musikwiese. (Posts about gothic metal.)https://musikwiese.fontein.de/style/gothic-metal.atom2019-11-17T10:40:26ZfelixNikolasirenia.https://musikwiese.fontein.de/2011/05/12/sirenia/2011-05-12T16:00:19+02:002011-05-12T16:00:19+02:00felix<div><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirenia_%28band%29">sirenia</a> is a norwegian gothic/symphonic metal band founded by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morten_Veland">morten veland</a> after leaving <a href="https://musikwiese.fontein.de/2011/02/18/tristania-the-early-times/">tristania</a>. i do only know the first two albums of <i>sirenia</i>, so i will just write about these.</p>
<p><i>sirenia</i> continues the style of early <i>tristania</i>: combining gothic and symphonic metal, with elements from death metal, into an easy digestable, but nonetheless beautiful stream of music. a good example is <i>sister nightfall</i> from their 2002 debut album <i>at sixes and sevens</i>:</p>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy7VWVD7zvU">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div>
<p>two more excellent songs from the same album are <i>on the wane</i> and <i>sixes and sevens</i>. the former is, similar to <i>sister nightfall</i>, fast and catching:</p>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mvU6GYgO_A">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div>
<p>the third song, <i>at sixes and sevens</i>, is more on the symphonic side.</p>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GWXY6OWl3M">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div>
<p>the last song i want to present is <i>seven sirens and a silver tear</i> from their second album, <i>an elixir for existence</i>. a purely instrumental song, mostly piano. a wonderful piece…</p>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn_2sOmdSdM">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div></div>tristania: the early times.https://musikwiese.fontein.de/2011/02/18/tristania-the-early-times/2011-02-18T16:00:16+01:002011-02-18T16:00:16+01:00felix<div><p>today i want to write about the norwegian symphonic gothic metal band <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristania_%28band%29">tristania</a>. at least, about its beginning. <i>tristania</i>, founded 1996, combined melodic death metal with keyboards and choirs, creating a highly complex, wonderful gothicesque soundscape. later, the complexity of the songs reduced, and i stopped listening to them.</p>
<p>the first song i want to present already appeared on their demo, called <i>tristania</i>, and was also contained on their debut album, <i>widow’s weeds</i>.</p>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBjd2O2k3h0">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div>
<p>the second song is from their album <i>beyond the veil</i>, called <i>heretique</i>. a beautiful, complex and highly melodic mixture. never boring, always carrying the listener along.</p>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOvh7k6jeSc">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div>
<p>the third song is from the same album and is called <i>opus relinque</i>. an interesting soundscape, and similar to <i>heretique</i>, never boring. i think <i>beyond the veil</i> is probably the best <i>tristania</i> album ever.</p>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bfj1pUlx_M">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div>
<p>the last song is from their 2001 <i>world of glass</i> album, called <i>the shining path</i>. before this album, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morten_Veland">morton veland</a> left the band and founded <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirenia_%28band%29">sirenia</a>, who continued the “old” <i>tristania</i> sound, while <i>tristania</i> started to change their sound.</p>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XBcbdS8eAM">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div></div>tiamat.https://musikwiese.fontein.de/2011/01/25/tiamat/2011-01-25T16:51:25+01:002011-01-25T16:51:25+01:00felix<div><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiamat_%28band%29">tiamat</a> is a rather versatile swedish band. starting as a death/black metal band, they evolved to a gothic/doom rock/metal band with heavy progressive and/or psychedelic influences, producing a wide range of music which is sometimes not even near to metal anymore.</p>
<p>let me start with two wonderful instrumental, experimental tracks. the first is <i>planets</i> from their famous album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildhoney">wildhoney</a>, from which i already presented <a href="https://spielwiese.fontein.de/2010/12/02/gaia-by-tiamat/">gaia</a> on <i>spielwiese</i>:</p>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_0Vy32vI0I">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div>
<p>the second is <i>sumer by night</i> from their album <i>judas christ</i>:</p>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwRQYZhuglU">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div>
<p>while often playing with such instrumental, almost psychedelic parts, they also play various types of metal. a very easy going song is <i>brighter than the sun</i> from their album <i>skeleton skeletron</i>, which is almost a bit like popular music, wouldn’t it be so dark, so black:</p>
<blockquote><p class="quote">any color you like as long as it’s black<br>
you could have anything if you just give it back</p>
</blockquote>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqyjQ6-avK8">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div>
<p>two other songs i like a lot are <i>cain</i> and <i>ten thousand tentacles</i>, next to each other on the album <i>prey</i>. they are best listened to one after another, as <i>ten thousand tentacles</i> is an instrumental continuation of the ending of <i>cain</i>. a very fascinating piece of music.</p>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apaSxcokPu0">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div>
<p>another song from the same album, <i>the pentagram</i>, with lyrics taken from a poem by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister_Crowley">aleister crowly</a>, is a very calm song. it’s pretty long, and contains many beautiful instrumental soundscapes.</p>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfC6HjihqZY">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div>
