bio - INTERVIEWS
Country of origin:Brazil
Location:Vitória da Conquista, Bahia
Status:Active
Formed in:2015
Genre:Atmospheric Black Metal
Lyrical themes:Nature, Space, Transcendence, Spiritual Elevation, Universe, Physics
Current label:Flowing Downward
Years active:2015-present
The band started as a duo and dissolved to a one-man band in 2016 until 2018 when Putrefactus along with B.M. released their first album Ancient Shadows of Saturn which represents a new proposal in Lumnos experience.
DISCOGRAPHY
Lumnos / Auztaroth Split 2015
Shining Mirros EP 2015
Down Open the Seas of Nature EP 2015
A Desolate Landscape Split 2015
Spiritual Chaos Full-length 2015
Coldspace Station Full-length 2015
Among the Stars of Ressurection Full-length 2016
Before the Light Full-length 2016
Ancient Shadows of Saturn Full-length 2018
Gratitude and Honor (A Tribute Album) Full-length 2018
The Heliosphere Singularity Full-length 2018
current line up
Putrefactus All instruments (2015-present)
See also: Alaic, Help, Huvala, Muireterium, Seahunter, Tiyug, Dreams of Nature, Gray Souvenirs, Nostalgia, O Mar Cobrindo o Sol, ex-Abisma, ex-The Plague Doctor
B.M. Vocals, Keyboards (2018-present)
See also: A Light in the Dark, Moondweller, Skyforest, ex-Annorkoth, ex-Autumn's Kingdom, Blurry Lights, Délice, Hiki, Traceline
reviews
Uneven three-way split of desolate soundscapes - 78%
NausikaDalazBlindaz, February 23rd, 2016
A very uneven three-way split recording this is, with one act grabbing more than half its fair share of air-time and the other two acts having to make do with one track each. Still, this is a self-release so if a major label were to pick this up, it might want to make a few changes so that all three acts share equal time on a longer re-release. Romanian band Autumn, Leaves, Scars leads off with a menacing instrumental of sinister thrumming power: "Vergebliche" ("Futile") boasts inhuman, skeletal-bones machine drumming and dramatic scything riffs. The music circles the listener like a pack of wolves sizing up their victim, confident that it can't fight back or defend itself against superior numbers and combined brain and brawn, and taking their time to soften up the prey before leaping in for the kill. The track steadily increases in intensity and an array of moods from sorrow to anger to desolation flits through the music.
ALS lay down a solid base for the other two acts on the split to build on so let's see if they're up to the job. Stepping up to the challenge is Dreams of Nature with "Mare Imbrium", a piece combining heavy-handed orchestral synth wash, a cold synth melody of raindrop notes and occasional spurts of blackened doom gloom with banshee wails, monotone percussion going hard on clashing cymbals and hornet-buzzing guitar. The soundscape created is fine - the mood is deep-down depressive - but the music is very repetitive and the synthesisers sound very uninspired and lethargic. I suppose that's the point of the whole track but it sure ain't easy to endure while it lasts.
Lumnos have over 15 minutes to play with and they do so with two tracks of doom-influenced atmospheric BM. "Above the Night Star" features heavy corrosive guitar, church organ and mediaeval folk melodies and choral chant in equal measures. The music has an austere monastic feel, especially when the reedy woodwind instruments come to the fore to dominate the instrumental sections. "Through the Woods" sounds even more folk-mediaeval with a distinctive galloping rhythm and alien sounds. The thing that really grabs your attention though is the slurping pygmy-duck-with-rocks-in-its-throat vocal. The combination of folk, accordion melody and BM makes for a song with a quirky personality.
The obvious winner on this split is Lumnos but they do have an unfair advantage over the other bands with two songs instead of one. Each of Lumnos' songs though is very individual and different from the other. ALS offers a more conventional style of BM which is an improvement over other work the band has done that I have heard. Dreams of Nature's track is left far behind by the others - maybe that piece just wasn't a very good choice to include on the split. Still, all tracks do more or less a fine job of creating this particular desolate sonic landscape.
