BABEL: CONFUSION OF TONGUES
Language fails. Structure reveals.
Babel: Confusion of Tongues is a complete 5XLP conceptual album, released in two phases across one full year.
The first phase—Babel (2XLP)—was released on 09/30/2019, containing nine tracks. But for those who acquired the Deluxe Edition (limited to 33 copies), a deeper structure quietly emerged.
Unannounced, three additional records arrived—each mailed one at a time, one every three months. These songs were not outtakes or B-sides. They were part of the original vision: fully recorded during the Babel sessions, meant to form a 12-track composition known only as Confusion of Tongues (3XLP).
Together, these two pieces—Babel and Confusion of Tongues—form a single unified work, housed within custom double and triple-gatefold packaging and enclosed in a wooden slipcase unique to the deluxe release.
The sequence of the full album is not linear, but encoded. Inside the Babel gatefold lies a 12-section wheel, structured around the Zodiac and the Color Wheel. The first track, Cadence, begins in the Aries/Red position. From there, the tracklist unfolds counter-clockwise, revealing the true position of each song by its corresponding symbol, color, and archetype.
Each side of vinyl is color-coded.
Each center label and sleeve corresponds to a place on the wheel.
The three songs from Confusion of Tongues complete the pattern.
This is not a double album.
This is not an extended EP.
This is a system.
The full artwork for both Babel and Confusion of Tongues is presented below—displayed in two columns to reflect their structural and thematic symmetry.
Left: Babel. Right: Confusion of Tongues.
The first design in each column is the deluxe insert print included with the respective release.
Thank you for following the pattern.
You were never meant to find it all at once.
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Both Babel and Confusion of Tongues were pressed on 180-gram gold vinyl, reflecting the alchemical ideal at the heart of the album: transformation, illumination, and weight. Each edition featured a gold-foil embossed octagram gatefold, and included a screen-printed art-print insert in black and gold—symbolic relics of the system they represent.
In addition, Confusion of Tongues includes a unique screen-printed design on the reverse side of all three records, making each piece both a sonic vessel and a visual artifact.
These were not manufactured.
They were forged.
To further expand the album’s color-based structure, eight limited-edition shirt designs were created—each corresponding to a section of the wheel. These shirts were made available only during the preorder window and remained exclusive until the album’s full release on 09/30/2020 through A Thousand Arms (US).
Each design was more than merch.
It was a symbolic extension of the system.
The following items were included as part of the initial Deluxe Edition of Babel: Confusion of Tongues, and were made available for preorder on 09/03/2020 in extremely limited quantities. All deluxe components were exclusive to A Thousand Arms (US) and were never repressed.
These editions were not mass-produced.
They were offered, once.