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DAEMONIA NYMPHE Remixed

I have been approached in the past to give samples of our songs to musicians, so that our music could be used for composing electro-acoustic compositions. The sound of the reproductions of ancient Greek instruments we use is extraordinary and could easily be used for contemporary music. This gave me the idea to approach musicians mostly from the electronic genre, so that our songs take a different form and re-birth, having a new result combining the ancient sounds with modern ones. All musicians who contribute to this work are some of our favourite, and each gives his own approach to our music, creating variety. Spyros Giasafakis

"O QUAM TRISTIS..." Meditations ultimes

After the great success of their first two album, here comes their third album by this outstanding medieval act. ‘Meditation Ultimes" is another modern interpretation of medieval and ancient folk music. Their medieval folk will certainly appeal to fans of Dead Can Dance, Qntal, Ataraxia and similar acts. The heavenly vocals female singers Anna and Katarina combined with selected male chants in Latin will certainly evoke you. The music offers a wide range of variations, from purest folk to sometimes more electronic interferences, tribal drums, bagpipes, flutes, dulcimer and various other natural instruments.

SILENT LOVE OF DEATH The poet's senses

Deep and dramatic vocals, trumpet and violins, acoustic guitars, military drums, you can think to another neofolk band like many other, but SILENT LOVE OF DEATH could touch the depth of your heart. The romantic feeling encroaches upon the seventeen songs of this album, a great nostalgic atmosphere with classical influences create impressive dark sound. The texts are inspired by poems of E.A Poe, Bequer, W. Blake, Espronceda.....

SECOND SKIN: "Black Eyed Angel" CD
SECOND SKIN: "Black Eyed Angel [LIMITED] CD+VideoCD"

Black Eyed Angel, is the second full-length album from the established darkwave band Second Skin. This emotional tour de force has critics of all genre claiming Second Skin as their own. Filled with images that transcend the imagination. You are sent spinning into a whirlwind of dark delights. Second Skin conjures passion, lust, depression and love and forces them to exist in the same space. The tension builds as the dark mechanized beats pound a path to Eden beset by streams of guitars and walls of orchestrated backdrops that are second to none.
Moved along by the romantic crooning of Arron's soothing velvet vocals, commanding and at times frantic you find yourself moving as the music courses through you body. Black Eyed Angel is a refreshing change from the contrived, formulated music that has all but killed off the originality that defined gothic rock. If you are a lover of the morose, and a keeper of the faith, this is the ticket to the center of your soul.
The limited edition of this release contains a 'Supervideo'-Bonus CD, including two cutting edge videoclips:
- Still My Love
- Liberata Me'
+ photo gallery
The regular CD offers more than one hour worth of music that will have you swimming through the melodies long after you have listen to the songs.
Every single one among the fans of Bowie, the Mission, Nephilim and T.S.O.L will find something in this album.

CONSCIENTIA PECCATI - "Draco Rex" CD limited edition 333 copies

Draco Rex is the 10th anniversary CD of Conscientia Peccati. The project started in 1994 with the release of the "Theogonia" Tape at Art Konkret. The topic of this release is the dragon, which I guess is one of the best-known mystical beasts and also offers vast variations in form and interpretation. While in Christian culture it is seen as a destructive servant of Satan, in China it can be a lucky charm bringing fertility and prosperity.The tracks of the CD try to represent these different aspects. Some show the playful nature of the dragons, which are often said to be lovers of beautiful music. Others address the destructive nature of the dragons or the battles against them. There are songs about dragon worship, stories about the deeds of dragons and about their role in society. Poes "Conqueror Worm" also appears in one track, still bloodthirsty. To reflect all these aspects, the CD consists of musical styles ranging from marches via dark ambient to simple instrumental melodies. "Conqueror Worm", due to its folkloristic topic, may be the Conscientia Peccati release with the strongest middle-age influences to date

