DEMDIKE STARE
Tryptych
(Modern Love)

There is the fraud that is witch house, and then there is the musical spell cast by Demdike Stare, a duo that takes its name from 17th-century accused witch Elizabeth Southerns. Tryptych gathers three near-LP-length EPs, and its highlights are numerous. While Liberation Through Hearing delivers on the title's promise, my pick of the trio might be Voices of Dust, thanks to the swelling charge "Black Sun," the frenetic "Hashshashin Chant," and the seductive dirge "A Tale of Sand." These songs conjure dark visions on their very own, but after the jump, check out some montage videos that Jonny Redman of the European cult movie site www.lovelockandload.net has created for Demdike Stare tracks. If you can I.D. any of the amazing source material he's using, I'd love to know.

Demdike Stare, "Forest of Evil (Dawn)," from Tryptych and Forest of Evil:

Demdike Stare, "Hashshashin Chant," from Tryptych and Voices of Dust: