Read shorter reviews of Ellende, Tears of Mystigma, Lilac Ambush, Phobetor…
Ellende – No holiday without a funeral
(cd, Somnambulant Corpse)
Almost two hours of music on two cd’s by a mysterious project called Ellende, a Dutch word meaning ‘misery’. I believe though that this project is based in Tokyo, and that it is sort of a loose collective with various members involved. The sound material sounds somewhat improvised. Slowly evolving monotonous pieces, with a ritual character. Deep drones and rumblings, subtle noises, strange voices form mysterious soundscapes. The music has a somewhat impersonal character, making you think of isolation and otherworldy spheres. Not fascinating enough though to keep me interested for two hours, but suitable as drony background music.
HD
Tears of Mystigma – Higher Circumstance (cd-r)
Tears of Mystigma is a German gothic band that operates in the twilight zone between gothrock and gothic metal. Metal guitarriffs like Type O Negative used to play in the past are combined with more quite and atmospheric passages. At times the sound becomes a bit new wave-like. The vocal parts are mostly in the new wave style of old bands like Joy Division and Trisomie 21, but are incidental supported by harder and deeper shouts.
The songs are well composed and worked out. There are nice changes in tempo and mood within each song. Especially the songs ‘Higher Circumstance‘ and ‘Mirrorblade’ display this. This 4 track demo could help this band to a get a deal with a label. Due to the combination of elements of gothrock and gothic metal the band could even have some commercial appeal to certain labels. With a little help from a record company Tears of Mystigma should be able to gain some public interest.
MvG
Lilac Ambush – Four Stories EP
