GEMATRIA is a collaboration between Ray Suhy (Six Feet Under, Ray Suhy/Lewis Porter Quartet, ex-Cannabis Corpse, ex-East Of The Wall) and Steve Honoshowsky (Daughter Vision, Billy Martin’s Fang Percussion, No Use For Humans). The duo formed in 2017 out of a mutual respect for each other’s playing, a myriad of shared musical influences and a love for esoteric studies and explorations. Their first recordings, a five-song eponymous EP, was released by Nefarious Industries in 2018.

The songs on their proper full-length release, Gematria II: The Spindle Of Necessity, were composed using elements of gematria, a qabalistic numerological system of relating words to numbers, the I Ching, sacred geometry and the writings of Aleister Crowley and Austin Osman Spare to help generate rhythmic and melodic ideas. Recorded by the band throughout 2020/2021 with the drums recorded by Adam Vaccarelli at Retromedia Sound Studios who mixed the album, mastering was handled by Alan Douches at West West Side Music. The album features a guest electric flute solo on “Spindle Of Necessity” by Melissa Keeling, and a vocal choir on “Unconquered Sun” performed by Emily Grove, recorded by Steve Greenwell. The artwork was created by Steve Honoshowsky and the layout/design handled by Greg Meisenberg. Gematria II: The Spindle Of Necessity is a combination of intricate King Crimson-esque parts mixed with ambient soundscapes, blistering improvisations, and powerful drumming. 

The album’s lead single, “Unconquered Sun,” has been delivered through a captivating visual accompaniment created by video artist Uzair Ahmad and Ray Suhy who offers, “We experimented with a lot of different writing processes on this record. For this song, I asked Steve to go in the studio and record a drum track that I would then write to. Since Steve was conceptually working off of pentagrams, hexagrams, and heptagrams, I in turn used different combinations of 5, 6, 7, and 8 note scales to contrast different sections. We also enlisted our good friend Emily Grove of Daughter Vision to lay down choir vocals to make the ending as big as possible.”

Honoshowsky adds, “The title is born of the number 158, which was also the tempo that moves the song at the desired pace like, ‘rain that rises with the sun.’ Geometric rhythms and modulating meters comprise the arrangement. The pentagram, hexagram, and heptagram’s relationship to the octagon was the inspiration to pursue what these configured rhythms might sound like when they are played together. What is their shared rhythmic harmony?”