ALLERSEELEN
CD/DoLP FLAMME
13.3.2006
Allerseelen ist das einzige unter den lange existierenden, an exponierter Stelle stehenden Projekten, welches mit zunehmendem Alter von Jahr zu Jahr besser wird. Einher geht damit eine zunehmende Verfeinerung des Stils. Allerseelen im neuen Jahrhundert bedeutet ein deutlich hörbarer Einfluß argentinischer Tango-Musik, spanischem Flamenco, Trip-Hop und der sinnlichen Seite der alten DAF. Ein Sound, der so unverwechselbar eigen ist, daß man Allerseelen eigentlich schon zur Geburt einer neuen Musikrichtung beglückwünschen kann. Die 7" Veröffentlichung Knistern/Löwin ließ mich absolut sprachlos vor Begeisterung zurück. Knistern und Löwin finden sich auch nun mit 12 anderen Stücken auf vorliegender, schmucken Doppel LP vereint. Besonders das sehr beschwingte Flamenco-Sturmlied wirkt sehr frisch und poppig. Würde doch Josef diese Antonio Banderas/Enrique Iglesias- Qualitäten auf seinem eigenen Projekt mehr ausleben: singen kann er nämlich wirklich gut. Gelungen auch die DAF Coverversion "Als wärs das letzte Mal". Eine gewisse Ungeduld, Spontaneität und Kreativität des Schöpfers machen Allerseelen überhaupt erst aus. Allerseelen ist mehr als andere Projekte immer Momentaufnahme. Dadurch wirken die Stücke so authentisch und unfertig zugleich. Die DoLP ist auch ein ästhetischer Hochgenuß. Wichtig und besonders interessant sind bei Allerseelen immer die kleinen Hinweise auf geistige Einflüsse. Diesmal wurden Gedichte von Ricarda Huch, Friedrich Hölderlin und Novalis vertont. Aber auch "problematischere" Gestalten wie Friedrich Marby (dem Schöpfer der "Runen-Yoga" Technik) oder Miguel Serrano, jener berühmte "chilenische Minnesänger" haben ihre Spuren hinterlassen. Entdeckt all das selbst! Gut, daß es Allerseelen gibt. (Dominik Tischleder - Zinnober) http://www.zinnober.net/
»Verbrennen musst Du Dich wollen in Deiner eignen Flamme: wie wolltest Du neu werden, wenn Du nicht Asche geworden bist!« - »Ich trug meine eigne Asche zu Berge, eine hellere Flamme erfand ich mir.« (Friedrich Nietzsche: Also sprach Zarathustra) Auf verschiedene Weise nähert sich Gerhard P. auf dieser Veröffentlichung dem Symbol der »Flamme« und bedient sich dabei vornehmlich traditioneller Texte. Musikalisch bezeichnet der Künstler seinen neuen Stil, mit dem er sich bereits weit von seinen Ursprüngen entfernt hat, »Apocalyptic Pop« und »Folklore Magnetico«. Mit abwechslungsreichen Arrangements weiß Allerseelen seine Zuhörer wieder in seinen Bann zu ziehen und auch die Texte verdienen einer genaueren Betrachtung. Wie z.B. »Sonne Golthi-Ade«, das er mit gleich drei Fassungen auf der Silberscheibe verewigt hat - der Text stammt von dem ariosophischen Runenmystiker Friedrich Bernhard Marby (aus »Die drei Schwäne«, 1957). Marby war Mitbegründer der »Gesellschaft Orion« und des »Bundes der Reinen« und wurde u.a. durch die nach ihm benannte Runengymnastik bekannt. Neben der selbstgesungenen Fassung gibt es eine Version mit dem Gesang von Josef K. und eine weitere mit einer Gedichtrezitation von Eltho. »Als wärs das letzte Mal« weicht, als Coverversion des bekannten DAF-Liedes, von den anderen, eher »klassischeren« Texten ab. Der rumänischen »Eisernen Garde« wird durch das Lied »Kehrst zurück nicht mehr« ein Denkmal gesetzt. Das Lied basiert auf dem Text von der Trauerhymne »Cantecul legioarilor cazuti« von Simion Lefter. Die hier vertonte Übersetzung stammt von Hermann Roth (1940). Das nächste Lied basiert auf Textpassagen aus Hölderlins »Hyperion«: Von ihren Taten nähren die Söhne der Sonne sich; sie leben vom Sieg; mit eignem Geist ermuntern sie sich, und ihre Kraft ist ihre Freude«. Ist »Söhne der Sonne« eines jener für Allerseelen typischen treibenden Tanzlieder, so kommt »Ob Auch Mein Herz So Funkelt« eher sehr ruhig, eingängig und fast psychedelisch daher. Wieder von Josef K. stammt der Gesang zum »Sturmlied« - die Vertonung des bekannten gleichnamigen Gedichtes von Ricarda Huch, das sehr tanzflächentauglich umgesetzt wurde. Andalusischer Frauengesang bestimmt das Lied »Que«, dessen Text von Literaturnobelpreisträger Juan Ramón Jiménez aus dessen Buch »Fuego y Sentimiento« stammt. Wer den Allerseelen-Beitrag zu »Looking for Europe« (»Tanzt die Orange«) kennt, wird das Lied auf dieser CD wiederfinden - allerdings mit einem ungleich tiefsinnigeren Text, dessen Verfasser allerdings wieder polarisieren dürfte: »Der Kamerad«, das populärste Gedicht des Poeten Herybert Menzel. »Alle Lust will Ewigkeit« basiert auf Textpassagen von Nietzsches »Also sprach Zarathustra«, und musikalisch ist das Stück etwas kantiger als der ansonsten dominierende, eher poppige Sound der CD, der bereits beim nächsten Lied - »Die Löwin« - wieder voll durchschlägt und sich »Goldner Lebenswein« auch noch steigert. Der Text stammt aus Novalis' »Hymnen an die Nacht«. »Si Tu Duermes« ist durch das Buch »Nos« des chilenischen Okkultisten Miguel Serrano inspiriert. Diese schillernde Persönlichkeit - immerhin langjähriger chilenischer Botschafter - dürfte der wohl umstrittenste sein von den sehr abwechslungsreichen Zusammenstellung unterschiedlicher Dichter: von ehemaligen KZ-Insassen über Exil-Autoren bis hin zum NS-Apologeten reicht die Spanne, von Gabi Delgado (DAF) bis Novalis und Hölderlin. Die verbindende Essenz kann nur ein Gerhard P. herausarbeiten, und er hat es mit dieser Veröffentlichung auf sehr eingängige Weise umgesetzt. http://www.neo-form.de/artikel/artikel.php?id=401
Apocalyptic folklore magnetico pop.. Allerseelen has started a series of luxurious limited (600 copies) vinyl releases, each in a double 12" format in a nice gatefold sleeve. These releases are a co-production of the Austrian labels Aorta and Steinklang. There will be 10 in total and you can also subscribe to the whole series. All previous Allerseelen albums will also be re-released, for the first time on vinyl format, all of them with additional songs. Gerhard uses various additional voices and guests playing guitar, violin and cello. "Flamme" contains mostly new songs. The songs use texts from well-known writers like Hölderlin, Nietzsche and Novalis, but also from more obscure poets. On the album even a DAF cover is present: 'Als wärs das letzte Mal '. Gerhard has dedicated 'Flamme' to "to the divine and human muses in my life who have been very benevolent and helpful for my music and art and poetry during the last years". The music on these two records is warm and sensual with "apocalyptic pop, folklore magic and flamenco magnetico". Fine catchy melodies, infectious groovy rhythms, a lot of joie de vivre ambiance, lovely strings and a varied musical menu. Accessible and original at the same time. There are no weak moments, but some of my favourite songs on the first record are the sing-along 'Sonne golthi-ade (Josef)', the intimate classical songs 'Ob auch mein Herz so funkelt' and the almost Latin 'Sturmlied'. The second record sparks with the lovely choral 'Kamerad', the cheerful 'Löwin', the irrestible dancehit 'Goldener Lebenswein', the mysterious 'Knistern'... With this record the temperatures are rising again.. http://www.funprox.com/judgment/review.asp?show=536
Deze release die in een dubbel LP en normale cd uitvoering komt, bevat de van Allerseelen bekende gebruikelijke avantgarde mix van military pop, folklore als tango en flamenco, aangevuld met invloeden uit industrial. Op enkele nummers na is het allemaal nieuw materiaal.Nummers die al eerder verschenen waren op compilaties zijn opnieuw bewerkt. Er zijn dit keer teksten gebruikt van Hölderlin, Nietschze en Novalis en er is zelfs een DAF cover van ‘als wars das letzte mal’. De cd is opgedragen aan Gerhards goddelijke en menselijke creatieve muzen in zijn leven, die hem geholpen hebben met muziek, kunst en poezie. En het is ook wel een gepassioneerde plaat geworden. Deze cd is nog wat toegankelijker en meer popgericht dan de laatste release hiervoor ‘Abenteuerliches Herz’. Voor deze cd zijn gastmuzikanten ingehuurd waaronder Josef en Sabine als gastvocalisten, op cello Irma Domikaite, op gitaar Laima Kliauzaite, op viool Ingeborga Gimbutas, aangevuld met electronica door Gerhard om het compleet te maken. Weer een heerlijke plaat. (TekNoir) http://www.gothtronic.com/?where=music&sub=reviews&reviewid=669&textid=2135
This release, which comes as a double LP and a normal cd release, contains the Allerseelen avantgarde mix of military pop, folklore like tango and flamenco, with industrial influences added to this. Except for a few songs this cd contains all new material. Tracks which have been released earlier on compilations hve been reworked. Lyrically Hölderlin, Nietzsche and Novalis have been of influence and there even is a DAF cover of ‘Als wärs das letzte Mal’ present. The cd has been dedicated to Gerhard’s divine and human creative muses in his life, who helped him with music, art and poetry. And this record has turned out passionate indeed. This cd is a bit more accessible and pop focussed than the previous one ‘Abenteuerliches Herz’. For this cd guestmusicians have been hired, among which Josef and Sabine as guestvocals, Irma Domikaite on chello, Laima Kliauzaite on guitar, Ingeborga Gimbutas on violin, with electronics of Gerhard to complete it all. Delicious. (TekNoir) http://www.gothtronic.com/
