Originally Published: 2002-08-04

It doesn't take a visit by the Pope for the Spanish village of Calanda to erupt in religious expression. As documented by filmmaker Luis Bunuel (who was born there) Calanda's Easter celebrations feature 3,000 drummers who take part in 36-hour drumming processions until their hands bleed! Clad in purple robes the massed drummers create standing waves of sound that tremble through the streets with a primordial strength. A previous vinyl document of the drumming brotherhoods of Calanda released by Spaniard Jordi Vallis in 1985 is long out of print, but now a German visitor has combined location recordings with his own music for this special release titled "Blood Sacrifice." Apoptose's dramatic pieces focus on single groups of rhythms rather than Vallis' wall-of-sound approach, but his haunting string synth chords bring out the power of this ancient rite that defines a social unity with sound.

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