Ataraxia release ‘Alabaster’ ahead of ‘Sylfaera the Fair’ album
Italian neoclassical darkwave and dark folk band Ataraxia release “Alabaster” on 6 May 2026. The “Alabaster” single and video precede the band’s 30th studio album, “Sylfaera the Fair”, out 21 May 2026 via The Circle Music in Digi CD, marbled transparent turquoise and black LP, and deluxe black box formats. The deluxe black box is limited to 100 copies.
“Alabaster” follows the earlier “Sylfaera” and “Llawarra” singles from the same album. “Sylfaera the Fair” closes the trilogy that began with “Pomegranate (The Chant of the Elementals)” in 2022 and continued with “Centaurea” in 2024.
“Alabaster” is a warrior-shaman linked to wolves and the snow-covered mountains of the North. The band explains: “Alabaster acts as a bridge between the physical and the spiritual. On the night in Loona, he longs to reunite with his group soul, moving not as an individual, but as a single spiritual entity guided by powerful instinct. He knows the shadows, the tracks, and the smells of the wild. He represents that primal, intuitive force that exists within the sacred masculine.”
The track features Francesca Nicoli on vocals, Vittorio Vandelli on bouzouki, electric guitar, and programming, and Giovanni Pagliari on keyboards. Guest musician Gregorio Bellodi adds uilleann pipes.
The official video for “Alabaster”, directed by Wampyrion, is available below; on YouTube. The single smartlink currently opens pre-save and pre-add options for Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Deezer, and Tidal.
About Ataraxia
Ataraxia are an Italian neoclassical darkwave and dark folk ensemble from Modena in Emilia-Romagna. The band was formed in November 1985 by vocalist Francesca Nicoli and bassist Michele Urbano. Guitarist Vittorio Vandelli joined in December 1986 and keyboardist Giovanni Pagliari in January 1990; from the early 1990s onward, Nicoli, Vandelli, and Pagliari became the group’s enduring creative core.
Ataraxia is more a multidisciplinary project working across music, poetry, and visual art. In their work they merge acoustic and contemporary instrumentation and uses texts in both ancient and modern languages, with recurring references to Mediterranean and Celtic cultures, mythology, ritual, and nature.
Ataraxia first built an underground following through self-produced cassette releases: “Prophetia” in 1990, “Nosce te Ipsum” in 1991, and “Arazzi” plus “Sub ignissima luna” in 1993. Their first full release followed in 1994 with “Simphonia sine Nomine” on Energeia/Apollyon and “Ad perpetuam rei memoriam” on Apollyon. Those release were followed by “La Malédiction d’Ondine” and “The Moon Sang on the April Chair” in 1995, the split 10-inch “In Amoris Mortisque” with Engelsstaub, then “Il fantasma dell’Opera” and “Concerto N. 6” in 1996.
In 1998 Ataraxia released “Historiae” through Cold Meat Industry, “Orlando” through Prikosnovénie, and the live album “Os cavaleiros do templo – Live in Portugal” through Symbiose. These were followed by “Lost Atlantis” in 1999, “Sueños” and the retrospective “A Calliope” in 2001, “Mon Seul Désir” in 2002, “Des Paroles Blanches” in 2003, “Saphir” in 2004, the acoustic double set “Odos eis Ouranon” and the book-plus-CD project “Arcana Eco” in 2005, then “Paris Spleen” in 2006 and “Kremasta Nera” in 2007. In 2004 Vittorio Vandelli released the solo album “A Day of Warm Rain in Heaven” with Nicoli participating on vocals. Francesca Nicoli from here side did guest work on Monumentum’s “In Absentia Christi” back in 1995. “Llyr” was released in 2010 and was the launch for several more albums: “Spasms” in 2013, “Wind at Mount Elo” in 2014, “Ena” in 2015, “Deep Blue Firmament” in 2016, “Synchronicity Embraced” in 2018, and “Quasar” in 2020.
Ataraxia is now signed to The Circle Music, which has handled the recent releases beginning with the 2021 vinyl reissue of “Sueños” and the studio trilogy “Pomegranate (The Chant of the Elementals)” in 2022, “Centaurea” in 2024, and “Sylfaera the Fair” in 2026. Between those albums, the band issued a sequence of singles and videos including “Hlara Aralh,” “Aura Magi,” “The Source,” “Galen,” “Viriditas,” “Coelestis,” and “Sylfaera,” while 2025 also brought the standalone track “Breath of Soundrops” for “The Five Senses” compilation.
And now there is “Sylfaera the Fair,” Ataraxia’s 30th studio album.
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