Wo Allerseelen in frühen Zeiten noch eindeutig dem Industrial zuzuordnen waren, haben sie mit dem aktuellsten Album „Flamme“ eine Richtung eingeschlagen, die irgendwo zwischen Neo-Folk und Pop liegt. Josef übernimmt bei einer der drei Versionen von „Sonne Golthi Ade“ – die Vertonung eines Gedichtes des Runendichters Friedrich Bernhard Marby - sowie einer Neuaufnahme des Stückes „Sturmlied“ den Gesang. Anhand des „Sturmliedes“ offenbart sich sehr prägnant der Unterschied zum glühend heißen Vorgängeralbum. Man lässt es um einiges ruhiger angehen, schafft dafür aber partiell eine um so intensivere Atmosphäre. Das offenbart sich speziell in Stücken wie „Kamerad“ oder „Löwin“. Textlich wird neben dem eben erwähnten Marby auch auf Hölderlin, Nietzsche, Novalis und die NDW Legende DAF zurückgegriffen, von denen man „Als wär’s das letzte Mal“ nachspielt, in einer Weise, wie sie das Original gerade zu übertrifft. Auch wenn das abenteuerliche Herz nicht mehr glüht, so lodert die Flamme doch.Man darf auf das baldige nächste Album „Edelweiß“ gespannt sein. (Audhumbla)
„Flamme“ stellt die erste LP-Veröffentlichung ALLERSEELENs dar. „Flamme“ wurde an den verschiedensten europäischen Orten und Zeiten aufgenommen, was wunderbar den Stil diese Platte erschließen lässt. Eine Mischung aus mediterran angehauchter Folklore, tanzbaren Rhythmen und hypnotischem Pop vereinigen sich zu einer unverkennbaren, akustisch dominierten Symbiose. Auch hat Gerhard weitere Musiker eingeladen. So wird „Flamme“ von Instrumenten wie Cello, Geige, Gitarre und auch den Gesängen von Gastmusikern geschmückt. Gedichte von Friedrich Bernhard Marby, dem deutschen Kämpfer Herybert Menzel und dem Andalusier Juan Ramon Jimenez werden ebenso vertont wie Texte aus Nietzsches Zarathustra und Hölderlins Hyperion. Die Musik zeichnet sich aus durch Atmosphäre und ein Gefühl für die richtige Mischung. Dort, wo ’apocalyptic pop’ erklingt, wird eine Art kurioser Ausgleich durch klassische Instrumente oder traditionellere Klänge geschaffen. Immer wieder fällt die Verbindung zwischen modern und traditionell auf und bildet sich schnell als Charaktereigenschaft ALLERSEELENs heraus. Die DAF Coverversion „Als wärs das letzte Mal“ ist überzeugend gelungen, übertrumpft auf gewisse Weise sogar das Original. Durch das Zusammenspiel der verschiedenen Musiker hat das Projekt sehr gewonnen: Mit ihrem mystisch hypnotischen Charakter weiß ALLERSEELENs „Flamme“ in nicht nur tonale Welten zu entführen. http://www.twierdza.de.vu/
L'ultimo lavoro di Gerhard "Flamme", già stampato in edizione limitata come doppio vinile per il lussuoso box "Ahnstern", ci presenta un gruppo in gran spolvero rispetto al più debole "Abenteurliches Herz" con una raccolta di tracce inedite (ad esclusione dei singoli "Löwin " e "Knistern") dove si riscontrano non poche novità rispetto allo standard creativo di Gerhard come il primo digipack in assoluto per la one-man band Austriaca prodotto in un "fiammante" artwork. Bellissimo l'artwork, molto ben curato come sempre. L'atmosfera creata da questo "Flamme" si discosta un tantino dalla montagnosa penisola Iberica restituendo (seppur a tratti) quell'aura nordico-pagana che aveva contraddistinto gli Allerseelen dei primi lavori ed a tal proposito ci terrei a menzionare la breve apertura ad opera di ELTHO, misteriosa figura nota anche per aver prestato la voce nella "Wir rufen deine Wölfe" ad opera di Blood Axis e la grandiosa "Sonne-golthi Ade" (versione Josef e Gerhard) che è a mio parere uno dei migliori brani di sempre la cui novità e punto forte risiede proprio nel cantato che in genere appare molto raramente nei lavori di Gerhard da quando non abbiamo più ascoltato la voce di Sabine. Tutte le tracce in generale sono molto interessanti e l'opera si fa ascoltare più che volentieri sebbene la sua durata si attesti abbondantemente sopra i sessanta minuti, cosa non da poco se consideriamo l'aspetto cliclico/rituale dei lavori di Gerhard che ci regala anche una nuova versione inedita del brano "Sturmlied" (peraltro decisamente diversa dall'originale amalgama industriale abrasivo rilasciato su "Sturmlieder") dove ancora possiamo ascoltare le pesanti influenze della musica flamencata, retaggio di viaggi in terra iberica. Altra riproposizione riguarda il classico "Alle Lust will Ewigkeit" sempre dal medesimo lavoro a suo tempo dedicata a Leni Riefenstahl. Ancora degne di particolare menzione sono "Que" oppure "Kamerad" dove tra i campionamenti utilizzati ritroviamo anche un sommesso canto gregoriano a testimonianza della volontà di proporre soluzioni inedite come la cover del famoso brano "Als wärs das letzte Mal" ad opera di D.A.F. Nonostante la lunga carriera del musicista Gerhard, "Flamme" non risulta affatto un capitolo riempitivo ma anzi dona nuova linfa vitale al progetto Allerseelen innalzanndosi a miglior lavoro del gruppo nella mia lista personale scalzando il grande "Neuschwabenland". Lunga vita ad Allerseelen! http://www.raunend.com/
L’intento della Ahnstern è di pubblicare in doppio 12", con tiratura a 600 esemplari, l’opera omnia di Allerseelen, per un totale di dieci emissioni che saranno reperibili anche raccolte in un sontuoso cofanetto in legno, al costo di 250 euro. Di questa serie è pure "Flamme", che in sostanza è il nuovo, ottimo, lavoro del prolifico progetto viennese, edito però anche come album doppio dalla davvero lussuosa veste grafica. Oltre a Sturmlied, Alle Lust will Ewigkeit, Löwin, episodi già uditi e nell’occasione riproposti, tra gli inediti spiccano la splendida Sonne golthi-ade, cadenze da marcia e cristallina anima folk, con testo prelevato dal mistico tedesco Marby, una Als wars das letzte Mal non meno sensuale dell’originale di D.A.F., rimembrati anche in Goldner Lebenswein, l’ipnotica Sohne der Sonne, con liriche da Holderlin, la ballata con filamenti neoclassici Ob auch mein Herz so funkelt, la corale Kamerad ed il severo epilogo Si tu duermes. (7/8) (Blow Up 66)
Se non ci fosse Allerseelen la scena viennese sarebbe monca. Il responsabile del progetto e un vecchio lupo metropolitano che e cresciuto ascolatando Joy Division e Throbbing Gristle, qia critico musicale e performer vivace: note le sue esibizione "incapsulate" nella ruota del Prater. Un tempo si faceva chiamare Kadmon, oggi piu semplicemente Gerhard, ma la sostanza non cambia come neppure l´anima della sua musica che ha assimilato le istanze avanguardiste della migliore scuola europea. Dalle primitive forme sperimentali del power-electronics la sua musica si a evoluta in direzione di territori sempre meno ostici seppur intriganti, verso gli orrizonti del pop secondo le sue personali vedute ed interpretazioni, nulla a che vedere col nu-pop quanto semmai col neo-pop, quello epico, identitario, apocalittico, futurista, neotradizionalista, romantico, lirico, elettrico, tanto piu acustico quanto meno tecnologico. Uscito a breve distanza dall´ottimo split-single Funke/el Astro Rey - diviso con lo spagnolo O Paradis - il nuovo Flamme e un edizione speciale in 600 copie, un doppio vinile adornato da una bella copertina gatefold che come i suoi predecessori e un lavoro a tema, essenzialmente ispirato ai poemi immortali di Also sprach Zarathustra. Dopo lo Jünger di Abenteuerliches Herz (2001) ecco quindi il Nietzsche di Flamme, una prova di continuita e coerenza che riafferma le intenzioni artistico-musicali dell´autore e quella varieta di forma che va dalla folk-ballad solare al post-punk romantico-decadente, ancorche arricchita da una cover-version di Als wärs das letzte Mal dei DAF. Ma questo e solo un bell´episodio di un´avventura musicale che non lesina emozioni, tanto meno il piacere di regalarci superbe pop-songs dal refrain che non perdona. (Rockerilla, Settembre 2003)
Gerhard hat auf dieser Platte 7 MusikerInnen mit ins Boot genommen: Gesang, Cello, Gitarre, Violine. Der elektronische Part stammt nach wie vor von Gerhard selbst. Musikalisch ist man vom sogenannten. Miliary-Pop nahezu weg und präsentiert sich eher akustisch (fast Neofolk), sehr melodiös, teilweise mediterran/orientalisch angehaucht und tanzbar-rhythmisch - einfach abwechslungsreich und gut! Dazu eine Version von DAFs „Als wärs das letzte Mal", die das Original in den Schatten stellt. Eine wunderschöne Platte zum gemütlichen Beisammensitzen und einem guten Wein, Absinth oder was auch immer. Vom Ein-Mann-Projekt zu einer perfekt zusammen spielenden Band. Glückwunsch an Gerhard und Freunde für diese Musik und an all jene, die sich ihr Exemplar rechtzeitig sichern - und da die folgenden Platten klangtechnisch überarbeitet wurden und auch zusätzliche Lieder enthalten sollen, für Vinylfreunde ohnehin ein Muß und auch für die Besitzer der CDs sicherlich von Interesse. http://www.lichttaufe.de/lichttaufe/1x/data/s_content.php?id=Ax2003-06-25-0720
These apocalyptic pop and folklore magnetico songs were written and recorded between June MMII and March MMIII in Barcelona, München, Salzburg, Sevilla and Wien. Sonne golthi-ade is a poem by the German mystic Friedrich Bernhard Marby from his book Die drei Schwäne. It is a part of the solar ritual in his stage play Das Erwachen im Walde. Als wärs das letzte Mal is a cover version of a famous song by Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, lyrics courtesy Gabi Delgado. Kehrst zurück nicht mehr was written by the Romanian writer Simion Lefter, translated by Hermann Roth. The text of Söhne der Sonne is taken from the book Hyperion by Friedrich Hölderlin. Sturmlied is a hymn by Ricarda Huch. Que is a poem by the Andalusian writer Juan Ramon Jimenez. Kamerad is a poem by the German warrior Herybert Menzel. Alle Lust will Ewigkeit is taken from Also sprach Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche. Goldner Lebenswein was published by Novalis in his Hymnen an die Nacht. Si tu duermes is inspired by some lines in the book Nos by the Chilenian poet Miguel Serrano. The cover of this double lp contains photographs taken by Gerhard and the solarisation Hands by Man Ray, 1932, taken from the book Man Ray, Edizioni Gabriele Mazzotta, Milano 1998.
