Ignis Vrbis Mithrae – Sacrae Romanae Origines Label: Wolf Age – WAR 08 Format: CD, Album Country: Italy Released: Dec 2009 Style: Neo-Classical, Neofolk
First act for this project that features members ex Camerata Mediolanense and Pavor Nocturnus. A ritual journey into the realms of the Sacred, 11 solemn and bombastic compositions with neoclassical arrangements ranging from martial to atmospheric that draw inspiration by the mystery of the Origins of Rome Digipack
The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud – Were You Of Silver, Were You Of Gold Label: Arthur’s Round Table – ART 6 Format: CD, Mini-Album Country: Switzerland Released: 1996 Style: Industrial, Experimental, Neofolk
The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath a Cloud (styled The Moon lay hidden beneath a Cloud) was an Austrian musical duo composed of Albin Julius and Alzbeth. Their music reflected their deep fascination with myriad aspects of European medievalism including ritual, clerical chants and the daily experience of the peasantry.
Their music combined modern electronics, tape loops and samplers with medieval instruments such as hurdy-gurdy, shawm, and Hexenscheit. Alzbeth was the primary vocalist for the group and often sang traditional songs in numerous archaic languages including Middle High German, Latin and Old French. Julius provided distorted and backup vocals.
When performing live, the band often played in old churches, fortresses, medieval prisons and theatres that provided an appropriate atmosphere for their static, militaristic performances.
Early on, the band provided no official photographs or any more information outside of a Swiss mailing address found inside of the albums. The band rarely appeared live or granted interviews. No songs were ever given official titles. After their split, both of the duo were considerably more vocal and promotional images were released.
With each subsequent release the band presented themes traveling further into European history and becoming more martial, choral and bombastic in approach, culminating in their final album; the largely World War II-inspired The Smell of Blood but Victory (1997)…
Dead Can Dance – Spleen And Ideal (Vinyl, LP) Label: 4AD – CAD 3623 Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue Country: UK & US Released: 08 Jul 2016 Style: Alternative Rock, Modern Classical, Ethereal
Dead Can Dance’s second album, Spleen And Ideal (1985), saw them experiment more with instrumentation, abandoning guitars in favour of cello, trombone and timpani. Widely acclaimed, there was now a richness of uni cation between voice and music, lyrics and structure, showing they had a concrete sense of the aural ideal they were striving towards. It’s title was taken from Spleen et Idéal, a collection of poems by 18th century French poet Charles Baudelaire.
The band’s official website stated that the album title was taken “from 19th Century symbolist ideals”. The title is directly taken from “Spleen et Idéal”, a collection of poems by French poet Charles Baudelaire which form a section of his magnum opus Les Fleurs du mal.
Discussing the album’s musical style, All music commented that with Spleen and Ideal, Dead Can Dance “fully took the plunge into the heady mix of musical traditions that would come to define its sound and style for the remainder of its career. The straightforward goth affectations are exchanged for a sonic palette and range of imagination”
The 2016 LP version is a repress of the original release.