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Difference between revisions of "Inferno"

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| cover=Inferno cover.jpg
 
| cover=Inferno cover.jpg
 
| release_date=29 May 2026
 
| release_date=29 May 2026
−
| format=Gatefold 2xLP <br> CD <br> Digital <br> Continuous Mix (digital-only, 70:00)
+
| format=Gatefold 2xLP <br> CD <br> Digital <br>
 
| label=Warp Records
 
| label=Warp Records
 
| catno=WARPLP496 (2xLP) <br> WARPCD496 (CD) <br> WARP496 (digital)
 
| catno=WARPLP496 (2xLP) <br> WARPCD496 (CD) <br> WARP496 (digital)
−
| runtime=69:51
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| runtime=69:51 <br> 70:00 <small>(Continuous Mix)</small>
 
}}
 
}}
  
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'''''Inferno''''' is the upcoming fifth studio album by [[Boards of Canada]], scheduled for release on '''29 May 2026''' via [[Warp Records]]. It is the long-anticipated follow-up to their 2013 album ''[[Tomorrow's Harvest]]''&mdash;a gap of nearly thirteen years, the band's longest to date.
+
'''''Inferno''''' is the upcoming fifth studio album by [[Boards of Canada]], scheduled for release on '''29 May 2026''' via [[Warp Records]]. It is the long-anticipated follow-up to their 2013 album ''[[Tomorrow's Harvest]]'' - a gap of nearly thirteen years, the band's longest to date between albums.
  
 
<div class="toclimit-4">
 
<div class="toclimit-4">
Line 35: Line 35:
 
# "[[You Retreat In Time And Space]]" &ndash; 5:25
 
# "[[You Retreat In Time And Space]]" &ndash; 5:25
 
# "[[I Saw Through Platonia]]" &ndash; 2:39
 
# "[[I Saw Through Platonia]]" &ndash; 2:39
−
 
−
Total running time &ndash; '''69:51'''
 
  
 
== Announcement ==
 
== Announcement ==
  
−
The album was officially announced in the lead-up to its '''29 May 2026''' release date, following over a decade of speculation and a substantial uptick in activity on [[Boards of Canada]]'s social media and affiliated web properties through 2025 and into early 2026.
+
The album was officially announced on April 22nd 2026, following over a decade of speculation and a substantial uptick in activity on [[Boards of Canada]]'s social media and affiliated web properties through 2025 and into early 2026.
  
 
For the prior period of anticipation and speculation, see the article formerly titled ''[[LP5]]''.
 
For the prior period of anticipation and speculation, see the article formerly titled ''[[LP5]]''.
Line 70: Line 68:
 
<code>nobody home... /// -. --- -... --- -.. -.-- / .... --- -- . .-.-.- .-.-.- .-.-.-</code>
 
<code>nobody home... /// -. --- -... --- -.. -.-- / .... --- -- . .-.-.- .-.-.- .-.-.-</code>
  
−
Over the following months the site displayed a rotating sequence of error messages and cryptic fragments before being redirected to the original [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2lyYEUPat8 ''Tomorrow's Harvest'' Transmission] video on 29 August 2025. With the announcement of ''Inferno'', the relationship between the 2025 reactivation of the site and the eventual album release is an open question for fans.
+
Over the following months the site displayed various errors and server configuration sites before being redirected to the original [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2lyYEUPat8 ''Tomorrow's Harvest'' Transmission] video on 29 August 2025. These changes have not been acknowledged publically.
  
 
=== New Merchandise ===
 
=== New Merchandise ===
Line 84: Line 82:
 
== Title and Themes ==
 
== Title and Themes ==
  
−
The title ''Inferno'' is Dante Alighieri's first canticle of the ''Divine Comedy'' (c. 1308&ndash;1320), the descent through the nine circles of hell. The album's 18 tracks thus naturally read as 9 + 9 &mdash; descent and ascent, ''Inferno'' and ''Purgatorio'' &mdash; with the closing "[[I Saw Through Platonia]]" supplying the ''Paradiso'''s beatific vision. Taken title by title, ''Inferno'' is the most explicitly religious and mystical record in the [[Boards of Canada]] catalogue &mdash; a far more concentrated pursuit of the cult-and-scripture thread that ran through ''[[In a Beautiful Place out in the Country (release)|In a Beautiful Place out in the Country]]'' and ''[[Geogaddi]]''.
+
As a word, ''Inferno'' references hell and places reminiscent of it. It is the most explicit reference to religion and the occult since their 2002 album ''[[Geogaddi]]'' and 2000 EP ''[[In a Beautiful Place out in the Country (release)|In a Beautiful Place out in the Country]]''. The album's titles also refer to concepts in cosmology and physics heavily.
  
