Entheogen (Storm) by Bottlesmoker

fter releasing their first single “Tortuga II” in October 2022, Bottlesmoker releases their second single entitled “Entheogen (Storm)”. This second single is a strong example on how the music on the 6th album entitled “Puraka” will sounds like. “Entheogen (Storm)” was written in 2019 after Angkuy watched “The Nepalese Honey That Makes People Hallucinate” on Vice. Nobie continues his research on hallucinogens and their relationship to culture. Finally, they found the book "Entheogens and the Future of Religion" by Albert Hofmann which tells about psychedelic plants and drugs in religion and society use.

Angkuy & Nobie were fascinated by the cultural practices of ancient civilizations that used natural resources for various needs including rituals with the Creator. Hallucinogenic plants become a medium and some kind of 'gate' to the spiritual entity and connected to the universe, and can even be a medicine for various diseases.

“Entheogen (Storm)” became a medium for Bottlesmoker to reminding us again that there is no need for criminalization of nature. Hallucinogenic plants have an important role in life.

Musical wise, this song still has the nuances of the 4th album, Parakosmos. There is still a pattern of tribal beat playing with typical East Indonesian percussion with chanting from rituals which is one of the ideas for exploration.

“Entheogen (Storm) is a very important song on the next Puraka album. It is the main soul, both in terms of music and message," said Angkuy.

“This song is the shortest song, but the writing process took the longest, especially in the research part. A song that has become a trigger for many things in writing the next song,” said Nobie.

Entheogen is taken from the name of a psychoactive substance that is only present in entheogenic plants such as peyote cactus, psilocybin mushroom, brugmansia flower, ayahuasca leaf and others which induce changes in perception, mood, awareness, cognition or behavior for the purpose of giving birth to spiritual development in sacred context. Anthropological studies have established that entheogens are used for religious, magical, shamanic, or spiritual purposes in many parts of the world.

Bottlesmoker is a music project by Anggung Suherman (Angkuy) and Ryan Nobie Adzani, from Bandung, Indonesia. Bottlesmoker has been doing lots of experiment in the songs making using toy musical instrument and custom equipment, so the sounds that produced were so unique with a hint of a pop music taste that is so catchy, and unique at the same time.

bottlesmoker.com