THY VIOLENT VANITIES - "Come to Dust" CD

Thy Violent Vanities is a side-project from two members of the electro medieval act «O Quam Tristis…» : Hugues Dammarie (also known as Franz Torres-Quevedo, member of the french darkwave band Collection d'Arnell Andréa) and Emeric Lenotz. The album is based upon rare poetries from William Shakespeare, above all known nowadays for his famous tragedies but not as much for the numerous sonnets he wrote all along his carreer. The main theme is the vanity of all man's things, and firstly the sentimental feelings… Deceived loves, love leading to nothingness and emptiness of Mankind are recurrent themes. The album's title and even the name of the band are taken from sonnets strongly reminding some of the favorite Shakespeare's worries.The poetries are sung in the original archaic language they were written. Thy Violent Vanities' music is supported by ancient or traditional instruments: krumhorn, dulcimer, mandola, flutes… mixed to bass and guitars laid down on soft waves of keyboards, minimalistic electronic rhythm patterns and loops. This record is a gloomy one, but not as dark as you might guess. While listening, some resigned serenity feelings are coming to invade the mind in spite of all vanities... The warm and catchy voice of Hugues Dammarie, sometimes doubled/trippled is floating upon Emeric Lenotz's puked/bowed instruments, giving birth to a kind of really moving personal synth-pop-dark-folk - recalling certain sixties' folk songwriters sometimes, revisited through the eyes of a positive despair.On six tracks of « Come to Dust » may be heard additional contributions of members from French band Hide and Seek :P-Y Lebeau (guitar, voice) and Liesbeth Houdjik, performing additional vocals in the manner of famous classical folk female singers as Maggie Reilly, Maddy Prior or Marie Yacoub…. Thy Violent Vanities is sat between some dark mind's worries evoked by Shakespeare's lyrics and some more luminous hopes brought by the simple beauty of the melodies created and adorned by two contemporary troubadours.

HEAVEN FALLS HARD "In obedience of angels "

Palace of Worm is proud to announce the long awaited debut-album by Heaven Falls Hard , a band featuring a heavenly voice reminiscent of the good old 80..s. The band consists of Stacye Bedford (heavenly voice and instruments) and Randy Ashberry (instruments) who create music. Dark gothic guitar mixes with orchestral melodies enhanced by powerful ethereal vocals to creates music that will linger in your memory. Their music explores the dark side of the soul . The perfect soundtrack for your cold winter . Michael Otley (of Vehemence Realized) on guitar and Joey Moser on bass, add their talents to create an extraordinary album . Heaven Falls Hard can be described as one of the most surprising new acts in gothic/darkwave genre. The release is presented with wonderful artwork by M. Riddick, and should be an immediate success among fans of Cocteau Twins, Siouxie & the Banshees, The Cranes and PROJEKT's releases

CONSCIENTIA PECCATI" Culpa somniorum "Limited edition 333 copies

The main theme of the new Conscientia Peccati release are dreams and their influence on the dreamer. A number of songs address this topic from different points of view. While "Golden Spider" describes the longing for something one only can have in his dreams, "Destroyer" tells about the driving forces of dreams. Most songs are purely instrumental, ranging from middle-age influenced tracks to ritualistic and martial drumming and experimental ambient-like tracks. Dreaming has often been seen as a semi-magic state. The messages received in dreams are interpreted by many schools of magick and also ethnic believes. While dreaming man was supposed to be especially vulnerable to seduction by demons. All this makes dreams a very well suited topic for the new Conscientia Peccati release.

VARIOUS "Defend the Palace:Worms A.D. MCLXXXIV"

As the tides of time swept over the world, Europe entered is darkest period in its short History, The Middle Ages. A time that was ravaged by war and diseases, when the poor lived in squalor and the rulers of the kingdoms owned all that they oversaw. It was also a time that the Church battled head on with the powers of magic and superstition - to worship a false god meant death at the hands of Gods men. Chaos and madness ruled supreme. It's out of this living hell on Earth comes yet another gripping compilation for the prolific Italian label ;Palace of Worms. Storms collects together some of the more well known bands and performers form the ethereal, traditional folk inspired scenes, and presents them together superbly to create a total ambience of the times. Twentytwo bands from many different countries have contributed to this outstanding compilation which payshomage to the Dark and Middle Ages ,all the tracks are previously unreleased . This is the ideal sequel to "Storm the palace".