−
=== Christian Liturgy ===
+
* An "[[Introit]]" is a song or psalm that is sung or recited at the beginning of a Christian mass.
−
* "[[Introit]]" &mdash; the processional opening of a Catholic Mass.
+
* "[[Father And Son]]" could reference the Holy Trinity, which consists of the two and The Holy Spirit.
−
* "[[Father And Son]]" &mdash; the first two persons of the Holy Trinity.
+
* "[[The Word Becomes Flesh]]" is a quotation from [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201:14&version=NIV Psalm 1:14] of the Book of John.
−
* "[[The Word Becomes Flesh]]" &mdash; direct citation of the Gospel of John 1:14 (the Incarnation).
+
* "[[Naraka]]" references the realm of hell seen in Indian religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism.
−
 
+
* "[[The Process]]" could refer to the Process Church of the Final Judgement, a new religious movement which briefly existed in the 1960s and 70s.
−
=== Eastern Religions ===
+
* "[[Prophecy At 1420 MHz]]" references the hydrogen line, a specific wavelength of radiation emitted by hydrogen as it undergoes a quantum transition. It has been used to investigate the properties of the universe, and search for extraterrestrial life.
−
* "[[Naraka]]" &mdash; the hell realms of Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh cosmology.
+
* "[[Hydrogen Helium Lithium Leviathan]]" refers to the first three elements of the periodic table and the mythical sea creature.
−
* "[[Memory Death]]" &mdash; dissolution of memory in the Tibetan bardo (''Bardo Thödol'').
+
* "[[Age Of Capricorn]]" refers to the tenth sign of the astrological zodiac.
−
 
+
* "[[I Saw Through Platonia]]" could refer to a concept by Julian Barbour of a realm called Platonia, which contains every possible configuration of the universe.
−
=== Occult, Magick, and New Religious Movements ===
 
−
* "[[Acts Of Magic]]" &mdash; Crowleyan '''Magick''' as the art of change conforming to will.
 
−
* "[[The Process]]" &mdash; '''The Process Church of the Final Judgment''', 1960s &ndash; 70s new-religious / cult movement (Robert de Grimston, ex-Scientology), syncretising Christ / Satan / Jehovah / Lucifer.
 
−
* "[[Into The Magic Land]]" &mdash; the mystical Otherworld / Faerie / land of the dead.
 
−
 
 
−
=== Prophecy, Cosmos, Creation ===
 
−
* "[[Prophecy At 1420 MHz]]" &mdash; the '''hydrogen line''', the SETI frequency, framed prophetically.
 
−
* "[[Hydrogen Helium Lithium Leviathan]]" &mdash; Big Bang nucleosynthesis + the biblical sea-monster of Job 41 / Psalm 74 / Isaiah 27:1.
 
−
* "[[Age Of Capricorn]]" &mdash; astrological / precessional age (Capricorn = the ''sea-goat'').
 
−
* "[[Deep Time]]" &mdash; geological time as the Hindu/Buddhist ''kalpa'', as eternity.
 
−
 
 
−
=== Sacrifice and Martyrdom ===
 
−
* "[[Blood In The Labyrinth]]" &mdash; the Cretan Minotaur myth, the ritual sacrifice of Athenian youths, and the Chartres labyrinth as medieval pilgrimage substitute.
 
−
* "[[Arena Americanada]]" &mdash; the '''Roman arena''' as the space of martyrdom / gladiatorial spectacle, portmanteau'd through '''America''' / '''Canada''' / '''''Americana'''''.
 
−
 
 
−
=== Contemplation, Time Transcendence, Vision ===
 
−
* "[[Somewhere Right Now In The Future]]" &mdash; the theological ''nunc stans'', divine timelessness.
 
−
* "[[You Retreat In Time And Space]]" &mdash; the monastic / Buddhist '''retreat'''.
 
