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Sendelica — The Complete Mankind
(Fruits de Mer winkle 58, 2025, 8CD / DL)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2025-05-16

The Complete Mankind Cover art

After Sendelica’s Cromlech series of albums ended in 2020, all recorded in a jamming commune at Mwnci Studios in West Wales, the band decided to embark on their next series of albums in a completely different way. They began by recording a series of demos, either by Pete Bingham (electric and acoustic guitars, stylophone, bass synth, Mellotron guitar, and field recordings) or Colin Consterdine (drums, sonics, and electronics), and they further developed these tracks into the finished sonic assaults via overdubbing and involving other members to construct And Man Created God (2021), One Man’s Man (2022), Man, Myth & Magic (2023), and Requiem for Mankind (2024), all double LP vinyl releases. Now Pete and Colin, along with Fruits de Mer, have pulled together these four original vinyl albums (the first three have sold out) on four CDs and included an additional four CDs of demos, outtakes, and remixes as an 8 CD set of 51 tracks lasting a staggering 9+ hours of music, The Complete Mankind. As we’ve covered the first four albums on their release, I am going to focus on the bonus tracks associated with each album.

And Man Created God Bonus Tracks is a set of eight instrumentals for 51 minutes of music: “120 BPM Riff Idea One,” “120 BPM Riff Idea Two,” “Aeolian Sunrise (Extended Mix),” “Deuterosphia (Marriott Mix),” “Aeolian Sunrise (New Guitar Mix),” “MMT (Sax Mix),” “Surging Force (early version of Tainted Goat),” and “Aeolian Sunrise (Mix 2).”  The two 120 BPM riffs are the shortest Sendelica tracks I’ve ever encountered. “Idea One” is 1:18 and “Idea Two” is 0:42, quite an anomaly given that Sendelica’s tracks tend to be in the 10+ minute range. They are interesting proggy riffs. The three takes on “Aeolian Sunrise” explore variations on a theme, all different from the original released track. One is slow and dreamy, another a cosmic sci-fi caravanserai, and the third hypnotic. “Deuterosphia” and “MMT” are powerful, cinematic, and laid back urban prog funk instrumentals. And like its title, “Surging Force” is bubbly synths with a steady driving beat.

One Man’s Man Bonus Tracks is a set of eight instrumentals clocking in at nearly 70 minutes: “Homo Sapiens (Sea Lapping Up a Storm Mix),” “Homo Rudolfenis (Marquee Moon Pete Demo Mix),” “Homo Erectus (Original Pete ‘Yeti’ Mix),” “Denisovans (Pete Cro Magnum Mix),” “With Sea and Wind (Homo Sapien Pete Demo),” “Track 2 Pete Demo (The Dawn of Man),” “Neanderthal (Mix 5 Becoming Mix),” and “Track 1 Pete Demo (Future Man - Homo Superior).” These tracks feature some hard hitting guitar passages, field recordings, throbbing bass, ebb and flow of synth chords, and repetitive riffs. “With Sea and Wind” and its delayed guitar is reminiscent of Manuel Göttsching’s seminal Inventions for Electric Guitar.

There are only four Man, Myth & Magic Bonus Tracks for an hour’s worth of music: “Send Erica (Wheel of Fortune) Pete and Colin Demo,” “Neptune (Pete Demo),” “Shaman Dawn (Magician Dawn) Pete & Colin Demo,” and “Tower of Chaos (Pete Demo).” The “Send Erica” demo is interesting as it is an edgier and rawer pre-version of the final album track and bears less resemblance to Gustav Holst’s “Mars, The Bringer of War.” “Neptune” starts out with gentle surf sounds and a slow repeated guitar note sequence that morphs into a savage riff and beat, descends into chaos, and eventually resurfaces with buzzsaw distorted guitar for a total of 21 minutes. Pete must gotten into the groove here and lost track of time as “Neptune” is a mite too long. The final album track is roughly the same length and more engaging. “Shaman Dawn” slows things down with its beautiful Mellotron chords, dreamy bass, emotive guitar, and understated synths. The final track, “Tower of Chaos,” is an excellent, partially acoustic, eighteen minute excursion into Manuel Göttsching territory.

The fourth and last CD of bonus tracks, Requiem for Mankind Bonus Tracks, is set of seven tracks lasting 70 minutes: “Cosmic Slop (In the Beginning) - Let There Be Life Pete's Original Demos,” “Let There Be Light (Original Pete Demo 2),” “Let There Be Life (Original Pete Demo),” “Requiem for the Planet (Calli Vocal Demo),” “Requiem for the Planet (Original Pete Demo),” “Chaos (Original Pete Demo),” and “Requiem for Mankind (002 Matthew and Son Mix).” Lots of variations on this disc, some are bit too long, causing me to lose interest. Thankfully Sendelica massaged them into the final tracks. However, “Requiem for the Planet (Calli Vocal Demo)” is great and reminds me of the wordless singing on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. The three variations of “Requiem” are gentle, with the “(002 Matthew and Son Mix)” being the best of the lot.

I find it interesting how these early versions morphed into the final tracks on each of the four albums. Sometimes there is a notable difference like “Send Erica” that became “Wheel of Fortune.” But what puzzles me, and this is true for many other artists, are some of the obscure parenthetical titles like “Marriott Mix,” “Marquee Moon,” or “(002 Matthew and Son Mix).” I guess you have to be in the know for these sub-titles to make sense. Another thing that I found surprising is that I was under the impression that Sendelica’s music was largely extended improvisational jams, when in fact after listening to these bonus tracks, each of the final album tracks is carefully honed and orchestrated.

The Complete Mankind is one massive release that will take a dedicated listener to make it all the way through in one go, but it is well worth the effort.

Filed under: Archives, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Sendelica

More info
http://sendelica.bandcamp.com/album/the-complete-mankind

 

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