Flamme is dedicated to the divine and human muses in my life who have been very benevolent and helpful for my music and art and poetry during the last years. Thank you. Nothing of my music would have been possible without you and your inspirations. Once again, passion and patience have been well balanced. A thank you also to the alchemy of my athanor Ensoniq EPS 16 plus. And sometimes I am in love with my own songs too.
Gerhard
Stimme: ELTHO, Sabine, Josef, Gerhard
Cello: Irma Domikaite
Guitar: Laima Kliauzaite
Violin: Ingeborga Gimbutas
Tonkunst: Gerhard
Gestaltung: M. Presch/Gerhard
"Verbrennen mußt Du Dich wollen in Deiner eignen Flamme: wie wolltest Du neu werden, wenn Du nicht erst Asche geworden bist!"
(Friedrich Nietzsche, Also sprach Zarathustra)
"Ich trug meine eigne Asche zu Berge, eine hellere Flamme erfand ich mir."
(Friedrich Nietzsche, Also sprach Zarathustra)
I
1. Sonne golthi-ade (ELTHO)
2. Sonne golthi-ade (Josef)
3. Als wärs das letzte Mal
4. Kehrst zurück nicht mehr
II
1. Söhne der Sonne (Hölderlin)
2. Ob auch mein Herz so funkelt
3. Sturmlied (Josef)
4. Que
III
1. Kamerad
2. Alle Lust will Ewigkeit
3. Löwin
4. Goldner Lebenswein
IV
1. Knistern
2. Sonne golthi-ade (Gerhard)
3. Si tu duermes
wenn einer von uns müde wird,
der andere für ihn wacht.
wenn einer von uns zweifeln will,
der andere gläubig lacht.
wenn einer von uns fallen sollt,
der andere steht für zwei.
denn jedem kämpfer gibt ein gott
den kameraden bei.
herybert menzel
Aorta c/o Petak, Postfach 778, A-1011 Wien
www.geocities.com/ahnstern
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE: FLAMME
Yes, I know from where I came!Ever hungry like a flame,I consume myself and glow.Light grows all that I conceive,Ashes everything I leave:Flame I am assuredly.
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE: FLAMME
0, taip! Zinau, iš kur atsiradau!Aš, nepasotinamas kaip liepsna,Plieskiuos ir deginu save.Prie ko prisilieciu, šviesa pavirsta,Kai palieku, pelenai balti smilksta.Be abejo, esu pati liepsna.
Translation: Ugne (Dangus), Lithuania
finis operis
Monday, February 06, 2006
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
BRAGAGILD PRESENT: SOLBLOT, DIE WEISSE ROSE, ALLERSEELEN
BRAGAGILD PRESENT: SOLBLOT, DIE WEISSE ROSE, ALLERSEELEN
KOPENHAGEN, 19.III.2005
www.bragagild.dk
http://allerseelen.blogspot.com/
DEN TALENDE KNOGLE
Flight to Kopenhagen. Azure sky. Himmel - in German just one word where the English language distinguishes between sky and heaven. The clouds below the airplane reminding me of photos of the antarctic Neuschwabenland. Reading some lines in Martin Heidegger, Was heisst Denken? "Was sich entzieht, kann sogar den Menschen wesentlicher angehen und in den Anspruch nehmen als alles Anwesende, das ihn trifft und betrifft." At the horizon the Austrian mountains. The desire to be there again. Looking forward to new experiences and impressions. Walking through the lanes of Kopenhagen. Many antiquariats, many books also in German by Rainer Maria Rilke.
On the roof of the Börsen, the old stock exchange, a monument of four dragons, their tails coiled together, forming a grey conic tower. Soundcheck of Solblot from Sweden, Die weisse Rose from Denmark, Allerseelen. In the afternoon the vinterbanket, the last winter banquet before the beginning of spring - grillet vildsvin (roasted boar) and many other things to eat. Thinking of Gullinborsti. This vinterbanket is a tradition of Bragagild, grillet vildsvin is eaten each year at this spring festival. Before the concerts den talende knogle (the talking bone) was passed around, a bone of the first boar that was eaten five years ago. Every one holding the talking bone was allowed to talk, to recite, to ask or just to say thank you. I said thank you for the invitation and the great meal prepared by a girl of Bragagild. I had one special wish - holding the talking bone during the whole Allerseelen concert. Solblot with ancient Swedish songs, guitar, accordion, long horn, beautiful music, but very short. Die weisse Rose with four drummers, one of them fourteen years old, soundscapes, some voices of Max Ernst and Klaus Kinski. On the stage white roses. Allerseelen were dynamic, music as ammunition - on my back and head I felt several wooden splinters from the sticks of one of my apocalyptic drummers. Holding the microphone in the left hand, den talende knogle in the right hand. During the love song Löwin I wound some white roses of Die weisse Rose around the talking bone.
Walking around in the sunshine with my bassist at the Stadsgraven. The first flowers apart from the white roses yesterday. In the Nationalmuseet I was impressed by the large, dark lures - strange ritual music instruments which were found by pairs in the black swamps. They looked more like tools. Oak coffins with dead women and men. The men with swords, the women still having combs and daggers with them - they would need them again after awakening. Woollen blankets to avoid that they freeze. There is no death, just a big or small sleep in cold nights. Thinking of Miguel Serrano´s beautiful words: "Nur während des Todes ist einem eine kurze Ruhe vergönnt." Stones with helleristning (rock carvings). A stone like a small portable throne with footprints for an emperor or magician - who is standing on it, has power. Thinking of the stone birth out of the petra genetrix. Pieces of dark amber. Large rune stones, Tirsted from Lolland, Tryggevaelde from Ostsjaelland. The runic inscriptions almost always vertical, from the bottom to the top. The famous silver cauldron from Gundestrup which was fabricated in South Eastern Europe. Drinking Malbec red wine, Yggdrasil´s Mjöd (mead).
Spring equinox. Beautiful weather. Travelling by train with a member of Die weisse Rose to Odense. Going by bus to Otterup. In the North of Odense a beautiful and very dynamic "devilish" black sculpture of Thor with his hammer on his chariot with the two he-goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr. Dolmens and tomb chambers close to Kappendrup. Close to Emmelev a beautiful little jaettestue (dolmen), surrounded by thorns like Dornröschen, the sleeping beauty in the fairy tale. Close to Emmelev too a beautiful large dolmen, this one having a more martial impression - like a bunker. The entrances of the two dolmens looked towards South-East. Staying in the evening and night in Odense. Listening to the strange and surreal songs of Else Marie Pade. Listening to the dark chants of Utrenja, composed by Krzysztof Penderecki.
Train to Roskilde. The ships of the vikings. Buying a small Thor´s hammer which was found on the Danish island Falster. The Roskilde fjord. Going by bus to Öm. Walking two kilometres to a beautiful tumulus, appearing like a female breast. The stone chamber inside the hill had a length of around seven metres. Its roof consisted of heavy rocks. A beautiful place to spend the night. Its entrance looked towards East, the direction of the rising sun. Almost no bones were found inside the chamber, solely flints, amber pearls. Maybe this tumulus was no tomb hill but a place where women went to give birth to their children. In a culture where death was sacred, birth of course had to be considered as sacred too. In fairy tales the farmers brought each winter solstice food to the jaette (spirit) living inside the dolmen to have a good harvest in the next year. Another hint to fertility. I was glad, saying thank you to be able to be at this place which appeared to me like the navel of Denmark. Is there a connection between the German words danken (to say thank you) and denken (to think)? The gaya scienza - to be able to say thank you, to be aware that everything might be completely different the next day: Als wärs das letzte Mal. Again in Kopenhagen. Being interviewed for the Danish magazine Evilution. Speaking about the talking bone, about dolmens, about art as a powerful psychoactive field of force, about songs and lyrics as seeds.
The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Many beautiful and powerful solar symbols in the garden and on the facade of this building. A Mithras relief – I was again fascinated by the dynamics of this monument and movement - a circle being formed by the tail of the bull touching the coat of Mithras who closes with one hand the nostrils of the bull and pulling the dagger with the other hand into the flesh. Fleisch - again in German only one word for the English distinction between flesh and meat. Statues of some muses - Melpomene (tragedy), Polymnia (hymns), Erato (poetry), Thaleia (drama). But Polymnia and Thaleia without arms like the female saint in Alejandro Jodorowsky´s psychoactive movie Santa Sangre. Also a marble bust by Antonio Canova from 1807 which might show Mithras with the Phrygean cap. Etruskan art. Egyptian stone reliefs - the representations of the Egyptian ships reminded me of the books of Jürgen Spanuth about Northern influences on the Egypt culture. Returning to Austria. The clouds blueish and purple like on the paintings by Nikolas Roerich.
Gerhard
26.III.2005 + 24.II.2006
"Ein phantastisches Konzert! Die Trommler entfachten, unterstützt vom Bass, ein wahres Feuerwerk, laut. Allerseelen spielte sich quer durch das gesamte Repertoire und hat sich mittlerweile seinen eigenen Stern am Himmel der hochkarätigen Livebands gesichert."
www.lichttaufe.de
KOPENHAGEN, 19.III.2005
www.bragagild.dk
http://allerseelen.blogspot.com/
DEN TALENDE KNOGLE
Flight to Kopenhagen. Azure sky. Himmel - in German just one word where the English language distinguishes between sky and heaven. The clouds below the airplane reminding me of photos of the antarctic Neuschwabenland. Reading some lines in Martin Heidegger, Was heisst Denken? "Was sich entzieht, kann sogar den Menschen wesentlicher angehen und in den Anspruch nehmen als alles Anwesende, das ihn trifft und betrifft." At the horizon the Austrian mountains. The desire to be there again. Looking forward to new experiences and impressions. Walking through the lanes of Kopenhagen. Many antiquariats, many books also in German by Rainer Maria Rilke.
On the roof of the Börsen, the old stock exchange, a monument of four dragons, their tails coiled together, forming a grey conic tower. Soundcheck of Solblot from Sweden, Die weisse Rose from Denmark, Allerseelen. In the afternoon the vinterbanket, the last winter banquet before the beginning of spring - grillet vildsvin (roasted boar) and many other things to eat. Thinking of Gullinborsti. This vinterbanket is a tradition of Bragagild, grillet vildsvin is eaten each year at this spring festival. Before the concerts den talende knogle (the talking bone) was passed around, a bone of the first boar that was eaten five years ago. Every one holding the talking bone was allowed to talk, to recite, to ask or just to say thank you. I said thank you for the invitation and the great meal prepared by a girl of Bragagild. I had one special wish - holding the talking bone during the whole Allerseelen concert. Solblot with ancient Swedish songs, guitar, accordion, long horn, beautiful music, but very short. Die weisse Rose with four drummers, one of them fourteen years old, soundscapes, some voices of Max Ernst and Klaus Kinski. On the stage white roses. Allerseelen were dynamic, music as ammunition - on my back and head I felt several wooden splinters from the sticks of one of my apocalyptic drummers. Holding the microphone in the left hand, den talende knogle in the right hand. During the love song Löwin I wound some white roses of Die weisse Rose around the talking bone.
