ETHEREAL RIFFIAN - 2014 - Aeonian (CD/LP/Tape)

Shamanic brotherhood, open minded crew and just a good friends of mine have released the 2nd full-length under the name "Aeonian".

I was living in the same Universe while this album was created.

So I've caught the most steps of it's production.

During this period I have been asked around dozen of friendly questions by Stonezilla (guitar/vocal) about "how to improve the LP design?", "what do you think about 12 inch and 10 inch LP ?", "What label could you recommend ?" etc.

And it was always a pleasure to share my humble opinion on each question.

Firstly 3 songs were made and it supposed to be an EP. But when Nasoni records became interested in releasing this album on vinyl, the band decided to make a complete album.

3 Artists were working on "Aeonian" artwork :
Mila "Hopless" Kisileva & Stonezilla on main artwork for CD\LP
Yuriy xNinjax made cool illustrations for the Aeonian Book
The different artwork was made by Berbel Zijlstra specially for the limited tape release on Tartarus records (Nl).

Summary Around 30 people were involved in creation of this fabulous work.

4 songs, 42 minutes 59 seconds of pure shamanic lightening.

Turn the lights out, burn some candles, push the "play" button, open the book, 

and let your journey begin.

"Thugdam" is the newest song up to date. 

When it starts plying it's really hard to recognize Ethereal Riffian.

But when Stonezilla starts singing the things are arranging into the correct order.

Massive and dynamic energy of this song permeates your mind from the first seconds.

Thugdam is a state of meditation entered at death achieved by highly actualized persons.

In this State body remains warm and the cells of the body do not dissolve.

"March of Spititu (Rise of Sheol)" was created few years ago and even was played live on Awe Sessions. That was so powerful bundle of energy that venue passed out electricity.

 Sheol is the "swamp for spirits of the dead" in early Hebrew thought. Musically and lyrically this is the best maintenance to the theme. 

 "Wakan Tanka" - begins with the tribal beats and it's really meditative.

 Then the vibes are flowing through heavy riffage. And then spiral goes back to light pieces.

Wakan Tanka comes from Sioux Indians and it means the name for the Great Spirit of Great Mystery.

It is interpreted as sacredness that resides in everything. 

"Anatman" - I really love the "slow down" tempo changes and didgeridoo parts in this song.

It's absolutely my cup of tea : musically, lyrically, ideologically.

Anatman refers to the notion of "not-self" or the 'illusion of self' in Buddhism. Means that all things preceived by senses are not "I" or "mine", and therefore people should not cling to them. 

(artwork for the tapes)

Also I have to say few words about "The Aeonian Book".

It is debut of two brothers SAF & Stonezilla.

It touches different historical periods and united by one spiritual feeling. 

The book is easy to read and have pretty interesting plot.

The volumes are having the same titles as the songs.

There's also a small vocabulary at the end to describe some terms.

Dozen of questions on the last page are to check your attentiveness.

The book comes in 2 design versions.

- A6, Hard cover, selective varnishing, limited to 100 (English and Russian versions) avalaible through band only.

- А4 Book that complements LP version on Nasoni. Different design and it's English only.

The band have a plan to release four more albums that will be united by one story. All in all, there will be five books, six albums, and one epic story. 

You can check Interview for more details here :

http://www.metal-observer.com/3.o/interview-with-ethereal-riffian/ 

Ethereal Riffian have tons of ambitious plans.

So stay tuned for pleasant surprises in nearest future.

 http://etherealriffian.com/
http://etherealriffian.bandcamp.com/album/aeonian 
 https://www.facebook.com/etherealriffian

 http://www.mulligore.com/shop/ (CDs. ltd. to 200 copies (1st press))
http://www.nasoni-records.com/  (LPs. ltd to 400 black/100 blue)
http://tartarusrecords.com/ (Tapes. ltd to 100)