ACTUS - Mandala (NOE)
ACTUS (Archaic Cultural Traditions United in a Society) was a mysterious hungarian collective that recorded 5 albums between 1989 and 1997, then vanished. The last one, the fantastic Sacro Sanctum (1997) stood at the crossing-point of Laibach - for its wagnerian pathos, bombastic orchestral sound, melodic qualities - and Scivias, for its stern solemnity, spirituality and thematics (not surprizingly, since Scivias actually traces its roots back to ACTUS). To these references, you could now add Pink Floyd, The Orb, Kraftwerk, Death in Vegas, and half a dozen other names, and still it wouldn't do justice to the incredible diversity and richness of Mandala. This is a concept album that took seven years in the making, the full concept of it is briefly explained in the booklet itself. With only 4 tracks for a running time of more thant 40 minutes, Mandala could best be described as heroic retro-futurist psychedelic opera. Each composition starts quietly, then gradually builds up, mixing cold electronic sounds, liturgical choirs, symphonic orchestra, metal guitars, ethnic percussions, male / female vocals, and so much more along the way. For this album is effectively a journey - a monumental, psychedelic "trip". From atmospheric to bombastic, futuristic to archaic, experimental to symphonic, , pop and metal to folklore… and back again. Mandala is a definitive masterpiece, a multi-faceted jewel, probably the best album of 2005, a complete work of art, and something absolutely different from anything you can hear these days. Indeed, "the Mandala has returned"! (LK)

ALBIREON - Il Volo Insonne (Cynfeirdd)
This is another of those albums that are so difficult to review, mostly because it is so diverse and doesn't fit in any defined category, not unlike those by fellow Italians luminaries Rose, Rovine et Amanti. Albireon was formed back in 1998 by Davide Borghi (vocals, guitar) and Carlo Baja-Guarienti (keyboards). Il Volo Insonne (The Sleepless Flight) their third album (after the self-edited Disincanto and Le Stanze del Sol Nero) and the first published on French label Cynfeirdd, mixes neofolk, ambient, accoustic and electronic, traditional and experimental. It also escapes all cliches of the genre - no talk of Europe, no military romantism or spiritualization of nature here. It begins with a beautiful neofolk number, Canto del Vento Lontano, then drifits into ambient soundscapes. Labirinti, for instance, is a very evocative "aural play", a long (10 minutes) claustrophobic piece, dark and nightmarish. But because Il Volo… is an album of atmospheres more than songs, it is difficult to remain focussed during the whole album - the sounds flow quietly, the music, quiet and contemplative, floats around like ghosts, except for a few more beautiful melancholic dark folk ballads. Ambient-folk, anyone?
Albireon played their first gig last year in Italy with Sonne Hagal, which seems very fitting since both bands share this dual nature: between melodic folk and electronic experimentations. And that's a recommandation of course! (LK.)

ALEX FERGUSON - The Castle (Eis+Licht)
Alex Fergusson was part of legendary chaos-magick collective Psychick TV from 1981 to 1987, he wrote some of their best songs, including the alternative psychedelic hit Godstar. Before that even, in the late 70's, he was the co-founder of seminal punk-pop band Alternative TV. From the darkest, seediest parts of cold London town he now returns, with a strange, if short, album, rather surprisingly on Eis+Licht, the label that used to define German neofolk but is obviously opening its musical scope very wide these days. Recorded in 4 days only, "The Castle" has some great songs, and some really not so great at all. At best, ageless, classic pop melodies with a sparse production. At worst, crappy badly recorded old 80's British punk rock. Rose McDowall (Sorrow, and of course DI6 and C93) sings on one song. A curiosity. (LK.)

ALLERSEELEN - Edelweiss (Aorta/Stahlklang)
This is a strange album - a few songs already appeared on the most recent Allerseelen albums (either Flamme or Abenteuerliches Herz), for example the germanic flamenco of Sturmlied, sung by Josef K., or the absolutely beautiful Nest, one of Allerseelen most perfect moment. There is a couple of remixes by Demian of O Paradis, notably the classic Marques de Pubol, including new Spanish (Catalan?) vocals by Rosa, who also contributed this collection with two of her own quite astounding compositions (her project is named Circe and should be worth checking out). Just as fascinating are the deep, warm, sensual Italian vocals by Gaya (of Hagshadow, London) on Gondellied and Vino et Cuore. Max Percht of Sturmpercht (who also happens to run the Steinklang records label and design all Allerseelen records covers) helped Gerhard on Gletscherlicht. Mit Fester Hand is a brilliant "re-working" of a previous Allerseelen musical theme (Wo die Wilden Kerlen Wohnen) - Gerhard is known for quoting himself musically quite often. Part best-of, part new album, past remixes collection, Edelweiss stands out in Allerseelen immaculate discography; it also shows a departure from the visual continuity that linked all Allerseelen album covers so far. Anyway, if you enjoy the warm, sensual, yet strong and powerful "industrial folklore" of Allerseelen, this is, of course, a must-have. (LK)

AIT! - Fiori di Carne (Punch Productions)
AIT! is yet another mysterious and decadent Italian project that goes beyond usal categories. It starts with a dark lullaby full of echoes and roaming ghosts, a circus orchester comes back from the Other Side, some German soldiers take an oath over a lazy jazz beat, then march onwards on some bombastic strings and percussion à la Blutharsch… and this is only the first side. Basically, this music would be the perfect soundtrack for the most surrealist moments of Fellini's movies. If you're into the quiet, esoteric grooves of Allerseelen, the drunken songs of Novy Svet or the more atmospheric, post-industrial pieces of Der Blutharsch, you will love this very enigmatic project, that manage to wrap it all up in one bleak yet tasty cocktail. The limited picture disc, featuring two erotic paintings by Italian artist Saturno Butto is edited by the new Italian label Punch Productions (created by one of the member of AIT!), specialized in weird music on special editions. (LK)

ARTMODE - Capiteux (Urgence Disk)
Artmode is actually one of the numerous side-projects of Dam, aka the Baron von Smock, head and soul of Geneva most notorious alternative venue, L'Usine, boss of Urgences Records and of the shop of the same name, aso. Here, this incredibly creative and productive character is exploring the limbos of inner and outer space with a warm, ambient electro-accoustic sound. Each track goes on and on for ever, hypnotically, like an empty highway at night. Lights go by the windows, your thoughts wander. The massive basslines roll, roll, roll… suddenly a harmonica comes in, or a phantomatic guitar plays a few spaced-out riffs… Artmode cosmic blues evokes both the most ambient works of their friends The Young Gods (that "cybernetic Doors" feeling), or some of the latest Allerseelen productions, but in a more rock'n'roll, bluesy way. Stoner music for the space age… something different, but a very, very good album, one of the best to come out of Switzerland these last months. (LK)

AZURE SKIES (CD/ Ant-Zen ACT115)
Azure Skies is a collaboration between members of the well-known swedish projects Mental Destruction and Sanctum. Mental Destruction's roughness is combined with the melodic varieties of Sanctum, and the result is an astonishing mixture. metallic percussion lines, droning distorted rhythmic walls of sound, dark melodies, sometimes eruptive vocals and more make this album remarkable. it is a new breeze on the industrial dance floor as well as an amazing listening experience for those at home (especially after a hard day's work). Dark walls of sound, metal percussion, harsh post-industrial rhythms combined with touching melodies. On the official Azure Skies website an exclusive live track can be downloaded for free. (Antz)

BABYFLESH - A New Wave of Cynism (Vendlus Records)
Babyflesh is a one-man-project (is there such a thing as a real band in this type of music anyway?) from Norway, created in 1997. This, its first album, could (and should) be on the Cold Meat Industry rooster, but instead it is on the small (and totally unknown in Old Europe) north-american label Vendlus. Less harsch than power electronics, yet rawer than military industrial and much more rhythmical than dark ambient, Babyflesh falls somewhere between these three genres and sometimes evokes Deutsch Nepal or In Slaughter Native - but again, harder and more gritty and noisy. Powerful, angry and quite original stuff, this just how industrial music should be done. About the title of the album, Anders, the guy behind Babyflesh, explains it this way: "For a very long time we've been cursed with this sort of cowardly way of handling the increasing problems we have in our society by burying our heads in the sand. The type of kindness and tolerance that has proved to do no good, and only make matters worse. At some point I am convinced it will be the death of us, unless, as the title indicates, we see a new wave of cynicism. It might have started already…". Nothing to add, really. (LK)

BAK XIII -In Cauda Venenum (Urgence Disk)
Bak XIII is only the latest project of Geneva's very own ubiquitous Dark Lord, the one and only Baron Von Smock, founder of several renowned multimedia projects (F.A.D.E., Artmode… cf.supra), aided here by his cohort DDDMix. Between minimalist electronica and powerful industrial anthems, Bak XIII is above all an amazingly great hommage to the classic EBM sound of the 80's. No need to quote too many references, you all know them: Front 242, Frontline Assembly, even Gary Numan (whose classic "Are Friends Electric?" is brilliantly covered)... Dark but danceable electro(clash) with hypnotical rhythms and those analog sounds that we grew up with, great! Only negative point, the vocals may sometimes appear too flat and monotonous, but this is also part of the "We are robots" Kraftwerkian appeal of "In Cauda Venenum". The CD features an extra video track for Bak XIII's underground hit "80's Are Back Forever". Coming soon, a vinyl EP with exclusive remixes by HIV+, Mimetic, IDLO, Spies and a new song. Don't forget to check the hilarious online games section of their website, and catch them live if you can, it's worth it. (LK)
www.darksite.ch/bakxiii

BELBORN - Perchta 7" (Steinklang/Percht)
This beautiful 7" is a complete departure from Belborn usual style of classic German neofolk. Clearly influenced by Sturmpercht recent rediscovery of alpine mythology, "Percht" is a thematic work about the ancien folkish rituals of the mysterious Rauhnacht, based mainly on samples of strange musical rites, primitive percussions, cowbells, natural sounds of each of the four elements, winds, howls … Wild growls of beasts running in the cold winter night. Men hunting, drinking and singing to scare the spirits away. Fire cracking. Dark and rough ritual marching musik about those Perchten long-nosed masks illustrated on the included postcard. The musik and sounds manages to evoke the rugged but noble and beautiful alpine landscape and is guaranteed to send a shiver down your spine. A must-have. (LK)

CALLE DELLA MORTE - Tardo Autunno - 7" (Hauruck!SPQR)
So here is the brand new production of the Italian division of the Austrian label Hauruck, and no-one should be neither surprised, nor disappointed with it. It is actually the project of Vincenzo himself, known cultural agitator, concert organizer, DJ and big boss of HR!SPQR, aided by Jonny B from Inner Glory. "Ballerino di Tango si uccide", on waltz tempo, evokes images of sideshow circus music, or of French "chanson réaliste" of the 1920's. "Dal Campanile di San Marco" is Italian neofolk at its best: romantic and slightly decadent, sensual and proud. Side B is a rather different matter. "Gli Uomini e le Rovini" (a clear allusion to Julius Evola of course) is classic neofolk in a mid-90's Death In June vein, with a sound reminiscent of "Cathedral of Tears": big echoes, accoustic guitar, trompet, piano and a deep Italian voice. (LK)

