Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus

Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus is an experimental music collective that was formed in Liverpool, England in 1985 by Dave Seddon, Jon Egan, and Sue and Paul Boyce, who were soon joined by Leslie Hampson. Their name is a reference to the terrorist group in Luis Buñuel's final film, That Obscure Object of Desire.[1]

The group's music is a blend of folk and sacred music, industrial and ambient sounds, and samples that has drawn comparisons to neofolk artists like Current 93 and Death in June, as well as artists including Dead Can Dance, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Henryk Górecki, and Arvo Pärt. The group incorporates Christian imagery and symbolism into their music, and specifically draws inspiration from the Eastern Church, especially its use of icons.[2] In concert, the group incorporates multimedia and film clips from directors like Andrei Tarkovsky[3] into their performances, as well as ritual movements and field recordings.

The group's first two albums -- The Gift of Tears (1987) and Mirror (1990) -- were released on the Probe Plus label, as were two EPs, La Liturgie Pour La Fin Du Temps (1994) and Paradis (1995). After a long hiatus, the group's recordings were reissued in 2013 in a collection titled After the End, which was released by the French label Infrastition. The band then released a new album titled Beauty Will Save the World in 2015 on Occultation Recordings. The Gift of Tears and Mirror have also been reissued, in 2015 and 2017, respectively.[4]

A new album, Songs of Yearning was released on Occultation Recordings in June 2020, along with a second, limited edition, album titled Nocturnes. The first RAIJ single, I Carry the Sun/Falling (full-length), was released on 13 March 2020, again on Occultation.