Ancient Shadows of Saturn by Lumnos
by James Kopf | March 16, 2018 |
Brazil’s Lumnos manages to do something that is increasingly rare: make a fascinating and unique black metal album. The good folks over at Alpkvlt Metal Magazin recently published an as-yet-untranslated essay arguing that black metal needs to adapt or die – and it’s hard to disagree with that assessment – in order to preserve the truly revolutionary aspects of the music: its transgressions, its ontological terrorism, its displacement of the ego of the listener… In short, the way it manages to critique society in a way that would both confuse and enchant critical theorists such as Adorno. There are, of course, bands that buck this trend, and Lumnos, with their new album Ancient Shadows of Saturn, joins them.
It’s important to emphasize at this point what I mean by ‘preserving’ aspects of black metal; this is nota call for some sort of ‘trve kvlt’ performative folderol. The aspects I highlighted have far more to do with the ‘feel’ of the music, the precise interaction between the listener and the sounds. Adorno, in a 1965 essay, described this ‘feel’ in terms of knistern – or crackling.
For Lumnos, this is instantiated with an obsession with, to put it in a sort of context, a blaze in the northern sky. Or rather the southern sky, as that is where Saturn is seen. This is a music that cannot be pinned down to the day/night dichotomy, however, because it is so clearly obsessed with those interstitial spaces, the twilight, the gaps between the planets. There’s a reason that the title emphasizes the shadows of Saturn, not Saturn itself.
So it shouldn’t be surprising that this music is drawn out, roomy, and spacious. It’s certainly not the type of black metal you put on when you’re in a blastbeat sort of mood. But it is an elevating, elegiac performance, replete with some synths that wouldn’t appear out of place on a Summoning album. But this isn’t quite epic metal. The form a harmonic counterpoint to some truly beautiful guitar-work, recalling Pink Floyd or Dylan Carlson. But this isn’t quite prog metal. Hell, there are even some clean vocals (which, in all honesty, I do wish were minimized, as I feel like they do detract from the overall post-humanist theme). This is a weird album to be sure, but it’s worth your time.
Lumnos is not the first space black metal band, and they won’t be the last. There are clear influences of the sadly-defunct space drone project Saturn Form Essence. And that’s not even to speak of the larger trend of space-themed music. But there’s something to be said for considering the space between the spaces, the ground beneath the ground. This is music that crackles like the famously lo-fi communication between the Moon and Earth. And that, to me, is a fascinating feeling to explore. As Sun Ra said, “space is the place.”
EVIEW: Lumnos - Ancient Shadows Of Saturn (Flowing Downward)
Over time, Black Metal has whipped back and forth with experimentation. A few years back, you'd find all manner of genres crossing with it. You had no idea what to expect, at times you could get anything from techno-Black metal, Blackgaze, all the way to Pink Floyd-like progression, and even hip hop (New York's Romantic, for one)? That would slowly fade away, aside from a few choice examples, as people most likely saw that the experimental was mounting higher then the traditional stuff. That and some of it just was not good, or completely shat on the genre as a whole. But hey, it's 2018, and we're starting to see a nice little resurgence going on. And, thankfully, it's been pretty good.
Lumnos is one such experimental project, put forth by Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Putrefactus. His idea, which I've seen in the past but done much differently, is 'Cosmic Black Metal'. And, as a complete and utter science fiction geek (with like a half-dozen incomplete SciFi novel attempts under his belt), I couldn't be more happy to get my hands on something like this. Yes, and how appropriate that I binge watched the Star Trek TNG movies right before this.
Simplicity and hypnotic repetition seem to be the key factor in what makes 'Ancient Shadows Of Saturn' so engrossing, almost entrancing. Putrefactus uses a combination of synth and reverb-laden guitars, both pushed back in the mix far enough to feel like the music is being presented within a vast space. When vocals are present, they are distant, definitely retaining the black metal vibe - only slow, 'airy', and lacking the aggression you'd expect from more traditional examples within the genre. How appropriate it is then, that Putrefactus would bring in a session vocalist for some dicey clean vocals later.
It isn't too surprising that I, and surely you, will find Lumnos to be almost like progressive rock or metal in nature - as a lot of the techniques used here are used within those sub-genres as well. But, this really isn't anything new, and the progressive elements work extremely well within a 'cosmic' theme.
