Fursaxa
Lepidoptera

I had been chasing this album for some time, having heard wonderful things about it, and I finally found it. A small masterpiece of voices emerging from sleepless nights, from religious and enveloping nightmares.

I'm not talking about those metal, gothic, or other stories; these tracks are played with classical guitar (Bardo Pond) and female vocals with a touch of electronics. That's enough to project us into something I would describe as a very modern female Gregorian chant, a sidereal atmosphere paying homage to an unidentified "Russian Snow Queen," or to a sense of infinite space in "Freedom."

"Fursaxa" is actually Tara Burke, a single woman, not a band, often compared to Nico or even to a modern Hildegard Von Bingen, perhaps precisely for this sense of religiosity that permeates the entire production. It also reminds me of some softer moments of Diamanda Galas, though without that desire to astonish, that typical "showiness" of the Greek-American. The voice is often layered to give this choral sensation, sometimes angelic, other times diabolic, but always overall pleasant.

In the most representative track "Pyracantha," there are probably only two guitar chords repeating, yet the atmosphere is spatial, floating on the clouds.