Checking around it seems it's been awhile since Chain D. L. K. reviewed anything from the U.K. based Corrosive Growth Industries label, perhaps because their last release by Initial Prayer ('Last Man in Europe') was in 2005. Corrosive Growth has to be one of the more obscure labels out there and this release by the Bleeding Peasant Orchestra is made up of undisclosed members, likely from the label's roster of artists. No individual credits on the CD or the band's website. No one-sheet sent with the CD, nada. That's really a shame because this is a marvelous work; something you could easily imagine being released by Cold Meat Industries.

The CD begins with 'Cathedral of Wounds,' a sort of low key funeral waltz with muted low percussion, measured acoustic guitar, melancholy wordless medieval choir (beautiful soprano female voices being dominant), atmospherics, and eventually, a poetic recitation by Brit-accented gent. Very cool. Next track, 'Ignorance,' is a trancey acoustic Middle Eastern style number with western (drum kit) percussion. Vocals are again recitation style ala David Tibet; a sussinct elegiac ode on the volatile state of affairs in that part of the world. Imagine a Current 93/Muslimgauze collaboration, and you might get some idea, but this is really excellently done!

After the somber, ambient 'Echoes of Life in a Poisoned Forest,' we are treated to the centerpiece of this album, 'We Serve (Austerity 2013)'. It's martial industrial with ominous low orchestral horns, military cadence and a distorted drone. The recited lyrics are worth quoting ' 'You want something that you can't have'¦ you want all of this'¦work hard, work harder still, keep going and you will be rewarded. Where once hope flourished, now ashes'¦the ruins of a promise'¦a deception'¦a mirage. We came into the machine, accepted the poison, ands lost everything, but still, we serve. What can you tell me about how it ends? Will there be more lies to keep us quiet? More laws to keep us down? Forge it all into the promise of riches, and tell us again that the system works; you just have to work harder. We shall be saved. Follow their leadership and comply with the new orders. Just need to trust in our masters once more. Don't worry, believe, behave'¦and work fucking harder!' Damn, this is well done!

'We Kept to the Rules (and look what happened)' is kind of a wistful, placid, ambient piece, but you get the sense that humanity has been swept away in the wind. 'Sunburst' starts out like cosmic space music but turns into this melodic ditty with mellotron in the lead, reminiscent of vintage Kraftwerk. Wonderful how it builds and expands. 'Cracked Wheels 16' is ambient music of a darker sort, with the thrum of some kind of alien machinery and the low moaning wail of something'¦unnatural, the piece ending with the words 'respiration stops'. In 'Pandaemonium (CGSF 2012)' there are gamelan-like bells, and a plucked string instrument that begins the three-note repeated basic rhythm. A Tibetan (style) horn blows an intermittent single note, and eventually other instruments and ambient noise creep in. Percussion embellishes the rhythm; a violin joins Philip Glass style, perhaps more minimally, rhythmically bowing a single note, then shifting to another. There is a good deal more than this, but you get the idea. When the piece is done, applause ensues, so I can only assume it was played live. Final track, 'Never Saw It Coming; Never Heard You Leave' is an odd track with a low orchestral one-chord loop and the sound of static or a scratchy record. Harold Budd-ish (or Eno-esque) piano emerges with a repeating melody that is supported by ambient synth tones, and that's how it ends.

From start to finish, The Bleeding Peasant Orchestra's 'Sanctuary and Truce' is an incredibly enigmatic album. I loved it all. I haven't heard anything that resonated so well with me in quite a while. Highly recommended, especially for fans of Dead Can Dance, Current 93, Death in June, and similar acts in the neofolk-ambient realm. Only thing is, this album defies categorization, regardless of what category I decided to put it in here.