I suppose the biggest problems with the 'Ancient Shadows Of Saturn' is the overall lack of vocal content. I find this is the element that truly makes this 'Black Metal' is the vocals. Otherwise it's more or less just DIY prog-rock. But, vast expanses of time can by without a sign - and things feel very... instrumental. When they do kick in, they are fantastic - mystifying and enigmatic. That is, aside from the clean vocals, which just don't seem to be all that well done or captivating. They are almost out of place, but so brief that it doesn't really seem to matter in the long run. Still, perhaps Putrefactus could have done without their inclusion or perhaps found a more suitable place for them.
It feels like Putrefactus is on the right track here with Lumnos. Creating something different can be a little difficult to do properly and he seems to have taken the time and done it right. I'm happy to see more solid examples coming out of the gate when it comes to the recent wave of black metal experimentation. But, lets have more like Lumnos - less Black Metal 'Hip Hop' this time.
Lumnos
ANCIENT SHADOWS OF SATURN
LABELFlowing Downward / Avantgarde MusicSTYLEBlack Metal cosmiqueFORMATAlbumPAYSBrésilSORTIEfévrier 2018LA NOTE DE ZSK7.5/10Seul membre de la rédaction qui n'écoute pas PNL.
Flowing Downward, ça ne vous dit rien ? Il s’agit du nouveau label créé par Avantgarde Music pour des sorties un peu plus confidentielles. Et, conjointement avec le groupe de Post-Black Coldawn, c’est Lumnos qui va avoir la charge d’ouvrir le bal du jeune sous-label. Fondé par le multi-instrumentiste Brésilien Putrefactus, Lumnos a déjà une discographie bien fournie, entamée en 2015 avec Shining Mirrors et qui compte désormais 7 stuffs ainsi que deux participations à des splits. Une sacrée productivité surtout que… le projet n’avait rien sorti en 2017 après être resté sur deux albums en 2016, Among The Stars Of Resurrection et Before The Light. Un beau bagage, même s’il est plus de l’ordre des démos. Lumnos est d’ailleurs au final un énième projet « bandcamp », qui balançait ses sorties les unes après les autres sur sa page. Ancient Shadows Of Saturn va être l’occasion pour lui de passer enfin à un autre niveau, et ce que ça soit dans le fond ou la forme. Jusque-là, Lumnos avait tout du projet de Black ambiant underground qui se fait ses petits stuffs à la chaîne, en toute confidentialité. « Black ambiant », l’étiquette est large car le côté « Black » se résumait jusqu’alors à quelques riffs et des vocaux saturés ici et là. Le projet se distinguait plutôt par sa composante ambiante, avec force synthés bien évidemment et aussi un peu d’électronique. Sur certaines sorties, Lumnos était même plus proche du Dungeon Synth que du Black-Metal atmo/ambiant, malgré des concepts tournant autour de la fantasy, du forestier et de l’Espace. Et Putrefactus va à nouveau se diriger vers le cosmos pour sa première sortie plus « professionnelle », avec un concept autour de la naissance de la planète Saturne. Le Black ambiant spatial, ce n’est pas un genre très original par les temps qui courent (citons par exemple Arkthinn, le disciple de Darkspace le plus en vue actuellement), mais Lumnos va tenter d’apporter sa pierre à l’édifice avec le plus fignolé Ancient Shadows Of Saturn.
Mais Lumnos n’est pas un énième disciple de Darkspace, bien au contraire. Plutôt que les ténèbres et la terreur, il a choisi la lumière et l’apaisement. Le projet brésilien va plutôt chasser sur les terres d’un Midnight Odyssey. Voire d’un autre projet plus méconnu, The Lost Sun, comparaison qui tombe sous le sens vu que son seul membre Unknown joue les guests sur Ancient Shadows Of Saturn, en s’occupant de quelques claviers et des voix claires sur le morceau d’ouverture "I Am Born from A Star". C’est d’ailleurs l’annonce de la présence de M. The Lost Sun qui avait titillé mon intérêt et m’a fait découvrir Lumnos. Et le début de sa discographie même si, il faut bien l’avouer, elle n’était pas excitante jusque-là, avec un style un peu trop limité par son aspect hyper underground, frôlant allégrement la kitscherie (Spiritual Chaos par exemple), même si étonnamment le tout premier stuff Shining Mirrors était presque son meilleur. Among The Stars Of Resurrection et Before The Light, les deux « albums » sortis en 2016 (et tous deux disponibles en téléchargement libre sur le bandcamp du projet), étaient plus satisfaisants et montraient que Lumnos progressait petit à petit. Mais le one-man band, qui a accueilli quelques contributeurs au fil du temps (ils sont au nombre de trois sur Ancient Shadows Of Saturn, dont Unknown, le chanteur et mixeur B.M., et le parolier Saddy), va sensiblement s’améliorer et progresser de manière fulgurante pour son premier véritable album. Déjà, le Metal a enfin vraiment droit de cité, ce qui n’était pas forcément le cas jusque-là tant les synthés étaient omniprésents, et Lumnos peut désormais être classé en tant que tel. Les guitares, en lead ou en rythmique, sont bien plus en vue, et les lignes vocales essentiellement Black se multiplient également. Lumnos complète et assume donc son paysage musical, mais ne renie pas certaines de ses particularités et amène son univers propre sur un fond Black ambiant/atmosphérique.
