While it was recorded before Vintage Violence, Cale’s solo debut, Church Of Anthrax is very much in the shadow of that comparatively conventional release. Being funded by CBS Masterworks (the classical arm compared to Columbia), this is a pointedly experimental album, at times challenging, but occasionally mesmerizing. (The pair had met some years previously, when both were involved with avant-garde composer LaMonte Young.)
The title track is very reminiscent of Riley’s “A Rainbow In Curved Air”, the direct influence on Pete Townshend’s “Baba” synth work. A burbling bass plus drums holds down the drone while Riley’s organ wanders on top and various horns punctate. Soon a soprano sax can be heard, sometimes resembling a viola, and the track continues to build, before finally coming to something of a conclusion that predicts King Crimson’s “Sailor’s Tale”. Some distant piano chords herald “The Hall Of Mirrors In The Palace Of Versailles”, which is a showcase for two weaving soprano sax tracks. But for a few discordant moments, it’s hypnotic.
“The Soul Of Patrick Lee” is the only “song” on the album, its lyrics as dense as Cale’s back liner notes. It’s also the only track that sounds of a piece with Vintage Violence. Interestingly, the vocalist is not Cale, but one Adam Miller, whose voice and phrasing strongly resembles that of the auteur, if a tad smoother. The duelling pianos and frenetic drums on “Ides Of March” will likely try anyone’s patience, while “The Protege” is a more tightly constructed one-chord vamp that stays steady until it’s abruptly snuffed out in a burst of electronic feedback.
With the appearance of improvisation, much of Church Of Anthrax is more in keeping with Cale’s background, and the direction he preferred for the Velvet Underground. The album goes in and out of print fairly regularly, but there’s enough interest from people with the clout to keep it available to make it so.
John Cale and Terry Riley Church Of Anthrax (1971)—3
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