CLXXIV. Arditi | Omne Ensis Impera

ARDITI

Omne Ensis Impera

©Equilibrium Music. Portugal, 2008.

“We sing the praise of war. Not for the way it makes people die, but for the way it makes people come alive.”

‟The highly anticipated new album by the Swedish duo is finally upon us, under the title “Omne Ensis Impera” . The sense of determination that echoes through their music and which has brought them to the forefront of Martial / Industrial Neo-Classical scene has stayed untouched, evoking the sense of duty and commitment that Italy’s WWI elite storm troops, from which the name Arditi originated, were known for.

“Omne Ensis Impera” introduces an additional strength to Arditi’s compositions - epic orchestral loops and thunderous percussions are granted a more prominent role, stirring the damp and suffocating ambiance that the duo have always produced so well with their use of ominous synths, obscure speeches and mesmerizing narrations.

Similarly, shades of the Italian Futuristic movement of the early XXth century, which served as inspiration in the early days of the project, remain imprinted in Arditi’s work – “Omne Ensis Impera” could well be a modern interpretation of the Futurist’s goal of glorifying warfare to an artistic expression beyond its inherent violence and intrinsic sense of heroism.

“Omne Ensis Impera” has been mastered by Kamrat Nordvargr of Mz.412 and Toroidh, an old ally of the band. Nordvargr has also contributed with additional arrangements on a couple of tracks, and prepared a slightly modified track list, which will feature on the vinyl version of the album that will follow soon, together with a limited edition box set. The CD version is presented in a deluxe glossy Digipak, with embossed artwork.‟

Arditi

LIII. Karjalan Sissit | Tanssit On Loppu Nyt

KARJALAN SISSIT

Tanssit On Loppu Nyt

©Eternal Soul. Deutschland, 2006.

‟This bloated grandeur is oblique as it is disturbed in its churning, which despite the album’s brief exhumation at half an hour, is pregnant with a warm enveloping energy of intestinal vicissitudes. With ‘Tanssit on Loppu Nyt’, Karjalan Sissit once more sharpen shuddering steel, blade storms of wailing metallic symphony fulminate violently, tremors twisting a surreality of soft swollen hills, lonely forests, and lumbering modern ruins.

Karjalan Sissit continue with this album the tradition of unholy bombast, fusilladic percussive assaults and the dissonancy of the summoned damned; though where tradition intertwines with the demonic, the satanic, the pastiche, this album clearly demarcates the absence of any such allusions leaving the music as nothing other than an instrument of puissance – a means to a terrifying end. Harrowing and subliminal enough to appeal to fans of power electronics and dark ambient, it is seemingly aimed at neither, preferring its own tortured pariahdom as a cathartic. And unlike the aforementioned two genres that at times bleed and dabble in one another, ‘Tanssit on Loppu Nyt’ slices the canvas with dark and self-maniacal glory, sans the occult. Lumbering malformed drums ululate choirs of malformed shells into edifices sodden in the blood of the torn throat from the rampaging vocals. Orchestral directive wraps that landscape, oily ceremonial masses of a subversive mien, leaching away mystery and otherworldliness to the mascara limning mordant, arachnoid holes.

The album comes presented as a svelte, dvd-sized twelve-page book whose imagery is synonymous with the grotesque and bizarre of the music. Thick textured card in full colour cracks open to reveal photos supplanted to yellowed parchment, with illusive and atypical photography chiaroscuro – two to a page, with the matte embossed disc tucked into the lap of an imbiber. Subtle design and excellent use of typography deliver that added touch to an excellent package.‟

 Symbolique

XL. Death In June & Les Joyaux De La Pricesse | Östenbräun

DEATH IN JUNE & LES JOYAUX DE LA PRINCESSE

Östenbräun

©Les Joyaux De La Princesse. France, 1989.

