Florian Fricke once described Einsjäger & Siebenjäger as the “finishing, or closing of the cycle”. Certainly, you can hear threads here that connect back to earlier Popol Vuh albums like Seligpreisung and Hosianna Mantra, and Einsjäger & Siebenjäger does feel like the culmination of the exploration of a set of principles. The group were certainly accessing something extraordinary here, with the entire first side of the album performed in one take. But with Conny Veit out of the frame, Fricke gives over to Daniel Fichelscher’s vision entirely, and his ringing, carillon-like guitars are all over Einsjäger & Siebenjäger, gifting the album its overarching mood of ascension within limitations, with raga-like, interweaving parts locking into an overwhelming whole. As Fricke reflected, “It’s one way of jubilation; it’s our expression of jubilation.”

– Jon Dale