Lux Interna
There is Light in the Body There is Blood in the Sun

Photo collage.

Leave the big city, and as you travel the road, you notice how it is becoming ever wider, and how much space there is around you: woods, forests, a few lakes, mountains. You realize you've already ventured sufficiently "into the wilderness" by the number of cars you encounter: increasingly rare, more and more pickups, jeeps, or spartan vehicles. The communities you come across are very similar to those you've seen in movies: small, closed, made up of people perhaps a bit rough, maybe a bit simple, but certainly of good heart. The water that gushes fresh, pure, free, and available to all from a small spring near the lake: it feels strange to touch that cold water when it's so hot outside, it seems to tell you about its underground journeys, the places it has seen, and the mountains from which it was born, and this already makes you feel a little more in communion with this place. The lake, enormous, a sea compared to our lakes, and it is not even among the medium-sized ones in the whole state! And then in the distance the cottage, perched on an ancient rock shelf, swallowed by the forest, welcoming you with its small wooden dock. Swimming in the lake has a certain effect, it rejuvenates you, almost purifies you, you would stay for hours gazing at that water with golden reflections, which at sunset sparkles as if kilos and kilos of gold had been crumbled into it. The strange call of the "loon," which sometimes, in the dead of night, can startle you, reminding you now of the scream of a madman (indeed), now of a cry... A call that you also remember hearing as an added effect on some piece of some album you've listened to in the past.
The small objects that catch your eye, insignificant to many, to you are characteristic notes and constitute the magic of the place: a small circular brazier with moose carved on it, a rusted anchor, a boat rope coiled around a post, pennies embedded on the concrete steps leading to the cottage as good luck charms... Then the trees, the forest, the vegetation, so imposing, green, protective, overshadowing you and instilling a certain reverential fear. The sunset and the night, when the lake illuminates the darkness of the forest reflecting a huge, perfectly circular moon, with a light that reminds me so much of a Munch nocturne. The storm that surprises you at night: in the midst of the woods, closed inside the cottage, which seems on the verge of being swept away at any moment, with that intense rain and those flashes discharging on the water's surface (you admit you've even been scared at times). The morning, with the night coolness that has yet to give way to summer warmth, you read a book on shamanism while listening to your music sitting in front of the lake: I have rarely experienced feelings of such intense and satisfying peace. Stopping with the boat in the middle of the lake to trace a waterfall to visit in the woods: since it's hidden by the forest, you must stay silent and listen, discerning where the sound of the water comes from. In the series, use all your senses since you have them. Unfortunately, it all lasted far too little, but in images, music, senses, Canada is always there, well imprinted in my eyes and on my skin.

Lux Interna is a band from San Francisco part of the Pesanta Urfolk roster: those already familiar with this label may perhaps already imagine the geographical and artistic connotations followed by the combo. They play what could definitely be categorized as USA-based Neofolk (some call it Apocalyptic Folk, but I don't know, honestly I don't know the difference between the two genres). In their latest "There is Light in the Body, There is Blood in the Sun" our guys combine classic acoustic instrumentation with electric parts, a bit of effects here and there, and inserts played by instruments "typical" of First Nations culture (Native Americans, it seems that's the correct terminology now). Their pieces have something ritualistic, purifying, although they are tinged with a certain underlying darkness which can be found, if stripped of black metal, also in bands like Alda, Wolves in The Throne Room, and the like (therefore still "Cascadian" bands, from the Pacific North West area). From a standpoint of communicated feelings our guys aim to engage the listener by leveraging not so much on aggressiveness but on rituality, on the continuous repetition of structures and voices, achieving a result very similar to what the aforementioned bands accomplished and satisfying the listener by providing a sense of peace and union with nature. Much credit goes to the rhythm section and the singer's voice, which very much reminded me of Lanegan in "Bubblegum," Cave in "Murder Ballads," and, at times, even Lou Reed in "Venus in Furs."

If you are a fan of "Cascadian" black metal and seek the same feelings in another guise, Lux Interna is undoubtedly a very valid choice to keep in high consideration.