Review: Aura Nox – Levana’s Tears

A testament to humanity’s ability to make the Gods weep.

Aura Nox delivers a harsh criticism aimed at the imminent dystopia resulting from humanity’s self-serving agenda.

Immediately invoking the cry of Levana in the project’s title, the mirror image of our failure is reflected through water on her face: colonialism, exploitation, environmental degradation, oppression…  

What was traditionally thought as the ultimate of animal (and anthropogenic) behaviour, childbirth is now shunned upon by our Creators as immoral and sickening. For this reason, we are staring into a future where nobody in their right mind would think to bring a new-born into a forsaken and broken world which will continue decaying long after we perish.

Welcome to a tale of harsh, gritty electronic riffs with accompanying hallow vocals to push home the insanity of the modern-day concrete jungle. Welcome to a world where the prison is our mind, disallowing for any sensible continuation of a search for meaning. Welcome to hell.

This harrowing, but eye-opening journey is divided into 6 distinct chapters: 4 original interpretations, and 2 reinterpretations by industry stars Black Merlin and Trenton Chase.

Starting off with Petite Mort, a tale of modern-day twisted reality, one is greeted by S_ROSE’s vocals. The voice gives off a sinister vibe, as if it is giving us permission to be violent. It found its way into our heads and is tapping into a hidden restraint and capability to induce destruction upon a fellow living being; to rob, to sow horror, to destroy.

Perhaps it is Levana herself going rogue, acting out in a hurt fashion similar to a spouse finding out one cheated on her: “GO AND BE WITH HER”. The message is hammered home by a penetrating kick pattern, completing the circle of violence and sealing our future.

Next up is A Sliced Up Pear, a personal favourite on this EP. One gets transported into a Mad Max-type future, where the underground mating rituals focus exclusively on pleasure and dominance.

The grittiness of the synth invokes scenes of debauchery and lawlessness, where one lives from pill to pill. Breathing room is scarce, and once it ends, the diabolical fluctuations return in full force. Horrifying and intense, this is a definitive peak club banger that will be ID-ed by all party goers for their personal soundtrack to the apocalypse.   

Following the scandalous visions of Earth, we are greeted by Suspiria, a promise made by the Sky itself to us that salvation waits in the glittering particles in the vast night’s darkness. Putting all efforts into constructing a rocket called The Cure, we launch countless embryos into a leap of faith towards a better tomorrow in other clusters of the Universe.

The track’s E.R.P. -esque atmosphere paints portraits of planets we encounter on the way: barren, gold-brown with rocky circulating rings. It seems that the Great Ones left not Earth, but have left our World altogether, wherever it may be. All in all, a melancholic tune for all the lost futures.

Intuition is a definitive extension of Suspiria, and in my opinion, these two belong on the same side of the EP right after each other. The track represents arrival to a promising planet which we could call our home. The sound colours remind that the state of mind experienced in A Sliced Up Pear did not escape our minds just because we relocated.

In this sense, we must be careful not to repeat the mistakes of our past. Complimenting the atmosphere is an A.I. female voice, which produces a synaesthetic synthesis of the picturesque space-station revolving in front of the new planet with the new settlers recording their doubts before leaving old Earth in the journey for the unknown.

Reinterpretations are exciting and important in the art world, as they offer the original artist vision where their vision could have gone with a slight change in perspective, while offering the borrowing artist the challenge to disentangle from the progenitor idea. Such is Black Merlin’s reinterpretation of Intuition.

While the original dwelled on the moment of arrival from a holistic perspective of the whole station, the remix is a personal deep dive into the psychological and paranoid thoughts of a crew member. Why would she trust anyone if there is no common reason for a harmonious community to arise? The harmonics are very edgy, inducing an uneasy feeling of mania and distrust in a place where there is no going back. “I am waiting patiently, quietly for the next thing to come”

Finally, Trenton Chase adds an extra danceable quality to S_ROSE’s vocals in his interpretation of Petit Mort. The first chord beautifully tastes like Dorothys Fortress – Enter Castillo and evolves into an Astra-oriented call of the night. One is brought back to the first day of the dystopia, where the initiated are cruising down Miami’s neon lights in a car. Seems like they are on their way to a meetup of Russian Mobsters, and are packing a baseball bat combined with a whole variety of animal masks. Trouble smells a mile off, but the clock struck midnight, meaning the marauders cannot turn back even if they wanted to.

I am impressed by this EBM electro EP. It is tight, with a clear direction it is heading and vivid, synth-based imagery which portrays a whole story of a world which we do not want to inhabit. The sonics are first class and will be entertained by all ears in a club setting. Take Aura Nox’s warning and change your values. When we notice Levana’s tears, it will already be too late.