Sopor Aeternus issues two limited vinyl soundtracks: ‘The Dead Have Come’ and ‘Dea Mutàrion’
Sopor Aeternus issues “The Dead Have Come” LP and “Dea Mutàrion” EP
Frankfurt darkwave project Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows has released the full-length “The Dead Have Come” and the companion EP “Dea Mutàrion” via Apocalyptic Vision. Both are limited, hand-numbered black vinyl editions of 500 with a gatefold sleeve and a 32-page large-format booklet.
All of the music was written/produced by Anna-Varney Cantodea with the following guests: Nikos Mavridis (violin), Tim Ströble (cello), Jonas Schira (trumpet), Michael Fütterer (trombone), Patrick Damiani (bass), Marcel Millot (drums). The whole was recorded and engineered by Patrick Damiani at Tidalwave Studio (Karlsdorf, March 2025), mixed by Patrick Damiani with Anna-Varney (April/May 2025), and finally mastered by Robin Schmidt at 24-96 Mastering (Karlsruhe).
About the films ‘The Dead Have Come’ and ‘Dea Mutàrion’
“The Dead Have Come” (Italian: ‘Gli Occhi Morti Di Satana’, also released as ‘The TV Dead’ in the USA and ‘The Rotting’ in Canada) is a 1979 Italian-German zombie/horror movie, directed by Swedish auteur Anus Varnus, with the plot centering on a mysterious TV signal that turns viewers into flesh-eating cadavers.
The sequel, “Dea Mutàrion” (1982), is presented as an Italian/German co-production continuing the storyline.
About Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows
Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows is the long-running darkwave project of Anna-Varney Cantodea, founded in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1989. Early on 3 self-distributed demo cassettes appeared (“Es reiten die Toten so schnell…” in 1989; “Rufus” and “Till Time and Times Are Done” in 1992) circulating in the European goth scene. The project signed later on with Apocalyptic Vision for its official releases.
The official album debut, “…Ich töte mich jedesmal aufs Neue, doch ich bin unsterblich, und ich erstehe wieder auf … in einer Vision des Untergangs…” (1994), established Sopor’s unique blend of neoclassical darkwave, chamber instrumentation and theatrical vocals. It was followed by “Todeswunsch (Sous le soleil de Saturne)” (1995) and “The Inexperienced Spiral Traveller (Aus dem Schoß der Hölle Ward Geboren die Totensonne)” (1997), expanding orchestral arrangements and dark-folk elements. “Songs from the Inverted Womb” (2000/2001) offered more modern-classical textures.
The 2000s combined archival collections (e.g., “Like a Corpse Standing in Desperation” box) with studio albums and reissues. In 2019, Sopor released “Death and Flamingos”, offering a rawer deathrock-tinged sound.
The cycle around “Island of the Dead” (2020) and short form releases like “The Dead” (2020) preceded “The Rules” (2023) and “Fab Dead Cult Veil” (2024). In 2025, Sopor issued the new soundtrack pair “The Dead Have Come” and “Dea Mutàrion.”
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