Caixao

***Since 2017, Portuguese multi-instrumentalist JG has been releasing music under the name Caixão. Guided by JG’s laborious research of the peoples that once populated the region in and around the land presently known as Portugal, Caixão’s music is suffused with Mediterranean mysticism. JG’s reverence for his land and its psychogeographical character is one feature that sets Caixão apart, especially as the regional traits that once defined the various styles of black metal emerging from different parts of the world have eroded, leaving the scene—like the world, in general—largely devoid of the distinctive, localized qualities that once made it so compelling. With this new album, JG draws upon the mythological figure Melqart, the patron god of Tyre, one of the most prominent city-states in the Phoenician diaspora, described by Ernest Renan as “a city of ruins, built out of ruins.” As Phoenician culture spread throughout the Mediterranean, so, too, did Melqart’s legacy. While there are few extant artistic representations of Melqart, and many details have been lost to time, he is believed to be the antecedent to the Greek half-deity and hero Herakles (known to the Romans as Hercules), whose cult supplanted Melqart’s as the Greek empire ascended to global prominence. The nexus between these two figures served as the inspiration for Caixão’s sophomore album, Herakles / Melqart. In particular, Herakles’ 12 labors illustrate the manner in which Herakles’s persona subsumed attributes of Melqart as the reach of the Greek empire swept out across the Phoenician world. JG devotes a track to each of the 12 labors, from the Nemean Lion and the Hydra of Lerna, to the Augean stables, the Cretan Bull, and Cerberus. Indeed, one can hear when listening to this album how each track captures the essence of the corresponding Heraklean task. In doing so, Caixão demonstrates how within the black metal genre, perhaps more than any other form of music, mystical emanations of the ancient past converge with the nihilistic currents of the present day, forming a cultural through-line and highlighting the accretion of ideals that have, for millennia, undergirded the development of Western Civilization. Musically speaking, with this album, JG continues to expand the frontier of Caixão’s sonic palette, incorporating miscellaneous sound sources, such as field recordings and traditional folk instruments. But Caixão’s core identity remains unchanged—a syncretic amalgam of styles deftly combined to produce a distinctive strain of Iberian black metal. JG showcases the breadth of his musical knowledge, demonstrating his penchant for methodically picking and choosing only those elements that contribute to the creation of an atmosphere appropriately evocative of his subject matter. Herakles / Melqart reflects the most complete and thoughtful Caixão recording to date, a testament to JG’s dedication to his craft and the exploratory nature of the project.