COGITO - Présence Illusoire (demo-CD / self-produced)
Cogito is a side-project of Ex Nihilo, the one-man band of Laine Gebel, a reclusive and secret ultra-goth Swiss ermit who lives in isolation somewhere on the Western-Switzerland countryside. Ex Nihilo was created in 1997 and, beside a contribution to the Swiss "Darklife" compilation, issued two autoproduced albums and one EP, lots of demos, a video and even a best-of. Everything can be ordered on its website. Since 2000, Ex Nihilo is divided in three separate concepts: Ex Nihilo itself for the electro-industrial stuff, Cicerone as a "dark trip-hop" outfit, and Cogito is described as "dark ambient with martial rhythmic patterns". Cogito first demo can thus be compared (though it still has some way to go to reach their levels) to projects like Von Thronstahl (but much less wagnerian), Sophia or even The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud in that it is essentially instrumental, with a few samples and whispered vocal parts in French ; very dark, gothic electro-symphonic stuff. The sounds are very synthetic, a bit too much for my tastes, but the compositions are fine. If Laine would do some live appearances he might gain a quick following among the goth community. (LK)

COLD FUSION- Elisabeth Bukez (Beast of prey / Cold Fusion, 2003)
Matstho's first record by Cold fusion consists of this ten-track album containing a large variety of music styles, maybe even too many. The first track reminds me scarcely of LFO in the early 90's. The second track starts off with the sound of wind and some "airy guitar", which later becomes a sordid mixture of light rock and ambient electronics. Further listening brings militaristic touches to tracks 4 and 8, but it does not go any further than that, despite the enthusiasm it may bring. Disregarding the development of drum patterns, electronic-based beats and soft ambient progression, it just never develops anything that makes you cling on to it. Maybe perfect for a criminal sitcom but when track 10 turns in to a bubbly "Enigma" style, then I am sorry there is not much left to linger on. As a whole, it could be an interesting album if you are discovering electronic ambient music à la u-zig or Sabres of Paradise but we are in 2005 and hopefully, we have developed a bit on the way... (Petra C.)

COLD FUSION / KREPULEC - Parabellum (Beast of Prey)
Poland seems to be THE happening place lately, with new labels and projects appearing every month. This item is not all new, since it was released in 2004, on November 11, Polish independence day. A split CD featuring two projects that can be filed under "military industrial", Cold Fusion and Krepulec, "Parabellum" is published by Beast of Prey in a beautiful, ultra-limited package, as is usually the case for this very interesting label. Both "sides" open with vintage Eastern (Polish for Krepulec, Slovak for Cold Fusion, apparently) songs from the first half of the last century, but whereas Krepulec then lets its sonic war machinery march onwards, with strong rhythms for a terribly efficient and powerful result, Cold Fusion goes for a more experimental and complex sonic exploration using a lot of samples, sounding like the soundtrack of a dark movie about past wars, horror and honor. (LK)

COLD FUSION / SCHWADRON - Scontrum (War Office Propaganda)
A brand new offering from the productive Polish project Cold Fusion, this time a split with Schwadron from Germany. I'm not a specialist as far as dark ambient music is concerned, but from the little I know Cold Fusion is simply one of the very best. This isn't simply saturated noises and static drones with a few historical sound samples thrown in to keep the listener from falling asleep. Cold Fusion comes close to the more quiet pieces of Tribe of Circle, Wappenbund or Die Macht - at the same time calm and ultra bombastic, restrained yet powerful, heavily symphonic and strong, hypnotizing but not numb. Impressively good, to sum it up. Schwadron, on the other hand, is simply not my cup of tea… The third sentence from this review describes it quite well. Anyway, this ultra-limited (36 pieces only!) split was (it's of course sold out) worth its cheap price (10 euros) for the packaging only, simply awesome, as always with War Office Propaganda, Cold Fusion's own label. (LK)

CONTEMPLATRON - Antarabhava / The Six Realms (Wrotycz Records)
The spiritual concept behind this record, the second release on Polish label Wrotycz, is at least as impotant the music here, so let's quote the official release: "The Sanskrit word "antarabhava'' means "the intermediate state" and is particularly used to describe the state between death and future rebirth. The creation of this record was inspired by 'The Tibetan Book of Death' - ritual Buddhist text which is read to the deceased. (…) All phenomena appearing in the intermediate state are, in their essence, the expression of the dead's mind. (…). All forms and phenomena that we experience during the lifetime, the intermediate state between birth and death, have similarly illusory nature." Basically this is impressively creepy, drony ambient music, with well chosen samples (Tibetan monks' voices and instruments sure to send a shiver up your spine, for example) and immense electronic landscapes. If you are into buddhism, then this is a must-have, recorded by people who clearly have studied their subject matter and who master perfectly industrial ambient in the best CMI style. (LK)

CONVERTER - Blast Furnace (Antzen)
These is a typical productions of the Ant-Zen label: rhythmical Industrial, abstract electronics, somber and syncopated music accompanied by distorted voices.... 'Blast Furnace' is Converter's (Seattle) second album with Ant-Zen; their compositions are extremely violent and frequently interrupted with dark-ambiant noise sequences, the right sort of music for infernal and paranoiac tribal rites.... The Belgian Silk Saw, who were previously engaged at the label Sub Rosa, are also at their second album with Ant-Zen. Their music is equally without compromises, but of a more cold, grey and minimalist sort, a mixture between a instrumental basis a la Joy Division and some valium-laden Pan Sonic. The same as Death In June and Current 93 were the precursors of Apocalyptic Folk, Converter and Silk Saw are the pioneers of Apocalyptic Electro. (Antz)

 

DIVISION S - Something to Drink 2 (Bunkier Prod.)
And yet more drunken but stylish debauchery from Italy most mysterious, inhebriated and productive project. Division S are becoming better with each record, and this is their best effort to date. Better in terms of production quality, more powerful and martial, but always with that mediteranean sensuality. Division S are the perfect soundtrack for a film noir in black & white, with a occasional streak of red, be it blood or wine. Personally I would prefer if DS would sing in their native language, as it would fit the general atmosphere better. The only weakness of this second part of Something to Drink is its length: 23 minutes… this should be sold as an EP, not an album.

DIVISION S - Something To Drink 3 (Bunkier Prod.)
It seems Italians really have a deep love affair with stylish decadence and alcohol. After the "Drinking to Better Days" compilation on Italian label Punch Productions, here comes the third record of the mysterious Division S (actually the first one was only available in downloadable form on the band's website). You can recognize Italian dark folk (?) within seconds - there's a thread going through Spiritual Front to Rose Rovine et Amanti to Inner Glory to Division S. It's a matter of atmosphere, a weird mix of nostalgy and humour, decay and elegance, nihilism and sensuality, jazzy cocktail grooves and drunken laziness… For sure, Tom Waits or Nick Cave spring to mind here, but also Novy Svet or O Paradis. Great music to listen nightly to at home, alone or in good company, relaxed with a glass of wine in hand. B/W digipack, limited to 160 copies. (LK)

DIE MACHT - Instinct de survie (Slaughter In Art)
Having previously released three albums under the pseudonym RSLD (Roses Scattered Love Decays), JF is now giving us a 4- tracks limited edition, 75 exp., under the monicker "Die Macht". Starting off with a dark and muffled martial ambiance and, gradually building it up into a wheel of repetitive rhythms, which slowly fade out like they appeared. Continuing with melodic organ sounds, industrial percussion, occasional experimental noise and antiseptic intensity. The last track gives the album a perfect closure. Providing us with a vision of an unmitigated destruction, when all else failed, what is left after the fallen ruins. It has a futile lost hope to it, which leaves us in a rather immobilized and mute atmosphere afterwards. A strong and emotional piece of work, definitely worth listening to. Although i must warn the listeners for not playing in on the autobahn, since a) It is impossible to hear a single sound and b) if not, you think you have left a window open. (Petra)

DIE MACHT - Blut unter den Fahnen (Slaughter in Art)
For credibility's sake, it could be best not to review a friend's production. But when said production is just plain brilliant, there's no point in censoring the facts, and anyway, a review is by its very nature fundamentally partial. Die Macht is the conceptual creature of Swiss mastermind JF, who already released a CDr on French label Slaughter in Art last year, titled Instinct de Survie. The EP caused quite a buzz and got many rave reviews, yet it was but an appetizer for the real thing: Blut unter den Fahnen (heavy 12" vinyl, in embossed sleeve with various inserts, hand-numbered, ltd. 500) could be considered Die Macht real conceptual debut.
First side, "Mit unseren Fahnen ist der Sieg", depicts the first stage of any conflict, when the war machinery conquers all and seems unstoppable. Side B "Blut unter den Fahnen" speaks of downfall, sacrifice and final despair. This is darkest ambient / martial industrial music, with an elegant neo-classical touch, in the same league as - and it will definitely appeal to fans of - Thoroidh, Arditi, Turbund Sturwerk or Les Joyaux de la Princesse. Yet Die Macht has developped its own, very unique sound, huge, powerful, menacing, like an all-engulfing darkness. Hard as Krupps' steel, heavy as lead, cold as the night. The tracks build up slowly, from the distant echoes of church organs and bells to heavy drums and full orchestral power complete with air sirens wailing. Music of fire and steel, of pride and honour, of death and nothingness. Music that arise from the blood-drenched European soil. Last track is so apocaliptically noisy you'll think your needle is damaged. One can see the bombers vomiting death upon the burning city of Dresden. As Europe history is re-written again and again, a few do remember. (LK.)

