What is missing from the Christian concept of “trinity”? Carl Jung suggests that the fourth element is what many reject – the evil in our nature; or by another view, the feminine, which throughout Church history has been equated with evil and duly suppressed. To restore this element to the trinity creates Quaternity, which in William Blake’s Proverbs of Hell represents “the fourfold nature of man and his relationship to the divine...

Sabbath Assembly's new album, Quaternity, is split into two acts. The first examines the four deities worshipped in the theology of the Process Church of the Final Judgement - Christ, Jehovah, Lucifer and Satan - each tune providing the deity with its own voice, unmediated by Christian prejudice. Lucifer is again the light bearer, Satan the source of primal strength, Jehovah the vengeful destroyer, and Christ the master of death.

The second act explores another four: the horsemen of the apocalypse of Revelations. This segment was conceived in anticipation of 21/12/12 the date that some believed the world would end.

Personally, this wasn't an album that I embraced - or even found anything of real interest - other than the beautiful choral opening track. For me religion should stay where it belongs - in an empty church. For me this is no different than an album that strongly focuses on one aspect of politics. I'm not interested in being beaten over the head with someone else's beliefs. I was unsure of whether this was a mickey take on the new age cult the Process Church of the Final Judgement, or whether the band believe in their teachings.

While I'm sure it wasn't the intention, I couldn't help feeling like I was being recruited for some hippy cult. If you ignore the religious guff and concentrate on the music, then you'll enjoy this metal/rock band's output.

5

Nick Smithson