O QUAM TRISTIS Le Rituel Sacre

After the great success of their first album, an album that was highly praised by magazines all around the world (and got big exposure especially in the Far East and in France, with a track on the CD for D-Side magazine) here comes the second album by this outstanding medieval act. ‘Le Rituel Sacre' (the sacred ritual) is another modern interpretation of medieval and ancient folk music. Their medieval folk will certainly appeal to fans of Dead Can Dance, The Soil Bleeds Black, Ataraxia and similar acts. The heavenly vocals female singers Anna and Katarina combined with selected male chants in Latin will certainly evoke you. The music offers a wide range of variations, from purest folk to sometimes more electronic interferences, tribal drums, bagpipes, flutes, dulcimer and various other natural instruments. Comes with a beautiful 12 page booklet with texts and great funeral artwork made by Curt Emmer.

LVNA IN CAELO " Aqvellos desgarradores gritos llamados silencio "

Lvna in Caelo is a band from Santiago de Chile, which started in 1993 as a guitar & voice project by Daniel Dávila and Alejandra Araya. Lvna in Caelo means "the moon at the sky" in latin. After adding drums and bass, and playing live, Luna in Caelo released it's first CD in 1998. In 1999 the founding members moved to Mexico City, their second CD Miedo a Morir (fear to die), was released in 2000. The basic idea of Luna in Caelo's sound is to create atmospheres and feelings related to the human soul, dreams and nightmares. The lyrics talk about the fact of the material condition of the human being and how scary is to know that we are just flesh and bones, how scary it is to die. Working with basic rock instruments, Lvna in Caelo builds music landscapes, based on reverberated guitars and voices, solid bass lines and almost tribal drum patterns. It could be a mix between the Cocteau Twins,early Cure, Popol Vuh and My bloody valentine. Laid on the crest of the music, is the astounding vocals. Alejandra's voice is one of the most elegant you can heard; harkening the transcendental lilt of Lisa Gerrard and the sweet gaity and cadence of Elizabeth Fraser. This madrigalic heavently voice takes on an almost religious identity. "Aquellos... represents the diversity of moods that the band used to build on stage by the time this record was done."

BLEEDING LIKE MINE "Never again will I dream..."

With Bleeding Like Mine's long awaited follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut and POW's bestseller, Curt extends the stylistic platform which BLM has become known for. Similarities to the freshman release abound, yet this release goes beyond the former, with bolder percussion and rhythm developments, as well as subtler, more emotional statements that attack the heart both lyrically and musically. The addition of the dynamic and deep vocals of Hugues Dammarie (of Palace of Worms signed "O Quam Tristis...") combined with the ever surreal, multi-track heavently vocals of Holly Emmer clearly take this release to the next level. A rare, beautiful work which combines three equal parts to create a magical whole.

VARIOUS "The Power of a New Aeon"

The first double-cd release by POW is this stunning collection of artists, each creating new music based on the Major Arcana of the Tarot. 22 bands interpret the 22 trumps, with sound and styles from the subtle to the obscene. A truly remarkable international collection of diversity, signifying perhaps both the past and the future of the genre.Marvelous booklets Lavishly Illustrated by Michael Riddick (The Soil Bleeds Black) . Don't miss this beautiful collection of music, mystery and art!!!

O QUAM TRISTIS Funerailles des petits enfants

O quam tristis is a new French band, 5 elements with many experiences in other bands, all the texts are taken from the Gregorian Manuel and the heavenly voices of Anna and Katrina combined with eclectic, male chanting in Latin, flutes, classical guitars all laden over electro-medieval , ethnic music. Musically combining elements of Dead can Dance, with elements of Hagalaz runedance, Ataraxia, XVIII VIE, Raksha Mancham, The Soil Bleeds Black, Bel Canto and Les Secrets de Morphee.A truly medieval experience with toches of contemporary sound. (D.S.)