Walking around in the sunshine with my bassist at the Stadsgraven. The first flowers apart from the white roses yesterday. In the Nationalmuseet I was impressed by the large, dark lures - strange ritual music instruments which were found by pairs in the black swamps. They looked more like tools. Oak coffins with dead women and men. The men with swords, the women still having combs and daggers with them - they would need them again after awakening. Woollen blankets to avoid that they freeze. There is no death, just a big or small sleep in cold nights. Thinking of Miguel Serrano´s beautiful words: "Nur während des Todes ist einem eine kurze Ruhe vergönnt." Stones with helleristning (rock carvings). A stone like a small portable throne with footprints for an emperor or magician - who is standing on it, has power. Thinking of the stone birth out of the petra genetrix. Pieces of dark amber. Large rune stones, Tirsted from Lolland, Tryggevaelde from Ostsjaelland. The runic inscriptions almost always vertical, from the bottom to the top. The famous silver cauldron from Gundestrup which was fabricated in South Eastern Europe. Drinking Malbec red wine, Yggdrasil´s Mjöd (mead).
Spring equinox. Beautiful weather. Travelling by train with a member of Die weisse Rose to Odense. Going by bus to Otterup. In the North of Odense a beautiful and very dynamic "devilish" black sculpture of Thor with his hammer on his chariot with the two he-goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr. Dolmens and tomb chambers close to Kappendrup. Close to Emmelev a beautiful little jaettestue (dolmen), surrounded by thorns like Dornröschen, the sleeping beauty in the fairy tale. Close to Emmelev too a beautiful large dolmen, this one having a more martial impression - like a bunker. The entrances of the two dolmens looked towards South-East. Staying in the evening and night in Odense. Listening to the strange and surreal songs of Else Marie Pade. Listening to the dark chants of Utrenja, composed by Krzysztof Penderecki.
Train to Roskilde. The ships of the vikings. Buying a small Thor´s hammer which was found on the Danish island Falster. The Roskilde fjord. Going by bus to Öm. Walking two kilometres to a beautiful tumulus, appearing like a female breast. The stone chamber inside the hill had a length of around seven metres. Its roof consisted of heavy rocks. A beautiful place to spend the night. Its entrance looked towards East, the direction of the rising sun. Almost no bones were found inside the chamber, solely flints, amber pearls. Maybe this tumulus was no tomb hill but a place where women went to give birth to their children. In a culture where death was sacred, birth of course had to be considered as sacred too. In fairy tales the farmers brought each winter solstice food to the jaette (spirit) living inside the dolmen to have a good harvest in the next year. Another hint to fertility. I was glad, saying thank you to be able to be at this place which appeared to me like the navel of Denmark. Is there a connection between the German words danken (to say thank you) and denken (to think)? The gaya scienza - to be able to say thank you, to be aware that everything might be completely different the next day: Als wärs das letzte Mal. Again in Kopenhagen. Being interviewed for the Danish magazine Evilution. Speaking about the talking bone, about dolmens, about art as a powerful psychoactive field of force, about songs and lyrics as seeds.
The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Many beautiful and powerful solar symbols in the garden and on the facade of this building. A Mithras relief – I was again fascinated by the dynamics of this monument and movement - a circle being formed by the tail of the bull touching the coat of Mithras who closes with one hand the nostrils of the bull and pulling the dagger with the other hand into the flesh. Fleisch - again in German only one word for the English distinction between flesh and meat. Statues of some muses - Melpomene (tragedy), Polymnia (hymns), Erato (poetry), Thaleia (drama). But Polymnia and Thaleia without arms like the female saint in Alejandro Jodorowsky´s psychoactive movie Santa Sangre. Also a marble bust by Antonio Canova from 1807 which might show Mithras with the Phrygean cap. Etruskan art. Egyptian stone reliefs - the representations of the Egyptian ships reminded me of the books of Jürgen Spanuth about Northern influences on the Egypt culture. Returning to Austria. The clouds blueish and purple like on the paintings by Nikolas Roerich.
Gerhard
26.III.2005 + 24.II.2006
"Ein phantastisches Konzert! Die Trommler entfachten, unterstützt vom Bass, ein wahres Feuerwerk, laut. Allerseelen spielte sich quer durch das gesamte Repertoire und hat sich mittlerweile seinen eigenen Stern am Himmel der hochkarätigen Livebands gesichert."
www.lichttaufe.de
Friday, January 13, 2006
ALLERSEELEN: TROPFEN SCHÖNER ZEIT (YUKIO MISHIMA)
Allerseelen: Tropfen schöner Zeit
Zeit
unwiederbringlich
welchen Reichtum jeder Tropfen barg
an dem man sich berauschen konnte
Tropfen schöner Zeit
wie die Tropfen
eines edlen, schweren Weins
die Zeit tropfte dahin
wie Blut
alte Männer vertrockneten
und starben
sie hatten versäumt
die Zeit in jenem Moment
anzuhalten
da das reiche Blut
reiche Trunkenheit birgt
Aus: Yukio Mishima, Todesmale des Engels
The Allerseelen song Tropfen schöner Zeit was recorded on 13.1.2006 for the Russian Allerseelen-Changes-Split CD Men among the Ruins (summer 2006).
Zeit
unwiederbringlich
welchen Reichtum jeder Tropfen barg
an dem man sich berauschen konnte
Tropfen schöner Zeit
wie die Tropfen
eines edlen, schweren Weins
die Zeit tropfte dahin
wie Blut
alte Männer vertrockneten
und starben
sie hatten versäumt
die Zeit in jenem Moment
anzuhalten
da das reiche Blut
reiche Trunkenheit birgt
Aus: Yukio Mishima, Todesmale des Engels
The Allerseelen song Tropfen schöner Zeit was recorded on 13.1.2006 for the Russian Allerseelen-Changes-Split CD Men among the Ruins (summer 2006).
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
ALLERSEELEN MCD PEDRA
Allerseelen MCD Pedra
At the Allerseelen concierto in Sintra on 1.XI.MMIII, the Allerseelen MCD Pedra was presented to the public. It is limited to 500 copies. The Allerseelen songs are dark and powerful: Steingeburt, Krieger aus Stein, Unverändert. Some dozens copies are available from Aorta.
http://www.terra-fria.com/
http://www.dagaz-music.com/
http://allerseelen.dagaz-music.com/
Allerseelen
Steingeburt
Krieger aus Stein
Unverändert
All the familiar motifs of the Allerseelen sound can be found on 'Pedra': Gerhard's distinctive delivery over massed drumming, hypnotic bass woven with samples from European movies. 'Steingeburt' bustles with a mesmeric pulsating bassline augmented by muscular drumming, to which Gerhard delivers a spoken vocal. A symphonic sample appears throughout. It's a tense and and raw track which echoes the earlier work of Allerseelen. 'Steingeburt' (Stone Birth) is dedicated to the actress and priestess Diotima in the film Der Heilige Berg. The following track, 'Krieger aus Stein' (Warriors of Stone), is an untempo jaunty rhythm with acoustic guitar and a weeping violin score. The voice of Gerhard here is whispered over the looping melody. Pedra closes with 'Unverändert', dedicated to the actress and stone witch Junta in the film Das Blaue Licht, to which Gerhard reads from Hermann Hesse over a backdrop of plucked strings and soft strings. The entire CD is inspired by stone megaliths, with accompanying photograph's from Gerhard's travels throughout Europe, but Pedra isn't really a patch on recent Allerseelen but a necessary addition to those who immerse themselves in the work of this Austrian researcher and musical alchemist. http://www.compulsiononline.com/index2.htm
Tonkunst: Gerhard
The song Steingeburt or Stone Birth, finished on 22.VII.MMIII, is dedicated to the actress and priestess Diotima in the film Der heilige Berg. The photograph, taken by Sabinita, shows a beautiful dolmen at El Pozuelo, Andalucia.
The song Krieger aus Stein or Warriors of Stone, finished on 17.VIII.MMIII, is inspired by the warrior menhirs of Palaggiu on the granite island Corsica. The photograph, taken by Gerhard, shows this alignment.
The dramatic monologue Unverändert or Unchanged, finished on 10.IX.MMIII, is dedicated to the actress and stone witch Junta in the film Das blaue Licht. The music was inspired by the magical mountain Rumer Spitze in Tirol. The lyrics are taken from the beautiful narration Faldum by Hermann Hesse.
"Unverändert und ohne Alter stand nur der Berg, und wenn der Schnee auf seinem Gipfel durch die Wolken blendete, schien er zu lächeln und froh zu sein, daß er kein Mensch mehr war. (..) Wald wuchs auf ihm und Wiesen mit wehendem Gras und mit Blumen; Quellen kamen aus ihm und Schnee und Eis und Steine, und auf den Steinen wuchs farbiges Moos, und an den Bächen Vergißmeinnicht. In seinem Innern waren Höhlen, da tropfte Wasser wie Silberfäden Jahr um Jahr in wechselloser Musik vom Gestein aufs Gestein, und in seinen Klüften gab es heimliche Kammern, wo mit tausendjähriger Geduld die Kristalle wuchsen. Auf dem Gipfel des Berges war nie ein Mensch gewesen. Aber manche wollten wissen, es sei dort ganz oben ein kleiner runder See, darin habe sich niemals etwas anderes gespiegelt als die Sonne, der Mond, die Wolken und die Sterne. Nicht Mensch noch Tier habe je in diese Schale geblickt, die der Berg dem Himmel entgegenhalte, denn auch die Adler flögen nicht so hoch."
