Band Biographies: Aetere

Aetere was born in 2017, crafting slow-burning, ritualistic compositions steeped in myth. Guided by melancholy and introspection, the project stands at the crossroads of ancient narratives and contemporary sonic experimentation.

 

On guitar, bass, and vocals, Alice Ronzini brings a background forged in France’s garage-punk underground (La Secte du Futur, JC Satan), later expanded into more ethereal territories through her spectral folk solo project Ailise Blake. Alongside her, Johan Sebenne shapes Aetere’s immersive sound through synths, bass, and machines, layering droney riffs and textured atmospheres informed by his work with the acclaimed post-metal ensemble Year of No Light, his ambient electro-acoustic solo project Lacustre, and earlier collaborations with Nexus Sun, Acid Bonanga, and Géographie.

 

The project took shape in Bordeaux, where the duo composed and recorded the six tracks that would become their debut album. Johan relocated to Paris and initiated the mixing process just as the global lockdown unfolded. Meanwhile, Alice moved to the rural landscapes of La Drôme, placing the project into a quiet, suspended state. When they reunited after the lockdown, Aetere awakened again: the two resumed work on the album, with Alice completing the final mix in her newly built Studio 418.

 

The result is a masterful exploration of doom metal’s heavier edges, softened by shoegaze haze and post-punk grit.

 

Musically, Aetere draws inspiration from luminaries like Warning, Joy Division, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, and Earth, merging funeral tempos, shoegaze haze, and monolithic riffs. Alice's lyrics, steeped in literary grandeur, evoke the visionary poetry of William Blake's Auguries of Innocence, the epic turmoil of John Milton's Paradise Lost (Book 1), and the mythic narratives of Dante Alighieri, Ovid, and Homer. Themes of innocence, mortality, and transcendence pulse through the album, inviting profound reflection.

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