Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble Of Shadows – Averno / Inferno (Single – Apocalyptic Vision Records)
Genre/Influences: Dark-Ambient.
Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl, Cassette.
Background/Info: Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble Of Shadows strike back with a very special work. The new single features two title songs, which are original demo recordings of “Dark Delight” and “Penance & Pain” (2002). This is a Dark-Ambient composition.
Content: It’s not an easy thing to recognize both songs, which are totally different and transposed into a pure Dark-Ambient and Cinematographic style. Both instrumental cuts have been accentuated in darkness, becoming both obscure compositions. “Averno” is driven by deep, vibrating sound waves while “Inferno” moves a step further and has been accomplished by orchestral arrangements.
+ + + : This record clearly sounds different from what you’re used to hearing from Sopor Aeternus. It’s a different style, like an artist leaving his comfort zone to show another side. It’s not a ‘classical’ Dark-Ambient format as it also has a true Cinematographic approach, but the result is similar to Master releases from the Dark-ambient genre. Especially “Inferno” is an impressive piece of music, which evolves into a crescendo until reaching its climax through the orchestral arrangements. This is an obscure production with a strong visual strength.
– – – : “Averno” sounds cool, but rather as a warm-up to the more accomplished and efficient “Inferno”.
Conclusion: If Caravaggio transposed the vision of hell into paintings, Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble Of Shadows put it into sound.
Best songs: “Inferno”.
Rate: 8.
Side-Line reported on the release in November 2021.
Artist: www.soporaeternus.de / www.facebook.com/sopor.aeternus.offiziell
Label: www.trisol.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Trisol-Music-Group/104166526285471
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 the project’s 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). “Songs from the Inverted Womb” (2000/2001) offered more modern-classical textures.
The 2000s combined archival collections, such as the “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 such as “The Dead” (2020) preceded the single “Averno / Inferno”, issued in 2021 on Trisol, and the later albums “The Rules” (2023) and “Fab Dead Cult Veil” (2024).
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