DER BLUTHARSCH - The Pleasures Received In Pain (World Serpent)
The war machine 'Der Bluharsch' is once more within the sleeve of the album ( a scene from battle from the Middle Ages), from which the content of their new opus can be guessed. A style of music which is sombre and martial, augmented by folkloric sounds and Medieval chants which are a close relation to the ancient project of Albin 'the moon lay hidden beneath a cloud' - somewhere between the the Round Table of Arthur and the Apocalypse. In staying within the atmospheric and apoclayptic themes, Ashe has brought out an album composed of six long tracks in pure industrial tradition - experimental. Repetitive, obsessive ambient sounds, which in a moment explode into aggressive power-electronic noise, in Whitehouse style. (Antz)

DER BLUTHARSCH - When all else fails! (WKN/Tesco)
So here's the much awaited new work of Albin alias Der Blutharsch. On the whole this new opus of our Austrian friend is much less "martial" or "apocalyptic" - except for some small sound bits - this means out with the German samplers of the second world war and the monotonous chants of the round table! This time the compositions are more Dark-Ambient and the ballades combine the influences of the Balkans with the voices of Albin and Marthynna, which in itself is already an innovation, as the female voice had never yet been recorded on disc even if everyone had been able hear it in the live version during the last tour. But let's see the tracks of the rather heteroclite album in detail:
The opening tracks are a nostalgic song followed by a gypsy ballade and a hypnotic Ambient passage à la Deutsch Nepal. We then find two typical Der Blutharsch tracks with Albin's preferred atmospheres - apocalyptic orchestrations and Teutonic howls. Next a melancholic composition with a female voice which can only be compared to the preceding project "The Moon Lay Beneath a Cloud". The first surprise guest of the album then reveals himself with a Electro-Martial passage, the voice of the singer from "Dernière Volonté" and with a French text. Then the sampling of the sentence "Me Ne Frego" (I don't care) is used as a base for a Dark-Folk track with violins, drums and flute which precedes a composition produced in collaboration with D.Pearce, reminding the listener of the Death In June album "Take Care and Control". "Vittoria é solo nostra!" is used as a base for another Dark-Ambient passage. Then the second guest appears with a popular march accompanied by the drunkard's voice of Novy Svet. The album concludes with two Electro-Techno-Ambient tracks with hypnotising loops. (Antz)

DERNIÈRE VOLONTÉ - Obéir et Mourir (Nuit et Brouillard)
This is the re-release of the long sold-out first production of Dernière Volonté, the mythical "Obéir et Mourir" double tape boxset from 1998. The music, originally recorded between 1995 and 1997, has been remastered and seven unreleased tracks from that same period added, for a total of 28 tracks on 2 CDs.
It's been said that "Obéir et Mourir" was heavily influenced by Les Joyaux de la Princesse, but actually I would say it just works in the same musical field: dark military/nostalgic soundscape, slow synth harmonies, historical samples. Some of the best compositions here, the most melodic and rhythmic ones, could have been included on DV first album, Le Feu Sacré. Thus, this release is most interesting as a document, for it shows the first steps in the evolution of DV from a dark-ritual project to the band that embodies "military pop". As for the object in itself, it is indeed a beautiful item. The luxuous, embossed cardboard box includes 14 postcards and 2 CDs.
Contrary to the last two DV albums I wouldn't describe "Obéir et Mourir" as a mandatory buy in itself, but as a document, a beautiful artefact and a nice addition to your DV collection, it's well recommended. (LK)

DERNIÈRE VOLONTÉ - Les Blessures de l'Ombre (HauRucK/Tesco)
When Dernière Volonté first CD "Le Feu Sacré" came out two years ago, I was one of the many HR fans who wondered what had happened to Albin Julius. This had nothing to do on a serious, dark, germanic, cult underground label like HR. Dernière Volonté sounded like Indochine covering Der Blutharsch, we all thought. The words were naïve at best. The record was apple green. Ok, one had to concede Geoffroy D. (Dernière Volonté mastermind) a knack for great drum loops, and there were a few addictive tracks (Der Zörn Gottes, Les Tambours, Ami…), but all in all Dernière Volonté sounded a bit like a parody.
Then I saw them live at the HauRucK Festival in Vienna - and I had my epiphany. They looked good, so girls liked them. They were the first bands in two nights of music you could dance to, so guys liked them as well. More than anyone else, Dernière Volonté deserve the term "military pop", and after all, what's wrong with great melodies and pop music, I realized suddenly? I had been a snobbish, pseudo-elitist fool.
Then came "Les Blessures de l'Ombre". Simply put, this album is about ten times better than "Le Feu Sacré". It is obvious Geoffroy D. worked very hard. Every song is a little jewel of pure military pop. Brilliant melodies you keep humming for days, great samples, big sound, and always those unique marching drums and that boyish voice. Yes, Dernière Volonté sound like a cross between Taxi Girl (not Indochine, as I discovered when I came to know and appreciate Geoffroy personally) and Der Blutharsch, and I can't imagine a better mix. Martial yet sexy, solemn yet catchy, proud, melodic, upbeat, clear-headed and light-hearted marching pop with a French touch. "Les Blessures de l'Ombre" is quite simply the best HR album of the year. (LK)

DEUTSCH NEPAL - Deflagration of Hell (Cold Meat Industry)
Heavy psychedelic trance-industrial scapes, full of demented beats and distorted guitars. You can almost feel the left-over vibes from Njurmännen here in some of the tracks, very rythmic and almost...pop. Previously released as a cassette on the CMI-sidelabel Sound Source in 1991 and on CD by Staalplaat in 1993 which are now both deleted since years back. This new version is fully remastered by Peter Andersson. Even the titles are correct! A classic - hoping the ageing have done its best with the sound as the years mature a good whiskey. Cheers! (Antz)

DIE FORM - Extremum + Akt (Side Projects & Experimental Collection) (Trisol/EFA)
Two new releases at Trisol's for the fetish-hexagoths Die Form: Extremum, the new regular album and Akt, a compilation of parallel projects and experimentations by master Fichot. Akt is sold as a luxurious limited edition (3000 copies), two CD set, containing an illustrated 16 page booklet, retracing the career of the artist as a photographer. Most tracks originate from the Sade project 'Les 120 journées de Sodome' (1990), the industrial 'Elektrode' (1993) or the romantic 'The Visionary Garden' (1995). The new regular album, a fruit of three years of acoustical and historical researches, goes back to the roots of the band's Electro-Industrial beginnings (Kraftwerk & Faust influences). This album is clearly less gothic-romantic than preceding trilogy, but still synthetic, robotic, sadist and magical. It is some sort of electro-biological music, as even the cover photographs of women showing their mechanical implants suggest. (Frequency stimulation is used before sexual activity…) Although the rhythms are drier and more clipped than before, Eliane's magnificent voice still brings in a touch of humanity and tenderness. The album is clearly more somber and dance oriented - as can be heard in 'Deep Inside' which exists also in a Maxi remix and 'Suffocations'. In a way it is a syncopated autopsy of time through mechanical, feminine and sensual images. On the whole an uniform and very pleasing thing. The ideal soundtrack of your fetish nights: Pleasures received in Pain! (Antz)

DIE FORM - Rain Of Blood (Matrix Cube/Trinity/EFA)
This new album from the phantamasgoric Die Form is a collection of 6 remixes. The most interesting pieces are all the more interesting and so well reworked, that it is easy to get the impression listening to some totally new compositions from the French duo. The majority of the remixed pieces have been taken from the 'Duality' album and are a summation of what can be done with dark-electro romantic. Throughout there are those disturbing, onorous, cold electronic sounds, of pulsing bass underlined by the magnificent operatic voice of Elaine. It is an agreeable surprise, that that there is a remix of Automatic love, a classic from those electro-wave nights from the early 80's. The original version was extremely minimalistic, almost Kraftwerkian, whilst the new version has agreeable echoes and other effects which render it very avant-garde. The same could not be said of the trio of back-combed Swedish boys: 'Covenant' claim to have come to shake up the electro/ebm scne from its stagnation with their new offering. This proclaims itself to be the logical progression of front 242, but apart from the very good 'Tears in Rain' with its layed, melodic, sound, the rest of the album to my mind is very insipid and could only be suitable as mainstream dancefloor background muzak. (Antz)

 

FDH - Disseminare (Cynfeirdd)
Best described by its author as "an often dark combination of experimental, orchestral, neo-classical, and electronic sounds", "Disseminare" is the debut album by FDH, the musical project of Frank den Haan, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and is part of the new Eye For Eye series by the French label Cynfeirdd, where each record is limited to 141 numbered copies. Less is more - this is also the case of the music here. A beautifully simple melody on a lone piano can be more moving than a grand orchestra, work on a more intimate level. This is music for the soul, dream music that touches something deep inside, reaches down to some hidden and almost forgotten place within. Music that evokes some distant memories, inner echoes… shades of personal history, souvenirs from the past, memories that haunt the soul. This is also music for ruins, empty halls, forgotten buildings, best appreciated late at night. Though it is very different, it reminds me somehow of the "Island" album by Current 93. That same kind of nostalgia, between despair and hope, and overwhelming beauty. You should definitely hurry to get your hands on this collector's item, as it is already almost sold out... always a good sign. (LK)
 

FLOWERS MADE OF SNOW (V/A - A Cold Meat Industry label sampler) (Cold Meat Industry)
Well, in a perfect world no-one would need any further introduction to the fundamental institution that Cold Meat Industry has become, but nevertheless; 7 years have past since the previous double CD label-sampler "The Absolute Supper" in 1997, and the groundbreaking success that followed, and it is consequently due time to introduce, seduce and degenerate a whole new generation of listeners with the release of something new and absolutely improved - "Flowers made of Snow" includes first tracks by The Last Hour (ex-Gothica male) and Hesperos (ex-Gothica female)! Two absolutely AMAZING cds with a total duration of over 120 minutes and 95% new and previously unreleased tracks! This is the essential, and the ultimate release to introduce yourselves and your customers to the world and the tasteful catalogue of Cold Meat. (Antz)

GEIST - s/t (EP, autoprod.)
Hailing from Elsass (nowadays Alsace in France), Geist in a one-man band who seems to have close link to the nationalist and "identitaire" circles. Yet this is no RAC or whatever uncreative militant music, but the very best mix of cold electro-noise and military industrial I have heard to this day, no less. Think of Front 242 marching to war with military snare drums and horns, or - maybe more relevant - of :Wumpscut: rampaging the abandoned mining fields of the North of France. Geist shows a great sense for strong rhythmes and melodies, without ever getting too easy on the ear. Very powerful, menacing yet danceable, this first 4-track EP introduces a project of which we really hope to hear more in the near future. The coming album should be dedicated to the Vosges mountains and their misteries. (LK.)
http://www.geist-musik.eu

GHOSTS OF BRESLAU - Peste (Bunkier Prod.)
The debut album "Peste"by Polish project Ghosts of Breslau is no longer only available as a limited edition, but now re-released by Bunkier Productions with a completely new artwork as well as 7 new unpublished tracks and various demos from past compilations. "Peste" is a strong & beautiful piece of work, containing a variety of orchestral pieces, melancholic medieval choirs, trumpets together with beautifully strong hymns, speeches and other dominating sources from WW2 and so on. There is a discreet electronic treatment to the album but as a whole, the catalyst being heavy sampling can unfortunately work as a disturbing element in the end. Possibly comparable and in the same line as Arditi, Turbund Sturmwerk and other prominent Industrial groups such as Toroidh, one becomes almost dissapointed by the lack of drums and of the building up of percussion which together with the war sirens, strings and inspiration from the middle-ages would have given a much stronger impact to the album as a whole. Despite this lack, it is definitely an album worth being enjoyed together with a glass of Zubrowka vodka. (Petra vs Antz)

 

HARVEST RAIN - Evening and Devotion 7" (OPN)
Harvest Rain is the project of brothers Jason and Jamey Thompkins, born and raised in the swamplands of South Carolina, USA. Their music, inspired by nature, has been dubbed as autumnal folk or Samhain folk, because they begin their recordings each year on the night of the Autumnal Equinox. Rougher versions of two of these songs appeared before on the übercult Thaglasz compilations, where numerous great projects like Werkraum, This Morn'Omina, Westwind, Leger des Heils, or, obviously, Harvest Rain appeared first, so I see it as a strong recommandation. This 7" (limited to 300 copies on French label OPN) contains 4 tracks, very professionally produced, of classic anglo-saxon dark folk in the vein of Death In June, but with a lot of originality and personality. "Song for Morning" and the title track in particular are pure jewels, peaceful, intimate, mystical, nostalgic, but not depressive - like a rainy but warm "Indian summer" night. Great music, nice artwork, highly recommended. (LK)

