PROFANUM is one of the most inovative and also the most mysterious band in whole Black Metal genere, always standing alone in their own, dark world of sounds.
The band was formed in 1993 as a trio including three unique and strange personalities, namely: Geryon, Vlad Ysengrimm and Lord Reyash.
The first demo tape 'Under The Black Wings of Emperor' was released in 1994, bringing five songs of grim and cold Black Metal. The tape made the band signed to Astral Wings Records, which issued PROFANUM debut album 'Flowers of Our Black Misanthropy' in 1996. The songs on the album differed quite a lot from the demo, having more obscure atmosphere and orchestral arrangements.
In Summer 1997 PROFANUM signed to Pagan Records for their second album. 'Profanum Aeternum: Eminence of Satanic Imperial Art' was released shortly after. The album was a mornful opus of five dark and majestic infernal symphonies. The Black Metal influence was reduced and the band decided not to use guitars, bass or any 'typical' Metal sound on this album, replacing it with symphonic orchestra instruments like piano and violins.
The band remained silent for almost three years, until late 2000, when they entered the studio again to record their third masterpiece - 'Musaeum Esotericum'. This recording contains of two long suites: 'Ecce deliquium lunae' and 'Ecce axis mundi'. The Black Metal influences can only be heard at times in the vocal parts, while the music is something yet unheard. Very original, avant-garde ideas of the musicians resulted in dark and misanthropic combination of classical music with obscure Occult Ambient. This definately is not for everyone ears, love it or hate it.
Recently PROFANUM is working on their movie project "Intelekt Kollapse" - to be out on DVD somewhere in late 2004.
- 1994 Demo Under The Black Wings of Emperor
- 1996 Flowers of Our Black Misanthropy
- 1998 Profanum Aeternum: Eminence of Satanic Imperial Art
- 2001 Musaeum Esotericum
- 2002 Misanthropiae Floris
- 2005 Intelekt Kollapse (Film directed by Geryon, music by Profanum)
The band members are also in Witchmaster.
Profanum is the latin word for 'profane.' Central to the social reality of religion is the distinction made by Emile Durkheim between the sacred and the profane. The profane world consists of all that we can know through our senses. It is the natural world of everyday life that we experience as either comprehensible or at least ultimately knowable. In contrast, the sacred, or sacrum in latin, encompasses all that exists beyond the everyday, natural world that we experience with our senses. As such, the sacred inspires feelings of awe because it is regarded as ultimately unknowable and beyond limited human abilities to perceive and comprehend. Religion is organised primarily around the sacred elements of human life and provides a collective attempt to bridge the gap between the sacred and the profane.