‟When i first heard this album i was incredibly suprised. Alot of death in junes music has a heavy folk element to it, which has slightly detered me quoting them as one of my favourite bands, albums such as "Nada" (my favourite album of theirs) and the debut "The guilty have no past" are pretty good examples of early/mid eighties joy division styled new wave, yet this rather mysterious offering sees them coupled with the french collective "Les joyeaux...." and is actually a damm good example of ambient, nostalgic music. The old trade marks are very evident; germany, soldiers, war songs etc and of course not forgetting nazism and hitler, the album glides along with a freefalling, looped kind of feel, heavy echos and militant muted drum beats with the occasional offering of poetry and text. When the album closes, i always find myself wanting more. A very fine, nostalgic stab at ambience.‟

Schwarz

 

XXXI. Hekate | Goddess

HEKATE

Goddess

©Auerbach Tonträger. Deutschland, 2004.

 

‟Hekate started as an experimental atonal project in the early 90ies. We first played at universities and art schools on exhibitions. We started with five members. From those five members are still two left today the others have changed. The founders are Ingo Müller, guitar and percussion and myself. There were many changes during the years. Today there are Achim Weiler, medieval instruments and keyboards, Dirk Diederich, drums , Jörg Schwickerath, percussion. Achim engaged at a castle as an musican. Further he produce musical contributions for regional theatre plays in his little studio. Jörg plays in his own ambient band called Beam Team. I..m supporting several bands live on stage and worked for my project Cascadeur. We love our name the goddess Hekate connects various characteristics, which we work out over the years. But the most important aspect is that Hekate belonged to many cultures, like the Romans, the Greek, Asia Minor…It symbolises the power of an archaic culture and stands for the old way. First we were an experimental group. 

We were influenced by industrial bands from the 80ies, like Einstürzende Neubauten and SPK, but also darkwave bands, like Joy Division, Devo, David Bowie, Klaus Nomi, Test Dept. But our influence goes from classical Folk to groups like Current 93, Death in June to our favourite Band Dead Can Dance. We also like Moby, Massive Attack, Delirium and other Ambient bands. During the last years we become interested in European history, old songs and legends. Furthermore we became more self-confident and found our own style. The main thing of the music are the percussions, connected with old melody lines and actually with modern clichés like electronically ambient sounds. We approach the most of our songs from ideaswe get from reading books, visiting European landscapes or by telling myths from friends. We choose most themes for songs by our instinct not for special reasons. One influence is certainly a movement of the young people in germany from the 20ies, called „Wandervogel“ . We are inspired by painters like Fidus, Franz Stassen and Furthermore we are interested in classical music e. g. Edward Grieg and Schubert. The world lost its magic. Now you can explain nearly everything through science. In former times a moon-darkness was a great wonder but today you know the scientific backgrounds. Where is space left for imagination and phantasy? Ancient men recived a lot of joys from nature. We can learn from ancient cultures about their power and forgotten rituals. We are living on the countryside in a cultural very important area. Besides the ancient places of whoreship of the Celts and Germans there are also sanctuarys from the roman conquerors. We are connected very close to nature and it is important for us to research and experience old rites and cultures. To play live is the best event for us. It is the fulfilment of all our work and creativity. In a live performance we see if a song can pass to the audience. To play live is really the best for our band. Rituals are very important for us before a live performance. A concert of Hekate has a spiritual level as it is dedicated to our ancestor and gods. “Du siehst mein Sohn, zum Raum wird hier die Zeit” (Richard Wagner, Parsifal 1882) A ritual helps to experience a cosmic principle and to use it on your way through life. At the moment we are using German smoke rituals at live performances. The smoke is a sign to the gods. The scent is their food. As we use mostly the taditional smokes we wake memories of holy times. We use herbs from our native country. There is a different smoke ritual for every season. I..m collecting the herbs in our forests as the shamanes of our ancestors did it.‟

myspace.com/hekatesonne

XXV. Death In June | Burial

DEATH IN JUNE
Burial
©Leprosy. UK, 1984.

