Æthenor
Faking Gold and Murder

I am afraid to close my eyes, because I know that upon waking up all our future plans and beautiful words will have gone up in smoke. Because I know that tomorrow morning, they might no longer recognize the features of your face, your visage as it is crystallized in my memory and etched into my memories and my soul. Because closing my eyes could make my heart lighter and calm my demons, quench my thirst and let the morning cold sweep away all our feelings, like ash. Because I know that the flames of hell will blaze in our apartment and, once this fire has finished burning, there will be nothing left around here and in my soul. Because I feel that the Apocalypse is near and that, although you are here beside me, soon you will be far away.

Born three years ago as the sublimation of the ideas of three excellent musicians such as Stephen O’Malley of Sunn O))), Daniel O’Sullivan of Guapo, and Vincent De Roguin, Æthenor are one of the freshest sources of new content and sonic expressions of the last ten years.

Faking Gold and Murder (VHF records) is their latest record and marks a sharp change of direction and maturity compared to the two previous Lps, which were essentially instrumental. We can indeed undoubtedly say that this record presents itself to the listener as the true fulfillment of a process of growth and perfection aimed at searching for a sound that is less recognizable and more of a trademark of the trio. The result is a successful combination of sounds that evoke a cosmic and infinite frost; ancestral magical and dreamy atmospheres, at the same time chaotic and penetrating like the cold wind that comes from the sea and sculpts our lips and faces in winter; a visionary and whispered, almost theatrical singing, in which we cannot help but recognize the vocal tone and feverish expressiveness of David Tibet of Current 93, alongside the extraordinary guitarist Alexander Tucker, fully involved in the Æthenor project in realizing this record.

Faking Gold and Murder is a successful alchemy between evocative melodies and noisy sounds, an elegant racket with a strong emotional impact and nonetheless a sustained rhythm, characterized by a strong rhythm section with two percussionists with guts. It is nevertheless considered in its own way a small masterpiece and one of the most interesting releases of recent years. Awaiting the next work of Æthenor, expected in the coming months, when the ice will begin to melt, just in time to curb the renewed spring, which might start to blossom all around and within us, and once again make room for the Apocalypse.

This Apocalypse that leaves me annihilated and that is nothing more than the place where feelings end and where flames give way to the advancing frost of winters. Where the soundtrack must be similar to the notes and atmospheres carved in the frost of our souls by the music of Æthenor. Because nothing better than Faking Gold and Murder, in fact, could better describe this sense of desolation and this snowy desert that is my soul, this winter.