Dark Sanctuary – Royaume Melancolique

Last year the French group Dark Sanctuary released their fourth album “Les Memoires Blessees”, which was well-received. “Royaume Melancolique” was their debut from 1999, and is now available again as a limited digipack. Their bandname always made me think of gothic metal, but in fact Dark Sanctuary creates tranquil neo-classical music.

Over an hour of romantic and melancholic hymns, with very nice angelic female soprano vocals. A mixture of dark orchestral music and ethereal gothic, with some ambient influences. The music is mostly keyboard-based, but violin, guitar and piano give the album a richer sound. The lyrics are in French, English and Latin. The cover shows us a dark castle amidst an impressive landscape at night, which is a fitting image for the mood this album evokes. A nice album with a majestic sound, for romantic souls who like Arcana, Ophelia’s Dream or Die Verbannten Kinder Evas.

artist: Dark Sanctuary
label: Wounded Love Records
details: 9 tracks, 64 min. 2004 [WLR030]