HAWTHORN / SOL INVICTUS / SIEBEN - Writ In Waters (PREcordings)
The John Keats, Percy Bisshe Shelley, Lord George Gordon Byron album
Dedicated to the memory and works of Byron, Keats and Shelley, the three great romantic poets and writers who lived between the end of the 18. and the beginning of the 19. Century, this is a very special offering, a quite unique EP, published by Italian label PREcords, which is itself a division of Post Romantic Empire, a rather interesting though somewhat vague global concept/project which "aims at representing the evolution and the interpretation of romantic themes and motifs in contemporary art.". Writs in Water contains one song by Sol Invictus, one by Sieben, and two by HaWthorn, i.e. the common project of Sol's Tony Wakeford and Sieben's Matt Howden. There's no great leaps in style from one song to the next, though; the music reflects perfectly the theme of the record: contemplative, gothic, poetic, seducingly dark moving and sensual in a delicate way. Just the perfect soundtrack for your late, lonely summer nights when the storm is raging outside. And a special mention to the very classy design, beautiful white digipack, great artwork. (LK)

HEND - Helmut A. (autoproduction)
From the secluded world of Den Bau, a Swiss hermit living in the isolated, decaying industrial town of La Chaux-de-Fonds, comes this amazing 4 tracks EP, one of the best and greatest surprise of these last months for me. Hend is a dark ambient project, with touches of trip-hop, slightly reminiscent of Tor Lundvall's last work, also reviewed here recently. Beautiful shadowy melodies and distants urban sounds mix in a fantastic kind of 360° sound, in a refined and very personal way. Little by little you get sucked into the recesses of the author's mind, you can feel that the author puts his most intimate fears and thoughts into this. This electro noir is mind-blowing and dangerously addictive, the only negative point being its shortness. My guess is that some label should sign Hend for a full album very soon, if that is the author's wish, of course. (Lars K.)

H.E.R.R. - Es Regnet das Leben Heraus (Were-Di!)
Achtung: this is an absolutely amazing debut. First album for the Dutch projet H.E.R.R. (Heilige Europa / Römisches Reich), but also for the very promising Belgian label Were-Di!. The Low Counties legions are marching onwards, and they seem just unstoppable. Actually this isn't the real album, but a promotional EP for an album which should be out by the time you read this. This is heavily bombastic, lavishly orchestrated music at its very best, reminding of the most martial side of Orplid (as on the Barbarossa EP), with whom H.E.R.R. share also a real talent for beautiful, sweeping and incredibly moving melodies. "Guckt die Welt noch einmal ein" is an immensely melancholic but stern and dignified theme, at the same time desperate and luminous, an instant classic. "Ferme Jongens, Stoere Knapen" is intricate, symphonic music of grand proportion, very visual, would be perfect as the soundtrack of a great war-and-love, good-versus-evil movie. H.E.R.R. also offer a great cover (Laibach-style!) of Wagner's Flucht der Walküre. Simply said: if you're into Karjalan Sissit, Von Thronstahl, The Protagonist, that type of militant bombastic neo-classical music... you just have to check H.E.R.R., who should become a cult project very quickly. 10/10. (LK)
herr.tegendemuur.nl

Hopes die in Winter - H.E.R.R. / DER ARBEITER / STORM OF CAPRICORN / GHOSTS OF BRESLAU (Beast of Prey)
Between 1917 and 1951, in Europe, the staggering number of 54,6 millions Europeans had to leave their homelands or were forcibly displaced. Hopes die in Winter is devoted to them, refugees and victims of indiscriminate dislocation. An excellent theme of choice for this very international compilation, where each band contribute 3 tracks.
It lifts off quietly with some dark ambient sounds and a spoken word by Troy Southgate, the man behind La Rose Noire and Synthesis website, then builds up into a very beautiful martial neoclassical piece, with cellos, snare drums and all the bombastic symphonic qualities typical of the Dutch/British project H.E.R.R., quite simply one of the very best names these days, musically as well as aesthestically or intellectually.
Der Arbeiter (who appeared first on Wir rufen deine Wölfe, the wonderful compilation dedicated to Friedrich Hielscher, on Allerseelen own label Aorta) is a new name coming from the other side of the world: Chile, not exactly the kind of place where you'd expect this kind of music to flourish. But like Allerseelen, Der Arbeiter manages to mix technology and tradition; electronic beats and soft, warm atmospheres, danceable melodic tunes with a ritual feel, Spanish and English languages.
Storm of Capricorn is a French band walking into Dernière Volonté footsteps, but not always as convincingly. Un Dernier Souffle is good though, starting with the mandatory WWII samples about German surrender in an atmosphere of infinite sadness, then turning into a great marching tune with good male/female vocals (and lyrics, by the way).
Ghosts of Breslau (from Breslau, nowadays Wroclaw, Poland) close this collection with 4 ambient tracks, full of ghosts and memories.
One quick word about the amazing packaging: limited to 170 copies, it comes in an A5 fold-out package, including several photographies, a Polish poem, a Leon Degrelle citation and a stalk of wheat (a nice touch I hadn't seen since the seminal "Östenbräun" box by LJDLP/DI6). This is already a cult release, so don't hesitate too long if you manage to find a copy. (Lars K.)

HOROLOGIUM - A handful of dust (Cynfeirdd)
The second production produced by the Polish group Horologium, A handful of dust, is an album containing a large variety of sound forms, repetitions and noisy elements, all in a sordid mixture. Bathed in a sort of theatric industrial atmosphere by eclectically added war samples and voices. An album that is equally nostalgic when it comes to church inspired organ sounds, together with a repetitive cracking repeated through tracks 2 & 3, creating a rather sentimental atmosphere of old films. This record is full of hidden references, low resolution samples and highly obscured sounds. I would not call it powerful though, due to the impression that the tracks in themselves never seem to reach the strength that they would need to, if wanting to seduce us. The second impression is the feeling of listening to a rather amateur made production which disappointingly does not help. In the end, it remains a sort of medley consisting of noisy elements. Perfect for a choreography or an experimental film, but I wouldn't dance to it. (Petra C.)

IM EINSATZ – Alerte en pays neutre (SIA / JSP Distr.)
Enfin ! On l’a longuement attendue, la troisième production d’Im Einsatz (ex-Die Macht), sans doute le seul projet dark ambient-martial de Suisse à évoluer dans une veine comparable aux Joyaux de la Princesse, Wappenbund, ou Thoroidh est enfin sorti sur le label français Slaughter In Art. «Alerte en Pays Neutre» est un album thématique consacré à l’histoire «controversée» de la Suisse durant la dernière Guerre et au concept de neutralité armée. Une «Gesamtkunstwerk» pour lequel se devine un impressionnant travail de documentation en amont, reflété tant dans les samples que les (magnifiques) textes du livret. Un authentique et bouleversant «devoir de mémoire» donc, à l’opposé de l’auto-flagellation imposée à la Suisse contemporaine par des autorités démissionnaires et veules, vendues aux lobbies avec la bénédiction d’une «élite » médiatico-intellectuelle autoproclamée, ayant depuis longtemps perdu toute crédibilité. Des autorités qui feraient d’ailleurs bien de réécouter parfois les discours de leurs prédécesseurs, judicieusement parsemés sur cet album. Ce qui frappe en effet à l’écoute de ces documents sonores rares, extraits de journaux d’informations, discours officiels et proclamations en français et en allemand, c’est l’incroyable – pour nos contemporains! - fierté d’être Suisse, d’appartenir à cette petite communauté alpine, trilingue et pacifique au cœur du cyclone - et la résolution totale et sincère de la défendre coûte que coûte.
Pendant six longues années, la Suisse a vécu dans l’isolement et la peur du lendemain, encerclée de toute part et prête au pire, prête à affronter la catastrophe d’une invasion. Quel aurait été l’issue de celle-ci, on ne le saura jamais - en grande partie parce que, comme le rappelle "Alerte...", l’effet dissuasif a été suffisant: attaquer la Suisse aurait couté plus à l’Allemagne que le profit qu’elle aurait pu en retirer.
La musique de Im Einsatz se veut une commémoration de l’esprit de résistance: symphonique, grandiose voie grandiloquente, mais aussi saturée et étouffante, elle reflète exactement cette atmosphère lourde de sombre tension et de préparation, cette veille tendue qui ne se résoud jamais en explosion: une longue attente l’arme au poing, juste au bord du gouffre, l’angoisse statique au cœur de l’apocalypse d’acier.
Des citations dan le livret replacent la Suisse dans une perspective historique réelle et non révisionniste. Ainsi celle de Winston Churchill, si contradictoire pour les néo-historiens d’Etat qu’ils l’ont sciemment occultée: «Of all the neutrals, Switzerland has the greatest right distinction… she has been a Democratic State, standing for freedom and self-defense among her mountains, and in thought, in spite of race, largely on our side.» (LK)

INFAMIS - Upiór - qualis rex, talis grex (Beast of Prey)
Don't let the rather lame "black metal" name and artwork fool you - Infamis have nothing to do with the long-hair-and-corpse-paint scene. "Upiór" is martial and bombastic neoclassical music of epic proportions, quite simply a must-have for all fans of H.E.R.R., Von Thronstahl or T.D.O.T.T.C. All tracks (instrumentals except for the first one, which features impressive operatic singing) are perfectly orchestrated and deeply moving, like the powerful symphonic soundtrack to a big budget movie about past wars, conquest and loss, greatness and despair. "Upiór" ("ghost" in Polish) was inspired by a passage of Nietzsche's "And Also Sprach Zarathustra". As usual with Polish labels, "Upior" comes in a special packaging, this time an A5, black and gold booklet, limited to 333 copies. The "collector edition" (in a big cardboard box with tons of inserts including a… horn?!) was ridiculously limited (6 copies!), don't hope to get one… but the normal version is well worth checking out anyway. (Lars K.)

IN MY ROSARY- The Shades of Cats (Trisol)
An unhoped-for return of the German In My Rosary! One knew that they were still active from participating in the Swiss compilation "people of the mask" and their presence at the Wave Gotik Treffen 2001, but since 1997 they had not relesed any albums. The last "Against the Grain" had us all a little surprised by its dancefloor oriented electro approach, but the new opus is more like "Under the mask of stone" or "Those silent years": Ethereal and poetic Dark-Folk within a darkwave matrix and without any provocative or WWII imagery. Furthermore on this subject In My Rosary dissociate from any political or rightwing identity - in the booklet one can read: "fight fascism now! " - and this time they even removed the runes which usually decorate their work, in order to avoid confusion, though this might be going a bit too far. On the musical level as always accoustic guitars, accompanied by melancholic synthetic sounds and pulsating rhythms, the whole very close to "Nada" the masterpiece of Death in June. The album also contains a very successful cover of Siouxsie and the Banshees‘ "Red Light". A CD you should buy and listen to if you wish to remember what the dark-folk/darkwave scene was like in the 90ies. (Antz)

IN RUIN - Seeds of the Past (Bunkier Prod.)
But… wait… it's :Of the wand and the moon:!? Mmh, no, it's In Ruin actually, the solo project of Terry Collia, an American but with a German website (so I guess it's alright, then - only joking). This is a re-issue, on the Polish (of course) label Bunkier Prod.,of In Ruin's very first demo, an unpretentious collection of rehearsals and outtakes recorded between 2002 and 2003. If Death In June, Sol Invictus and Current 93 are generally considered the "fathers" of neo-/apocalyptic folk, and bands like Strength Through Joy or :OTWATM: represent the second generation, then In Ruin, which is clearly influenced by the latter, has to be already the third generation… How time flies, as Kim Larsen would sing.
In Ruins play beautiful, moving accoustic neofolk, minimalist and intimist: just a guitar and a whispered voice, nothing more is needed here. This speaks volume about the quality of the songs, which are melancholic and quiet, but never dull. In spite of the unpolished and raw production (this was a demo, remember), I keep playing this album and love it more and more. This gives hope for the future of the genre. In Ruin could well be the next big thing in the neofolk scene. I, for one, will wait impatiently for their first true LP. (LK.)