"Industrial innovators Death in June emerged in 1980 from the remnants of the punk unit Crisis, reuniting singer/multi-instrumentalist Douglas Pearce and bassist Tony Wakeford; drummer Patrick Leagas completed the original lineup, which made its live debut late the following year with an opening slot for the Birthday Party. The 12-inch Heaven Street soon followed, and in 1983 Death in June issued their first full-length effort, The Guilty Have No Pride; from the outset, the group was criticized for its adoption of fascist imagery, and charges of Nazism dogged Pearce throughout his career".

Jason Ankeny

"By 1984, angry punksters Crisis had miraculously transformed into Death in June - gone were the leftist ideas and in came black uniforms adorned by the totenkopf. Still, the band didn't really sound like Nazi drummerboys at a Nurenberg rally. Burial is a weird record that bears a notable punk feel, clearly signifying what the band members practiced some years before. The actual studio tracks are but five, the rest of the album consisting of live recordings. Opener Death of the West still serves as one of the neofolk evergreens: a simple but emotional anti-capitalist anthem composed in classic Death in June fashion, concentrating on strumming acoustic guitar and vocals exclusively. Fields, Nirvana and Black Radio all possess a definite '80s sound, meaning they're unmistakably post-punk and have strong new wave leanings. Sons of Europe delivers more pathos: martial drumming, trumpets blowing and atonal singing - it is probably the strangest track of the album. The live section, recorded somewhere in London in late 1983, is predictably psychedelic and somewhat chaotic. Even more than the studio material, the live recordings deliver a mix of proto-industrial, psychedelic rock and punk-influenced wave sound that is impenetrably esoteric and avant-garde".
 

Chroniclesofchaos

XXIV. His Divine Grace | Die Schlangenkönigin

HIS DIVINE GRACE

Die Schlangenkönigin

©Hau Ruck!. Österreich, 2003.

‟Die Schlangenkönigen is the second CD from the mysterious European outfit, His Divine Grace. Die Schlangenkönigen is based upon the Ernst Jünger's book Auf den Marmorklippen (translated as On the Marble Cliffs). Albin Julius is becoming something of a lightening rod for beautiful, orchestral sounds. Die Schlangenkönigen, like Unity from Our God Weeps reviewed last month, features lush semi-orchestral sounds that are tranquil and sombre. Die Schlangenkönigen combines spoken passages and environmental sounds to stunning effect. 'Der In Blätten Lebt' segues from weeping strings and the ache of a cello into the sound of a windstorm. The nearest comparisons would be Simon Fisher Turner's glorious soundtracks to the Derek Jarman films in the way that music, spoken word and effects are interwoven. The major downside of this release is the spoken word is delivered in German. In no way does this diminish the melancholic air that hangs over this, but I'd like to think that an English version would be forthcoming of this absorbing release.‟
 

Compulsion

XXIII. Sophia | Herbstwerk

SOPHIA
Herbstwerk

©Cold Meat Industry. Sverige, 2001.

‟Imagine a choral work performed in a cathedral of ice with distant rumblings of war and you have 'Miserere', the opening track of Peter Pettersson's second album as Sophia. The second and title track, 'Herbstwerk', is brutally penetrated by martial/industrial hammers. This seems to reflect real anger and sets the scene for much of the rest of the album.

'March Of Strength' continues in the same robust mould - grim and claustrophobic, it conveys the grueling agony of war. It concludes with a quiet piano passage, a reflective 'after the battle' survey of the scene of carnage.

'Inner Turmoil' is a piece of rumbling ambience while 'Copper Sun' has a grand martial choir, synth brass fanfares and strident percussion. In penultimate position is 'My Salvation', a more mellow piece transcending the clamour of battle and coming as a contrast and relief.

I wish this grim, Nietzschean, martial music had existed when I was an adolescent - I'd have loved it! But now that my attitudes and tastes have mellowed with age, I am inclined to prefer Peter Pettersson's more melodic work as Arcana.‟

FluxEuropa