Hermann Hesse, Faldum (Hermann Hesse, Iris. Ausgewählte Märchen, Berlin: Suhrkamp Verlag 1955, S. 95)
In 2003 Allerseelen did a special concert in Sintra, Portugal. A good occasion to release a limited mini cd, containing 3 new songs, inspired by the sacres stones of Sintra. It is also the first release for the Terra Fria label, which is related to the Dagaz Music webzine. The cute mcd is limited to 500 copies and comes in a small dvd-case, It has a booklet with photos of rocks by Gerhard, as well as lyrics of the songs in German and Portuguese. The music is typical Allerseelen: the hypnotic vocals of Gerhard, the repetive loops and percussion, deep basses and subtle orchestral elements. 'Steingeburt', dedicated to the character 'Diotima' in the film 'Der heilige Berg', sounds rather robust, bringing to mind the rawer earlier works of Allerseelen. 'Krieger aus Stein', the title track, is inspired by the giant menhirs on Corsica . It is a rather funny, cheerful monotonous track, based on repetive string and bass loops and adorned by classical music reminding me of old movies. The third and final track 'Unverändert' is rather short and minimal and has again quite a number of cultural references: to the film 'Das Blaue Licht', the Rumer mountain in Tirol and the 'Faldum' text by Herman Hesse. A nice mcd with typical hypnotic Allerseelen music. The three songs on this release can perhaps not compete with the best work on 'Flamme', but are certainly worthwhile. HD http://www.funprox.com/log/content.html
Released on the newborn Portuguese label Terra Fria, this mini-CD features three new Allerseelen songs inspired by the theme of 'sacred stones' and recorded in summer 2003 especially for the Allerseelen concert in Sintra in last November. Built upon Gerhard's spoken words, percussive rhythms and a martial bass (that reminds past Allerseelen works, 'Heiliges Blut' in particular) mixed with symphonic elements, the first song 'Steingeburt' ('Stone birth') is a powerful piece in the classic Allerseelen style. It is dedicated to the actress and priestess Diotima in the Leni Riefenstahl film 'Der heilige Berg'. The second song 'Krieger Aus Stein' ('Warriors of Stone') reveals a pretty different atmosphere created by an entertaining string melody supported by a harsh bass line and combined with repetitive lyrics. It is inspired by the warrior menhirs of Palaggiu on the beautiful wild island Corsica. The rather short last song Unverändert' ('Unchanged'), dedicated to the actress and stone witch Junta in the film 'Das blaue Licht', is based on a monologue by Gerhard with lyrics taken from 'Faldum' by Hermann Hesse. The magical mountain Rumer Spitze in Tyrol inspired the tense and hypnotic music. All in all, three inspired songs that evoke ingredients of past Allerseelen works, in their minimal and organic approach as well as the magic and intense essence that emanate from them. This mini-CD, limited to 500 copies, comes with a booklet featuring the original lyrics and their translation in Portuguese agreemented by nice photos of the three sites explored here by a very inspired Gerhard. Recommended! (Nathalie F.) http://www.heimdallr.ch/Reviews/2004/Allerseelen-Pedra.html
Produit par le label portugais Terra Fria le temps d’un mini-cd, ALLERSEELEN intitule ce dernier Pedra (« pierre », en portugais) et s’attache à rendre hommage aux mégalithes de rituels ancestraux. Les références n’ont rien de surprenant de la part de cet artiste autrichien (textes d’Herman Hesse, dédicaces aux actrices ayant tenu des rôles de sorcières dans les films de Leni Riefenstahl…), mais la musique fait preuve d’une maturité fort appréciable. Certes, « Steingeburt » ouvre le disque en fanfare, avec ses déclamations viriles et ses lourds rouages industriels appesantis encore par des envolées samplymphoniques, mais sur les deux autres morceaux les cordes se désaxent un peu plus et de langoureux rythmes trip-hop (ou comment passer de la moustache austère à celle des gens du village…) viennent ponctuer de captivantes narrations. Les éléments rituels et alambiqués de Gerhard sont ainsi toujours présents, seulement leur traitement vise désormais à l’efficacité et par là-même à un certain minimalisme nécromantique de bon aloi, pour un résultat singulier et envoûtant. http://www.topiste.com/iN_tensioN/article.php3?id_article=41
Gerhard branches out with the inclusion of a new label working in conjunction with Aorta, Terra Fria from Portugal. This 12 minute CD comes in a DVD like black plastic case, somewhat chilling my enthusiasm. The layout is reminiscent in ALLERSEELEN form however, with the two panel insert being set up along traditional guidelines, with the main difference being the lyrics presented in German and Portuguese instead of English. Three songs, all new and all fantastic! ‘Steingeburt’ or something akin to ‘Stone Birth’ sounds more like some of Gerhard’s past works with a throbbing, pulsating, breathing base line. A choice sample from some enigmatic film graces this to create an intensity rarely captured in Allerseelen’s works. Quite a sensation of tension and anxiety. The second song, starts off like a polka. A very welcome atmosphere to be worked into the repetoire. ‘Krieger Aus Stein’ features some up front whispering styled vocals with emotive strings, a very great short muted strum on a Spanish guitar(so it sounds in some way) and some unique little merriment that could originate from a conglomeration of sounds obtained from a “one man band” where many instruments collide it perfect consideration with one another. These components all sound quite fantastical when described in this way, but the really, almost, joyful atmosphere created by these is so utterly charming. The refinement of sounds and repetitiveness of the lyrics on this song raise the effectiveness of the jubilant music to a new height. Track three, ‘Unverändert’ uses a poetically rendered dialogue-like text with some very subtle wavering string sample and a sample (maybe like a guitar with one muted string being plucked numerous time in rapid succession) over a simple (not necessarily) scrapping sound feeling like the mist rising off the majestic peaks of Tyrol. One can also envision the fetters cascading down the rocky face of the mountain creating an echoing friction, utilized in this sparse arrangement. Most notable use of voice, setting this, I would say, above all other Allerseelen works. Overall this CD touches upon leitmotivs employed in past ALLERSEELEN works, but brings new life and a new potency to the mood and direction of the sounds and the corpus of ALLERSEELEN. Exquisite and enchanting. (Tyler/Ajna) www.theajnaoffensive.com
Nuove eredità ancestrali per il sommo compositore austriaco Allerseelen che questa volta esegue questo MCD composto da tre brani ispirati da luoghi mistici e geomantici. L'autore ha voluto scegliere come siti rappresentativi tre particolari testimoni monolitici: il dolmen in El Pozuelo in Spagna e di Palaggiu in Corsica, la montagna Rumer Spitze in Tirolo. "Steingeburt" è il tipico brano dove Gerhard unisce una linea percussiva granitica ad un basso marziale, lo spleen degli archi a delle liriche epiche. Un'alcova sacra e protettiva, generatrice di messaggi e certezze ataviche. In "Krieger Aus Stein" prosegue il cammino di megalitici presagi con una ballata solenne e narrativa, premonizioni intense tra gli echi rupestri di scenari immortali. Vibrazioni minimali per il terzo capitolo di Pedra, essenziali sonorità sollevano le liriche di "Unverändert" estratte dal Faldum di H. Hesse. Melodiche trasmutazioni di virtù ignee. www.unmute.net
New ancestral heritages for the Supreme Austrian composer Allerseelen. This time Gerhard releases a MCD with three new pieces inspired by mystical and geomantic places. The author has choosen as representative sites three particular monolithic witnesses: the dolmens at El Pozuelo in Andalucia and Palaggiu in Corsica, the magical mountain Rumer Spitze in Tirol. "Steingeburt" is the typical track where Gerhard adds granite percussive patterns to a martial bass, the spleen of the strings with epic lyrics. A sacred and protective alcove generatrix of atavistic messages and certainties. In "Krieger Aus Stein" continues the course of megalithic omens with a solemn and narrative ballad, intense premonitions between the rocky echoes of immortal views. Minimal emissions for the third chapter of Pedra, essential sonorities raise the "Unverändert" 's lyrics taken from Faldum by H. Hesse. Tuneful transmutations of igneous virtues. www.twilight-zone.it
Aorta c/o Petak, Postfach 778, A-1011 Wien
www.geocities.com/ahnstern
At the Allerseelen concierto in Sintra on 1.XI.MMIII, the Allerseelen MCD Pedra was presented to the public. It is limited to 500 copies. The Allerseelen songs are dark and powerful: Steingeburt, Krieger aus Stein, Unverändert. Some dozens copies are available from Aorta.
http://www.terra-fria.com/
http://www.dagaz-music.com/
http://allerseelen.dagaz-music.com/
Allerseelen
Steingeburt
Krieger aus Stein
Unverändert
All the familiar motifs of the Allerseelen sound can be found on 'Pedra': Gerhard's distinctive delivery over massed drumming, hypnotic bass woven with samples from European movies. 'Steingeburt' bustles with a mesmeric pulsating bassline augmented by muscular drumming, to which Gerhard delivers a spoken vocal. A symphonic sample appears throughout. It's a tense and and raw track which echoes the earlier work of Allerseelen. 'Steingeburt' (Stone Birth) is dedicated to the actress and priestess Diotima in the film Der Heilige Berg. The following track, 'Krieger aus Stein' (Warriors of Stone), is an untempo jaunty rhythm with acoustic guitar and a weeping violin score. The voice of Gerhard here is whispered over the looping melody. Pedra closes with 'Unverändert', dedicated to the actress and stone witch Junta in the film Das Blaue Licht, to which Gerhard reads from Hermann Hesse over a backdrop of plucked strings and soft strings. The entire CD is inspired by stone megaliths, with accompanying photograph's from Gerhard's travels throughout Europe, but Pedra isn't really a patch on recent Allerseelen but a necessary addition to those who immerse themselves in the work of this Austrian researcher and musical alchemist. http://www.compulsiononline.com/index2.htm
Tonkunst: Gerhard
The song Steingeburt or Stone Birth, finished on 22.VII.MMIII, is dedicated to the actress and priestess Diotima in the film Der heilige Berg. The photograph, taken by Sabinita, shows a beautiful dolmen at El Pozuelo, Andalucia.
The song Krieger aus Stein or Warriors of Stone, finished on 17.VIII.MMIII, is inspired by the warrior menhirs of Palaggiu on the granite island Corsica. The photograph, taken by Gerhard, shows this alignment.
The dramatic monologue Unverändert or Unchanged, finished on 10.IX.MMIII, is dedicated to the actress and stone witch Junta in the film Das blaue Licht. The music was inspired by the magical mountain Rumer Spitze in Tirol. The lyrics are taken from the beautiful narration Faldum by Hermann Hesse.
"Unverändert und ohne Alter stand nur der Berg, und wenn der Schnee auf seinem Gipfel durch die Wolken blendete, schien er zu lächeln und froh zu sein, daß er kein Mensch mehr war. (..) Wald wuchs auf ihm und Wiesen mit wehendem Gras und mit Blumen; Quellen kamen aus ihm und Schnee und Eis und Steine, und auf den Steinen wuchs farbiges Moos, und an den Bächen Vergißmeinnicht. In seinem Innern waren Höhlen, da tropfte Wasser wie Silberfäden Jahr um Jahr in wechselloser Musik vom Gestein aufs Gestein, und in seinen Klüften gab es heimliche Kammern, wo mit tausendjähriger Geduld die Kristalle wuchsen. Auf dem Gipfel des Berges war nie ein Mensch gewesen. Aber manche wollten wissen, es sei dort ganz oben ein kleiner runder See, darin habe sich niemals etwas anderes gespiegelt als die Sonne, der Mond, die Wolken und die Sterne. Nicht Mensch noch Tier habe je in diese Schale geblickt, die der Berg dem Himmel entgegenhalte, denn auch die Adler flögen nicht so hoch."