IN SLAUGHTER NATIVES - Resurrection (Cold Meat Industry)
One of the very first outbursts on Cold Meat Industry were In Slaughter Natives, and still to this day they are one of the most renowned and well-respected acts on the label and the industrial scene today.
Since the birth of J. Havukainen's brainchild back in 1988, the accumulated brilliance and overall excitement of every In Slaughter Natives release have far surpassed what any other band, man or woman can possibly accomplish over the extent of a lifetime; and this time is no different.
We are awestruck by the bombastic mayhem and the classical agony of hell's philharmonic orchestra coming to visit, and we bow our heads in reverence to the frantic growls of the king himself grinning from his place in your living room sofa. This is pure brilliance; a masterpiece which proves that all these lonely years of everlasting anticipation have been worth the wait; In Slaughter Natives are back and still an untamed force to be reckoned with.
This is the soundtrack to the rising apocalypse, the mad laughter of the heretic burned at the stake; this is the return of a king! (Antz)

INSTITUTION D.O.L - Diskotheka Dekadenza (Halbwelt/Starkloff Medien)
The Austrian Institution D.O.L is here with his 2nd album, which starts off with an cinematic opening and an evocation of bombings and hell fire let loose. The second track includes furious speeches played backwards, Satan has been summoned from the underworld to punish the hypocrites. As a whole we have heavy beats, power electronic noise. Basically it is militant industrial going bombastic. Very dirty, very heavy and very refreshing as a new sound to the electronic industrial noise department. If you are a fan of Whitehouse, brutism, liberal bondage, industrial and pure noise and have a tendency to sometimes even lean to the "tendance" side, then this is the perfect album for you, without having the feeling that you would loose your integrity if listening to electronic beats. Heavy, noisy, rhythmic and completely decadent and hybrid. The album is not named "Diskotheka Dekadenza" for nothing. (Petra C.)

 

KRATONG - The Bees of Psychic Province (Wrotycz Records)
Psychedelic neofolk… this might appear like a strange monster, if you think of neofolk as a music for stern young men in black ties reading Evola and Nietzsche, and of psychedelism as a 1960's, hippie, peace-and-love Californian thing. But after all, there was a time not so long ago when Douglas P. was working with lysergic guru David Tibet and Tony Wakeford with Steven Stapleton of Nurse With Wounds, so…
Kratong is the side-project of Jhonny, the guitarist of Romowe Rikoito. This album took six years in the making, and it shows - it is so musically rich and versatile that it is really hard to describe. First track for instance evokes the finest moments of Sorrow, with a bitter-sweet female voice, other explore electronic ambient landscapes, other mix 60's innocence with Old European nostalgia, or neofolk with electronica… Contemplative, serene, always beautiful and moving, Kratong is a 70 minutes multidimensional trip through the mysteries of nature, romantic poetry and psychoactive mushrooms. No hazard that Kratong are coming from Königsberg, Prussia: a city that doesn't exist anymore, in a province that is no more, only as a symbol of a world lost for ever, a world that still haunts our psyche. The lost city of the psychic province, where the imperial golden bees still fly. Comes in an A5 booklet. (LK)

 

LADY MORPHIA - Recitals to Renewal (Tesco)
The first long play CD of the two Nedzynski brothers is a real surprise in the barren landscape of sombre, English sounds - which are normally oscillating between low-budget technoid rhythms and Sisters/Fields goth-rock clones. Actually these young men propose a very good dark-folk, apocalyptic music. Truly, the influences of 'The Masters' like Death In June or more recently Ostara (ex-Strength Through Joy) remain, but the music has a strong personal touch and tries to integrate elements from the 80ies' gothic sounds, classic music or even Wagneresque orchestrations like those from Koda (In The Nursery). Additionally this album features sumptuous illustrations and is dedicated to the memory of the controversial German writer Ernst Jünger (1895 - 1998) - a Nihilist fond of nature and Nietzsche, a collector of butterflies, courageous warrior and anti-nazi nationalist. Accordingly the song texts are impregnated with eurocentrism and romanticism, concern themselves with the survival of our culture, of hope and hopelessness. They are underlain with neo-classical arrangements, simple guitar sounds, bells, martial percussion and voices inspired by liturgical choirs. Some passages are more experimental, some almost Pop (in the sense of Ostara's last album), but these are always mixed with tormented and sombre soundscapes which almost remind Christian Death's 'Atrocities' but accompanied by Rose Cloud's (from Death In June) guitar. This album can be recommended to all those who think that English music can no longer stir any emotions. (Antz)

 

MARSPITER - Ultionis (Somnambulant Records)
The American label Somnambulant Records, based in Washington (not DC, luckily) is active in that grey area between dark ambient and martial industrial that has become so popular lately. With Ultionis (the Latin word for revenge), second album by Marspiter, they offer one of the most sinister thing I ever heard in this field. Ultimately dark, heavy, and oppressive, this is an evil, though immaterial, beast that breathes toxic fumes, sucking the air away. The main particularity or Marspiter is their ultra-low, distant, muffled but (at the same time) huge sound, a sound coming from the deepest abyss of the bloody past, with so much bass frequencies it will destroy your amps. Marching drums in the far distance, echoes of Gregorian or old marching chants… think Thoroidh, or the latest NON, only much heavier. Impressive. Limited to 300 copies, first 50 in a special packaging, as you would expect. (Lars K)

MROK- Res Divinae (Beast of prey 2005)
MROK's second album is more of a collectors item. Produced as an A5 book-like format, with ghastly graphics and limited to 222 hand-numbered copies, "Res Divinae" is divided into two parts of dark ambient and noise. These previously unreleased tracks starts off with an atmosphere of doom & gloom, burning witches and materialized chaos. Further listening invites us to repetitive noise of cracking, wheels, and samples of cinematographic distorted voices. The influence of dark industrial is there, lurking far in the distance but nonetheless in a short supply. The third track is already more awake, even more dark but less "witchcraft". From track 4and on, the dark ambient leans more and more to the noise department, jinxed together with a chaotic orgy of electronic devices beyond recognition.
MROK, the polish word for "darkness" is a well chosen term for this type of music but adding titles such as; " The beast, The Fallen, Hallowed by Martyr Blood" makes it become almost too demonstrative, reminding us of devilish teenagers, angst and parodic devil worshiping for dark matters. But if you are into soothsaying, talisman-making and pagan religion as well as dancing naked in the moonlight praising Tusculum and his leader, then go ahead and buy it, it should be your thing. (Petra C)

 

NAAG - Tulku (War Office Propaganda) (CD+video)
This is the debut by NAAG, a mysterious project about which nothing is known so far. Eleven unnamed (but numbered) tracks of hypnotic, ritual dark ambient music, with a truly authentic and seldom heard mystical/magickal quality. The music is cold and melodic in a Kirlian Camera way, thoug more experimental and minimalist. Somehow it reminds me of that Italian project T.A.C., also reviewed on this page. Sparse beats, cold atmosphere, sublte melodies in rarefied air… Easy to the ear, yet absolutely fascinating. The release include a 13-minute long and very professional video clip. A shaved guy in a robe walks in a dark winter forest, comes to a ruined house, performs some type of ritual then some strange sigills appear… somehow the images capture perfectly the magick, menace and mystery of the music. Limited to 200 hand-numbered copies, professionally printed CDR and cover. (Lars K.)

NEITHER NEITHER WORLD -Invisible Angel (Shayo)
If you are a fan of God Speed You Black Emperor, Angels of light, Current 93 and the voice of Mazzy Star, Rose McDowall and so on, then this is the ideal album for you. The cd cover is pretty much a replica of "The final solstice 2" by Sorrow, and the sound as well, but in addition to that Neither Neither World gives us a combination of the trembling guitar by Good Speed You Black Emperor together with that melancholic pop and dreamy ambiance by Slowdive and the beautiful voice of Wendy Van Dusen, which works out extremely well.
Track four is much rawer in its guitar and sound compartment, when compared to the other songs on the album. It is more similar to Quickspace and reminds us very much of "Goodbye precious mountain" on their album "preciousfalling" (Kitty Kitty, 1998). The David Lynch "Twin Peak" feeling is very much present in track seven, perhaps a bit too much, but none the less worth listening to.
The album "Invisible Angel" does only contain seven tracks, which is rather short, but the tracks themselves cover up for the playing time. Even though some tracks seem too similar to the mentioned groups above, it is a brilliant album and very recommended. It gives that innocent dreamy nostalgic feeling that so many groups today have forgotten about and it is a nice feeling to know that some bands are still able to deliver it. (Petra C.)

