Interview: Ætheria Conscientia
Photo by Corentin Schieb
The French know how to do black metal right. Maybe it’s the way they do their espresso or the how they bake baguettes. Maybe there’s magic in the waters of the Seine that conceive beautiful art. Whatever it may be, when listening to Ætheria Conscientia I say, “C'est très bien.”
Ætheria Conscientia is a progressive black metal band from Nantes, France. Their style is exactly that – progressive. They are able to intertwine various elements from different genres to create a world of sonic mystery and escape. For fans of fantasy, science fiction, and otherworldly atmospheres, this is a band that should catch your attention.
Their first release was in 2018 with the album Tales From Hydhradh. Since then, they have released two other albums, their most recent being The Blossoming - an album filled with beauty, fury, and passion.
Blacforje is honored to have the opportunity to share this interview with the band where we dive deeper into who they are as artists, what inspires their music, and more.
I believe you are in Nantes, France. Is that right?
Yes we are indeed from Nantes in the western part of France. Only 2 of us (Alexis and Paul) were born here, but we all lived in the area since we were kids. We are all very attached to this city.
I’ve never been there. Is the city known for the arts and music?
Nantes is well known for its cultural activities. It is an old town with lots of museums, old buildings, and diverse architecture. It is also a pretty lively city. You can roam around every night and you’ll always find a concert or a cultural spot where you can spend some time.
The musical scene has been quite active in Nantes for the last 40 years, with lots of bands in diverse genres like rock/metal, electro or Hip-hop. It is also the city where Jules Verne was born.
For readers who are not yet familiar with your band, can you give a quick summary of how you describe yourselves?
The band was created around 2016, born from the ashes of 2 of our old bands which were progressive and thrash metal. Those 2 projects were our first musical experiences and finished at around the same period that Ætheria Conscientia was created, which is composed of members of those two bands.
At the beginning we wanted to write songs in the style that we listened to the most at the time: black metal. However, the idea was to bring something different to the table, to mix black metal with progressive rock, ambient music, jazz, and psychedelic music among others. Our sound has evolved a lot since our first record, but it was a rather natural process.
Concerning the universe of the band, we have all been fans of science fiction since we were kids, so it was an easy choice for us. Finally, this band is built around our friendship because we have been very close for the last 10-15 years or so.
You released your last album titled The Blossoming last June. That was a fantastic record! What inspired it, and were there any thematic elements behind it? That could be lyrical themes or even musical.
Thank you! We wanted something at the same time brighter and more efficient than our last record, with more melodies and more diverse influences. We wanted to blend more psychedelic elements in our music and some shoegaze elements, clear singing and synths.
For the thematic part this album takes place on another planet, so we wanted to make new sounds, try to play something more organic and lively. The Blossoming makes sense on the scale of the story in that album, but also of our story as a band. It is a new start for us.
‘The Blossoming’ by Ætheria Conscientia
Do you have plans to release new music in the future?
This year is pretty busy in terms of concerts, but we have already started planning our next album because it is important for us to remain active.
Though it is too early to give any details, this next album should be something different from what we have done in The Blossoming.
Outside of Ætheria Conscientia, who are you all (as much as you’re willing to share)?
5 boys kinda lost in space-time! More seriously, Paul (vocals/percussions) is also one of the two persons behind Frozen Records, our label, which is also a record shop, a tattoo shop, and also organizes concerts and festivals. Alexis (bass) will also join the Frozen Records team very soon! P.A. (Guitar) also plays in Gravekvlt (evil speed metal punk) and Bataille (atmospheric metal). Tristan (guitar, vocals) spends most of his time building effects pedals and tinkering around on electronic devices, while Bate (drums) also plays in Romance (post-hardcore screamo).
Do you consider yourself to be a spiritually minded individual? Philosophical? If so, how does that look for you personally?
Absolutely not actually, almost all of us have scientific backgrounds. Tristan (guitar, vocals) has a literary background, which is why he writes most of the lyrics. So yes, for the most part we are not too spiritually or philosophically minded.
For fans of your music who are reading this, are there any ways they can best support you as a band?
The best way you can help us is to come to our concerts and to buy our merch (records, clothes). We try to propose nice products made in collaboration with talented artists that we appreciate as humans and artists. While we’re here we would like to thank everybody who has been supporting us, it means a lot to us.
Last question: Are you supporters of FC Nantes? As a “football” fan in America, I love to ask this question when given the opportunity. You may totally hate football, and that’s understandable too. Haha!
In our band the only person who is passionate about sport is Alexis (football, Rugby, combat sports, etc.). He has been immersed in those domains since he was a kid, so naturally he is a supporter of the FC Nantes, but he does not talk about it to the other band members because he doesn’t want to bother us with that. Haha!
You can follow Ætheria Conscientia on Bandcamp, Instagram, and Facebook.
