Russian-based Phurpa are a roving monastic choir who draw on ancient Tibetan bön spirituality and repetitive mantras, traditional instruments made from human remains (femur and tibia bones, to be exact) and overtone singing techniques. It’s akin to death metal being spun at 1bpm as ‘Lta Zor’ is made up of two 20-minute tracks that swirl with vocal ambience, punctured by demonic jangles and throat-scratching wails. Phurpa make you realise that if you want to discover the roots of industrial noise then you have to look beyond the 20th century, and the West.