Hermann Hesse, Faldum (Hermann Hesse, Iris. Ausgewählte Märchen, Berlin: Suhrkamp Verlag 1955, S. 95)
In 2003 Allerseelen did a special concert in Sintra, Portugal. A good occasion to release a limited mini cd, containing 3 new songs, inspired by the sacres stones of Sintra. It is also the first release for the Terra Fria label, which is related to the Dagaz Music webzine. The cute mcd is limited to 500 copies and comes in a small dvd-case, It has a booklet with photos of rocks by Gerhard, as well as lyrics of the songs in German and Portuguese. The music is typical Allerseelen: the hypnotic vocals of Gerhard, the repetive loops and percussion, deep basses and subtle orchestral elements. 'Steingeburt', dedicated to the character 'Diotima' in the film 'Der heilige Berg', sounds rather robust, bringing to mind the rawer earlier works of Allerseelen. 'Krieger aus Stein', the title track, is inspired by the giant menhirs on Corsica . It is a rather funny, cheerful monotonous track, based on repetive string and bass loops and adorned by classical music reminding me of old movies. The third and final track 'Unverändert' is rather short and minimal and has again quite a number of cultural references: to the film 'Das Blaue Licht', the Rumer mountain in Tirol and the 'Faldum' text by Herman Hesse. A nice mcd with typical hypnotic Allerseelen music. The three songs on this release can perhaps not compete with the best work on 'Flamme', but are certainly worthwhile. HD http://www.funprox.com/log/content.html
Released on the newborn Portuguese label Terra Fria, this mini-CD features three new Allerseelen songs inspired by the theme of 'sacred stones' and recorded in summer 2003 especially for the Allerseelen concert in Sintra in last November. Built upon Gerhard's spoken words, percussive rhythms and a martial bass (that reminds past Allerseelen works, 'Heiliges Blut' in particular) mixed with symphonic elements, the first song 'Steingeburt' ('Stone birth') is a powerful piece in the classic Allerseelen style. It is dedicated to the actress and priestess Diotima in the Leni Riefenstahl film 'Der heilige Berg'. The second song 'Krieger Aus Stein' ('Warriors of Stone') reveals a pretty different atmosphere created by an entertaining string melody supported by a harsh bass line and combined with repetitive lyrics. It is inspired by the warrior menhirs of Palaggiu on the beautiful wild island Corsica. The rather short last song Unverändert' ('Unchanged'), dedicated to the actress and stone witch Junta in the film 'Das blaue Licht', is based on a monologue by Gerhard with lyrics taken from 'Faldum' by Hermann Hesse. The magical mountain Rumer Spitze in Tyrol inspired the tense and hypnotic music. All in all, three inspired songs that evoke ingredients of past Allerseelen works, in their minimal and organic approach as well as the magic and intense essence that emanate from them. This mini-CD, limited to 500 copies, comes with a booklet featuring the original lyrics and their translation in Portuguese agreemented by nice photos of the three sites explored here by a very inspired Gerhard. Recommended! (Nathalie F.) http://www.heimdallr.ch/Reviews/2004/Allerseelen-Pedra.html
Produit par le label portugais Terra Fria le temps d’un mini-cd, ALLERSEELEN intitule ce dernier Pedra (« pierre », en portugais) et s’attache à rendre hommage aux mégalithes de rituels ancestraux. Les références n’ont rien de surprenant de la part de cet artiste autrichien (textes d’Herman Hesse, dédicaces aux actrices ayant tenu des rôles de sorcières dans les films de Leni Riefenstahl…), mais la musique fait preuve d’une maturité fort appréciable. Certes, « Steingeburt » ouvre le disque en fanfare, avec ses déclamations viriles et ses lourds rouages industriels appesantis encore par des envolées samplymphoniques, mais sur les deux autres morceaux les cordes se désaxent un peu plus et de langoureux rythmes trip-hop (ou comment passer de la moustache austère à celle des gens du village…) viennent ponctuer de captivantes narrations. Les éléments rituels et alambiqués de Gerhard sont ainsi toujours présents, seulement leur traitement vise désormais à l’efficacité et par là-même à un certain minimalisme nécromantique de bon aloi, pour un résultat singulier et envoûtant. http://www.topiste.com/iN_tensioN/article.php3?id_article=41
Gerhard branches out with the inclusion of a new label working in conjunction with Aorta, Terra Fria from Portugal. This 12 minute CD comes in a DVD like black plastic case, somewhat chilling my enthusiasm. The layout is reminiscent in ALLERSEELEN form however, with the two panel insert being set up along traditional guidelines, with the main difference being the lyrics presented in German and Portuguese instead of English. Three songs, all new and all fantastic! ‘Steingeburt’ or something akin to ‘Stone Birth’ sounds more like some of Gerhard’s past works with a throbbing, pulsating, breathing base line. A choice sample from some enigmatic film graces this to create an intensity rarely captured in Allerseelen’s works. Quite a sensation of tension and anxiety. The second song, starts off like a polka. A very welcome atmosphere to be worked into the repetoire. ‘Krieger Aus Stein’ features some up front whispering styled vocals with emotive strings, a very great short muted strum on a Spanish guitar(so it sounds in some way) and some unique little merriment that could originate from a conglomeration of sounds obtained from a “one man band” where many instruments collide it perfect consideration with one another. These components all sound quite fantastical when described in this way, but the really, almost, joyful atmosphere created by these is so utterly charming. The refinement of sounds and repetitiveness of the lyrics on this song raise the effectiveness of the jubilant music to a new height. Track three, ‘Unverändert’ uses a poetically rendered dialogue-like text with some very subtle wavering string sample and a sample (maybe like a guitar with one muted string being plucked numerous time in rapid succession) over a simple (not necessarily) scrapping sound feeling like the mist rising off the majestic peaks of Tyrol. One can also envision the fetters cascading down the rocky face of the mountain creating an echoing friction, utilized in this sparse arrangement. Most notable use of voice, setting this, I would say, above all other Allerseelen works. Overall this CD touches upon leitmotivs employed in past ALLERSEELEN works, but brings new life and a new potency to the mood and direction of the sounds and the corpus of ALLERSEELEN. Exquisite and enchanting. (Tyler/Ajna) www.theajnaoffensive.com
Nuove eredità ancestrali per il sommo compositore austriaco Allerseelen che questa volta esegue questo MCD composto da tre brani ispirati da luoghi mistici e geomantici. L'autore ha voluto scegliere come siti rappresentativi tre particolari testimoni monolitici: il dolmen in El Pozuelo in Spagna e di Palaggiu in Corsica, la montagna Rumer Spitze in Tirolo. "Steingeburt" è il tipico brano dove Gerhard unisce una linea percussiva granitica ad un basso marziale, lo spleen degli archi a delle liriche epiche. Un'alcova sacra e protettiva, generatrice di messaggi e certezze ataviche. In "Krieger Aus Stein" prosegue il cammino di megalitici presagi con una ballata solenne e narrativa, premonizioni intense tra gli echi rupestri di scenari immortali. Vibrazioni minimali per il terzo capitolo di Pedra, essenziali sonorità sollevano le liriche di "Unverändert" estratte dal Faldum di H. Hesse. Melodiche trasmutazioni di virtù ignee. www.unmute.net
New ancestral heritages for the Supreme Austrian composer Allerseelen. This time Gerhard releases a MCD with three new pieces inspired by mystical and geomantic places. The author has choosen as representative sites three particular monolithic witnesses: the dolmens at El Pozuelo in Andalucia and Palaggiu in Corsica, the magical mountain Rumer Spitze in Tirol. "Steingeburt" is the typical track where Gerhard adds granite percussive patterns to a martial bass, the spleen of the strings with epic lyrics. A sacred and protective alcove generatrix of atavistic messages and certainties. In "Krieger Aus Stein" continues the course of megalithic omens with a solemn and narrative ballad, intense premonitions between the rocky echoes of immortal views. Minimal emissions for the third chapter of Pedra, essential sonorities raise the "Unverändert" 's lyrics taken from Faldum by H. Hesse. Tuneful transmutations of igneous virtues. www.twilight-zone.it
Aorta c/o Petak, Postfach 778, A-1011 Wien
www.geocities.com/ahnstern
ALLERSEELEN CD STIRB UND WERDE
ALLERSEELEN CD STIRB UND WERDE
In preparation with various additional recordings:
ALLERSEELEN DoLP STIRB UND WERDE
Songs: Licht, Gletscherlicht, Winterschlaf, Feuervogel, Alle Lust will Ewigkeit, Feuertaufe, Käferlied, Heimkehr, Sibirische Symphonie, Totenlohe, Flamme, Stirb und Werde, Leichenfarbne Dämmerung, Licht
Mit seinem vierten Album Stirb und Werde begibt sich Kadmon alias Allerseelen auf eine prähistorische Reise, zurück zur menschlichen Sehnsucht nach Ewigkeit, wie sie Nietzsche zum Ausdruck brachte, der gleich für mehrere Texte auf dem Album Pate stand; zurück auch zu den westfälischen Externsteinen, wo Kenneth Anger einst Teile seines Films Lucifer Rising drehte. Und so bilden die wunderschönen, in warmen Rottönen gehaltenen Bilder der Steine und Angers Film zusammen mit den poetischen Texten Nietzsches und Kadmons und nicht zuletzt den gelegentlich auch elektronisch rhythmischen, oft aber orchestral inszenierten Klangskulpturen eine harmonische Einheit, wie man sie nur selten findet. Fast wirkt die überwiegend instrumentale Musik wie ein passender Soundtrack zu Angers Film, vereint sie doch Mystik, Erhabenheit, Schönheit, Rhythmik zu einer atmosphärischen Intensität, die Stirb und Werde zu einem spannenden Hörvergnügen macht. (Zillo 7/8-1999)
Nach langem Warten ist nun mit Stirb und Werde die vierte CD Allerseelens erhältlich. Was sich schon mit Sturmlieder anbahnte, führt Kadmon hier fort: Die Weiterentwicklung von brachialen, „dreckigen" Rhythmen hin zum symphonisch hypnotischen Ambient oder technoischen, stürmischen Klangfeldern. Titel wie das grandiose Licht oder das trancige Winterschlaf weisen Allerseelens Richtung und wirken regelrecht einlullend, magisch und entführen in eine Traumwelt, bestimmt von feuerroter, aber kalter Farbe. An und an entreißen schrille Töne und beschwörend kämpferische Tracks wie Feuervogel oder Feuertaufe den Hörer aus dieser Traumwelt - oder soll ich sagen Totenstarre? Stirb und Werde läßt vor dem geistigen Auge ein kaltes, dunkles, eisernes Fin de Siecle erscheinen, verarbeitet das Thema des Werdens und Vergehens auf gekonnte Art und Weise, weiß durch eine saubere Produktion auch klangtechnisch zu überzeugen und zeigt die meiner Meinung nach besten Allerseelen seit Bestehen. (Black) www.blackmagazin.com
