Label: Der Angriff, Indiestate Distribution
Catalog#: Angriff Nr. 34, IST 068 CD
Format: CD, Mini-Album, Limited Edition
Country: Russia
Released: 2009
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Electro, Pop Rock, Neofolk
Notes: The release comes in a deluxe full-colour vinyl-like embossed cardboard cover with printed inner sleeve and partial UV-laquering. Limited to 500 copies.

After the sucesfull debut with their mini album finally here comes a full-length album by this Belarussian Martial Pop-Folk project.
The album was mastered by Axel Frank, best known for his work with bands like WERKRAUM, STURMPERCHT or TRIARII ...

Neun Welten的音乐是从自然、北欧与德意志神话中获取灵感的，Neun Welten将自然界神秘力量与在一个时期内人们更接近于这种自然界神秘力量而产生的神话相结合。由于太多的音乐家的出现，进入日耳曼舞台而影响Neofolk音乐是很困难的，但Neun Welten肯定能在未来投入更多精力而最终成为领头军乐队的一员。

与其说Sopor Aeternus是一支乐队，不如将其看作一个来 自德国的神秘的哲学家团体。核心Anna-Varney(原名Varney)，一个有易性倾向 的思想家，他的音乐里包涵的那种对黑暗的向往、抑郁且扭曲的思想意识，那 “比黑暗更加黑暗”的歌词和旋律， 有着异乎寻常的魔力。
自92年Holger离开之后，这支二人乐队实际上只剩下Varney一个人。所以 可以说，Varney就是Sopor Aeternus的灵魂。出道十余年的Sopor Aeternus至 今已经是德国中世纪乐派的重要成员，除了那些阴暗、诡秘的悲剧作品之外， 长期隐居、不以真面目示人的Anna-Varney一直是人们注意的焦点。虽然我们 可以通过音乐来了解他，但是他的过去，以及他的内心世界一直是个迷，也正 是这个原因使得Sopor Aeternus与众不同的音乐和音乐内涵总是笼罩着一层神秘的面纱。
经常有一些新闻记者、乐评人通过传真采访Varney，希望得知如此令人惊 异的音乐作品，其灵感究竟从何而来。Varney的回答总是像谜一般高深莫测。 但从只言片语我们可以感到Varney有着非常痛苦的过去，他的经历一定非同常 人。20多年来，Varney一直受到严重的精神症状和恶劣情绪的折磨。作为一个 男子，他却渴望成为女人--这种想法一直困扰着他。后来他易名为Anna，也是这个原因。一些Sopor Aeternus的音乐作品，例如96年的MCD“Ehjeh Ascher Ehjeh”(我就是我)，也明显的表现了Varney的易性情结。Varney有着一段痛苦的童年经历，他曾把他的母亲称为“提供食物、衣服和打骂的女人”。这些 经历使得Varney成为一个异常敏感的孩子，他几乎封闭了他自己，因为他那脆 弱的内心受到了太多创伤。我们可以想象造就Varney痛苦灵魂的种种经历，但是Varney自己对此讳莫如深，他只把那解释为“七个地狱的剧场”(The Theater of Seven Hells)。如此看来，在Sopor Aeternus表露出的对黑暗的病态向往 甚至对死亡的迷恋是不足为怪的。Varney没有作秀，所有的对阴暗世界的歌颂，都出自他的灵魂深处。(95年的专辑“Todeswunsch - Sous le Soleil de Saturne”深切显露出了 Varney对死亡的向往。Todeswunsch，意为“厌世”。)
Varney并不孤单，他有一个精神上的朋友--The Ensemble of Shadows， 一个虚幻的伴侣。他和他的影子朋友一起创作音乐，甚至表示：他并没有创作， 而只是接收影子们的作品而已。他说：“音乐遍及整个宇宙。”他几乎是用音 乐来生活，而他仅仅肉体是存在于现实世界而已，大部分时间，他在自己的虚 幻空间里和音乐以及影子朋友们一起生活。
Anna-Varney一直持他自己的一套唯心主义哲学观点。他相信宇宙中的万物 都是相联系的，包括虚幻和真实。他认为：人生于世目的就是寻找自身和万物 的联系；人们认为只是可以看到和感知的事物才是“真实”，Varney告诉人们： 只有精神世界才是“真实”，才是“永恒”--所有的人都应该从梦中醒来。 Sopor Aeternus意为“永恒的睡眠”，就是象征着“充满痛苦的令人憎恶的现实 世界”。看穿生死，从那永恒的睡眠中醒来，这一直是Varney的音乐和诗歌的 主题。
从某种意义上讲，Anna-Varney进行音乐创作也是一种“自救”，音乐作为 一种逃避现实、逃避痛苦的工具，已经成为Anna-Varney生命的一部分。Anna-Varney 曾把音乐创作称为“自我暴露”(introverted exhibitionism)，的确，Anna-Varney 只有在音乐里才用隐晦的语言诉说内心的感受，讲述痛苦的往事。而这些歌词通常很难被听众理解，也是这个原因，使得Sopor只是从表面上被大众接受，而音乐到底讲的是什么以及音乐后面的悲剧故事则鲜为人知。他在一次采访中说： “我没有解释歌词含义的习惯--甚至我根本不想解释。虽然我希望我可以通过音乐来让人们勇于面对真正的自我，或者更深地了解自己的内心，通过这些暗示让他们明白真实的世界，或者释放被压抑的精神世界。然而那不可能，因为人们总是自以为是，他们永远无法摆脱在他们脑中根深蒂固的传统思想。”

