Dark content and into depth experiences (small scetches about this theme)
Trilogies and other series. (which featured in my radioshows)
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Goethes Erben (Goethe's heritage) once made a trilogy which is worth discovering in its whole for the repeated subject of traumatic birth (in after war times). The singer Henke writes and performs dark poetry, with piano and other instruments. Very Gothic styled.
The trilogy is :
"Der Traum an die Erinnerung" ("dream of memory" (D,1992)***)-the best of all three-
"Tote Augen sehen Leben" ("dead eyes come to live") (D,1994 **°)
"Das Sterben ist esthetisch bund" ("dying is connected with aesthetics") (D,1991,**°)
A few songs from around that period are about the same theme :
like "Abseits des Lichtes", from "Die Brut" and there has been a live CD from this period, called "Leben in Niemandsland".After this the group search for colours in theatre, live without being as interesting for the themes. The light might have been grown from there, but these dark themes were left behind after this.
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Another trilogy until double trilogy worth to discover is Diamanda Galas first thematic works.
Her first individual work (after her contemporary music experiments, which are almost impossible to find) is "Litanies of Satan" (GR,1984)***°° with one Beaudelaire on music track, and one experimental voice track, which is as far as a voice can go into the dark madness in an exorcised way. Her second solo work, "Divine Punishment" is based upon dark texts from the bible (1986,****°), followed by "Saint of the Pit"(1988,*****) an extremely exsive work based upon dark literature, followed by "You must be certain of the devil", a nightlife / underground nightclub mood CD (1988,****°), followed by dark gospels, "The Singer" (1992)****° Except for the live album no other later work had this into depth theme. You can hardly express it more powerfully. Most later works appealed less to me.
2008 album will be reviewed soon !!
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Another person who did some into depth research of a dark theme is Sopor Aeternus, as one of the more Gothic musicians with a truthful aproach based upon personal trauma, failure and almost mystic / paranormal recovery. His music was used a few times for Christmas time radioshows. The singer more and more expressed the theme of 'suicide' and 'departing', one of his specialised subjects (having lived in the dark for a long time, committed attempts to suicide himself too many times until he discovered 'music' and "the souls" that helped him (named as "The Ensemble of Shadows", which is also what his band in reality means to him).
The theme came clearly across at first with "Todeswunsch"(D,1989,1995)**°, not his best work yet. With "The inexperienced spiral traveller" (D,1997)**°° medieval music was combined with darker themes, transforming darkness into light music. It was with the 2 cd's of "Death Lover's Sarabande" (face 1 and 2) (1999)**°° that he really went into the depth of the theme of departing of a lost friend or may be alter ego. Well worked out, as Gothic chamber music. I did not hear his later work yet, but I had the impression the over-repetition of ideas appeared even more.
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Elend is another group who made a very good and interesting trilogy. This trilogy was based upon the ‘Office de Tenebres’, composed from a prayer of darkness. A prayer that in the Roman-Catholic liturgy is originally a cycle of 3 masses. These were called the ‘Lecons de Tenebres’ and performed during the last 3 holy days before Easter. On a paralel level it is also the story of Lucifer's transformation into Satan. The first album, is slightly in Dead Can Dance style, talks about the first unsatisfied desires of Lucifer, while the last most powerful, bombastic album expresses the pain of how Lucifer changed into Satan. With bombastic choirs, expressive and powerful neo-classical arrangements, and with death metal growling / screaming expressions of inner pain, this work is like a powerful opera. After this trilogy, “Weeping Night” is a renewed recording of all the classical music with choir but without the dark vocals. The story of Lucifer into Satan esotherically is also the story of each human falling down with their personal desires and freedom, onto the earth and its boundaries. “The Umbersun” with the crucified Christ on the cover is even more loaded, bombastic and expressive, and is the most difficult album up to now. Lucifer becoming Satan and Christ becoming crucified again esoterically are both symbols of becoming bound and sacrified to earth. Even the most spiritual desires from Christ, experience this same process. From here a new cycle of works starts. Lyrically ‘Winds devouring men’ is based on a French poem describing an Odyssey (homecoming), combining personal themes with references to the classical poem and its variable new versions. I did not hear this album yet. I have not heard this album yet. It is also still unclear to me how (much) the last work, “Sunwar The Dead” shows a next step in the thematical evolution. I understand there’s a theme of how violence and intensity have some parallels of increased energy, and that death and chaos stand against a certain peaceful restraint, which can even adapt and cure all violence to make it an expression of new harmonies. There’s also some contemporary classical music used in some tracks. Full review :
Prophecy
Elend : Sunwar the dead (AUS/F,2004)****°
Elend : Sunwar the dead (AUS/F,2004)****°“Here I am rolled and rolled by the stream. The taste of foam, the moaning of the winds” the lyrics start. I just saw a documentary of one of the biggest Russian classical conductors. He managed to create an immense intensity with his orchestra, because each detail was played so perfectly, this orchestra worked like a whirling wind with increasing energy and intensity. This kind of effect is hard to achieve. It’s not necessary that each sound finds it maximum, but also how combinations of harmonies together can create this. The wind which is cried here is the loud sound of the struggle against the reality of the violence and chaotic energy of ‘Sunwar the dead’, a vision of an uncontrolled, sudden death with its own order. What is very fine to see is that Elend, since the last album, managed to work in the studio with real classical trained musicians instead they had to multitrack much with keyboards. The solo voice is again like on the first album (in a Dead Can Dance sphere). The orchestra with some keyboards is bombastic and powerful. The drumming is slightly influenced by metal but is completely classical. There are some electronic expressions added which fit perfectly. Against the chaos and violence is a kind of very peaceful contemplation and harmony. This harmony can adapt all aspects of disharmony and violence, in which case it becomes another kind of intensity of expression. Tracks like “La terre n’aime pas le sang” experiment with the orchestral contemporary expressions, while most tracks sound like song-driven music. This classical track starts like a Russian classical music drama, then evolves with more contemporary (and brilliant) ideas of pitched subtonal music from composers like Pedercki and Xenakis, alternated and mixed with more melodic classical evolutions. “A song of Ashes” followed hereafter uses even more modern new music sound combinations for its composition. In such tracks Elend show how subtle and expressive they can compose and work when they have the possibilities of the full orchestra. After another beautiful choir driven song, “Laceration”, “Poliorketika” uses later neo-expressionist, classical music & contemporary ideas, with gamelan-like sounds and French vocals. All these mentioned tracks are new highlights of the group which found in these expressions a complete new world of expressiveness. “Blood and grey skies entwined” is a beautiful track with small orchestra, electronica, voice and harpsichord. "Threnos" is a beautiful neo-classical conclusion with female choir and accompanying orchestra.
Homepage (with reviews,interview) : http://www.elend-music.org/
Other reviews : www.metalstorm.ee/reviews/more_review.php?id=696
German review : http://www.metalglory.de/reviews.php?nr=1524
French interview : http://www.obskure.com/fr/index_2_redir.php/?url=/fr/inter_model.php3?num_inter=412
2007 album is reviewed on http://progressive.homestead.com/prog2.html
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Not music related but here's a recommended "esotheric" work explaining darker aspects of reality : http://www.hermetic.com/browe/91intro.html
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