−
* If you were an observer and "[[You Retreat In Time And Space]]", the observer's state of being "[[Somewhere Right Now In The Future]]" becomes "The past inside the present", referencing a sample from [[Music Is Math]] in [[Geogaddi]]
 
−
* "[[All Reason Departs]]" &mdash; Goya's "sleep of reason breeds monsters" paired with the mystical ''via negativa'' / apophatic tradition (Pseudo-Dionysius, Eckhart, ''The Cloud of Unknowing'').
 
−
* "[[I Saw Through Platonia]]" &mdash; physicist '''Julian Barbour''''s timeless configuration-space of the universe, read through '''Plato''''s ladder of ascent and the Neoplatonic / Christian-mystical tradition of "seeing through" appearance to the One. The album's closing '''beatific vision'''.
 
−
 
 
−
=== Structural Note ===
 
−
At '''18 tracks''' the album naturally divides 9 + 9, mirroring Dante's '''9 circles of hell''' (doubled for descent-and-ascent, or Inferno-and-Purgatorio). The shape moves: '''liturgical entry''' ("[[Introit]]") &rarr; '''prophetic cosmos''' &rarr; '''Trinity''' &rarr; '''eschatology''' &rarr; '''Eastern hell''' &rarr; '''occult practice''' &rarr; '''Buddhist memory-death''' &rarr; '''Incarnation''' &rarr; '''mystical pilgrimage''' &rarr; '''sacrificial myth''' &rarr; '''deep time''' &rarr; '''ecstatic unreason''' &rarr; '''arena / martyrdom''' &rarr; '''cult''' &rarr; '''retreat''' &rarr; '''beatific vision'''.
 
  
 
== Trivia ==
 
== Trivia ==
  
−
=== Catalogue number 496 ===
+
* ''Inferno'' has been assigned the catalog number WARP496. This seems to be a deliberate request from the band themselves, as preceding Warp releases such as Squarepusher's [https://warp.net/releases/576448-kammerkonzert/ Kammerkonzert] and Oneohtrix Point Never's [https://warp.net/releases/552598-tranquilizer/ Tranquilizer] have catalog numbers of 417 and 411, respectively.
−
 
+
** '''496 is mathematically and physically significant in several ways:'''
−
The ''Inferno'' vinyl, CD and digital editions carry the catalogue numbers '''WARPLP496''', '''WARPCD496''' and '''WARP496''' respectively. 496 appears to be a deliberate choice rather than the next number in Warp's sequence:
+
** It is the '''third perfect number''' — a positive integer equal to the sum of its proper divisors: 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 31 + 62 + 124 + 248 = 496. The first two perfect numbers are 6 and 28. 496 = 2<sup>4</sup>·(2<sup>5</sup> − 1), where 31 is a [[wikipedia:Mersenne prime|Mersenne prime]].
−
 
+
** It is the '''31st [[wikipedia:Triangular number|triangular number]]''' — the sum of all integers from 1 to 31.
−
* The immediately preceding Warp albums carry much lower catalogue numbers — Nala Sinephro's ''Endlessness'' is [https://yoyaku.io/release/nala-sinephro-endlessness-lp-warplp358/ WARPLP358] (Sept 2024), [[wikipedia:Kwes|kwes]]'s ''Kinds'' is WARPLP400 (27 Feb 2026), and [[wikipedia:Squarepusher|Squarepusher]]'s April 2026 release is WARPLP417. Seven weeks after Squarepusher at 417, the catalogue jumps 79 numbers straight to 496 for ''Inferno''.
+
** In theoretical physics, '''496 is the dimension of the gauge groups E<sub>8</sub>×E<sub>8</sub> and SO(32)''' — the two groups that allow [[wikipedia:Heterotic string|heterotic string theory]] to be anomaly-free under the [[wikipedia:Green–Schwarz mechanism|Green–Schwarz mechanism]] (1984). It is one of the most recognisable numbers in 20th-century mathematical physics.
−
* Warp's digital (WARPDA) sequence shows the same jump: recent numbers include WARPDA408, 411, 414, 415, 417, then skip to WARPDA496 as the digital SKU for ''Inferno''.<ref>https://warp.net/discography</ref>
+
** The choice is consistent with [[Boards of Canada]]'s history of numerical encoding (e.g. ''[[Geogaddi]]'' contains 23 tracks tied to the "23 Enigma" / Discordianism, a 66:06 running time read as 666, and a Japanese release date of 13 February 2002 keyed to Revelation 13:18) and with the album's pervasive physics and cosmology references — see "[[Prophecy At 1420 MHz]]", "[[Hydrogen Helium Lithium Leviathan]]", "[[Deep Time]]" and "[[I Saw Through Platonia]]".
−
 
 
−
'''496 is mathematically and physically significant in several ways:'''
 
−
 
 
−
* It is the '''third perfect number''' — a positive integer equal to the sum of its proper divisors: 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 31 + 62 + 124 + 248 = 496. The first two perfect numbers are 6 and 28. 496 = 2<sup>4</sup>·(2<sup>5</sup> − 1), where 31 is a [[wikipedia:Mersenne prime|Mersenne prime]].
 
