Psalters: the Cry of the Exodus

Psalters

It is immensely difficult to properly describe a band with as many complicated ideals and valuable messages as Psalters. But, I will try to provide as much insight as possible on this group of artists who are both forward-thinking and deeply rooted in the traditional.

Before I go any further, a disclaimer/warning/suggestion: If you are not even slightly interested in the purposes behind Psalters, but merely in the music that they create, skip to the link and picture below and read on. Otherwise, as you were. I do suggest you continue reading, though, as I find them quite interesting.



I know I'm not the only person who is terribly annoyed by people who preach one thing but practice another, especially when that thing is a religion. Psalters both preaches and practices a belief in their savior, Christ, and nothing else. They denounce the world and material possessions and live for their Lord. In the Psalters Manifesto, they innumerate their beliefs and the reasons for them.

The Manifesto begins with 2 disclaimers. The first states that the Manifesto was written in 1999, shortly after the formation of the group, and that it is somewhat outdated and they hope to do update it soon. The second is a note to press and promoters (I guess i fall under the former of the two target audiences). They correctly state that, taken out of context, phrases like "the cry of the Exodus" can seem really pretentious and ask to keep discussions about the theological aspects of the band to a minimum. A request which I will try to oblige.

The first two sections of the Manifesto are definitions of psalters, past and present.  The band attempts to emulate the practices of the psalters of old, who were pilgrims who created music for El Elyon, the Suffering Servant, Christ. They create music for God's sake, with entertainment and artistic expression being merely secondary goals. Psalters strives to create true "tehillah", prayer and song united.

The Manifesto professes that Psalters creates "music for the lepers", a group to which we all belong. They associate our social and political state to the long-misunderstood disease of leprosy. A person with leprosy cannot feel pain in certain parts of his body, so when, for example, he receives a small splinter in his hand, he may not do anything about it because he cannot feel the damage it is inflicting. This results in gangrene infection and other terrible ailments, creating a disfigured creature composed of sores and open wounds. We are all social lepers; we, as a human body, are numb in our extremities. We are separated from our fellow humans' suffering and allow it to fester into open sores of slavery and oppression. This is what drives Psalters and their faith-based anarchy. They are entirely against the "cushy", "comfy", capitalist practices in our country.

I have, in no way, summed all of Psalters' ideals up in 3 paragraphs of explanation, but I hope that you will look a little more into them and their beliefs. I'll help you in this endeavor with a link to the manifesto.

The Psalters Manifesto

Psalters patch, available for free or a small donation

I also find it rather awesome that all of their music is public domain and that they reserve no rights to any of it. Also, if you want any merch from them, all you have to do is email them at an address that can be found on their website and they will send it to you for free, or a small donation if you prefer. Please help them out, as such a selfless endeavor is never easy to fund.

Now, if you read all of that stuff, great for you! But if you were only interested in their music and not their reasons behind it, here you go:

It is impossible to sum Psalters up into a single genre. They are fast and slow, calm and crazy, simple and complex, while always maintaining roots in traditional styles and possessing wildly eccentric characteristics. The beautiful southern-baptist-like psalm "I'm Free" from the 2004 release "Us vs. Us" begins with slow, heartfelt violin and continues into a soulful female voice proclaiming, "I'm free! Praise the Lord I'm free!", who is soon backed by an equally-soulful choir professing the same joy. Beauty like this is juxtaposed against forceful, anarchistic anthems like "Ol' Glory". They also modernize (without compromising traditional meaning) ancient Latin psalms like "Agnus Dei" and "Mysterium Fidei" which are typically not heard by anyone outside of a Catholic mass.

I'm not gonna lie, the first thing that struck me about this band was how bizarre they were. As I listened though, I was struck by their sincerity in everything they created. As I researched them further, I was impressed even further with their devotion to their Lord and their work. Though I'm not particularly religious, I connected deeply with the Catholic psalms and messages that I've heard since I was a wee lad.

Among my favorites are the aforementioned "Ol' Glory" for it's bizarre carnival feel throughout the verses and the honest (and towards the end, guttural) cries about Good Friday and "all that glory!" Another is the uncharacteristically electronic masterpiece "C-Blue" from "Us. vs. Us". Being a collaboration with Sufjan Stevens, it possesses some of his signature musical techniques, including some digital sound bytes that, if I'm not mistaken, can be heard on his latest release, "The Age of Adz." Yet another favorite of mine is  "Mysterium Fidei." It was also, interestingly enough the first song I heard by Psalters and one that I heard all the time growing up and going to Catholic church every Sunday (though in a radically different form). I'm also rather fond of "Hideaway" which is a relatively simple ditty composed merely of acoustic guitar, violin (if I'm not mistaken; correct me if I'm wrong), vocals, and meager percussion. It stands in sharp contrast to its two Catholic-church-resurrection neighbors on the album, "Mysterium Fidei" and "Hosanna".

This is just a small sampling of the creativity and genuineness of this band, but it think it's a good starting point. Remember, though, that some of these songs will obviously not be for everybody and if at first you are nonplussed or put off, keep listening and I'm sure you'll find something that suits your preference. Who knows, perhaps some of thew songs you didn't like at first will grow on you.

When I set out to write about Psalters, I did not intend to write such a long dissertation on them, but there was no way around it. I'm also glad that I did, and I hope that you are too.

-The Surveyor


Psalters site

Psalters on Myspace

Psalters on Facebook

Croatan Studios (a Psalters Project)

The Black Hand Warriors (coming soon. not enirely sure what it is but I'm looking forward to finding out)