By Keith Walsh
Of all musical instruments, an electric guitar run through distortion has possibly the most potential to portray the chaos of madness and the despair of grief. There are guitars on the new album by Nahja Mora, AHFHAOTA, but they’re hardly recognizable due to the use of that effect – distortion— employed as an instrument in itself.
AHFHAOTA features guitars, synths, and percussion that are distorted beyond recognition, which makes a statement in harmony with the theme of the industrial electronic/punk album. In an email exchange, Saint tells me: “It is meant to elicit a feeling of madness. I think many people feel extremes and that things are violently warped when they are especially feeling mad. Angles are sharper; colours are brighter or duller; time seems unpredictable; the things that are noticed come out of nowhere and they just add on… We wanted to make an album that sounded like madness coming up around every corner while the protagonist keeps trying to move forward, no matter how stupid it sounds, until they finally ask for ‘help’ at the end.”
Nahja Mora started out decades ago, while the current album was in the works for a while, and kicked into high gear during the COVID pandemic. Sadly, Saint lost his musical partner Hobart Blankenburg during the creation of AHFHAOTA, which is dedicated to the loving memory of his figurative brother.
As Saint explains: “I cannot adequately put into words what the loss of Hobart meant to me. Hobart passed on October 27th, 2020. Hobart was my musical partner for decades. We bounced so many ideas off one another in both Nahja Mora and in Precision Field (I played live keyboards for PF and occasionally appeared on Precision Field releases.) Hobart is my brother; 2020 was a dark year.”
Saint continues: “Hobart did, just at the start of the worldwide pandemic, release his incredible album
AHFHAOTA is a concept album about grief and madness, with Saint gathering a worthy team of collaborators to explore the darkness with him. It features: Jenny Rae Mettee on cello, fretless bass, electric guitar, and synths, Jeff Byers on electric guitars, Shawn Brice on synths, Hobart Blankenburg on synthesizer and sampler, while Saint plays guitar, fretless bass, synths, and vocals. Lilith Astaroth does vocals on a track as well, using a recording more than a decade old, true to the experimental roots of the project. Saint does the production as well. AHFHAOTA is a perplexing album, one that is ultimately satisfying as it reveals its secrets on repeated plays. Punk rock isn’t just riffs. It’s an attitude and an approach to music that encourages spontaneity, creativity and catharsis. AHFHAOTA demonstrates all of this with style and class. Nahja Mora dot com finis
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