O QUAM TRISTIS - Funérailles des petits enfants (Palace Of Worms)
The almost millenary melancholic enchantment of medieval music passes through the ages like a fog in the downs and reaches us stronger than ever. O Quam Tristis demonstrate this anew with this sumptuous compilation of medieval music remixed Electro-style: 'Funerailles de petits enfants'. Texts exclusively in Latin - the one antique language par excellence, inviting languorous meditation like no other language. Besides, the texts have been taken from the "Gregorian Manual'. In the beginning Anna and Katerina's voices (style heavenly voices) form a strong contrast to the more guttural male voices, which then tangle up into an inextricable labyrinth of choirs and solos and finally merge with futuristic Electro sounds, sometimes light, sometimes clearly darker, like a lament battling with the aggressions of time. The hypnotic melodies of the harpsichord, the acoustic guitar, the synthesizer and the flute add to the subtle ambiance of a spleen floating in an ancestral atmosphere. To really appreciate such a masterpiece it is absolutely necessary to retire to an appropriate location like an old decrepit castle surrounded by a dense, mysterious forest for example. If you then close your eyes, there is no doubt that the more imaginative amongst you will be transported into the era of King Arthus and his knights. After the 15 rather short tracks have been listened to, a hidden song takes us by surprise and catapults us back to our bleak reality - actually this last track is clearly more Electro oriented, like an incursion into a world different from the one evoked before, purging without pity all the beauty from a medieval background. (Antz)

OSTARA - Kingdom Gone (Eis+Licht)
First : The new Ostara (ex strenght through joy) album is a pure wonder, although not Dark-Folk but rather electronic Pop-Folk-Wave despite the very Gothic/Neofolk pocket! Listening to the opening hit "Bavaria" is enough to be submerged by the freshness of a spring day, to want to open up the windows and to say hello to the rising sun and the singing birds! Somewhere between New-wave à la Cure and melancholic Pop with a Neofolk guitar à la Smiths, the following pieces are far from their early work reminding Death In June. In spite of the pop tone of the music the texts remain faithful to the concerns of the dark-folk scene : the decline of Europe, disillusion, lost love, honor, sacrifice or the search for the lost values of the knighthood! Three pieces leave this atmosphere towards a more apocalyptic industrial plane: 'March of the rising' with samples of Japanese Kamikaze planes ; 'Tatenokai', a sort of repetitive ritual and 'Kingdom Gone', very close to the work of Blood Axis! Get it urgently ! (Antz)

OZYMANDIAS & ELIJAH'S MANTLE - The Soul Of Romanticism (De Nova Da Capo/ World Serpent)
Ozymandias is the musical project of a young Valaisan fan of the Cure, Skulls and Nick Cave, put to piano with some talent a few years ago. His compositions more bring to mind the romantic works of Liszt than new wave. Our national hero, after having been produced via the Germanic Weisser Heibst label (founded by the members of Endraum), has been approached by those misfits World Serpent, who are known for having produced and distributed such rare pearls as Death in June and Current 93 themselves. Being part of the World Serpent stable, Mark St John alias Elijah's Mantle (who has worked most notably with Bendan Pewrry from Dead Can Dance), decided to lend his deep vocals to a joint project dedicated to the soul of English romanticism, dear to both. The piano compositions are minimalist and emotional; with his deep, warm voice Mark chants the poems of Shelley, Lord Byron, Wordsworth and Coleridge. A puremasterpiece of intimacy, and a long way away from current cybernetic trends. (Antz)

OZYMANDIAS- Layla (Ramses Re./ World Serpent)
The search towards purity of our compatriot Christophe Terretaz alias Ozymandias (named thus after a poem by Shelley) continues. Just like the precedent album 'Karnak' this new opus can be regarded as a concept album, but where the last one was turned to the past of the Egyptian tombs, this one concentrates on American and Japanese independent cinema (as for example Gallo's Buffalo 66 and Makoto Shinozaki's Okaeri amongst others). The music however, always remains the same - neo-classic, stripped just like the statue which illustrates the small booklet and romantic like the poem of Byron on its back. Melancholy, lost love but also redemption can be discovered between the silences, susurrations and delicate piano sounds of the 13 compositions. To be listened to urgently! (Antz)

PIMENTOLA - Tuoni Pauloo Tiukoin Sitein (War Office Propaganda)
Pimentola, a new project from Finland, takes its name from the finnish national epic Kalevala; it stands (quote from an interview) for "a dark kingdom partly in the North and partly in the Abyss, sometimes also called "Ultima Thule" and occasionally referred as the same place as "Tuonela" (Netherworld, the realm of the dead)." From that only you can have a pretty good idea of what Pimentola sounds like. Simply said, excellent and powerful neoclassical music, martial and pompous, with a huge symphonic sound, lots of horns and absolutely hypnotic and trance-inducing percussions. Somewhere between Toroidh, Karjalan Sissit and Allerseelen (for the warm classical loops and tribal/ritual rhythms). A very good surprise. This 3 tracks EP (without any titles, in the Blutharsch tradition) is edited by the ever more impressive Polish label War Office Propaganda, which is quickly becoming one of the leading name in the epic-industrial genre and a new reference, like Cold Meat a few years back. (LK)

PARANOIA INDUCTA / MOAN - Body & Steel (MCDR / Beast of Prey / 2005)
20 minutes for exploration & 20 minutes listening time. In all it gives us 10 minutes of two rather complimentary but still opposite pieces of work. Starting of with "Peine Forte & Dure" which consists of more than distorted repetitions, percussions and decadent ritual sound. As the minutes go past, the rhythm accelerates and drags you curiously into wanting to hear the finishing build-up. It is rather similar to an experimental film by Michael Snow, where the constant repetition makes you want to force yourself to stay awake, as if you were afraid to miss the highlight of its course.
The second track is quite of a different kind, additional sound sources and layers of warped and literally industrial machinery creating a shamanic search for the inner. A strange piece of work I must say, but none the less, interesting and a worth listening to, just to remain curious, because even after having listened to it, It leaves you with a sincere uncertainty and a fascination for what you can not really put your finger on. (Petra C.)

PRIMUS INTER PARES - Gerda (Eis+Licht)
Primus Inter Pares is the new (side) project of Frank Machau, i. e. Primus Inter Pares is basically Orplid without the (fantastic) visuals and lyrics of Uwe Nolte. The music on Gerda is fully electronic, even though it does sound warm, organic and natural. Beautiful and peaceful melodies, quietly melancholic, seem to flow like fresh water; long, ethereal, dream-inducing tracks with clear guitars and the unique singing of Frank Machau (who dedicated this album to his newborn daughter) induce a state of pleasant melancholy… this is fantastic music for the lazy summer days and warm nights, spiritual and sensual at the same time. Eis+Licht compare P.I.P. to Air, which is quite appropriate, but basically Gerda really sounds like Orplid without the "Sturm und Drang" pathos. Simply beautiful and very, very recommended. (LK)

RAISON D'ÊTRE - Requiem for Abandoned Souls (Cold Meat Industry)
One of the persons in the extended CMI family that doesn't need a particulary long introduction is Peter Andersson. His Raison d'être was one of the first acts to be featured on CMI, and over the last ten years he has kept refining their signature sound over an extensive discography. Three years since the previous album, the new offering 'Requiem for Abandoned Souls' is a kind of climax, a career peak that all previous albums have pointed up to, where the music sets a perfect backdrop for the theme as spelled out by the album title. The key to understanding Andersson's vision for this album lies in the track titles; read separately, or taken together as a poem. The toll of a church bell escorts the listener on an existential voyage through the world according to Raison d'être, a bleak place populated by shadowy souls abandoned of all hope. But don't let that scare you away, because this remarkably beautiful collection of songs is a true remedy in this age of chaos; when the outside withers away, the inside fills with emptiness, and there's nothing left to believe in. A masterpiece! (Antz)

ROSE, ROVINE E AMANTI - Rose, rovine e amanti (autoprod.)
Excellent surprise straight from the eternal city of Rome, where this young one-man-project comes from. Rose... produces e very original brand of neofolk, almost schizophrenic in its diversity. This self-produced debut EP ranges from the apocalyptic folk à la Current 93 of "Rovine di un Impero" to the... what, neo-barocco? "Carme", with its soooo italian mandoline. Another song mixes classic, accoustic neofolk and ambient sounds, something that reminds of the early (and latest) more experimental DIJ. It ends with a long extract from the cult movie Taxi Driver… a mark of good taste, definitely!
The voice of Damiano Mercuri also is completely unrecognizable from one song to the other. There is a kind of druggy, stoned feeling on some of the songs, reminding of the foggy atmospheres of Novy Svet... "stoned neofolk"? The good point is that it never sounds like a copy : though you can find some points of comparisons with more established projects, there are always more differences than similarities. A very promising project. (Lars K)

 ROSE ROVINE E AMANTI - Woyzeck (autoprod.)
The new album by Italy's Rose Rovine e Amanti, the project around musical genius Damiano Mercuri, is a reviewer's nightmare. If the first album was diverse, this one is so rich it's just impossible to categorize. The album opens with "Intro", a beautiful, melancholic neofolk ballad with violin, accoustic guitar and drums, reminiscent of Argine. "Lupo" is in the same vein but with a drunken twist, as if Novy Svet was jamming with Spiritual Front (who's singer Simone appears briefly as "nihilist voice" on the outro of the album, by the way). "Noi vi odiamo" is a brilliant dark electro number with an great melody which could be a hit on any dancefloor, if it wasn't for it's very muted sound, full of distant echoes and reverb. "Puttane, Sfruttatori, Ladri e Assassini" then makes an incursion in the dark ambient genre. Mainly a somewhat disturbing collage of Italian film dialogues, presumably taken from Herzog's film Woyzeck (that I haven't seen, so I can only guess), it also features the line "Unser Battalion kennt nur Kampf..." made famous by Der Blutharsch, intertwined with the orgasmic screams of some obviously talented actress… disturbing. "The Drunken Man Song" is self-descriptive - Tom Waits, here we come! "Il rifugio di Mishima" with its hypnotic bells melody on a clock-like rhythm, full of atmosphere and overwhelming sadness, leads to my favourite number, "Domus 243". If Douglas P had been born in Rome, this is how "Runes and Men" would have sounded. Stern, solemn, hopeless and dignified. Rose Rovine e Amanti is Italy's best kept secret at the moment. Hurry and order this very limited (77 copies only!) A5 box directly to:
www.myspace.com/roserovineamanti

ROSES SCATTERED LOVE DECAYS (RSLD)
Violent Experience WAR II (Myrddin Records / 2001)
Path Of Blood (Myrddin / 2002)
Beside a rather complicated name, RSLD (let's make it simple) distinguishes itself straight away through its very arty and professional artwork, perfectly in line with the musical content of those two albums. RSLD can be labelled as dark ambient, extremely dark and cold indeed, in the same league as NON or Deutsch Nepal, with some incursions in power electronics territory. Violent Experience WAR II thus offers some terribly agressive tracks, evil monsters that reduce the listener to shreds: screamed, saturated vocals, heavy rhythms of some machinery on the verge of implosion, threatening and pitiless. "Wenn die Soldaten (Tod in Krieg mix)" is particularly powerful. A few calmer tracks in between such schrapnels explosion come as a true relief. Symphonic ghosts and distant, sad and muted melodies littered with classic samples (historical speeches, sirens, atmospheric noises...) sometimes hint at LJDLP. All in all, the universe of RSLD, oppressive and without any way-out, full of iron smell and boots noises, of past wars and death, may appear excessively bleak, but as we stand on the threshold of a third World War, happily planned by the USA on some (auto)destructive delirium, such a soundtrack might appear very appropriate in the coming times. I recommend you try and check some Mp3 on RSLD website! (LK)

 RSLD - L'Aube de la Révolte (Eurune Media / 2003)
This is already the third album of Roses Scattered Love Decays, a Swiss project consisting of one man, who goes by the name of JF. The least that can be said is that "L'Aube de la Révolte" marks a very strong progress from RSLD previous efforts. To describe RSLD latest sound, let's say that it's still much harder and more aggressive than Der Blutharsch, less symphonic than Von Thronstahl, and actually quite close to Wappenbund. Apocalyptic war music, Martial post-industrial at its most crushing. Most titles are still quite harsch, most of all perhaps "Die Macht", an epic 8 minutes monster that builds slowly from a relatively quiet start into a terrible wall of noise, a storm of steel that literally crushes your senses, like the noise of 1000 Krupps factories resonating inside a huge concrete blockhaus. "Tears of June" then comes like melodic accalmy, soothing and melancolic, the calm after the storm, the sad aftermath of that final June invasion which marked the end for Europe. Bigger sound, more elaborate constructions, and above all some very melodic and hypnotic pieces: "L'Aube de la Révolte" should get RSLD noticed far outside our small Swiss borders. (LK)
www.rsld.ch

RUN ATALANTA! - Rituals of Grünberg (War Office Propaganda)
The official story goes like this: the Polish label War Office Propaganda was originally created as a kind of "joint-venture" between the music project Cold Fusion and the already existing label Beast of Prey specially to issue this album, limited to 70 copies only. The music was supposedly sent anonymously through the post, so no-one knows who actually hides behind the name Run Atalanta… well, nice story. Anyway, this is very, very fine dark ambient music indeed. Run Atalanta manage to sound really original, unique and inovative in this saturated genre, which is no small feat. Using very cold, spacey electronic soundscapes and sparse, destructured to martial/ritual rhythms, they create a futuristic, space-age atmosphere that remind me sometimes of some stuff the British label Warp used to produce in the 90's. Might be headache inducing, but very interesting nonetheless. (Lars K)

 

SALA - En-Trance (Autarkeia)
This album (or should it be considered a EP) contains only two tracks, but lasting for more than 40 minutes. It is a live recordings, i.e. no studio effects or elaborate production, recorded in one take almost 10 years ago by quite mysterious lituanian act Sala. Perfect music for a theatrical buto-style spectacle, ritual-magickal ambient with an authentically organic feel. No cold electronics here: the archaic wind instruments, the excellent, driving, pulsing tribal percussions, the banging and scraping of steel, the haunting, praying voices, everything is as real and raw as it gets. Quite fascinating and refreshing. "Natural industrial", anyone? (Lars K.)


