The first new album since 2018 has just been released on Bandcamp! “Clove and Honey” came about after a long period of inactivity during which I wasn’t feeling very creative. Luciftias, however, is therapy to me in many ways, and 2020, lockdowns and all, certainly needed some. So here it is in all its cathartic glory! Multiple layers of Frippertronic, eBowed guitars with hints of melodic changes swirling beneath the drone. Enjoy!
https://luciftias.bandcamp.com/album/clove-and-honey
As you may have noticed, I haven’t posted anything here in some time. In truth, I sometimes forget that this site exists. Lately, I’m more interested in putting things out on the Fediverse so I share things on Mastodon, I’m working onsetting up a Funkwhale channel on open.audio, and there are a few videos on Peertube. I may or may not be changing things around website-wise as well (partly because, frankly, I really dislike this whole WordPress setup and would prefer a simpler, static type page).
All that aside, I released a new album back in December called “Aural Borealis”. It consists of Frippertronic eBowed guitars which were then manipulated to become the glacial drone you hear on the final track.
“Seafloor Sunrise” was released on November 14, 2021.
https://luciftias.bandcamp.com/album/seafloor-sunrise
I recorded this piece trying to get out of my comfort zone by deliberately avoiding guitar-based drones. The basic track came from experimenting with software-based synths and was subsequently modified using my usual techniques.
I’ve had the title “Seafloor Sunrise” for some time but hadn’t found the right fit for it until now. Ironically, it was inspired by lyrics from a guitar-based song: “Are You Experienced?” by Jimi Hendrix.
“If you can just get your mind together
Then come on across to me
We’ll hold hands an’ then we’ll watch the sun rise
From the bottom of the sea”
Just released: Extratellurian. 66 minutes of #ambient #drone from #Luciftias
New #ambient #drone #music from #Luciftias…check it out and let me know what you think! Live recorded #Frippertronics style #guitar #improvisation with post effect treatments all done with #Linux and released under a #creativecommons license.
https://luciftias.bandcamp.com/album/erotic-crystallization-inertia
Anyone viewing this blog will immediately see that my posts have been almost entirely focused on the promotion of new releases. This probably stems from my late 90s and early 2000s web sensibilities (i.e. fairly static sites with the traditional “news” and “discography” buttons) which are boring by today’s standards. Though I like the idea of social media as a means to reach current and potential listeners, I myself am not much of a social person. My posts on Facebook and Twitter are only slightly more frequent than my posts here.
People say that rock bands should have an air of mystique, that you shouldn’t reveal the man behind the curtain. I used a pseudonym when I first began Luciftias even though it didn’t resemble rock music in any way shape or form. At the time, people in the underground black metal scene knew me as Lord Akhkharu. Luciftias was viewed as a side-project of Vukodlak, so it made sense that I would carry over what small amount of notoriety I had when “Suspension of Disbelief” was released. Things changed after I moved back to northwestern Pennsylvania in the spring of 2001. Vukodlak was effectively dead, and, although it took a couple years to refocus, Luciftias became my sole means of expression. I started crediting my musical and artistic contributions as “J. Beers” before ultimately settling on using my full name.
This doesn’t make me special, of course. I know that I am just one of millions of other people presenting themselves on the Internet. All the same, I want to begin pulling back the curtain a little more, to allow some insight on the sounds I choose to make, and to maybe show someone else that it’s okay to be yourself, that it’s okay to pursue a path of personal expression even if it will never make you rich. I’ve always created music that I wanted to hear. I thought, if someone else liked it, that was cool with me; if not, I wasn’t going to let that stop me. Maybe you’re interested in reading a bit more, and maybe you’re not. Either way, I’m fine with that.
After a bit of creative downtime, I finally got around to recording again. The raw track was created with an approximated Frippertronics-style setup directly into Ardour. I later went back and ran the original audio through Guitarix and Rakarrack to add some additional effects. I did a little bit with Paulstretch to lengthen things (nothing dramatic) to get what you hear as the end result.
I chose to use artwork by Thomas Park (Mystified, Mister Vapor) once again as like to think it compliments my own abstract approach.
https://luciftias.bandcamp.com/album/voyage-through-the-nether
“Amorphous Architectural Abstraction” just released by Treetrunk Records!
Available on Archive.org and Bandcamp:
https://archive.org/details/AmorphousArchitecturalAbstraction
https://luciftias.bandcamp.com/album/amorphous-architectural-abstraction
This piece began as an improvised guitar drone that had been laying dormant on my hard drive for a few years. I often revisit such recordings, massaging and shaping them into something new. I like the way this one turned out because it works as an ambient piece, subtly blending in like wallpaper, while rewarding the active listener with a droning textural undercurrent. Enjoy!
DRONOMANCY 