Sopor aeternus灵魂人物Anna Varney与女歌手Constance组成的新古典民谣组合，抛弃了特有的唱腔，同样是阴暗民谣，不过却不再是那种逼人的黑暗，继承了以往Sopor aeternus中优美的曲风、幽雅的弦乐铺陈、活泼的琴键和长笛点缀，甚至偶尔在时间纵深处鸣想的丧锺都回光返照般地拖着一丝悠长的喜悦……。总之感觉他们刻意地将歌曲比以前明朗化了，带给我们的不完全再是以往记忆深刻的哭腔。NENIA C'ALLADHAN中的作品带给大家的一种无以复加的柔美、安逸。古老浪漫的德国传说，男女声的对唱显然是本专辑的最大特点。熟悉了雌雄莫辨的妖灵歌喉的乐迷们这次可以充分感到他／她深藏许久的柔情了。

条型码:8016670323842

Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble Of Shadows - A Strange Thing 2 Say (Collector's Edition)
Label:Apocalyptic Vision
Catalog#:none
Format:CD, EP
DVD, DVD-Video
All Media, Limited Edition, Digibook, 1999 copies
Country:Germany
Released:08 Nov 2010
Genre:Electronic
Style:Modern Classical, Synth-pop, Ambient

There are no words to adequately describe the enchanted music(k) of Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble Of Shadows' release. Those of you, who are familiar with Anna-Varney Cantodea's art, know that s/he (literally) plays in her own league. Generally speaking, her work is always like the forgotten soundtrack to a phantastic, gothic horror film that was never meant for a human audience to see ... - and this album is certainly no exception:

Building a bridge from the dark chamber-music of the transitory Death-suite of "Dead Lovers' Sarabande" to the playful frivolity of "A Strange Thing to Say", this highly anticipated second chapter of the trilogy 'A Triptychon of Ghosts' marvellously captures the true essence of what once used to be called Goth, as our beloved Goddess Anna-Varney Cantodea is travelling on her lonely journey through the realms of darkness beyond the grave.

It was midnight, the midnight tolling; it was October Thursday.
He/She came... a male or rather a female ?
He-She owned the steel shining blue of a silvery pool, he-she was a fleshing vassel going towards the sun, he-she was a ghostly presence in undistinguishes seas, he-she was the moaning of the wind, of the Southern West wind...
The universal had his-her presence, splitting the archetype into a mask of his-her own features. Focalised ivory pyramid, roseate welcome, shake of mahogany, round of senses, magma in fire, artist hands... I was erecting the statue of epidermic marble in symbiotic catharsis to his-her majesty !
Oozed in thousands atoms of atmospheric fine dust he-she owns the apotheosis of light. A male or a female ?

We are certainly living in apocalyptic times, there is finality in the air, the world seemingly heading toward ever more upheavals of epic proportions – and what soundtrack could be more fitting to these times of ours than the new Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio album Apocalips?
Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio continue their march amongst seeming polarities - of creation and destruction, of dark and light, of joy and sorrow, of sex and war- toward the Coniunctio Oppositorum, the conjunction of opposites.
Their seventh full-length album thus far, the eagerly awaited Apocalips, true to the ethos of The Order of Roses and Balance, is an opus of decadent beauty, of shining darkness, of fierce eroticism, of dreams, of blood, sperm and fire.
Despite these familiar themes, Apocalips is also more grippingly personal and melancholic than previous records - perhaps reflecting the personal apocalypses of its creator, Tomas Pettersson.
Having refined their sound to yet again new levels of clarity and completeness, Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio continue in their tradition of sound, the instruments ranging from drifting acoustic guitars, piercing percussions, lush pianos and strings to the fittingly decadent samples (including the ever-present Saloon Kitty) and above all the deep voice of Tomas Pettersson, delivering his poetic diatribes and evocations via spoken word, and even more than on previous works, via singing.
The tracks on Apocalips range from the ferocious and yet tender "Do Murder & Lust Make Me a Man" to the tribally industrial and aggressive rhythmic soundscapes of "Hear the Sound of a Black Flame Rising"; from ”My Venus in Furs”, inspired by the old Velvet Underground S&M classic, to the ending track ”Who Stole the Sun from its Place in My Heart?”, which is possibly the most beautiful (and most sad) Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio song thus far.
So whether you are experiencing downfall on a personal level or in the grander scheme of things, Apocalips is a suitably bitter-sweet music to accompany the end-times, laying kisses and rose petals on the path toward the inevitable.
Comes in a deluxe foilprinted digipak with 32-pages booklet and a CD with the fragrance of rose!