Ravedeath, 1972 is the sixth studio album by Canadian electronic music musician Tim Hecker, released on February 14, 2011, by Kranky.

[3] Hecker recorded the bulk of the album on July 21, 2010,[2] playing compositions on the pipe organ which were further complemented by guitar and piano.

"[3] The cover depicts MIT students pushing a piano off the roof of the undergraduate dorm Baker House in 1972 – an act which began a long-running university ritual.

[5] The '1972' of the album's title is a reference to the cover artwork – the inaugural piano drop occurred in 1972 – but word 'Ravedeath' has unclear connotations, even to Hecker himself.

It serves as a "starker and colder" counterpoint, utilising "heavy reverb and minor-key tones, [producing] lots of negative space".

[7] While an oft-used label, the name "ambient" was deemed a "lazy term" by No Ripcord, but serves as a "tool of recognition" for the album.

[8] Beats Per Minute describes the music as "drone-based tempests with a mixture of laptop, keyboard, tape and effects-drenched guitar".

"Studio Suicide" is likened to shoegaze artists My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive,[8] while other parts of the album have called reviewers to invoke Pink Floyd, Bach, Silver Apples and Vangelis.

[9] Minimalist composer Terry Riley and guitarist John Martyn are likewise alluded to,[4] while a PopMatters review underlined the power of the album when saying that it can be "more bone-chilling than Cannibal Corpse at their most bloodthirsty.

"[11] The album's unique recording context – its location and technique – was deemed a vital component of its sound,[9][12] one described as "evocative, moving and expressive".

[13][23] Set in the context of the ambient genre, Beats Per Minute's Ian Barker holds that it "quietly stand[s] a shade taller than many of its peers".