Iterum Nata is the project of Jesse Heikkinen (The Abbey, Hexvessel...), somewhere between psychedelic neofolk and esoteric progressive rock. After Trench Of Loneliness, released in 2023, he plunges us back into a fascinating introspection with From The Infinite light, scheduled for release by Nordvis on March 15, 2024. This time, he's no longer alone at the helm: he's surrounded by Matron Thorn (Benighted in Sodom, Ævangelist), Rob Coffinshaker (The Coffinshakers) and author Richard Kaczynski, which considerably fleshes out this mystical universe, magnificently enhanced by photographer Kjetil Karlsen's artwork.
What could possibly come from an explosion of light? Apart from perhaps chaos, From The Infinite Light, as its name suggests, also seems to come straight from a glow hidden in the shadows, and eternal. The artist presents his work as a "concept that explores the birth of darkness and death", and if this already prepares us for what's to come, it's a gentle plunge into intimate darkness from the very first listen.
The mysteriously theatrical aura at the start of the album sees the emergence of a tightrope walker in perdition, imbued with despair, walking on notes that are sometimes danceable, even tending towards a mix between pop rock and black metal on This Gleaming Eternity, before losing themselves in languid loops sprinkled with palpable affliction and heart-rending melancholy, as on the beautiful A Manifested Nightmare. Iterum Nata carries us like a tightrope walker, between light and darkness simultaneously, with the ultimate purpose of conquering pain no matter what.
The vocals, sometimes spectral a la Dead Can Dance (as on Ambrosia, full of bewitching magic), sometimes intense a la Nick Cave (A Darkness Within, with its more subdued rhythms), contribute to this introspective immersion and accompany us on this slow descent into madness, wrapped in a velvet cloak. The aim is not to suffocate us, but to marry us with death naturally, as the finality of all life, a return to pre-birth non-consciousness like a fusion with nothingness, which perhaps signifies the beginning of something else...or perhaps not. In the meantime, this well-balanced album adapts to every mood of the day or night, whether gloomy or hopeful, and its accuracy is rare enough to merit mention.
