Ravedeath, 1972 is the sixth studio album by Canadian electronic music musician Tim Hecker, released on February 14, 2011, by Kranky. The album was recorded primarily in Frikirkjan Church, Reykjavík, a location found by Ben Frost. It makes prominent use of pipe organ, and was described by Hecker as "a hybrid of a studio and a live record." It received universal acclaim from critics, with many reviewers acknowledging the album as Hecker's finest.

The album was written by Hecker during late 2010 in Montreal and Banff, Canada. The majority of the album was recorded in Fríkirkjan Church, Reykjavík, Iceland; the location was discovered as a possible recording venue by Frost. Hecker recorded the album on July 21, 2010, playing compositions on the pipe organ which were further complemented by guitar and piano. Following this concentrated recording session, he returned to his studio in Montreal and worked for a month, undertaking the mixing and completing the record. The result, as Hecker described it, is "a hybrid of a studio and a live record."

The cover depicts MIT students pushing a piano off the roof on the undergraduate dorm Baker House in 1972 – an act which began a long-running university ritual. Inspired by "digital garbage – like when the Kazakhstan government cracks down on piracy and there's pictures of 10 million DVDs and CDRs being pushed by bulldozers", Hecker found the artwork and developed the cover concept in a pharmacy, licensing the artwork from the MIT archives and re-photographing the image.

The '1972' of the album's title is a reference to the cover artwork – the inaugural piano drop occurred in 1972 – but the word 'Ravedeath' has unclear connotations to Hecker. At a rave in 2010, the word occurred to Hecker, and became "the wrongest and the most right title ever. It had a life of its own after a while."

The album was released in CD and double LP format by Kranky on February 14, 2011. Hecker subsequently released a companion EP, named Dropped Pianos, later in 2011. It serves as a "starker and colder" counterpoint, utilising "heavy reverb and minor-key tones, produc[ing] lots of negative space". The EP's cover art is a re-photographing of the image used for Ravedeath.

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. Beats Per Minute describes the music as "drone-based tempests with a mixture of laptop, keyboard, tape and effects-drenched guitar". The album makes extensive use of pipe organ, which "sets the album's tone from the outset", alongside "[l]ingering piano chords [which] slip over the droning throb of the buried pipe organ"; although "many may not identify an organ as the source of the music at all".

A diverse range of recording artists have been used as reference points to describe the sound and tone of the album. "Studio Suicide" is likened to shoegaze artists My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive, while other parts of the album have called reviewers to invoke Pink Floyd, Bach, Silver Apples and Vangelis. Minimalist composer Terry Riley and guitarist John Martyn are likewise alluded to, 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."

The album's unique recording context – its location and technique – was deemed a vital component of its sound, one described as "evocative, moving and expressive". Tonally, melody "tends to remain subordinate to texture", meaning "Hecker's music is not easy or accessible. There are hints of melody but these are always subservient to mood, texture and feeling. There is little or no percussion and rhythm is not a prominent element." This results in "a dark and often claustrophobic record", as No Ripcord's Marc Higgins concludes that "the record is awash with the feeling of isolation".