Ambient experimental avant-garde duo Pulsar1081 from Athens have just released their first full-length album L’inizio Della Fine, meaning the beginning of the end, in digipack format, having originally released it last May in digital format only. One year later, this hard copy features an extra and very symbolic track, Dead Star, one of many pre-production pieces the duo had prepared. The track has been released as a tribute to one half of the duo, Eterno, who sadly passed last August.
Pulsar1081 – L’inizio Della Fine
Release Date: Out Now
Words: Jools Green
The duo Eterno and Momento had, over the years, played significant roles in shaping the underground DIY scene in Greece, never caring about the commercialisation of art, only the journey of creation and awakening consciousness. They have participated in dozens of releases with bands covering the entire spectrum of rock, Metal, Hardcore, dark wave, post rock punk, etc.
So the purpose of creating this Pulsar1081 project was the experimentation in musical paths that they had not explored, having collaborated, in around the same time frame, with the cult Norwegian Avant garde / Black Metallers Dodheimsgard on extra material for three tracks for their Black Medium Current album.
This culminated in appearances at Inferno Festival (Oslo/Norway) and at Roadburn Festival (Tilburg/The Netherlands). “I remain with Vasilis’ last words in my mind,” Momento said, “words that I will never forget. ‘This trip was the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. This whole experience is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever had.'”
Regarding this Pulsar1081 album, Momento and Eterno said last April, just before the original release of L’inizio Della Fine, “In the dark times we are going through as humanity, we take you on an astral journey where everything is magical. The clarity of mind, the purification of the soul, and the inner peace help to emerge the power that we all hide deep within us.
“Over the centuries, mankind has proven countless times that it can become destructive to an unimaginable extent. On the other hand, we observe its resilience after unbearable situations. This proves our endurance within the universe.
“We suggest, if someone wants to fully immerse and comprehend our effort through this project, to be in a relaxed mental state and listen to the album through headphones. Enjoy.”
L’inizio Della Fine is a seven-track offering spanning forty-nine reflective and contemplative minutes, in which you can completely immerse yourself.
Opening with Dyp Samptale, an eerie, crawling noisescape ebbs and builds, delivering an icy, dark feel that intrigues as much as it unnerves. With a fade out that is subtle and gradual, allowing the next piece, Darkness, to fill the empty void that has been left.
Here, a hypnotic drone, eerie echoes, whale song and haunting distant voices, reminiscent of monk chants, can be heard along with other sounds that build and seem to get closer. The sudden explosive element in the latter part pulls you out of any reverie you might have slipped into.
Inferno builds gradually into a raging wall of sound permeated with a mix of drone, strange, unearthly vocalisations and tolling bells. It is expansive, all-encompassing and fascinatingly dark and disquieting.
Album monster at around fourteen minutes, Aglaf has a more contemplative and meditative mood as it opens. As it progresses, there is a sense of a dark side and a light side, a yin and yang, moving together across the duration of the piece. With gentle ebbing and building, twisting and turning, but in perfect balance, this makes it eerily harmonious.
In the second half, there is a brief reflective swathe of distant bluesy rock guitar and a hypnotically repeating note pattern. An excellent listen.
From the offset Maerd has a very celestial and soaring atmosphere with a haunting vocal undercurrent. It is a very engulfing piece that wraps itself around you and is, at times, almost overwhelming to your senses. A hugely powerful listen.
The following piece, 0, is more of a straightforward thinking musical piece, mixing electronics and vocal samples, some spoken and some sung, and despite being the shortest piece at two and a half minutes, it feels very full in terms of content.
The final piece, Dead Star, Momento, explains “one of its two meanings reflects the personality of Eterno (Vasilis). A truly enormous talent and a pure soul. The second symbolism is between his death and, at the same time, the birth of one of the two Pulsars that make up this particular project. Let’s not forget that Pulsars are created from the death of other stars.”
As you might expect, it is a very astral and hypnotically reflective listen, musically keyboard-led, and a beautiful tribute to Eterno that reflects his energy as it soars and floats through the cosmos.
I do like these pieces. They make a fascinating, different and thought-provoking listen, and there’s also a dark quality to them which appeals to me.
L’inizio Della Fine is available via FYC records in limited Digi CD Deluxe Format, along with merch (T-Shirts, Patches, Logo Pin). Pulsar1081 will continue as a solo project, as prior to Eterno’s passing, they had already prepared a lot of material.
“Music was his whole life,” Momento said. “It was his outlet, his oxygen and his breath. So, I will continue to create for him, too.”
RIP Eterno.