Et l’univers de Lumnos est particulièrement éthéré. Vous l’aurez bien compris, on ne joue pas dans la cour d’un Darkspace, mais d’un Post-Black (grossomodo) très lumineux et chaleureux qui multiplie les trémolos libérateurs. Le chant « extrême » est très éraillé et trafiqué pour lui donner une dimension plus spectrale. Et bien sûr, les nombreux synthés et autres effets électroniques apportent une ambiance stellaire et sidérante. On assiste à la naissance de Saturne, mais dans le feu chatoyant des éléments, pas dans un recoin bien sombre du système solaire. Résolument cosmique, la musique de Lumnos atteint avec Ancient Shadows Of Saturn un côté épique insoupçonné. Et quoi de mieux pour commencer qu’un fantastique morceau d’ouverture, "I Am Born from A Star", où l’on se laisse emporter par cette ambiance cosmique sidérante et ces formidables montées de synthés pendant 12 minutes. Un magnifique voyage spatial quasi-symphonique par moments, rythmé par des trémolos mélodiques envoûtants, une voix déchirante très prenante, et un break électronique somptueux accompagné des beaux vocaux d’Unknown, qui confirme les talents qu’il avait démontré sur Spectral Voice From Newborn Star de The Lost Sun. Un départ tout simplement époustouflant. Qui précède un "Primordial Darkness" assez différent, plus intimiste et contemplatif, porté par une mélodie cotonneuse qui tourne presque en boucle de façon très entêtante (et qui s’exprime bien à l’occasion d’un court break acoustique), mais laisse quand même place à des trémolos bien épiques (limite à la AtomA), et toujours ces vocaux à fleur de peau et bien sûr les synthés stellaires. Lumnos a vraiment plusieurs cordes à son arc, le morceau-titre démarre de manière très électronique avant d’embrayer sur les instrumentations les plus éthérées du disque (Putrefactus se lâche sur les trémolos et l’on distinguerait même des chœurs féminins), l’aspect mélodique et épique de l’art du projet en est à son paroxysme, frôlant même les passages les plus lumineux du Skylight d’AtomA. Vraiment du bel œuvre, où il est facile de se laisser porter, les yeux grand ouverts vers le ciel étoilé.
Ancient Shadow Of Saturn, constitué de 5 morceaux seulement (qui sont tout de même assez longs), va se terminer de manière encore plus éthérée vu que toute forme de chant disparaît sur les deux derniers morceaux. "No Soul Is Near" reste dans la lignée du morceau-titre avec ces nombreux leads à la AtomA, l’atmosphère est à nouveau lumineuse à souhait, comme si l’on voguait parmi des nébuleuses particulièrement éblouissantes, au son des claviers encore une fois quasi-symphoniques par moments. Et pour le grand final "Existentialism", même les guitares s’étiolent petit à petit pour laisser place à plus de parties électroniques, retrouvant un peu l’esprit de tout ce que Lumnos a pu produire avant de sortir cet album. Un album satisfaisant, très beau et enivrant, qui ravira tous les amateurs d’ambiances spatiales et stellaires dans le Metal extrême. Si la période désormais underground du projet est reléguée très loin en termes de qualité, Ancient Shadows Of Saturn n’est pas encore l’aboutissement de ce que Lumnos peut produire, lui laissant encore une marge de progression pour faire quelque chose de vraiment inoubliable. Il faut dire que l’impression de déjà-vu chez Midnight Odyssey et consorts est forte, Lumnos fait bien ce qu’il fait mais manque encore de personnalité pour vraiment se démarquer. Des longueurs sont encore présentes, de même que quelques sonorités un peu kitsch subsistent. Putrefactus n’est pas encore au niveau de ce que son copain Unknown a produit avec The Lost Sun il y a deux ans, mais s’en approche sensiblement, et s’il maintient cette forme, le successeur de Ancient Shadows Of Saturn sera sans doute énormissime. Vu la productivité du projet, on espère avoir la suite assez tôt, même si cet album a mis plus d’un an à sortir après Before The Light. Ancient Shadows Of Saturn n’en reste pas moins un album à posséder, c’est du « Black »-Metal atmo/ambiant d’un excellent niveau pour un projet underground brésilien, et des moments forts sont présents en masse pour qui aime ce déluge de synthés et de trémolos qui font voyager aux confins du cosmos.
