Formed 2003 in the Highlands of Scotland with the intent to create music filled with emotion, power and extremity from any angle. Inspiration is taken from a wide variety of influences in many genres. As such, anything that the song demands to fulfil its potential is utilised. Be it acoustic or electronic instruments, samples or field recordings, pure instrumentals or lyrically driven structures; all combined with any number of vocal styles.
Sole member, Duncan Hemingway, composes, records, mixes and masters everything himself and does not perform live, partly due to location and partly due to the nature of the material. Future contributions by others to the music of Achenar and live approximations of the music have not been ruled out entirely, however.
As far back as 1996, an album was conceived of that combined the traditional and the contemporary, the harsh and the beautiful, subtlety and bludgeon. Unfortunately the technology of the time and the huge ambition of this vision restricted it's conception as a one man project. Now, the end result of four years of work not only composing, but learning the disciplines of digital mixing and mastering, has been fully created.
The album takes in traditional orchestral instruments, vocals of all types, electronics, samples, and wields them within a variety of compositional forms. The end result is a diverse, unique, yet cohesive work. One that does not so much break genre boundaries, as ignore their existence altogether.
Two further EPs have been planned for release before the next album, each concentrating on a separate overall sound; one slow, expansive and sombre; the other hectic, dense and vicious.
