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CD
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AKU 1023CD
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$17.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 6/26/2026
CD digipack. After a prolific cassette discography, The Totemist marks a new direction for the mysterious group. Equipped with studio quality recordings and a (somewhat) lighter tone, opposed to the oppressively lo-fi sound the group is known for. This is a deep psychedelic-folk album with hints of mysticism, some of which was written and recorded in a ghost-town in the Chihuahuan Desert in far West Texas -- a place where the dead outnumber the living. Various overdubs and field recordings were captured in the historic Terlingua cemetery: an ancient burial ground filled with small grottoes and graves made of sticks and stones. This being the final resting place for miners who succumbed from illnesses derived from the toxic rare-earth element known as mercury. Originally released as an LP.
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LP
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AKU 1057LP
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Ak'chamel, The Givers of Illness plunged into truly deranged extremes to summon the decayed, otherworldly essence captured on Spiritually Unemployed, embracing unhinged and esoteric methods during the tracking process. Recorded in a makeshift adobe studio amid liminal border-zone ruins. Nocturnal treks along forgotten stretches near the U.S.-Mexico line, through derelict border outposts and sun-bleached vehicle husks, yielded unique recording opportunities: Ak'chamel dragged tape decks like sacrificial talismans, to capture gravel crunch, distant javalina fights, and unintentional EVP-like anomalies. Harvesting the psychic weight of migration, abandonment, and geopolitical limbo. A half-broken oud, double-reed pipes, a battered hurdy-gurdy, and self-built spike fiddles were "tortured" pre-recording; strings detuned to unstable microtonal chaos, reeds soaked in questionable desert-sourced liquids, and instruments were kept outdoors to absorb ambient dew, dust, and wild temperature swings, ensuring every take carried an unpredictable, haunted instability. Vintage cassette decks and reel-to-reel units were powered through erratic, low-voltage setups (literally dying generators) which introduced random voltage drops, speed fluctuations, and ghostly dropouts mid-take -- turning tracking into unpredictable spirit interventions. Fresh analog takes were dubbed onto tapes previously buried in arid soil throughout the hot day, then exhumed and played back while layering new overdubs; creating a palimpsest of temporal erosion where past decay bleeds into present performance. Live performances were blasted through overloaded, malfunctioning analog chains (cranked cassette walkmans, battered spring reverbs filled with gravel, warped echo units), then physically "mauled" by running the tape through sandpaper-wrapped capstans or crushing segments underfoot before resplicing -- resulting in tracks that feel compressed, twisted, and ruptured. Thus the desert claims its due: instruments tortured into prophecy, tapes interred and exhumed in chapels of malfunction. Spiritually Unemployed is the resulting artifact -- a sonic border autopsy where enlightenment arrives not as a sealed doctrine but as an open infested wound.
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LP
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AKU 1054LP
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Currently sold out. A surreal mosaic of eerie chant processionals, tape-rot trickery, and panicked oud madness. These are sonic forgeries of atavistic heritages, recorded by analog means using esoteric techniques. They have been known by many names: The Givers of Illness; The Bandylegged Riders of the Ill-Promised Sun, etc. Honed and expanded through their travels, Ak'chamel's singular sound comprising desert-scorched psychedelia, post-apocalyptic shamanism, and bizarre ritual folk is as unique as the physical theater of their otherworldly live performances.
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LP
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AKU 1039LP
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Currently sold out. The cabalistic duo Ak'chamel strikes again with a second record called A Mournful Kingdom of Sand. Following the publicly and critically acclaimed The Totemist (AKU 1023LP) released in 2020, this album sucks the listener into another esoteric journey which -- according to the band -- is a perfect soundtrack for the desertification of our world. Ak'chamel, The Giver of Illness is an enigmatic duo from a border state. Fourth World Post-Colonial Cultural Cannibalists Circumcising The Foreskin of Enlightenment. Performing in homemade costumes and masks, they have played festivals in various cities around the US gaining international attention from Vice, the Wire, Tiny Mix Tapes, Consequence of Sound, and many more. They have amassed over ten cassette albums and one VHS full-length film. Reverse cardboard sleeve; includes printed inner; edition of 500.
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LP
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AKU 1023LP
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2026 repress forthcoming... First vinyl release of Ak'chamel, The Giver Of Illness after a prolific cassette discography, The Totemist is a deep psychedelic album hinted by mysticism which reminds the best hours of the free-minded 1960s rock. A shamanic album written and recorded in a ghost-town in the Chihuahuan Desert in far West Texas -- a place where the dead outnumber the living. Various overdubs and field recordings were captured in the historic Terlingua Cemetery, an ancient burial ground filled with small grottoes and graves made of sticks and stones. This being the final resting place for miners who succumbed from illnesses derived from the toxic rare-earth element known as mercury. Ak'chamel, The Giver of Illness is an enigmatic duo from a border state. Fourth world post-colonial cultural cannibalists circumcising the foreskin of enlightenment. Performing in homemade costumes and masks, they have played festivals in various cities around the US gaining international attention from Vice, The Wire, Tiny Mix Tapes, Consequence of Sound, and more. Enter the fourth world now! Printed inner sleeve; includes download card.
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