Lumnos - Ancient Shadows of Saturn
CategoriesAlbums to discover, Ambient, Ambient - Other, Ambient Black Metal, Articles, Atmospheric BM, Chronicles, Post Black MetalPosted on March 19, 2018
Country: Brazil
Genre: Space Ambient / Atmospheric Black Metal
Label: Flowing Downward
Release date: February 26, 2018 (physics)
Taking advantage of its creation as a sub-label of Avantgarde Music, Flowing Downward recently announced three imminent releases between January and March. And among these, here is the latest album of the Brazilian project Lumnos, which is soberly titled Ancient Shadows of Saturn. Active since almost three years with many releases having emerged, with more or less consistency, Lumnos has enjoyed a few weeks of lighting rather brutal, he was until then limited to make his music through BandCamp . What is the second output produced under the banner of Flowing Downward?
History to clarify the thing from the outset, that lovers of Darkspace or Earth and Pillars, that is to say, fans of an atmospheric and unfathomable atmospheric black metal, leave immediately. Lumnos clearly does not play in the same category, but not at all. With the Brazilian project, we are even more in a very smooth ambient space and carrier of black metal elements than in the opposite, we must know. Lumnos is even closer to a North Frost than to a Mesarthim, which is to say the tranquil and vaporous aspect of his music. Add to that some post-black elements and you get an album that shines by its ability to comfort the listener.
Let us understand well. Space ambient or atmospheric black metal light and relaxing, it can be very effective and very successful, and this is also the case of Ancient Shadows of Saturn, which is a good album. But the problem is that it's going well for a while. Fifty minutes of music that varies little, and even an hour if we add the bonus added by buying the album via Flowing Downward, it's very long, even adhering to the climate and being in the best possible arrangements to escape. In addition, for a listener who is not familiar with the project, it is not impossible to want to continue listening ever further, hoping to achieve some unleashing, which obviously never happens.
But of course, we still have something very satisfying. With its reassuring atmosphere and its sometimes grandiloquent sonorities, Ancient Shadows of Saturn shows all the colors and offers a trip of high quality if you adhere to this kind of black ambient sweetened. Everything is very well produced, which adds to the pleasure of listening. There is a certain variety in the songs, especially when some clear songs a little surprising but felt come to make their appearance. However, the overall mood remains pretty much the same, so we get tired quickly as part of an active listening.
A bit more violence would not have been a refusal, especially at the level of songs that are hard. We are entitled either to songs that are more whispered than they are to be erased, or to songs that are a little more screamed but which are drowned in the background. Pity. Note, however, the amazing and interesting addition of electronic sounds on the title of the same name, which definitely proves that Lumnos looks for inspiration everywhere, as well as the cover of very good bill. Ancient Shadows of Saturn is far from a bad album, but offering a little too lustrous music could play tricks on him ...
If the subject could be severe, it is primarily because I have trouble with this kind of music that hangs a bit long without really diversify, and it is certainly the case with the last album of Lumnos . But Ancient Shadows of Saturn is a very good album, consistent and very appreciable, and it will satisfy the followers of melodic space ambient with vague black metal keys. Special mention in the title "No Soul Is Near, which is really beautiful. Lumnos has always composed a lot of music, and with his signature at Flowing Downward, let's hope that all his work will be appreciated.
