Formed in 2002 as a London-based studio project by the Toronto-born musician and composer Greg Jarvis, Flowers Of Hell developed into a live act in 2005. With Jarvis’s return to his home city two years later, the group became a trans-continental outfit as he recruited additional musicians into the evolving line-up. The current collective invariably totals 16 or so independent musicians, including in its number Abi Fry, the violist with British Sea Power.
To herald the arrival of Symphony No. 1 later on this week, the Flowers Of Hell have unveiled the first of the four movements which will comprise their fifth album. A monumental sweep of orchestral psych ambience, ‘Symphony No.1 – Movement 1’ sees the introduction of Danie Friesen to the massed Flowers Of Hell ranks and the sheer visceral power of her operatic soprano adds an even greater gravitas and dramatic tension to the band’s huge theatrical sound.
For more than 14 gloriously extended minutes, ‘Symphony No.1 – Movement 1’ ebbs and flows back and forth and nods majestically in the general direction of Michael Nyman, the instrumental passages of Spiritualized‘s The Complete Works compilation album series from the early part of this millennium and a more traditional classical bent. In so doing the piece merges an epic minimalism with a gorgeously overblown sense of romanticism.
Symphony No.1 will be released in shops and online on the 2nd of December 2016. A small advance numbered run of 300 LPs are available from the band now via Bandcamp at