SANCTUM - Let's Eat (Cold Meat Industry)
After 8 years of absence, Sanctum will finally feed all you hungry masses with new material. The impatiently awaited new album "Let's eat" will demand you to be curious and willing to taste the unknown. Like Sanctums previous work it's still about contrasts, but with stripped down sounds, less bombastic, rougher and more powerful. Still a pleasurable experience, for sure not easy to digest - more hard reality instead of baroque feasts. Sanctum is a band from the Cold Meat Industry label, that with their first album "Lupus in fabula" opened up a new dimension in Nordic industrial music. Founded by Jan Carleklev and Håkan Paulsson in 1994, the band has since been joined by different musicians. For "Let's eat", Sanctum invited a new singer, Sara-Lo av Ekstam. The groups approach has always been not to follow any specific genre, but to experiment and to enjoy their music in full. A fact that can not only have been heard in their music, but also seen during their shows when the third permanent member of Sanctum, Ulrika Carlsson, takes care of the video performances. Their reputation has provided them with countless opportunities to tour in Europe and the States. (Antz)


Scontrum Act III- V/A: STAHLWERK 9, COLD FUSION, KREPULEC (War Office Propaganda)
Le label War Office Propaganda nous gratifie là d'un split pour le moins intéressant réunissant les trois projets Stahlwerk 9, Cold Fusion et Krepulec.
L'entier du cd nous plonge dans une atmosphère froide et angoissante digne du meilleur Dark-Ambiant, le tout saupoudré parfois de samples plus torturés et plus rythmés.
Les 3 premiers titres, de Stahlwerk 9, sont dédiés au sous-marin Polonais "Orzel" qui, après l'invasion de la pologne par l'Allemagne du fuir son pays. Néanmoins, l'entier du cd, c'est à dire également les titres de Cold Fusion et de Krepulec semblent dédiés à l'ambiance mortelle des combats navaux. Seul le titre ORP orzel nous sort un peu de cette ambiance pour nous plonger dans une ambiance guerrière classique proche de Der Blutharsch.
Cette forme de Dark-Ambiant nous plonge dans les abysses de la guerre sous-marine. L'ambiance dégagée par le tout est lourde, voir même étouffante. Le son se dégage avec lenteur et irrégularité sous la surface. On pourrait même ressentir une sensation de suspense qui émane de cette étrange croisière dans les eaux glacées de la mer du Nord.
Alors que souvent le son est lourd, irrégulier et froid, parfois les samples reprennent le dessus. Les rythmes martiaux donnent du tonus à l'ensemble et l'on peut alors identifier une forme d'Industriel Ambiant proche de Darkwood qui donne un peu de dynamique à ce split. L'agonie, la fuite, la peur, la souffrance et l'espoir sont les maîtres mots de cette ambiance pesante et martiale.
Tout d'abord suprenant, ce split mérite largemment que l'on y accorde du temps et de l'écoute. Il s'aventure sur les terrains noueux des combats et de l'ambiance sous-marine. Pour un peu que l'on aie pas précisé l'époque, on se croirait en pleine guerre froide. A noter les bruits de sonar vraiment bien reproduits et le travail sur le son vraiment très appréciable pour ces groupes dont la tendance Noise/Power Electro est généralement des plus marquées. (Lionel J.)


SCORN - Greeting from Birmingham (Hymen)
SNOG - Relax into the abyss (Hymen)
AMMO - The Age of terminal irony (Flyco)
The famous German label Antzen has established two new sub-labels Hymen and Flyco. These produce CDs by interesting electronic projects that do not fit into the original label's concept based exclusively on industrial and power-electronic rhythms. Actually three productions have been released recently: Scorn, a split-off from metal-hardcore band Napalm Death, but whose music is actually light-years away from the sounds of the original band: A dark and clipped dub approaching a very though Drum'n'Bass, tainted with industrial and dark-ambient sounds. Snog is a parallel project of the techno-industrial formation Black Lung. For them this is a sort of recreation, conjugating their esteem for EBM pioneers - like Front 242or FLA - with obscure country-pop. The result is really amazing! The album is a selection of remixes and curiosities. What to say about Ammo? They play a sort of experimental, obscure Drum'n'bass, surrealistic and humorous at the same time, with very high-tech electronic sounds. You can't really imagine this? Go and hear the album! (Antz)

SKADI - Eliwager (ART-KONKRET)
The first release of this new German one-man project was an online-album, available for download on Lichttaufe.de. Now Skadi takes the next logical step with its first "real" CD. Eliwagar would have to be filed under "dark ambient" of course, yet you'll feel no standard drones or pointless noises here; but very elaborate, rich and subtle compositions using a huge array of sounds and instruments - percussions of all kind, string instruments, bells, choirs and chants, aso. The music, luminous and very melodic, gives an impression of vastness, of great outdoor, of icy, breathtaking natural soundscapes. In the Germanic mythology, Skadi is the Goddess of mountain, winter and hunting. Quite appropriately, this is meditative music with an obvious, ritual, almost religious quality. Skadi is also wife to Njord, the vane God of Plenty and Richness - and obviously this project is destined to great things. Ambient, surely, but dark? Certainly not. To the New Light! (Lars K)

SOPOR AETERNUS - Songs from the inverted womb (Trisol)
Anna-Varney - the terrifying hermaphrodite who has been haunting us for nearly a decade - has re-emerged from his catacombs to present his latest work. He is accompanied by the mysterious Ensemble of Shadows, gathering some ten musicians, mastering the most various instruments in the pure tradition of neo-classical Gothic: Violin, cello, oboe, trumpet, trombone, tuba, percussions, etc. - a thing we have not heard since Dead Can Dance, as most of the newer DarkFolk bands use samples and synthetic sounds à la Bontempi. This album is a sort of return to DarkFolk and neo-classical compositions, very elaborate and using less trivial and medieval melodies as on the last three albums. The music is more melodious but even darker than usual and accompanied by a lamenting and uncanny voice, adding even some despair and hatred to the songs. The leading theme of this album seems to be childhood in all its sadness and horror (the onset of the ageing process, the notion of being and all the suffering associated with it), the whole ting an autobiography dedicated to the memory and resurrection of 'Little Seven', deceased at age 7. (Antz)

SPIES/VON MAGNET Under Influence (Cinetiks)
Holeg, moitié musicale du duo français multimedia Spies, remixe ici Von Magnet, inventeurs de l'electro-flamenco, en piochant au gré des trois derniers albums du collectif franco-catalan. Sorti sur un label fondé pour l'occasion au nom très justement évocateur, cet album évoque bien une BO de film, émotionnelle, destructurée, complexe et labyrinthique. On se perd avec bonheur et quelques frissons dans les dédales surprenants de cette musique aussi abstraite qu'incarnée, froidement sensuelle, intellectuellement instinctive. Inclassable et fascinant. (Lars K.)

SPIIRITUAL FRONT- Nihilist cocktails for calypso inferno (Oktagon)
The Roman Simone Salvatori's (voice, cords, machines) new opus - backed up by Fabio Colucci (violin and flute) - is a pure masterpiece of Darkfolk nihilist music with a desperate Gothic tendency. A cocktail of languid ballades full of nostalgia and frustration. A soundtrack to express the end of passions, the fall of ideals, the loss of certainty. 'An anthem to nihilism and paranoia' as the singer with a crooner's voice somewhere between Nick Cave and Laibach & accompanied by instrumentations reminding of the first work from Death In June, likes to point out. A true revelation in the codified world of Darkfolk music, as much from the point of view of sonorities as from the contents. Splendid! To be listen to with the repeat on endless. This album can cause a morbid melancholy, a pleasant torpor which may be difficult to escape! (Antz)

STORMFÅGEL - Den Nalkande Stormen (Cold Meat Industry)
The main character in this group, Andreas Neidhardt, has successfully combined a mixture of Swedish roots together with Hungarian folk. An album that is completely surprising, with its mixture between martial,industrial-pop, folk, electronic subtlelty and neo classic influences. It is both melodious and romantic, with the adding of a beautiful woman voice who is singing in Hungarian, together with violins, piano and occasional bells. But at the same time completely off playing with war samples and rhythmic drums. An atmosphere of mysticism, folk tales, deep& dark Swedish forests and martial powerful ambiance.
Track 4 can be related to "la marche des morts" by Gaë Bolg, whilst other tracks can be referred to groups such as Arcana, Blood Axis or Camerata Mediolanense, but with a softer, electronic light touch to it. It is very hard to define this album, since it really contains such a large variety of mixture of various styles, but surprisingly there is not one single track that is not successful. Having to be true to my "Fosterland / Moder Svea" as well as patriotic when it comes to Cold Meat Industry and Swedish martial bands, I must say that this is an absolutely brilliant album and i advise you to listen too it as soon as you can with or without schnapps. :) Skàl... (Petra C.)

