22 June 2026

THE TAPS OF THE HOLY TRINITY – Customs & Rituals of The Taps of the Holy Trinity (2026, Cassette, Fenny Compton)

RELEASE INFO:

Label: Fenny Compton

Format: Album, Limited Edition, Cassette, 100 copies

Release Date: 20 June 2026

Some records are meant to entertain, others seem destined to transport the listener somewhere far beyond ordinary perception — into landscapes shaped by forgotten traditions, ancestral memory, and hypnotic sonic ritual. “Customs & Rituals of The Taps of the Holy Trinity”, the remarkable debut by The Taps of the Holy Trinity, unquestionably belongs to the latter category, unfolding as a deeply immersive journey through mysticism, drone experimentation, and ancient Mediterranean musical heritage.

Emerging from Australia’s fertile experimental underground, the collective gathers a fascinating cast of musicians spearheaded by Arthur Karanikas and Michael Plater, with Arthur’s Greek roots playing a crucial role in defining the album’s distinctive character.

Released on cassette through Fenny Compton, the album draws heavily from Greek demotika traditions, Anatolian trance folk, ritual percussion, and fractured psychedelic improvisation, weaving together drones, primitive rhythms, distorted string instruments, and hallucinatory sound manipulations into something that feels less like a conventional record and more like participation in a forgotten pagan rite. The presence of Greek heritage is far from incidental here — particularly through Arthur Karanikas’ use of tzoura, zurna, and Greek-language passages, giving the album an earthy, ancestral authenticity rarely encountered in contemporary psych circles.

Captured on quarter-inch analogue tape with a raw, uncompromising DIY spirit, “Customs & Rituals…” feels like an unearthed document from some parallel cultural timeline — a place where Balkan folk traditions, acid-drenched psychedelia, ritualistic drones, and ecstatic sonic communion merge into one beautifully disorienting and genuinely transcendental listening experience.

The band consists of Arthur Karanikas (electric guitar, tzoura, zurna, djembe, organ, Greek lyrics), Michael Plater (vocals, electric guitar, stylophone, sound effects and manipulations, didgeridoo, lyrics), Dee Hannan (lauto, vocals, organ), and David Bullock (percussion, gongs). Guests are Danny Martinov (percussion, drums), Massimiliano Gallo (violin), and Paul Rodgers (theremin).

Here are some thoughts about all 6 tracks of “Customs & Rituals of The Taps of the Holy Trinity”…

“The Magus” opens the ritual in truly ceremonial fashion, sounding like a psychedelic liturgy emerging from some forgotten Eastern temple. Dark, mysterious and deeply hypnotic, its improvised guitar work and haunting vocal invocations transform the piece into a mesmerizing acid-drenched reinterpretation of an ancient ‘Amanes’ lament.

“Most of Them Were Ghosts” begins with spoken word passages before plunging headfirst into a beautifully disorienting Anatolian-inspired soundscape. Experimental and highly improvisational, the track unfolds organically, carrying a hypnotic transcendental quality that occasionally recalls the more Eastern mystical moments of Dead Can Dance.

“Buried Crowns” feels slightly more structured, yet remains firmly rooted in the album’s ritualistic atmosphere. The opening male vocal performance resembles the invocation of some obscure Sorcerer, while the entire composition moves through dark psychedelic territory, ending in an unsettling cloud of ambient mysticism.

“Anastenaria” draws direct inspiration from the ancient Greek firewalking ritual of the same name, and the music perfectly captures that primordial ceremonial intensity. Experimental, eerie and deeply immersive, this instrumental piece blends dark psychedelic improvisation with ghostly Eastern textures rising from somewhere beneath consciousness itself.

“Slow Ghosts” continues the descent into deeply ritualistic weird-psych territory, built around repetitive Eastern melodic structures and distant spectral voices floating in the background. The whole composition feels like the sonic equivalent of an ancient spiritual summoning performed somewhere between dream and nightmare.

“The Passage” closes the album with its longest and perhaps most ambitious composition, a breathtaking journey into hallucinatory psychedelic folklore. Strongly influenced by Greek demotika traditions yet filtered through experimental improvisation, the piece unfolds like the soundtrack to entering the ancient Oracle of Delphi itself – patiently waiting for Pythia to enter a trance and transform utter incoherent cries and speeches into metered oracles – eerie, transcendental, deeply ritualistic and absolutely mind-expanding from beginning to end. Quite simply… What A Trip!

With “Customs & Rituals…”, The Taps of the Holy Trinity deliver far more than a conventional psychedelic record, offering instead a deeply immersive sonic ceremony in which ancient Greek tradition, Eastern mysticism, experimental improvisation, and dark ritualistic psychedelia converge into something genuinely unique. Challenging, haunting and utterly transportive, this is not simply an album to hear — it is an experience to surrender yourself to… Enter… TimeLord Michalis