoeuvre. The multilayered songsthat mix up many different stylesand forms (spoken word, worldmusic, soundtrack, folk,industrial, experimental, Africanrhythms), are full of atmosphereand integrate their diversereferences. In "Bright Field" arecording of a critique of a poemby R.S. Thomas is woven intothe track. "Repentance-Sama"contains an extract from the1967 documentary "The HolyGhost People" and the title ofthe album " Beauty Will SaveThe World" is taken from Russianwriter Fyodor Dostoevsky. Songtitles like "Song of the Soul" and"All is Grace" are full ofatmosphere, mystery and aseparate (distinct) beauty. RAIJlet listeners decide forthemselves and make their ownminds up.

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Post Industry (Poland), review:http://postindustry.org/archive.php?id=3403Rough translation:“For years more was said than was known about The Revolutionary Army of the InfantJesus, a mysterious ('obscure’), group about which little is known. Anyone persisting withtheir research on search engines might unearth the names of the band leaders, andperhaps even find one or two interviews dating back more than two decades, butalthough the results may be meagre, the music speak for itself.

RAIJ have never gained the fame and ‘market’ share of Current 93, Dead Can Dance,Legendary Pink Dots, and yet there are comparisons with those groups. On the one handthe RAIJ had quite a cult status, but on the other they remained somewhat on thesidelines, in the shade, known to those who were able to dig below the surface or weresimply lucky enough to come across this treasure by accident.

Naturally, all this was the result of a specific RAIJ policy. The group did not blow their owntrumpet or engage in the cult of artistic personality or scandal. They were totally silent fortwo decades and seemed to be consigned to their status as treasure buried deep belowlayers of information traffic, making a mockery of postmodernity.

But the Army returned - first through the rerelease of old material (entitled 'After The End’and released in 2013), followed by a brand new album, this year's "Beauty Will Save theWorld '.

With its title taken from Dostoevsky and the face of Simone Weil (God forbid not to beconfused with a feminist Simone Veil) on the cover, inside there are nine compositionsreminiscent of 'the good old days' when RAIJ induced reverie and tears in the eyes withcompositions such as ’Nostalgia' and 'Tales from Europe'.

What we have here is a total musical work of art - not in the sense of a synthesis of all thearts, because we have only music, but in the sense of connecting various kinds togetherin a truly subtle, sophisticated way a long way from the miasma of 'deconstruction' orcheap provocation.

It is not sacred (if you understand this concept in the same way as F. Schuon and J. Hani),or strictly religious (the two concepts are not the same) - or to put it more accurately -‘evangelical' music. But this is music in which the sacred is treated seriously, not as anexcuse for intellectual games with a world in which "everyone can anyone ask thequestion".

So how do we sum it up technically? Well, as they did a quarter of a century ago, RAIJ

offer a peculiar combination of... what exactly? Yes, you can throw a few easy labels atthem: dark ambient, neofolk, gothic rock, classical music, Gregorian chant and music ofthe Orthodox Church, perhaps a distant echo of jazz (in its more melancholy forms) andhints of a post-industrial-non-experimental kind. And the often recurring, repeating,monotonous rhythmic ritualised structure.

There is more to them than that, though. Beside these similarities species are largely thingabout the case or associations of listeners, rather than the musicians’ intentions. In otherwords, RAIJ should not be considered as part of any ambient or industrial 'scene',working in their own specific way. Dark ambient does not have a monopoly on dark,spatial sound effects or neofolk on the theme of acoustic ballads with a folky flavour.

What more can I say? It's hard to find a simple description that does not impoverish thewhole. RAIJ’s strength lies not so much in novelty or perfect implementation (though thismusic is inventive and well-played), but rather in a kind of sincerity and authenticity in thephilosophy that lies behind the outer, purely compositional layer. It's a bit like LonsaiMaikov, so there is an effect achieved over the years, generally using very modest,sometimes even naive instruments played with simple arrangements. RAIJ undoubtedlyhave a far richer arsenal.

They all play their parts - including samples (chanting, recitations, etc.) and the bandname itself: perhaps a little ironic and provocative, but, paradoxically, by the fact that ithas been used in a more serious way than it might seem at first glance"

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Radio New Zealand (NZ), airplay:http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201778269/marty-duda's-artist-of-the-week

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L’attimo fuggente (Italy), airplay:http://attimofuggenterca.podomatic.com/entry/2015-11-10T04_31_41-08_00

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Pop Lib (NZ):https://poplibnz.wordpress.com/2015/11/06/apres-le-temps-by-revolutionary-army-of-the-infant-jesus/

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De Subjectivisten (Netherlands), airplay:http://subjectivisten.nl/?p=4162

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L’attimo fuggente (Italy), airplay:http://attimofuggenterca.podomatic.com/entry/2015-10-27T02_50_17-07_00

http://www.indieforbunnies.com/2015/10/29/lattimo-fuggente-26-ottobre-2015/

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Opus FM (USA):http://opus.fm/posts/raij-beauty-is-finally-here-to-save-the-world