−
* It is the '''31st [[wikipedia:Triangular number|triangular number]]''' — the sum of all integers from 1 to 31.
 
−
* In theoretical physics, '''496 is the dimension of the gauge groups E<sub>8</sub>×E<sub>8</sub> and SO(32)''' — the two groups that allow [[wikipedia:Heterotic string|heterotic string theory]] to be anomaly-free under the [[wikipedia:Green–Schwarz mechanism|Green–Schwarz mechanism]] (1984). It is one of the most recognisable numbers in 20th-century mathematical physics.
 
−
 
 
−
The choice is consistent with [[Boards of Canada]]'s history of numerical encoding (e.g. ''[[Geogaddi]]'' contains 23 tracks tied to the "23 Enigma" / Discordianism, a 66:06 running time read as 666, and a Japanese release date of 13 February 2002 keyed to Revelation 13:18) and with the album's pervasive physics and cosmology references — see "[[Prophecy At 1420 MHz]]", "[[Hydrogen Helium Lithium Leviathan]]", "[[Deep Time]]" and "[[I Saw Through Platonia]]".
 
−
 
 
−
=== Running time 70:00 ===
 
−
 
 
−
The album proper runs '''69:51'''. However, a companion digital release — '''''Inferno (Continuous Mix)''''', issued alongside the album on 29 May 2026 via [[Bleep.com|Bleep]] as a standalone pre-order in MP3, FLAC and WAV 24-bit formats<ref>https://bleep.com/release/590977-boards-of-canada-inferno-continuous-mix</ref> — is '''exactly 70:00''' in length. The round 70-minute target appears deliberate.
 
−
 
 
−
70 carries dense religious and mystical weight that is consistent with the album's cross-tradition themes:
 
−
 
 
−
* '''[[wikipedia:Septuagint|Septuagint]]''' (LXX, literally "seventy") — the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, legendarily produced by 70 (or 72) translators under Ptolemy II. It is the Old Testament used by the early Christian Church and remains the canonical text of the Eastern Orthodox tradition. A natural pairing with "[[The Word Becomes Flesh]]".
 
−
* '''The 70 disciples''' sent out by Jesus in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10%3A1 Luke 10:1], mirroring the '''70 nations''' of Genesis 10's Table of Nations — the traditional list of all the peoples of the world.
 
−
* '''70 elders of Israel''' (Numbers 11:16-25), the original [[wikipedia:Sanhedrin|Sanhedrin]] — the body that, in the Gospel narratives, tries Jesus.
 
−
* '''70 years of Babylonian exile''' (Jeremiah 25:11, 29:10) — an exact span of captivity and return. Thematically adjacent to "[[You Retreat In Time And Space]]".
 
−
* '''[[wikipedia:Seventy weeks|Daniel's 70 weeks]]''' (Daniel 9:24-27) — one of the most famous apocalyptic prophecies in scripture, spelling out the sequence leading to "the end of desolations". A direct parallel to "[[Prophecy At 1420 MHz]]" and the album title's descent-and-judgement frame.
 
−
* In Kabbalah, '''the 70 names of God''' and the ''70 faces of Torah'' — each verse holding 70 legitimate readings.
 
−
 
 
−
'''The number 70 is a long-running, explicit motif inside [[Boards of Canada]]'s own catalogue:'''
 
−
 
 
−
* '''"[[The Smallest Weird Number]]"''' (track 9 on ''[[Geogaddi]]'', 2002) — the title is a direct mathematical reference to '''70''', the smallest [[wikipedia:Weird number|weird number]] (an [[wikipedia:Abundant number|abundant]] integer that is not [[wikipedia:Semiperfect number|semiperfect]]). The Geogaddi track article makes the tie explicit: ''"'The Smallest Weird Number' is 70. As in [[Music70]], [[Boards of Canada]]'s own label."'' Further: although the track runs 1:17, its melody cuts out at exactly '''1:10 — i.e. 70 seconds''' — embedding the number in the track's construction as well as its title.
 