VEHEMENCE REALIZED "Severe" DELETED!

Vehemence Realized are one of the finest gothic/darkwave bands. The band comes from Virginia, and "Severe" is their first full-length CD. A very gloomy, somber band characterized by murky synths, echoing piano, danceable drumming, live trumpet playing, and wonderfully brooding, deep throated vocals. They create ethereal atmosphere without being boring. They offer a comforting darkness, and through the dense layers there is an underlying hint of hope and a sad yearning for eluded beauty. Highly recommend to fans of darkwave and as well to any who like their music very dark.

VARIOUS" Storm the Palace:Worms A.D. MCXVII"

Eighteen bands from many different countries have contributed to this outstanding compilation which payshomage to the Dark and Middle Ages with many previously unreleased tracks. Included (amongst others) are better known bands such as Ataraxia, Autumn Tears, Mors Syphilitica, Ontario Blue (Stephen Pennick of Endvra)Penitent, The Protagonist, Stay Frightened, and Stone 588.Penitent opens with a somber, instrumental, electronic, and sinister act that may surprise many fans since Penitent used to create mainly piano music with vocals.The intro is followed by Opera Multi Steel: Nicely consistent tribal percussion laced with quiet keyboard. Two male (one reminiscent in some parts to Robert Smith) and one female background vocals chant Latin lyrics from the Gloria. Ataraxia proves once again to be great Early Music composers with influence drawn from their native Italy. Rosa Crvx mix a ritualistic chant (which could also be used as a marching song in case you ever plan on going to war on a horse with a spear and in shiny armor) with a subtle, echoing guitar typical to gothic music. A lighter, more dancy rhythm by Jaramar shows that even people in the Middle Ages experienced joyous times (well, at least that is what it sounds like. Who knows, maybe the lyrics are about slaughter or famine, but I wouldn't know because they are in Spanish, so I keep on dancing to it like a little girl as if it were about a prosperous harvest) Flutes, cymbals and pipes are the dominating instruments along with male and female vocals. Much in the same vein as Jaramar, The Soil Bleeds Black continues, except their sound makes one think more of a feast at court then the medieval countryside. A female singer carols about how Luna begets Mercury. Orchestral and hymnlike Arcane Art present their lyrics in a style rather known to Metal. Mors Syphilitica contrast the previous song with a swirly and contemporary melody. Gothic/darkwave with female vocals. The sound of rain introduce tribal rhythms as Andrea Nebel Haugen's (Ex-Cradle of Filth, Aghast) Hagalaz' Runedance chants religious themes of Odhinnism. Proscriptor's bagpipes together with laughter and horseshoes on cobble stone remind of Scotland's turbulent past. This same horse also provides the vocals to the music i.e. it's instrumental--So, c'mon you guys, wear a kilt without underwear on a windy day; it's aaalright! XVII VIE emphasizes Karin's very dark and sensual voice over keyboard and ritualistic, threatening percussion. El Luto Del Rey Cuervo must have had either a) an accident on their recording, b) done this on purpose c) my CD player rejects it, but this melodic, swirly gothic song crackles as if it were recorded from an old record and its volume phases in an out of the speakers. The Protagonist contributed oneof his previously unreleased versions of "Hesperia" Electronic/industrial darkwave in a powerful, orchestral manner, murmurs that seem to be dark prayers and sexy vocals by Sundstrom make this a special treat. Talking about "whispered prayers" Nothvs Filivs Mortis does exactly that, slowly getting louder until they reach the peak and start over with whispers, all backed up by an obscure soundscape. Stone 588 will surprise many of their fans with this track. Not at all the traditional goth with Siouxsie vocals, but harmonic flutes, strings, some violin and Terri's much more mature and defined vocals distinguish this song from their previous work. Ontario Blue delves into one's mind with charming, echoing electronics and sensual voice similar to Brendan Perry (Dead Can Dance) Very suitable for meditation! Most of you who order from Dark Symphonies probably already know Autumn Tears but for those of you don't: Majestic, classically and baroque influenced orchestration with Erika's dramatic, enchanting vocals make "This... My Melancholic Masquerade" a perfect example of their albums. Stay Frightened connects to Autumn Tears so smoothly, it almost sounds like they belong together. "The Queen of the Elves" is an instrumental, trancelike soundscape layered by a faster-paced, uplifting melody. A great ending!