Allerseelen is the project of Austrian researcher, musician and all-round renaissance man Kadmon. This CD maintains the high standard we have come to expect. The impeccably designed booklet displays some eye-catching pictures of the Externsteine near Horn in Germany. These images hint at the arcane potency of the tones contained on this disc. Licht acts as an overture, with layers of swelling symphonic sound. A chiming harp plucks its way through a celestial arpeggio, sealing the pure pulchritude of this opening. The luminescent Gletscherlicht perpetuates both the theme and rhapsodic essence of its forebear. Concurrently uplifting and chilling, this is the soundtrack to some mysterious film being played out in the mind´s eye. The same can be said of the icy coldness of Winterschlaf before its snowy sleep thaws under the blazing wings of Feuervogel. A chunky, reverb-drenched bass-line is picked up by pounding drums. Enigmatic lyrics written and sung by Kadmon make this an exceptional composition in the classic Allerseelen mould. Alle Lust will Ewigkeit swaps Kadmon´s lyrics for Friedrich Nietzsche´s, his vocals for Sabine´s and bass for brass. The harsher, more aggressive affair that is Feuertaufe is shortly followed by Käferlied. This brilliant song, in memoriam Ernst Jünger, first appeared on a split 7" with Blood Axis in 1998. Decidedly avant-garde flourishes pepper what is a somewhat techno laced number. Kadmon´s moving and inspirational words provide the piece-de-resistance. Fantastic! I can´t quite decide if this album reaches the pinnacle attained by Sturmlieder. If not, it at least comes within a hearsbreadth. Whether on the lament-like Sibirische Symphonie or the more active Flamme, Stirb und Werde bathes in splendour of light: The frozen stillness of a blind glacial glare. (Judas Kiss 6/MM, England)
When I got this CD and was opening it, I noticed that my mouth was actually dry, my heart was beating faster, and my hands were shaking just a little. An Allerseelen CD is an event. A ritual. An experience to be savoured completely. I have never been disappointed. Allerseelen was founded in 1989 and is basically one man, Kadmon. He lives in Austria. Kadmon has also written a journal called Aorta for a number of years, and is now writing one called Ahnstern. I encourage the study of these journals to anyone of open heart and open mind. The name Allerseelen is German for All Souls. I highly recommend every single Allerseelen album and every compilation on which Allerseelen songs appear. Every single album, 7" and compilation that contains this man´s work is worth your money and your time. I have never heard an Allerseelen piece that sounded weak, poorly done, or uncared for. Allerseelen represent a standard of excellence that is almost unheard of in the world today. Kadmon´s music is, by intent and effect, a spiritual experience. Each album is a ritual journey of sound or of „art as life ritual". Stirb und Werde is no exception. Stirb und Werde refers to the journey of death and rebirth - of pain and death followed by transcendence and illumination. The title means Die and Become. This album expresses the actualising of what death and illumination represent in the old solar cults such as Mithraism. If you are going to let Allerseelen into your life, you might want to do some reading. Julius Evola´s books The Mystery of the Grail and The Hermetic Tradition wouldn´t be bad places to start. The artwork in Stirb und Werde is taken from photographs of the sanctuary Externsteine in Westphalia and stills of Kenneth Anger´s film Lucifer Rising, part of which was also filmed at Externsteine. Externsteine is significant in the death and illumination/rebirth concept, because the natural sandstones at Externsteine were turned into a solar temple by the early Celts. The cover of Stirb und Werde is a picture of a hole in the rock at Externsteine where every year on June 21st the sun shines on what seems to be an altar. The music on Stirb und Werde follows a progression, beginning softly, and almost tentatively, like the first rays of sunlight on the horizon; and, like the sun, a few minutes after this CD has begun to arise, it becomes almost overwhelmingly brilliant. Gletscherlicht/Glacial Light is one of the most powerful pieces of music I have ever heard in my life. Winterschlaf/ Hibernation is a haunting and melancholy beginning to this musical process of dying and is followed by the caustic and surreal death knell called Feuervogel/Fire Bird. Fire Bird reminds me very much of the dark fury heard on Allerseelen´s last album Sturmlieder. Track five is a piece of Nietzsche´s poetry set to music: Alle Lust will Ewigkeit/All Lust Wants Eternity is a ferociously elegant bit of pure Allerseelen magick. Track six is Feuertaufe/Baptism of Fire and I don´t suggest you listen to it on repeat for very long. Then again.. the results could be fascinating especially when combined with darkness and flashing lights. Track seven seems to be the turning point of the album - still in darkness, but turning toward where the light will come; moving toward the Golden Age, but still shackled in Iron. It´s an almost whimsical arrangement, and very physically exciting and inspiring to hear. It´s a track full of hope and desire; it seems to articulate the very heart and soul of Icarus. The movie Wings of Desire comes to mind. Track eight is titled simply Heimkehr/Return. Fragile and tentative, the effect of this song is somehow disturbing, unsettling and wrought with life-affirming fear. Track nine is Sibirische Symphonie/ Siberian Symphony. It reminds me of crossing a long stretch of desert with the heat bearing down, no one to love, and nothing left to live for but life itself. Siberian Symphony is as refined and stately as it is despairing. Track ten Totenlohe/Blaze of the Dead could wake the dead. Track eleven, Flamme/Flame is a song of primitive virility and timeless radiance. The poetry used in Flame is also from Nietzsche and is truly exhilarating when set to this music. Track twelve, Stirb und Werde/Die and Become, reminds me very much of the scenes in Lucifer Rising where there is a woman lying in a sarcophagus carved into the side of a rock. Her hands are folded across her chest, and, as I recall, there is water running near her. It is a very powerful and poignant image - this woman lying peacefully within the substance and strength of the rock, and the current moving swiftly alongside her. Track thirteen, Leichenfarbne Dämmerung/Deadly Pale Twilight, also reminds very much of the film Lucifer Rising in its tone and atmosphere. It even reminds me in some ways of Bobby Beausoleil´s soundtrack. It has that strange, awesome, unnerving effect of being both resplendent and horrifying at the same time. The beauty of all three artists, Anger, Beausoleil and Kadmon, is that they take that resplendent horror and use it as a tool for spiritual awakening. The final trakc is titled, as was the first, simply Licht/Light. The fragile timidity of the first Light is replaced by a light more focused, a light more full and more bright, and more sure of itself. The passion and the power, and the absolute beauty contained in this final arrangement is spectacular. This last track is two minutes and twenty-two seconds of pure, unmitigated rapture. The only other creative majesty I could even begin to compare this album to, would be the experience of standing before one of Anselm Kiefer´s expansive, devastating, and regenerative paintings. If you have ever doubted art´s ability to destroy and re-create those who will let themselves be touched by it, pick any one artist I have mentioned in this review, immerse yourself obsessively in his work, and see who you are when you come out the other side. Succinctly, Stirb und Werde is a masterpiece of the Twentieth Century, and a sentinel of the Golden Age that must surely follow this modern world of darkness. www.starvox.net
Mit schöner Regelmäßigkeit veröffentlicht der österreichische Künstler Kadmon mit seiner Gruppe Allerseelen Werke seiner Tonkunst; waren es im letzten Jahr Vinylprodukte, wie das Ernst Jünger gewidmete Käferlied oder das Ergebnis einer Zusammenarbeit mit der amerikanischen Band Blood Axis, so greift der Künstler für sein neues Werk Stirb und Werde wieder auf die Lichtscheibe (CD) zurück. Wie in seinem gesamten Schaffen, so setzt sich der Österreicher auch diesmal erneut mit Themen wie Natur, Heidentum und Spiritualität auseinander, wofür er selbst die schöne und durchaus zutreffende Bezeichnung Technosophische Tonkunst, also die Verbindung von Technik, Weisheit und Kunst, geprägt hat. Kadmon selbst nennt seine Werke treffend „Lieder und akustische Landschaften". Konnte man seinen frühen Werken oftmals eine gewisse Rauhheit und Rohheit nicht absprechend, so ist Stirb und Werde erstaunlich ruhig, harmonisch. War die Stärke von Allerseelen schon eh die Fähigkeit, hypnotisch anmutende und wirkende Melodien zu schaffen, so schafft es das Duo, die Wirkung seiner Klanglandschaften noch zu erhöhen. Einige dieser „Landschaften" wirken regelrecht bewußtseinserweiternd. Lieder wie Gletscherlicht, Alle Lust will Ewigkeit, Käferlied oder Leichenfarbne Dämmerung dürften sicherlich auch den Hörer beeindrucken, der diese Art von zeitgenössischer Musik normalerweise nicht konsumiert. Eine mehr als gelungene Produktion. (Junge Freiheit 26/99)
Dinge aus unserer heidnischen Vergangenheit wie Runen wirft die Political Correctness- Gesellschaft heute gern in einen Topf mit der Nazi-Ideologie - das bekam auch der Oberösterreicher Kadmon, Kopf des Musikprojektes Allerseelen, zu spüren. Doch anstatt sich davon einschüchtern zu lassen, wurde im Mai seine neueste CD unter dem auf ein Gedicht von Goethe bezogenen Titel Stirb und Werde veröffentlicht. Einige Lieder aus diesem apokalyptischen Fin de Siecle-Werk sind leidenschaftlich-düstere Vertonungen von Nietzsches Dichtung. Die Absicht hinter der musikalischen Arbeit von Allerseelen ist eine Bewußtseinserweiterung, Die suggestive Klangwelt von Allerseelen definiert sich in einer kraftvoller Begegnung von Mythos und Moderne, Tradition und Avantgarde. Diese überirdisch-unheimliche Synthese aus zeitgemäßer Technologie und zeitloser Philosophie versetzt mit einem atmosphärischen Lärmzauber in eine unsichtbare Wirklichkeit. Die düstere Klanglandschaft als atemberaubendes Charakteristikum läßt den eisigen Lufthauch vorzeitlicher Mysterien deutlich spüren und jagt dem Zuhörer kalte Schauer über den Rücken. Die lichterlohen - mal metallischen, mal esoterischen - Klänge von Allerseelen lassen die sonst so starren Grenzen der Zeit verschwinden und bescheren selten gewordene, einzigartige Erfahrungen aus einer Welt, die es nach allen Regeln der Logik gar nicht mehr geben dürfte. (Zur Zeit 27/99)