−
* '''"[[Sixtyten]]"''' (on ''[[Music Has the Right to Children]]'', 1998) — the title is the number '''70 written out as "sixty + ten"''', an archaic / Anglo-Saxon form. The track's own lyric samples even extract their Earth, Wind &amp; Fire source from '''1:10''' of the original record — the same 70-second timestamp as the ''Smallest Weird Number'' melody break.
 
−
* '''''[[Music70]]''''' (also written ''[[Music70.com]]'') — [[Mike Sandison|Mike]] and [[Marcus Eoin|Marcus]]'s own art, film and design collective, owned and operated out of [[Hexagon Sun]]. The "70" is baked into the band's visual identity and has appeared as a matrix etching on BoC vinyl.
 
−
* '''''[[Music Has the Right to Children]]''''' in its US / 2004 Warp reissue edition &mdash; the definitive extended form of the debut album, with "[[Happy Cycling]]" appended &mdash; has a running time of '''70:42'''. In other words, the band's canonical first album (in its reissue form) and ''Inferno'' (in its Continuous Mix form) both land at ~70 minutes.
 
−
* '''"[[1969]]"''' (''[[Geogaddi]]'', 2002) and '''"[[Seven Forty Seven]]"''' (Warp20 Unheard, 2009) extend the pattern of numerical-title tracks that reference the late-1960s / 1970s cultural moment.
 
−
* The [[Boards of Canada]] sound-world is explicitly identified &mdash; on the band's own wiki entry &mdash; with "the late seventies and early eighties when there were psychedelic videos on [[Sesame Street]], and the Cold War was in full swing." The 1970s [[National Film Board of Canada]] documentary-score palette is the project's foundational sample-and-production aesthetic.
 
  
−
Taken with the 496-number catalogue choice above, the running time strengthens the reading that ''Inferno'' is numerologically constructed: '''70 (biblical / Kabbalistic completeness)''' and '''496 (the third perfect number; anomaly-cancellation in heterotic string theory)'''.
+
* The album runs for 69:51. However, a companion digital release - '''''Inferno (Continuous Mix)''''', runs for exactly 70 minutes. This seems to be deliberate, as 70 has carried meaning in the band's past releases. For example:
 +
** '''''[[Music70]]''''' is the name of [[Mike Sandison|Mike]] and [[Marcus Eoin|Marcus]]'s own label, owned and operated out of [[Hexagon Sun]].
 +
** '''"[[Sixtyten]]"''' (on ''[[Music Has the Right to Children]]'', 1998) - the title is the number '''70 written out as "sixty + ten"'''. The track's own lyric samples even extract their Earth, Wind &amp; Fire source from '''1:10''' of the original record, which is 70 seconds.
 +
** '''"[[The Smallest Weird Number]]"''' (track 9 on ''[[Geogaddi]]'', 2002) directly refers to '''70''', the smallest [[wikipedia:Weird number|weird number]] (an [[wikipedia:Abundant number|abundant]] integer that is not [[wikipedia:Semiperfect number|semiperfect]]). Although the track runs 1:17, its melody cuts out at exactly '''1:10 — i.e. 70 seconds'''.
  
 
== Release Notes ==
 
== Release Notes ==

Revision as of 22:27, 22 April 2026

Inferno
Inferno cover.jpg
Label(s) Warp Records
Catalogue No(s) WARPLP496 (2xLP)
WARPCD496 (CD)
WARP496 (digital)
Release date(s) 29 May 2026
Format(s) Gatefold 2xLP
CD
Digital
Running time(s) 69:51
70:00 (Continuous Mix)


Inferno is the upcoming fifth studio album by Boards of Canada, scheduled for release on 29 May 2026 via Warp Records. It is the long-anticipated follow-up to their 2013 album Tomorrow's Harvest - a gap of nearly thirteen years, the band's longest to date between albums.