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De Subjectivisten (Netherlands), review:http://subjectivisten.nl/?p=4082

Original Dutch Rough English translation

Well i really didn’t see it coming, a new CD byRevolutionary Army Of The Infant Jesus. After two albums, "The Gift Of Tears"(1987) and “Mirror" (1991) plus the“Paradis” EP (1995) there have only beenreissues, some with bonus trackshere and there. They’resomewhere between Dead Can Dance, Black Tape For A Blue Girl,Current 93 and Death In June. But 20 years later, a new album"Beauty Will Save The World”, featuring11 new tracks totalling 54 minutes, finallysees thelight. Paul Boyce (clarinet, keyboards, vocals), Jon Egan (harmonium, melodica, organ, guitar, vocals) and Leslie Hampson (percussion, piano, concertina, harmonica, guitar) gethelp from seven guests on cello, vocals, piano, keyboard, bass, guitar, keyboards and saxophone, bringing a mysterious,ethereal mix of neo-classical, ambient, neo-folk, folk rock and light industrial. Sometimes very spooky and dark and at other times very serene, but alwaysarresting. The aforementioned comparisons remain valid, but we could alsomention ThisMortal Coil, United Bible Study, Piano Magic and Amber Asylum. A record ofoverwhelming beauty!

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Pop Lib (NZ), review:https://poplibnz.wordpress.com/2015/07/31/a-crowd-of-stars-by-revolutionary-army-of-the-infant-jesus/

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Musik Please (France), review:http://musikplease.com/revolutionary-army-of-the-infant-jesus-beauty-will-save-the-world-52501/Translation: http://occultationrecordings.tumblr.com/post/131234128595/revolutionary-army-of-the-infant-jesus-beauty

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Stereo Embers (US), review:http://stereoembersmagazine.com/incandescent-soul-beauty-will-save-the-world-by-revolutionary-army-of-the-infant-jesus/

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Gideon Coe, BBC6Music, radio airplay:http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06cj5ss

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Campus Grenoble (France), airplay:http://www.campusgrenoble.org/disco/airplay/published

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Les Inrockuptibles (France), review:http://www.lesinrocks.com/musique/critique-album/the-revolutionary-army-of-the-infant-jesus-beauty-will-save-the-world/

French English translation

The mesmerising return of TheRevolutionary Army Of The InfantJesusFriday 18th September 2015“Beauty Will Save the World”: thealbum title quite rightly says thatbeauty can save the world. Review.By JD Beauvallet

For almost thirty years now, out onthe fringes of terrae incognitaeinhabited by the likes of TheLegendary Pink Dots and Current93, this Liverpool collective havebeen developing a dialect, a kind ofshimmering, cabbalistic Esperantowhich lies somewhere betweenpsychedelia, folk and sacred music.One of their albums is calledParadis, another Liturgie pour la findu temps, and the desolate, ferventfolklore of this new album - a paganceremony at which there is no lackof images of masks and carnivals ofdread - is played out somewherebetween these extremes.Even so, behind all the icy breathsand incantations which are enoughto give you waking nightmares,you're left fascinated, stupefied andnumb by this first album in twentyyears with its music full of patienthypnoses, sometimes unfathomabledepths (how many tracks do theyuse to create those silences???) andorchestrations redolent of eccentriclords. Suspended on a Cross, forinstance, is as much Satie as deSade; this is a song which does notstint on shivers of both terror andpleasure. Much the same can besaid about the whole album which,while it might seem opaque, is allbeauty and goodness

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Terrascope, review:http://www.terrascope.co.uk/Reviews/Reviews_September_15.htm#RAIJ

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Voix de Garage (France), review:http://voixdegaragegrenoble.blogspot.fr/2015/09/chroniquejohan-ashertons.htmlEnglish translation:http://occultationrecordings.tumblr.com/post/129649462885/voix-de-garage-

grenoble-chroniquejohan

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Heathen Harvest (US), news item:http://heathenharvest.org/2015/09/20/new-from-occultation-revolutionary-army-of-the-infant-jesus-beauty-will-save-the-world/

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Opus.fm, review:http://opus.fm/posts/raij-beauty-is-finally-here-to-save-the-world

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Church Times, interview:http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2015/7-august/features/features/standing-alone-in-an-apocalyptic-sea

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PennyBlackMusic, review:http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Review/10073/R/Revolutionary-Army-of-the-Infant-Jesus-LP-Beauty-Will-Save-the-World

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Greenbelt blog, live review:https://www.greenbelt.org.uk/blog/2015/08/festival-favourites-day-two-part-two/

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Opus FM, interview:http://opus.fm/posts/deeper-truth-elusive-beauty-interview-revolutionary-army-infant-jesus

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Todd Pennington, blog:http://www.toddpennington.com/node/91

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