Pelagic Records release ltd. THE OCEAN – THE GRAND INQUiSITOR 10″ EP – feat. previously unreleased track
THE GRAND INQUISITOR is a 10″ vinyl E.P. featuring the 3 “Grand Inquisitor” – tracks from current album “Anthropocentric”, as well as the 4th, previously unreleased chapter entitled “The Grand Inquisitor IV – Exclusion From Redemption”. This 7-minutes track is thematically completing the “Grand Inquisitor” – series, which makes reference to the
chapter of the same title in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel The Brothers Karamasov.
The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor finds Christ in medieval Seville during the Spanish Inquisition, healing the sick and raising the dead. He is captured and sentenced to be burned at the stake. The Grand Inquisitor, who questions Christ, views his presence as an encroachment in his own work: by rejectingthe Devil’s 3 temptations, the grand inquisitor argues, Christ is consciously and willingly depriving humanity of happiness – for the sake of freedom, which entails suffering.
The grand inquisitor, representing the church, claims to have “corrected Thy work, and founded it upon miracle, mystery, and authority”; corresponding to the three temptations
of the Devil – under the false guise of Christ himself. Humanity is not meant to ever be free, the grand inquisitor argues. By denying man freedom, him and his church are providing for his happiness.
The lyrics of “The Grand Inquisitor IV – Exclusion From Redemption” make reference
to the grand inquisitor’s ideas and to his fierce speech about Christ’s naive notion of
humanity and his uncompassionate ideal of freedom.
Two different artists visualized the grand inquisitor for us: Dawid Piprek from Berlin and Chris Smith from Pittsburgh.The result showcases the individual artists’ very different take on the subject: Piprek’s stark pencil-drawing captures the smug, authoritative gesture of the grand inquisitor, holding his hands over the cathedral of Seville.
Smith’s coloured approach, in contrast, depicts the inquisitor as a hermit, who, much like jesus, went out to the wilderness himself, before wising up: “I too have been in the wilderness, I too lived on roots and locusts, I too prized the freedom with which Thou hast blessed us… But I awakened and would not serve madness.”
artwork by Chris Smith
- 2-colour-split vinyl (brown / clear)
- lavish double-sided 6-colour silk-screen print on thick 650 (!) g natural cardboard
(typical vinyl gatefold cardboard is 300 g), including 3 special metallic inks (brass, gold and brown).
- lyrics printed on back-side – strictly limited to 151 hand-numbered copies
- comes with download coupon for “The Grand Inquisitor IV: Exclusion From Redemption”
artwork by Dawid Piprek
- 2-colour-split vinyl (brown / clear)
- rasterized double-sided 1-colour silk-screen print on thick 2-coloured cardboard
(frontside grey, backside white)
- logo silk-screened in 2 extra print-runs onto the PVC overbags!
- strictly limited to 151 hand-numbered copies
- comes with download coupon for “The Grand Inquisitor IV: Exclusion From Redemption”
The EP is strictly limited to 302 hand-numbered copies. The covers have been silk-screen printed by hand. Every piece is unique. Both versions come with a unique download coupon for the unreleased track. The track will not be available elsewhere. Support artists by buying music and artwork as physical product.
pre-order your copy now at www.pelagic-records.com/shop
Below some pictures that show the stages of the silk-screening process.
It was great fun, props to Olli for doing an amazing job with this challenging project!!!
