Forty Martyrs: Armenian Chants from Aleppo
Jason Hamacher
Lost Origin Sound
c/o Rock Paper Scissors (publicity)
511 West 4th Street, Suite 2
Bloomington, IN 47404
$TBA www.rockpaperscissors.biz

Released in respect of the estimated 800,000 to 1.5 million victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide planned and perpetrated by the Ottoman Turkish government, Forty Martyrs: Armenian Chants from Aleppo is an album of liturgical chants treasured and sung in Aleppo, a cosmopolitan Syrian city that served as a refuge for survivors of the massacre. Today, Aleppo is caught in Syria's civil war, and its Armenian community has been scattered; the language to fthe chants (West Armenian) may die out in a generation. The chants themselves have storied history, with the oldest dating back to the 5th century. Profound and powerful, Forty Martyrs: Armenian Chants from Aleppo is the audio embodiment of faith transcending time, place, and generations, highly recommended. The tracks are "When", "Today He Rose From the Dead", "Great and Wondrous Mystery", "We Who Are Gathered at the Renunciation", "In Heavenly Jerusalem", "Lord Have Mercy", "Praise the Lord O' Jerusalem", and "Our Father".