Wolfskin is essentially a one-man project, created and led by J. Aernus since 1994. Wolfskin is a deeply personal journey, and its releases are like encripted, ciphered entries of a diary lasting a lifetime. Musically, Wolfskin ranges from deep, cavernous dark-ambient soundscapes to a sort of heroic, epic anthems with drums, instruments (bagpipes, viola, accordion), sinthesizers and loops.
Wolfskin deals with several themes stemming from Aernus interests and fixations, that can be broadly defined as a failed (because unattainable) quest to reach some sort of primeval / universal / in ilio tempo spirituality and its associated phenomena, such as the study of ancient forms of spirituality (shamanism, cave paintings), the investigation into altered states of counsciousness, mystical awakening or hermetic transmutation.
Wolfskin is about archetypal energies – the hazy images, the primordial symbols and the “narrative” / humanized myths are encripted into the frequencies of sound, much as they were encripted in human imagination a long time ago. Wolfskin music intends to evoke and wake those archetypal energies in the listener, to stroke the sensible chord that resonates and reacts in the form of the feelings, images and sensations that the listener has. Wolfskin wants to awake the bestial and primordial energies in you and to transform them into the light of knowledge and wisdom.
The project’s main purpose is not to be attached or stuck into a specific archetype / tradition or mythic system, but rather to explore, awake and “contain” (as it is humanly possible) the primeval energies of a myth / symbol / archetype and try to translate it into sound. The archetype is not chosen, it chooses; the energies are not censured, they are received.
The figure of Fenrir, the giant wolf of Norse mythology that is caged so it does not bring destruction, is a good example of a myth / image of an underlying force, in this case the untamed bestial energy, that can be constructive if well directed and contained (caged) but that can be utterly destructive if set totally free. This ambiguity of creative and destructive forces in the same figure / archetype is paramount of spiritual traditions – that which transcends matter is filled with paradox. Our limited mind has difficulty in grasping the subtilities and (apparent) contradictions of these compex symbols and archetypes; and centuries of simplified dualism in spirituality (evil vs good) have only dulled such ability. Therefore, in Wolfskin the task is to rewaken such archetypes and try to convey them into sound structures that, ideally, struck some inner, deep chord in the listener.
Over the years Wolfskin had several fixed colaborators, although all the record’s concepts and ideas are mainly Aernus’. WS discography can be puzzling, with records that had 2 different versions and tracks appearing in different records. Some records were also released out of their “time” (with the prime example of “O ajuntar das sombras”, that took 5 years to be released!) which increases the confusion. Moreover, as WS’s records reflect the thematic that was being pursued at the time, there are very different records on the project discography.
After annoucing the death of WS back in 2007, Aernus has decided to bring back the beast with the release of “Despojos do Sol-posto”, a live recording from 2010, and is currently working on “twin records”. These two records will represent the beginning of a new cycle; whereas the “solar record” will be dedicated to the transmutation of darkness into light proposed by Hermetism, a dark-amb reflection based on electronics and gongs, the “lunar record” will be focused on the blood memory, on the ancestry of the flesh. One record is set to the stars and to eternity, the other delves into the land and into the echoes of our ancestors.