SYNAPSCAPE - So What (Ant-zen)
IMMINENT STARVATION - Nord (Ant-zen)
Produced by the best label for rhythmical industrial music of the moment, these two discs are a must for every power-electronic technoïd fan. These two innovating bands really know how to combine dark atmospherical landscapes with brutal, violent rhythms and experimental noise. Although being a typical Ant-zen product, Synascape knows how to avoid the label's clichés and dares to put a voice (even though it is filtered an d distorted) amongst the leaden rhythms. For Imminent Starvation, a real steamroller and dark-industrial dance-floor hit-machine, this is the last album before the amputation of the 'Starvation'. Consequently the limited edition version of this disc is presented in plastic food container with an original bit of the now destroyed mixing table. The next project starts under the name Imminent + Synascape, and guess with whom... (Antz)

 

T.A.C - Waiting for the Twilight (SmallVoices)
"Waiting for Twilight" is the first release of the Italian label Small Voices. This is just the most interesting electronic music I've heard in a while, somewhere between techno-era Coil, futuristic trip-hop, dub, dark ambient, and the ultra cold melodies of a more experimental Kirlian Camera. This album, the second from T.A.C, took five years in the making, and it shows. Each piece is built upon layers and layers of manipulated sounds, always with a nice groove and melody. Actually, these are remixes of the original songs from their… third album, Twilight Rituals. Twisted? Yes, but in a good way. Cellos and electric guitars floating in deep space among technoid soundwaves and bleeps, distant voices, sparse beat and cold atmosphere. T.A.C is "electronica noir" at its best. Groovy, very hypnotic, easy to the ears and yet far too rich and emotional to be just "relaxing music". Very recommended to absolutely anyone. (LK)

TERRORITMO - A°F (Punch Records)
Terroritmo is better known for their HauRucK! Connection (the 10" "Serpenta"), though apparently the project actually exists in some form or another since 1991.
Don't let the name fool you: there is neither much terror nor powerful rhythms to be found here. It's hard for me to review this record, because basically I'm not too much into experimental sound collages. Metallic kling-klangs in the distance, whispering voices, drones, embrionic melodies, heavy infrabass drones, echoes…the A side (A is for Aqua) would be a brilliant soundtrack for one of the weirder David Lynch movies, but on it's own I tend to find it a bit boring. The F-side (Fire) is less minimalistic, with an outstanding transe-inducing drum tracks reminding of Apoptose "Blutopfer" and some male / female vocals,, but on the whole it's still very experimental dark ambient with an oniric quality à la Kenneth Anger.
If layers upon layers of percussive sounds and noise loops is your idea of fascinating music, then this is definitely how it should be done. A°F comes in 444 hand-numbered copies, in a full black embossed cover. (LK)

THE DAYS OF THE TRUMPET CALL - I Saw no temple in the city (Black Rain)
Magnifique production neo-classique et apocalyptique, comme le nom du groupe l'indique, éditée en somptueux picture disc vinyle. La base musicale est arrangé avec un orgue de type synthétique agrémenté d'une guitare et quelque samples lyriques de textes de Eichendorff et Rilke qui se combinent à merveille avec la musique romantique, mélancolique et épique à souhait. Certains morceaux peuvent faire penser aux compositions de And also the trees du début des 90's. Conseillé si vous aimez les morceaux les plus orchestraux de Von Thronstahl (ex-Fortcoming Fire) projet dans lequel Raymond P. milite aussi. (Antz)

THE MOON AND THE NIGHT SPIRIT - Of Dreams Forgotten and Fables Untold (Equilibrium Music)
This is a truly European release: the first album of a Hungarian duett on the excellent Portuguese label Equilibrium (also one of the very best mailorder by the way). TMATNS (the names does remind us of something…) create dreamy medieval folk graced with the absolutely beautiful heavenly voice of Agnes Toth (who also plays violin and piano) and the delicate accoustic guitar of Mihaly Szabo. Two highly skilled musician who manage to transport the listener to realms of pagan fable and mysticism. The lyrics, most of them in English, others in Hungarian, conjure images of long-gone worlds, ancient forgotten paths and lost innocence. This is a brilliant debut of ethereal folk with neoclassical elements, the only negative point being the length: 38 minutes only, which seem like 15. Well, there's always the "repeat" function… (Lars K)

TINDERSTICKS - Trouble every day BO (Beggars Banquet)
A minimalist orchestration evoking waiting and despair, a converse maraca with trumpet and disillusioned contrabass, supported by violins and violoncello, creating a hypnotic, sad and distressing (even more than a suicidal Nick Cave) whole... an essential masterpiece. In this connection : for better a understanding it is necessary to see the film of Claire Denis. (Antz)

TOR LUNDVALL - Empty City (Strange Fortune)
This is already the fourth album of Tor Lundvall, the New York artist who might be better known by the neofolk audience for his paintings (for Sol Invictus albums, among others, check his online gallery at www.torlundvall.com). Lundvall's uniquely recognizable visual works illustrate perfectly his music, and reciprocally. Empty City is music to let your mind drift by, music to fall asleep to - but in a sleep full of dreams and visions. Trip-hop without the hop. Atmospheric yet melodic ambient stuff, deep and hypnotic. Distant rumours. Strange voices. Metallic echoes. Ghost melodies. Warm and very, very agreable. Like being alone in some suburban train, rolling quietly deeper into the night, towards the unknown, under a deep blanket of snow. Don't wake me up yet. In one word, this album is pure MAGICK. Fantastic. Buy it! (LK.)

TOR LUNDVALL - Yule (Strange Fortune)
The truly excellent Tor Lundvall, painter and musician, is back with a very special season offering: a special limited edition EP of 333 hand numbered copies, available exclusively through the label website, dedicated to this very special time of the year, when the nights are longer than the days and snow covers… no, wait, that was before global warming. Anyway, the Yule EP offers a very different take on the season. No cheesy christmas songs, but dreamy, melancholic melodies, evoking white frozenlandscapes under the full moon. Ambient, but not in the sense of "drones and noises", ambient as in "crating an atmosphere". About half the songs (nine in all, not bad for an EP!) have vocals by - I presume - Tor Lundvall himself, who has a very agreable, soft high-pitched voice. Music to relax and get to sleep to, if you wish to have vivid dreams - I tried, it works. (LK)

TOTENLIEDER - Mi Muerte para su Amor (Punch Productions)
It is no wonder this new project arises from the last Old European enclave in the heart of the Empire, Québec, la Belle Province. Totenlieder is the new project of Sébastien Leduc, formerly known as Sorgeist (one great 7" on HaurucK!). Neofolk in its simplicity, neoclassical in spirit, synthetic in its realization (the cello might be the only "real" instrument here), this is instrumental neofolk, but without the mandatory accoustic guitar. It can be linked to that other new and very interesting Canadian project (but from the cursed Anglo side), FDH. The titles in Spanish are a clear nod in direction of O Paradis (with whom Sorgeist has collaborated for a forthcoming EP) and Novy Svet (with whom Sébastien Leduc has publicly stated his wish to work with in the future). I nevertheless tend to think a voice would be welcome here. Edited by the new Italian label Punch Records, this 7" comes in a limited editon of 404 copies, hand numbered, in gatefold cover. The design itself could also be better, in my opinion. All in all, three songs, much too short, a bit frustrating, but a good appetizer for what is to come. Keep an eye open for Totenlieder. (LK)

VROMB - Episodes CD boxset (cd + 5"vinyl + metal boxset)/vinyl-boxset (2x12"+7") (Ant-zen)
VROMB "Episodes", This fourth full length release is yet another masterpiece by this extraordinary canadian artists - and we hope that you are a lucky owner of the 'perimetre 3+10' set released on ant-zen in 1999, because 'episodes' is a part of a bigger piece of work which includes 'perimetre 3+10' and the episodes' boxset. the boxset contains a 5" vinyl entitled 'perimetre 5'. a schedule explaining on how to listen to all of these items as a whole is included in the cd booklet - no wonder it took vromb almost three years to create the sounds and artwork. it has been vromb's intention since 'le facteur humain' that the text on each release should add to the music. furthermore, the text should be be lingually understood. as such, the writings on each release are translated into french, english and german. musically 'episodes' follows the path that vromb started with 'le facteur humain' and has continued developing during the last five years. the end result has been a hypnotising combination of dark, atmospheric soundscapes, rhythms and voices. also with 'episodes' you get the feeling that you are listening to a soundtrack for a film that has yet to be done. beware - this is not 'consumer ambient' you have to watch and to listen. (Antz)

VON MAGNET - El Planeta (KK)
MIMETIC MUTE - Negative (Lytch) / Positive (Moloko)
The bands Von Magnet and Mimetic have one thing in common: Jérôme Soudan, percussionist and link between these two bands.
After a magnificent first album - 'Overrated', full of European percussion and Carl Orff samples - Jérôme tries a new experience with Mimetic: a double album ('Positive' and 'Negative') produced by two very different labels. The music of both albums has its roots in the industrial culture of Berlin, contaminated with avant-garde electronic sounds and ritual ambient passages somewhere between sacred and ethno music.
Von Magnet - with Jérôme as drummer - more a troupe than a band, are known for their breathtaking performances including theatrical elements as well as dancing. Originally defined as an electro-industrial-flamenco band, Von Magnet turns to electro-ethno and atmospherical music with the new album. To be clearer, 'El Planeta' is still inspired by industrial sounds and Flamenco and most titles are based on flamenco rhythms but without acoustic guitars or a predominant voice like Camaron's. Additionally the tone-colours of the ethnic instruments are more oriental rather than Spanish, but then the roots of Flamenco are oriental, even if the music as such developed in Spain. This album is less sombre and violent than the previous ones, but nevertheless impregnated with very melancholic passages, for example with the suave voice of Flore in 'Multiplicity of Me' or the more grave voice of Phil in 'La Onda'. (Antz)

 

WELL OF SADNESS - Tarentella for the Death (Bunkier Productions)
The Well of Sadness is the music project of Daniele, Southern Italy cultural agitator nr. 1, who also used to run the great website www.neo-folk.it which published 2 fabulous neofolk/martial industrial compilations downloadable for free. A man of good taste and good will, obviously, as this album further demonstrates.
Every time I play "Tarantella for the Dead", The Well of Sadness second LP, it seems much too short, which is always a positive indication. Some tracks stand above the others though, like "Triumph", a great orchestral martial piece à la Blutharsch, followed by "Where I Live…", probably the best track, in the same bombastic vein but with angry spoken vocals, "Solo" a great heroic marching hymn, "Tarentella for the Death", a decadent, typically Italian drinking song on a waltz tempo, "Now Only Tears", a beautiful, haunted piano elegy… well, almost all songs are really good actually, and manage to sound very diverse yet in a continuous, dark and brooding atmosphere. An excellent album from a very promising project, limited to 160 copies. Hurry! (LK)

 

 47ASHES - Heilige Flammekueche (autoprod.)
It's already been 10 months or so since this album was out, but hey, what's 10 months or 10 years in our eternal struggle against the dark forces of chaos and corruption? Anyway, if you have no sense of humour and self-derision, beware - this record is not for you. 47Ashes like to take the piss. That underground French act just doesn't respect anything. Mocking Douglas P. on the cover (and the title) of the CD, coming up with hilarious titles such as "Tattoed Tits, Turntables and Totentanz (In Your Heart, You Know You're Heathen), "Brown Bretzel (for George W. Bush)", "Europalcoholocaust (Big Boozer Is Watching You)"… how dare they?! Music-wise, this is minimalistic ritual / dark ambient / experimental stuff, great if you're into the latest NON and this kind of happy-go-lucky things. Anyway, "don't give your money to Cthulhu, Wotan or Lucifer, give it to 47Ashes"! Check the mp3's on the great website of that crazy SaintPierre guy at 47ashes.free.fr (LK)