Restored to One is a modern response to the musical activities of The Process Church of the Final Judgment, who used music to spread their visions of Gnostic reconciliation in a time of cataclysmic change. Sabbath Assembly has re-charged the original hymns of The Process Church and worked them into moving renditions that unite the trinity of rock, psychedelic and gospel into one triumphant re-awakening.
The Process Church was an intensely creative, apocalyptic shadow side to the flower-powered ’60s and New Age ’70s. The influential group opened Chapters in London, Europe and across the United States. Dressing in black cloaks and walking the streets with German Shepherds, they created their own intricately designed magazines, and promoted a controversial, quasi-Gnostic theology that reconciled Christ and Satan. Funkadelic reproduced Process writings in two of its albums.
The Process Church was accused of being part of a Satanic underground conspiracy by true crime pulps, most notably Ed Sanders’ “The Family,” which linked the Church to the Manson murders. The insider’s perspective of this secretive group and its true leadership recently emerged with Feral House’s LOVE SEX FEAR DEATH: The Inside Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment, written by former members including Timothy Wyllie, and edited by Adam Parfrey.
Restored To One features the following:
JEX – Jex Thoth (I Hate Records)..
XTIAN a.k.a. Dave Nuss – No-Neck Blues Band (Sound at One Records); Curator of Source Family’s Magnificence in the Memory archival release (Drag City); Boredoms drum leader for Boadrum 777, 888, 999 concerts.RANDALL DUNN – Producer (Sunn0))), Earth, Boris, etc.)
Released in co-operation with AJNA OFFENSIVE
REVIEW
“Sabbath Assembly’s Restored To One is as close to a perfect release as anything I’ve reviewed for Aabout.comthis year; a feat deemed even more impressive by the fact that this is a debut effort.
“Helmed by singer Jex Thoth (from the arcane band of neo-doomsters which bear her name), Sabbath Assembly is a musical project whose aim is to revisit and re-envision the hymns of the Process Church of Final Judgment, a fringe religious group popular in the 1970s, whose belief system centered upon the mutual worship of both God and Satan.
“While the musical relevance of Restored to One to metalheads should be obvious—given the band’s occult, shadowed je ne sais qua—it would be understandable if some fans of the hard ‘n heavy might be wary of a release such as this…but they shouldn’t, for Restored To One is as sonically massive and emotionally crushing as any black or doom record you’ve heard this year.
“The Process Church hymns have been re-imagined here with devilish ‘n dexterous minds, presenting the choral epics with a new coat of black, perfectly ready for ravenous consumption by any self-respecting doom fan, particularly those who have followed Jex Thoth’s own musical career. Both bands project a similarly legitimate 1970s atmosphere, with Restored To One being cut from a similar sonic cloth as Black Widow, Coven or the Wicker Man soundtrack
“Jex’s voice is warm and full of analog goodness here, lilting one minute over triumphant jubilation (“Glory Hallelujah”) one minute and mournful invocation the next (“In the Time of Abaddon”). There really aren’t enough good things to be said about her performance here on Restored To One, nor is there any quarrel with the moody, magnificent music contained within the album’s grooves.
“If you harbor ANY interest in atmospheric, occult music whatsoever, it’s practically pertinent that you run out immediately and purchase Sabbath Assembly’s Restored To One. It’s THAT good.”
—from heavymetal.about.com
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