DESCRIPTION:
Lyrics:

That cloudless night by the waning light of a tired moon
The poet stole across the town
(Sleeping, always sleeping
And dreaming, never dreaming)
A shadow and a shade
A ghost that just was made
Creeping across the common, past the bridge and past the fountain

He pushed his wheelbarrow forward through the gloom
And rested by the river where
He could see the stone
The shape of it alone
Made him grasp his heart
An artist when his art
Stares back at him, a fount of living inspiration

The stone, he brought it home beneath the secrecy of night
The thief cometh like the Lord
Into his house where it was stored
He crept into the dreams of the townspeople
Like a knife into a vein
Or a rope around a throat

HUBARDO is the seventh studio album by veteran avant-metal maestros, KAYO DOT. Produced by Randall Dunn (Sunn0))), Master Musicians of Bukkake, etc.), and with a running time of almost 100 minutes, the music follows an epic and heartbreaking narrative of a meteor falling to Earth and its enchantment and alchemical transformation of a lonely poet.

HUBARDO, meaning "lantern" or "lamp" in the magickal language of Enochian, marks the band's tenth anniversary. As such, it features aspects of all the shades of KAYO DOT from the past decade, including some that even hearken back to the band's former identity, the progressive MAUDLIN OF THE WELL, such as the album's opening: a stark and disturbing guest vocal appearance by MOTW screamer Jason Byron - his first recorded appearance since 2001.

From weird metal to beautiful post-rock, from demented ballads to tripped-out 70s fusion, this double-album has it all. With HUBARDO, KAYO DOT have crafted an enormous masterpiece of 21st-century progressive music.
credits
released 01 September 2013
Toby Driver - bass, synths, piano, rhodes, organ, vocals, percussion. Ron Varod - guitars. Keith Abrams - drums. Daniel Means - tenor sax, alto sax, clarinet. Terran Olson - flute, alto sax, piano, organ, and synth solo on "Floodgate". Tim Byrnes - trumpet, horn in F. Mia Matsumiya - violin, synths. Jason Byron - guest vocal on "The Black Stone" intro. Randall Dunn - synth design. Jessika Kenney and BC Campbell - guest backing vocals.

Produced by Randall Dunn and Toby Driver at Avast in Seattle, WA, April 2013. Recorded and mixed by Randall Dunn. Assisted by Scott Cedarholm. Mastered by Jason Ward at Chicago Mastering.

Album photograms by Rachel Wolf. Band photos by Toby Driver.