Thai Occult Road Trip is a panoramic audio celebration of my fascination and admiration of the magickal occult system of Thai Lanna Buddhism. This travelogue of electronic and organic sounds expresses and crystallizes incidents and remembrances leading up to and surrounding my 2018 trip to Northern Thailand. While meditative and circumspect this album of four deep tracks is a highly danceable chimeric experience of experimental electronic music. A tracklist of the album with liner notes is below. Scroll down for an excerpt from the track Triple Jing Jok Sak Yant from my SoundCloud account. This album has received an expansive and excellent reviews at Compulsion Online and Indie Shaman.
1. Triple Jing Jok Sak Yant – 7mins 10 sec
A “Jing Jok” is a lizard. A Sak Yant is a magickal tattoo. While on my second pilgrimage to Thailand I received three of a possible nine tattooed onto my upper left arm by a powerful magician by the name of Ajarn Apichai. Lizards in Thai culture are seen as very lucky for folks who wear or hear them. Each of the nine known and identified Jing Joks within the very specific magickal system have a very specific purpose with an additional one hundred and eight Jing Jok permutations besides.
2. Kom Hit Target – 8mins 23sec
A “kom” (controlling) is a suppressive spell that reduces the power of the person targeted, usually with the aid of a ghost. They can vary in many countless forms, ranging from the subtle to the extreme. Instigated in graveyards these powerful rituals are effective for up to six months drawing on a highly specific astrological framework to allow the ghost summoned to acquire the optimum point of attack. In some cases it has been reported that a “kom” hit was successful and active within a 24 hour period.
3. Chanting Katas for Two Dead Birds – 12mims 55sec
Over the course of two days two birds were killed in my garden by the same cat. I felt extremely saddened by this act. I buried the poor birds and then chanted katas (mantras) for them. All life is precious. This piece of music is dedicated to these two birds and is my way of acknowledging their passing and the value of their existence. I blogged about this event here.
4. Thai Occult Road Trip – 15mins 38sec
This is the title track of the album and encapsulates a road movie feeling adorned with panoramic vistas combining the twists and turns while under-pinned with a sparse tight drum/hi-hat and driving rhythm. There are strange and bizarre sounds of otherness and magick, peculiar patterns and the odd burst of fiery ritualistic explosion which all fully mirror my life changing experiences with the sublime and profound Ajarns of Northern Thailand.
Global Digital Release date: 8th February 2019
Genre: Experimental Electronic Techno Dubstep Ambient Drone
Artwork and Production: Sheer Zed
Mastering: P23 at Sombre Soniks Studios
Sheer Zed • Writer • Buddhist Shaman • Musician • Artist • 