Hrimfaxi by Anton Köther

Anton Köther follows his two excellent and eclectic releases on silken heart and sonic centurion with ‘Hrimfaxi’. Named after the Nordic mythological horse upon which night rode in on, ‘Hrimfaxi’ (‘frost mane’) is a wonderfully and appropriately dark, somber and unsettling tribute to winter.

From the start there’s a sense of something being off- kilter and portentous, subtly at first; some disarmingly delicate and bucolic acoustic led balladry then morphs towards stranger and more ominous territory. Abstract textures and shapes appear and dissipate in a dreamlike haze within both brooding torch song laments and prickly rhythmic convulsions. The effect is like being pacified into fitful, anxious unconsciousness.

‘Hrimfaxi’ is both a foreboding, mournful eulogy for the summer as the darkness creeps in, as well as a ritualistic performance working as a plea, as it petitions the old Nordic gods of myth to keep us safe as the world outside grows ever colder.

"There is a loud corpse in my pantry. The wooden walls throb. The sun is up, but the night lays bare. A voice; creaking, croaking away. There is a loud corpse beside my nightstand. The sun is up, I'm not in bed; I'm in the kitchen preparing a meal."

Music on cassettes. Pro-intensive creativity. Anti-industry, anti-bigotry.
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