Tracks

  1. "Introit" – 0:36
  2. "Prophecy At 1420 MHz" – 5:04
  3. "Hydrogen Helium Lithium Leviathan" – 4:44
  4. "Age Of Capricorn" – 3:52
  5. "Father And Son" – 3:24
  6. "Somewhere Right Now In The Future" – 2:26
  7. "Naraka" – 5:01
  8. "Acts Of Magic" – 1:18
  9. "Memory Death" – 2:37
  10. "The Word Becomes Flesh" – 5:20
  11. "Into The Magic Land" – 4:35
  12. "Blood In The Labyrinth" – 4:55
  13. "Deep Time" – 3:18
  14. "All Reason Departs" – 6:14
  15. "Arena Americanada" – 5:22
  16. "The Process" – 3:01
  17. "You Retreat In Time And Space" – 5:25
  18. "I Saw Through Platonia" – 2:39

Announcement

The album was officially announced on April 22nd 2026, following over a decade of speculation and a substantial uptick in activity on Boards of Canada's social media and affiliated web properties through 2025 and into early 2026.

For the prior period of anticipation and speculation, see the article formerly titled LP5.

Official Statements

  • Marcus Eoin, June 2013: "It feels like neither of those things from our perspective because we've always been working! We'd be making music anyway even if nobody was listening, and we've no intention of stopping, so this is just a continuation." — in response to the question "Is this record a new beginning or maybe the end? How does it feel for you?", from the interview The Charms of the Sphinx.
  • MDG, June 2022: "Nothing specific I'm allowed to share yet unfortunately, just that a new album is on its way."
  • Bleep, April 2023: "we don't know when the new BoC album is coming" — note the use of when rather than if, implying the album was confirmed to be in progress.[1]
  • BoC's official Threads, July 2023: "Follow here for future news & announcements etc."

Leadup

Instagram Likes (2025)

Main article: LP5

Starting in March 2025, BoC liked numerous comments across their official Instagram, the vast majority on the topic of new music. See Category:Instagram for the full archive and the LP5 table for a summary.

Cosecha Transmisiones

Main article: Cosecha-transmisiones.com

On 1 May 2025, users on Twoism and r/boardsofcanada noticed that the website cosecha-transmisiones.com—originally used in the promotion of Tomorrow's Harvest—had been updated to read:

nobody home... /// -. --- -... --- -.. -.-- / .... --- -- . .-.-.- .-.-.- .-.-.-

Over the following months the site displayed various errors and server configuration sites before being redirected to the original Tomorrow's Harvest Transmission video on 29 August 2025. These changes have not been acknowledged publically.

New Merchandise

On 6 June 2025, new Boards of Canada merchandise was announced and exclusively available at Bleep, produced on unisex Stanley and Stella blanks with a Boards of Canada neck label.[2][3][4][5] Shipping from Bleep's UK and USA warehouses began on 11 June. The release was widely read as a prelude to an album announcement.

Twoism 30

On 15 August 2025, Boards of Canada uploaded a Twoism 30th-anniversary celebration video to their social media accounts.[6][7][8][9][10] The band's first publicly-available vinyl mini album Twoism—originally limited to 100 copies in 1995—was made available through Bleep.com.

On the same post, Boards of Canada liked a large batch of comments speculating about a forthcoming album.

Title and Themes

As a word, Inferno references hell and places reminiscent of it. It is the most explicit reference to religion and the occult since their 2002 album Geogaddi and 2000 EP In a Beautiful Place out in the Country. The album's titles also refer to concepts in cosmology and physics heavily.

  • An "Introit" is a song or psalm that is sung or recited at the beginning of a Christian mass.
  • "Father And Son" could reference the Holy Trinity, which consists of the two and The Holy Spirit.
  • "The Word Becomes Flesh" is a quotation from Psalm 1:14 of the Book of John.
  • "Naraka" references the realm of hell seen in Indian religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism.
  • "The Process" could refer to the Process Church of the Final Judgement, a new religious movement which briefly existed in the 1960s and 70s.
  • "Prophecy At 1420 MHz" references the hydrogen line, a specific wavelength of radiation emitted by hydrogen as it undergoes a quantum transition. It has been used to investigate the properties of the universe, and search for extraterrestrial life.
  • "Hydrogen Helium Lithium Leviathan" refers to the first three elements of the periodic table and the mythical sea creature.
  • "Age Of Capricorn" refers to the tenth sign of the astrological zodiac.
  • "I Saw Through Platonia" could refer to a concept by Julian Barbour of a realm called Platonia, which contains every possible configuration of the universe.