RUNES ORDER Waiting forever

Runes Order's fourth full-length release is an extended nocturnal voyage into a cold, windswept land, where the darkness is held at bay only by the light of musical beauty. The 14 songs on Waiting Forever (Memories Remain) combine powerful percussions -- that balance on the knife's edge between march drums and ritualistic dance beats with sweeping synth melodies of an often strongly melancholy character. Aside from a couple of instrumental pieces, the songs are all adorned with vocals that nicely complement the moods set by the musical arrangements. Dreamy, surreal, moody and dancy Euro-Darkwave with echoing male and female vocals. Techno-Trance influenced on some songs, electronics similar to certain Cold Meat Industry releases on others. Lyrics in English and Italian.

BLEEDING LIKE MINE In the eyes of lovelost

64 minutes of Melancholic, vaporous, and slowly churning music where ghostly ambiences meet cyclical piano melodies andethereal vocals, particularly the haunting vox of Holly, whose singing is occasionally multi-tracked into an eerie chorus. Bleeding Like Mine employ a minimalist style but keep their music from being redundant through effective use of dynamics, subtly shifting accents, and intelligent sound design The vocals throughout the album are reminiscent of Lycia in that they are slightly unclear and often a part of the cloud of sound, adding a greater sense of mystery, even though lyrics are provided.

STAY FRIGHTENED Still

The vocals of Conrad L. Dickey are so harmonic the ooze in between the music with sombre synth and piano melodies interwoven. the vox add layers to the music, but don't detract with the arrangement. Many of the song titles tell the story: 'The rain and bruises'; 'Windblown luminaries' and 'Languid blue smile' The music will drift out of your consciousness, you will always be drawn back in to what is a very relaxing album. If you don't really like your music ethereal, ghostly and wispy, than this is definitely not for you. Unique, pure, emotional melancholia. 74 minutes.

Various: Palace of Worms

16 song ,77min . This compilation is addictive;baiting with mysterious dark wave from many a rising phoenix of the new gothic scene.These exciting bands include MONUMENTUM, BLEEDING LIKE MINE, RUNES ORDER, ENGELSSTAUB and LUCIE CRIES. The album is bound togheter by metaphysical,emotional lyrics and beautiful, seductive music, ENGELSSTAUB's "FALLEN ANGEL (UNHOLY)" is a song I'm compelled to listen to constantly. The track "SHOAH" from LUCIE CRIES is enchanting,and MONUMENTUM's "FADE TO GREY (IN WORMS)" is incomparable.The influence of apocalyptic gothic folk, DIJ and CURRENT93,is apparent, but PALACE OF WORMS is also highly innovative, flowing in exactly the direction european darkwave should. A perfect collection of secret dreams.

Various: Heilige tod Deleted!

This album is a tribute to the legendary DEATH IN JUNE, and sees 15 tracks from their dark and murky past being torn into todays dismal light. The bands strip down each song they choose to cover, andreassemble them using whatever style they see fit. Apocalyptic folk throught to goth and darkwave sounds all raise their skull, coaxed along by the occasional film sample. Some songs sound remarkably like the original "Fall apart",while others couldn't more different. Each of these tracks are little gems,glistening in the darkness. Let them cacth your eye and "Welcome death". A must for lovers of the avant-gards sounds of D.I.J and Current93

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Music:

Gothic Darkwave Medieval Apocalyptic-folk Industrial

Heroes:

We can be heroes, just for one day