<p>finally, here’s a track from <i>tiamat</i>‘s newest album, <i>anathemes</i>, called <i>katarraktis apo aima</i> (greek for <i>a waterfall of blood</i>).</p>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQU9LRZobak">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div></div>sentenced (part ii).https://musikwiese.fontein.de/2011/01/23/sentenced-part-ii/2011-01-23T02:11:36+01:002011-01-23T02:11:36+01:00felix<div><p>this is <a href="https://musikwiese.fontein.de/2011/01/22/sentenced-part-i">part ii</a> of my <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentenced">sentenced</a> post, presenting the more gothic side of later <i>sentenced</i>. i want to start with a song from their 1996 album <i>down</i>, the first one with their new singer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ville_Laihiala">ville laihiala</a>. it’s the song <i>sun won’t shine</i>, about love and sorrow.</p>
<blockquote><p class="quote">the sun won’t shine on me without your love …don’t you know<br>
the cold wind kills the flame in my heart …by its blow</p>
</blockquote>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzUrRyQP8QQ">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div>
<p>the second song is from their fifth album, <i>frozen</i>. my most favourite of their albums. and this song is also my most favourite <i>sentenced</i> song. a song about the end of fall, the beginning of winter. its name is <i>dead leaves</i>.</p>
<blockquote><p class="quote">the wintry frost comes crawling,<br>
freezing all life that’s on its way.<br>
the first dead leaves come falling,<br>
hovering in the air with the rain.</p>
</blockquote>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeXHDs1rOQ0">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div>
<p>the third song is from their sixth album, <i>crimson</i>. more in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIM_%28Finnish_band%29">him</a> style. yet another song about death, and about (the end of) love. yet another very sad song.</p>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkLhAxbUecw">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div>
<p>the fourth song is from their seventh album, <i>the cold white light</i>. again, a song on love and death, one of the constant themes of <i>sentenced</i> albums since the <i>love & death</i> ep. “may death again us unite…”</p>
<blockquote>
<p class="quote">my heart went down with you<br>
at your funeral I was buried, too<br>
my life … it ended with yours<br>
and i… exist no more</p>
</blockquote>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUSr2IPOgmw">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div>
<p>another very beautiful and very sad song from that album is <i>no one there</i>, which i already presented on <a href="https://spielwiese.fontein.de/2010/12/01/no-one-there-by-sentenced/">spielwiese</a>.</p>
<p>the final song is from <i>sentenced</i>‘s last album, the <i>funeral album</i>. in 2005, <i>sentenced</i> announced that they want to disband and never again reunite. this album was their good-bye present, their headstone. resulting in a last final tour, which i unfortunately missed (so i have never seen them live), with a dvd recording of their final concert in oulu, finland. the dvd was released under the fitting name <i>buried alive</i>.</p>
<p>i do not just want to present a song, but a music video. i make this distinction because i (and many others) think that another song from the album fits much better to this video. in fact, you can play the video muted, and play along that song, and it fits perfectly. the video is called <i>ever-frost</i>, named after the song from <i>funeral album</i>. it is an aggressive song filled with hatred (read the lyrics <a href="http://www.darklyrics.com/lyrics/sentenced/thefuneralalbum.html#2">here</a>), similar to the style of most of their final album. the song is probably aimed at their enemies, at their critics, maybe as retribution for the hideous accusations following their release of the song <a href="https://musikwiese.fontein.de/2011/01/23/sentenced-part-ii/">routasydän</a> (see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentenced#The_Cold_White_Light_.282002-2004.29">here</a> for more information).</p>
<p>the song fitting better to this video is <a href="http://www.darklyrics.com/lyrics/sentenced/thefuneralalbum.html#13">end of the road</a>, the last song from the <i>funeral album</i>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p class="quote">here we are, now lay the burden down<br>
we’re coming to the end of our road<br>
sorrowful yet glorious somehow<br>
to be humming this one last ode<br>
so calm and still… it wasn’t all that bad, or was it now?<br>
fulfilled… it doesn’t only hurt to end it now</p>
</blockquote>
<p>the video itself is rather self-ironic, depicting one of the reasons why <i>sentenced</i> said they won’t rejoin, combining with a ritual funeral of the band, held by themselves. a fantastic video.</p>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quVd3UwVIMg">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div>
<p>i want to end this double post with mentioning that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miika_Tenkula">miika tenkula</a>, <i>sentenced</i>‘s lead guitarist and main songwriter, passed away in 2009. this makes the disbanding definite, forever. miika, rest in peace.</p></div>lacuna coil.https://musikwiese.fontein.de/2011/01/03/lacuna-coil/2011-01-03T16:56:43+01:002011-01-03T16:56:43+01:00felix<div><p>the first post in this new project features the italian gothic metal band <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacuna_Coil">lacuna coil</a>, featuring the two vocalists <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Scabbia">cristina scabbia</a> and andrea ferro. most of their songs are very melodic, often powerful, featuring a beautiful mix of female and male vocals. the first song i want to present is <em>fragments of faith</em> from their 2008 album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karmacode">karmacode</a>, my favourite <em>lacuna coil</em> album. a powerful song with a beautiful melody:</p>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su60CKsHqf4">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div>
<p>as a contrast, here’s a slower, also very beautiful piece from the 1999 album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_a_Reverie">in a reverie</a>. this is one of the songs which really fascinated me and caught my interest in the band:</p>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIiUzMdbeTQ">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div>
<p>finally, here’s a music video for the <i>karmacode</i> album song <i>within me</i>, which has a more typical tempo for <i>lacuna coil</i> songs:</p>
<div class="youtube"><div class="youtube-disclaimer">[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4ybHljWiYk">this link</a> to watch the video at youtube.]]</div></div>
<p>note that their style changed a bit over the years, as for so many bands. while i really like the development leading to <i>karmacode</i>, i don’t like their newest album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shallow_Life">shallow life</a> that much, though it’s still very good.</p></div>