Trivia

  • Inferno has been assigned the catalog number WARP496. This seems to be a deliberate request from the band themselves, as preceding Warp releases such as Squarepusher's Kammerkonzert and Oneohtrix Point Never's Tranquilizer have catalog numbers of 417 and 411, respectively.
    • 496 is mathematically and physically significant in several ways:
    • It is the third perfect number — a positive integer equal to the sum of its proper divisors: 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 31 + 62 + 124 + 248 = 496. The first two perfect numbers are 6 and 28. 496 = 24·(25 − 1), where 31 is a Mersenne prime.
    • It is the 31st triangular number — the sum of all integers from 1 to 31.
    • In theoretical physics, 496 is the dimension of the gauge groups E8×E8 and SO(32) — the two groups that allow heterotic string theory to be anomaly-free under the Green–Schwarz mechanism (1984). It is one of the most recognisable numbers in 20th-century mathematical physics.
    • The choice is consistent with Boards of Canada's history of numerical encoding (e.g. Geogaddi contains 23 tracks tied to the "23 Enigma" / Discordianism, a 66:06 running time read as 666, and a Japanese release date of 13 February 2002 keyed to Revelation 13:18) and with the album's pervasive physics and cosmology references — see "Prophecy At 1420 MHz", "Hydrogen Helium Lithium Leviathan", "Deep Time" and "I Saw Through Platonia".
  • The album runs for 69:51. However, a companion digital release - Inferno (Continuous Mix), runs for exactly 70 minutes. This seems to be deliberate, as 70 has carried meaning in the band's past releases. For example:

Release Notes

(To be populated from Warp's promotional copy once released.)

Quotes

(To be populated as interviews appear around the release.)

See Also

External Links

References

  1. ↑ https://bleep.com/newsletters/boards-of-canada--music-has-the-right-to-children-25th-anv-1
  2. ↑ https://bleep.com/boards-of-canada-2025-merchandise
  3. ↑ https://warp.net/artists/boards-of-canada
  4. ↑ https://bsky.app/profile/bleep.com/post/3lqxaqw2mj22s
  5. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/DKkNBcdIEfz/?img_index=1
  6. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/DNYMbzWMJIZ/
  7. ↑ https://www.threads.com/@boardsofcanada/post/DNYN0UYMSVj
  8. ↑ https://bsky.app/profile/boardsofcanada.bsky.social/post/3lwhdn4y3vk2d
  9. ↑ https://x.com/boardsofcanada/status/1956358894902550775
  10. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/boardsofcanada/videos/1494936234977208
Discography Overview | view ⬢ edit
Albums Music Has the Right to Children ⬢ Geogaddi ⬢ The Campfire Headphase ⬢ Tomorrow's Harvest ⬢ Inferno
EPs Twoism ⬢ Hi Scores ⬢ Aquarius ⬢ Peel Session ⬢ In a Beautiful Place out in the Country ⬢ Trans Canada Highway
Singles Reach For The Dead ⬢ Introit / Prophecy At 1420 MHz
Rare / Early Releases Catalog 3 ⬢ Acid Memories ⬢ Closes Vol. 1 ⬢ Play by Numbers ⬢ Hooper Bay ⬢ Boc Maxima ⬢ Old Tunes Vol. 1 ⬢ Old Tunes Vol. 2 ⬢ Random 35 Tracks Tape ⬢ Boc Remii Vol. 1
Mixtapes Marcus Eoin's Campfire Mixtape ⬢ Societas x Tape
Live Sets Live @ Warp10 ⬢ Live @ Lighthouse ⬢ Live @ ATP ⬢ All Gigs
Promotional Releases Telephasic Workshop ⬢ MHTRTC (promo cassette) ⬢ Orange Romeda ⬢ Geogaddi (promo lp) ⬢ Geogaddi (test pressing) ⬢ Geogaddi (promo cassette) ⬢ ------ / ------ / ------ / XXXXXX / ------ / ------ ⬢ Reach For The Dead (promo cd) ⬢ Come To Dust (promo cd)
Compilation Exclusives Korona ⬢ Orange Romeda ⬢ Seven Forty Seven
Produced by BoC for Others Here Come The Rubber Cops ⬢ Orangutang
Bootleg Releases Unreleased Tracks
Other Kaleidoscope ⬢ Promotional Events ⬢ Promotional Items ⬢ Merchandise ⬢ Web media
Lead-up RSD 2013 ARG ⬢ Road to Inferno ⬢ 2026 Promo Campaign
To Be Determined BoCset



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