Fall of efrafa

Infobox musical artist
Name = Fall of Efrafa


Img_capt =
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Brighton, England, United Kingdom
Genre = post rock
post metal
d beat
ambient folk black metal
punk
crust punk
Years_active = 2004 - present
Label = Halo of flies records
sound devastation records
Alerta antifascista records
URL = [http://www.myspace.com/fallofefrafa/]

Fall of Efrafa are a DIY concept band from Brighton, United Kingdom. They mix elements of post rock, post metal, ambient folk black metal,crust and modern d-beat hardcore punk.

Biography

The name refers to an element from the book Watership Down, by Richard Adams in which Efrafa is a fascist rabbit warren ruled over by a dictatorship. The band uses “efrafa” to represent the reign of man over this planet, Owsla (the name of the band’s debut album) representing the natural world. The band is a concept project, based loosely upon the watership down mythos, but also upon their strong atheist/vegan principles. They plan to release a trilogy of records known as “The Warren of Snares”. So far they have released two thirds of this trilogy. The latest installment of which is Elil, a three song, 65 minute album.

The bands ideas and ideologies are notably expressed in an interview with Deafsparrow zine [http://www.deafsparrow.com] , in which the lead singer, explains the concept behind the band.

"We decided to write a trilogy of records, collectively known as The Warren of Snares; Owsla (guardian), Elil (enemy) and Inle (death). The story I tell in the lyrics is cyclical, Owsla being the first, and the last part of the story. Fall of Efrafa represents the fall of all forms of oppression, be that religious, political and emotional. We played on the religious metaphor in the original book; the rabbit ‘religion’ mirrors christianity - a holy trinity. ‘Frith’ - their god, ‘El Ehrairah’ - the christ figure and ‘Inle’, the holy spirit. Our artwork and lyrics reflect the idea that this society is struggling to turn away from these ideologies in the face of adversity, to rely on one another instead of false deities. To us, ‘Efrafa’ represents humanity, and ‘owsla’ which means guardian, the last vestiges of nature. The story plays out as a war between these opposing sides. We try to make what we say as important as the music itself, although I’m not sure how successful this is. We also wanted to make something engaging, to give it something more so people can relate to it not only on a political level but also as an aesthetic, create characters and a mythology that does not exist in the book we are based on."

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Owsla was their first album and first release. In the novel Watership Down, The Owsla are the guardians of the warren. This record deals with the war between man and nature.

Elil, their second album and their third recording effort "(after the split with Down to agony)" roughly translates as "enemy" "(in the case of the novel, the enemies being natural predators)" and represents the bands personal opinions towards religion,These ideologies are expressed throughout the records, written as part of a narrative, through the use of metaphor and mythological characters. In their own words

"Religion serves only to create a culture of fear and a hatred of non-humans, women, queers, people with differently coloured skin, the natural world and, above all, a hatred of ourselves. I’m not even sure if the word ‘predator’ is a strong enough word to describe the evils of religion, because, in the wild, a predator will never consume so much that it wipes out its life source and therefore, causes its own demise, which we seem to be doing pretty well"* [http://www.deafsparrow.com/Fall-of-Efrafa-Interview.htm]

This record incorporated lengthy samples not only from the novel on which the band is based but also from evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, discussing his opinions on atheism, an ideology that the band indorses.

Inlé will be the final record in the "Warren Of Snares" trilogy. In the novel Watership down, Inlé is a spirit like entity who represents death. This album is yet to be released.

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The band have received a lot of praise for their music, both for the concept surrounding the band - a mix of mythological language and imagery amidst anti-religious, animal rights ideologies -and the music itself, although fans of their first record “owsla” have sometimes not appreciated the bands move to a more progressive less obvious direction.

The artwork of Fall Of Efrafa also follows a narrative, including depictions of the fictional characters expressed in the lyrics. The artwork follows a theme of mainly black line drawn images, in a slightly primitive style to invoke the same mythology expressed in the lyrics.

Other than their two albums, they have also released a split LP with spanish band Down To Agony, which featured the track "No longer human" the only track thus far which is entirely separate from the narrative of the band, and expresses their personal opinions on their vegan lifestyle. In 2008 a remix of the second song from their second album was created by Paper Aeroplane, a post rock band from london. This was released as a limited edition LP with a screen printed B side.

The band is diy, touring almost exclusively within the DIY international punk community, playing squats and free spaces throughout europe. but with the advent of their second album, began to incorporate lengthy post rock and avant garde metal passages, moving away from their crust punk roots, yet only in sound. Although they have completed two european tours and international shows, They rarely play live, spending most of their time writing and recording. They plan to break up after the release of their final record, Inlé, and a planned USA and European tour, in 2009.

Ideology

according to their website "As a band all members of Fall Of Efrafa are vegan and atheist. Although we are open to discussion, we hope that those who listen to our music appreciate that these values are as important to us as the music itself" It is also expressed on their myspace page that they are staunchly anti racist, anti homophobia, anti sexist and anti speciesism.

Discography

Albums

Owsla - 2006

Elil - 2007

plits

Split with Down To Agony - 2007

other

Tharn - remix of Dominion Theology by Paper Aeoplane - 2008

Interviews

* [http://www.deafsparrow.com/Fall-of-Efrafa-Interview.htm] (2008) by Deafsparrow zine [http://www.deafsparrow.com]
* [http://www.lasthours.org.uk/archive/interviews/fall-of-efrafa] (2008) by Last hours zine [http://www.lasthours.org.uk]

External links

* [http://www.fallofefrafa.com/ Official Homepage]
* [http://www.myspace.com/fallofefrafa Myspace]
* [http://www.sounddevastation.co.uk/ UK label]
* [http://www.no-pasaran.org/ European label]
* [http://www.myspace.com/halooffliesrcds USA label]