Set in the year 3388 on the planet Eterna to craft a metaphysical chronicle exploring sci-fi themes in the surreal style of authors such Roland Topor, Frank Herbert, Moebius and Panos Cosmatos. Images of ‘void assemblies’, ‘meta-human faculties’, ‘synods’ and ‘masters of expression’ help visualize a stratified universe of power plays, arcane arts and cryptic technologies. Musically, the album is informed by the grandeur of weird-futuristic TV bumpers from the 90's and a long tradition of audio effects sound design, bringing together the works of maestros like Bernard Herrmann and Iannis Xenakis with synthesizers electronic audio experimentation. Sound explores minimal and textural articulations as much as picturing more complex and dense sceneries by means of composition. Eterna weaves its musical narrative through a convergence of layered soundscapes and careful programming toward distant societies and empires. Genre conventions are employed as imaginific sensory experiences thriving in what might lie just beyond the compositions. Music is a device engaging phenomena that can only be heard and casting the long shadows of otherworldly things before they even appear. Divided in 10 different chapters and an introduction (prelude), the work experiments with transmedial narratives and musico-literary world-building using FM synthesis, tapes and software instrumentation to craft an outlandish cosmic realm by means of suggestive analog manipulations.
Composed, recorded and mixed by Devid Ciampalini between 2021 an 2022