Nouveau CD d´Allerseelen qui nous propose pour l´occasion une sorte de bilan de ces 10 dernieres annees. On retrouve quelques morceaux recents et retravailles comme Gletscherlicht, Alle Lust will Ewigkeit, Käferlied, Flamme et Leichenfarbne Dämmerung. D´autres titres plus anciens sont presents dans de nouvelles versions, mais il y a quand meme quelques inedits, et notamment l´excellent titre Feuervogel, avec une rhythmique rapide et plutot inhabituelle, Kadmon, ce genie Autrichien, semble donc faire le point sur sa longue carriere, avec ce CD tres captivant, toujours servi par des illustrations bien inspirees) photographies du sanctuaire de l´Externsteine et du film Lucifer Rising de Kenneth Anger), le tout servi par une citation de Jean Baudrillard, que peut-on ajouter? Rien? Si: ce CD est rigoureusement indispensable! (Runen 1)
Onirico e trasognante, per poi gettarsi a capofitto in violente trame fitte di percussioni e stridori industriali, momenti di riacquisita serenità portati in scena dalla voce di sabine che va a scontrarsi con la drammaticita dei testi e la brutalita degli strumenti.. una raccolta che attinge brani lungo tutta la decade che va dale fine degli anni ottanta fino ad oggi, presentando si pezzi editi, ma remixati in maniera davvero excellente, rendendo certi titoli cosi particolari da farli sembrare appena sfornati dalla fucina austriaca di allerseelen. sicuramente un album consigliato, sopratutto per chi non si e mai avvicinato troppo a kadmon, visto che questo stirb und werde rappresenta un ottimo punto di partenza verso un viaggio del tutto particolare nelle passioni ed ossessioni di uno dei maestri della scena apocalittica. non a caso stirb und werde viene dedicato alle altre entita che hanno contribuito, in questi ultimi anni, a rendere chiaro e, per quanto possibile, circoscritto, l´ambiente culturale verso cui ci si rivolge: blood axis, les joyaux de la princesse, waldteufel, scivias.. notevole inoltre l´impatto estetico, grazie alle suggestive istantanee scattatte alle externsteine in westfalia dove tinte di rosso cupo troneggiano lungo tutte le pagine del ricco booklet allegato al compact. (Marble Moon 15)
Non mi aveva affatto convinto il morbido Sturmlieder ma i segnali che arrivavano dal progetto austriaco da qualche tempo a questa parte disponevano all´ottimismo, segnali regolarmente amplificati su queste pagine. Rinveniamo quei lampi anche in Stirb und Werde, quarto atto per Allerseelen, che non ometti di riproporre il singolo dedicato a Ernst Jünger, Käferlied, e le due partecipazioni a the Nitha Fields e Lucifer Rising, rispettivamente con Alle Lust will Ewigkeit e Flamme. Affrancatosi da una eccessive fissita di stampo ambientale che ne aveva neutralizzato il certo vigore, Kadmon con altra determinazione si dedica a frustate percussive d´ottima rosa nel caso di Gletscherlicht, Totenlohe e Feuertaufe, con squarci da Götterdämmerung quali Licht, Sibirische Symphonie e Winterschlaf e piu convenzionali strutture musicali nella citata Käferlied e in Feuervogel a suggello d´un albo di inedita, per Allerseelen, varietà. (Italia)
Tripudio di fuoco e fiamme - consueto il richiamo ai culti solari pre-cristiani (si vedano le foto scattata presso il santuario mitraico Externsteine (li Anger giro parte di Lucifer Rising)) - nel quarto album degli austriaci Allerseelen. Grevi e serrate ritmiche marziali, interiezioni cameristiche, evocative citazioni nietzscheane e varia oscurita a circoscrivere un alone di misterioso arcaismo. (Rumore 9/99)
Creo que Kadmon mismo ha logrado dar una aproximacion definitoria, o varias, en lo que respecta a su concepto musical y tematico.Cada sonido – ha dicho – es una especie de simbole de lo que realmente quiere expresar, o mejor dicho, cada sonido representa un simbolo de, en cada caso, un tema o temas diferentes tratados. Indudablemente, Allerseelen es un punto clave para entender parte de la filosofia musical y tematica de las formaciones que mas nos interesan dentro del panorama Neo-Pagan- Folk e Industrial. Tras Allerseelen encontramos a un austriaco dedicado ademas a la publicacion de dos fanzines de nombres Aorta y Ahnstern. Ambos suelen ser tematicos y dedicados cada uno de ellos a un personaje en particular o incluso basados en articulos y entrevistas a grupos concretos. Para todos aquellos interesados en profundizar en las ocultas y escondidas sombras de la cultura europea, no hay lugar mejor que la musica de Kadmon bayo su proyecto Allerseelen y sus publicaciones mencionadas. Podemos encontrar, entre los temas tratados en Aorta, libretos dedicados, por ejemplo, al culto indo-europeo de Mithras, al film mistico-lunar de la alemana Leni Riefenstahl Das blaue Licht (La luz azul), a Corneliu Codreanu, fundador de la tambien mistica Guardia de Hierro rumana. Entre los articulos tratados en su nueva publicacion Ahnstern encontramos una entrevista con el director americano Kenneth Anger sobre diversos temas, entre ellos su film Lucifer Rising. Kadmon mismo define la musica de Allerseelen como Technosophische Tonkunst, Konservative Avantgarde: el termino tecnosofico auna las palabras tecnologia y filosofia. Mi trabajo, dice Kadmon, esta muy proximo a la alquimia: formo y modelo ideas, conceptos.. mis aparatos electronicos son mi laboratorio; la alquima fue siempre una ciencia sagrada que trabajo con la tecnologia mas contemporanea y trato de conjugar espiritualidad y tecnologia uniendo contrastes y conceptos opuestos. Pero entremos un poco en este su carto CD. Su estilo, proprio e inconfundible, esta basado por un lado en ritmicas repetitivas simbolicas de bases no exactamente industriales, ambientes combinados y acabados diferentes, tanto para temas ritmicos, como para otros ambientales dentro de espacios sonoros que maneja mejor que nadie. Una mezcla, come dice el mismo, de pasado y presente, de tradicion amoldada a su forma mas particular, y vanguardia disenada de forma original, sin copiar esquemas. Fuente de culturas diversas, come puedes ver, y controvertidas por sus a veces equivocadas interpretaciones y utilizaciones pasadas y presentes. En pocos podras encontrar un interes tan sincero por todo ello. Todos sus discos son recomendables, tanto come todos sus fanzines publicados. Esperamos uen un futuro cercano ahondar mas en la musica y persona de este imprescindible proyecto. (Seküencias de Culto 10)
Au allerseelen stirb und werde albuma tulajdonkeppen folytatja az elözo, sturmlieder altal kijelölt utat. egysegesedtek ezek a latkepek (landscapes), ahogyan kadmon nevezi oket, s egyre inkabb attekinthetobbek is. az elektronika tovabbra is megmaradt az eloterben, s ezaltat - helyenkent - sokkal jobban befogadhato az anyag, mint a sturmlieder. az industrialba hajlanak a legtöbbször a kompoziciok, terjengosebbek is, de azert meg kellokeppen kihaltak es fagyosak tovabbra is, hiaba egyik központi szimbolumuk a tuz es a lang. kadmon ott tudna nagyot lenditeni a produkciojan, ha sokkal inkabb alatamasztottabbak lennenek szövegileg a szerzemenyei. ezuttal harom nietzsche vers került megzenesitesre, mig sajat szöveg csak ketto. a borito konscepcioja tovabbra is a okkultizmus egyik központjat, az externsteine - i prehistorikus szentelyt mutatja be, amelynel a iii. birodalom idejen több ünnepseget is rendeztek. ehhez kapcsodolodik kepekben a lucifer rising c. film nehany jelenete - furcsa szimbiozist alkotva. a magam reszerol azt gondolom, leginkabb olyan dalokban tudja magat megtalalni a csoport, mint a flamme, totenlohe vagy az alle lust will ewigkeit es a winterschjlaft. jelenthet valamit, hogy ezek közül kettonek egy-egy nietzsche vers adja az alapjat. (Mozgalom)
www.geocities.com/ahnstern
In preparation with various additional recordings:
ALLERSEELEN DoLP STIRB UND WERDE
Songs: Licht, Gletscherlicht, Winterschlaf, Feuervogel, Alle Lust will Ewigkeit, Feuertaufe, Käferlied, Heimkehr, Sibirische Symphonie, Totenlohe, Flamme, Stirb und Werde, Leichenfarbne Dämmerung, Licht
Mit seinem vierten Album Stirb und Werde begibt sich Kadmon alias Allerseelen auf eine prähistorische Reise, zurück zur menschlichen Sehnsucht nach Ewigkeit, wie sie Nietzsche zum Ausdruck brachte, der gleich für mehrere Texte auf dem Album Pate stand; zurück auch zu den westfälischen Externsteinen, wo Kenneth Anger einst Teile seines Films Lucifer Rising drehte. Und so bilden die wunderschönen, in warmen Rottönen gehaltenen Bilder der Steine und Angers Film zusammen mit den poetischen Texten Nietzsches und Kadmons und nicht zuletzt den gelegentlich auch elektronisch rhythmischen, oft aber orchestral inszenierten Klangskulpturen eine harmonische Einheit, wie man sie nur selten findet. Fast wirkt die überwiegend instrumentale Musik wie ein passender Soundtrack zu Angers Film, vereint sie doch Mystik, Erhabenheit, Schönheit, Rhythmik zu einer atmosphärischen Intensität, die Stirb und Werde zu einem spannenden Hörvergnügen macht. (Zillo 7/8-1999)
Nach langem Warten ist nun mit Stirb und Werde die vierte CD Allerseelens erhältlich. Was sich schon mit Sturmlieder anbahnte, führt Kadmon hier fort: Die Weiterentwicklung von brachialen, „dreckigen" Rhythmen hin zum symphonisch hypnotischen Ambient oder technoischen, stürmischen Klangfeldern. Titel wie das grandiose Licht oder das trancige Winterschlaf weisen Allerseelens Richtung und wirken regelrecht einlullend, magisch und entführen in eine Traumwelt, bestimmt von feuerroter, aber kalter Farbe. An und an entreißen schrille Töne und beschwörend kämpferische Tracks wie Feuervogel oder Feuertaufe den Hörer aus dieser Traumwelt - oder soll ich sagen Totenstarre? Stirb und Werde läßt vor dem geistigen Auge ein kaltes, dunkles, eisernes Fin de Siecle erscheinen, verarbeitet das Thema des Werdens und Vergehens auf gekonnte Art und Weise, weiß durch eine saubere Produktion auch klangtechnisch zu überzeugen und zeigt die meiner Meinung nach besten Allerseelen seit Bestehen. (Black) www.blackmagazin.com
Allerseelen is the project of Austrian researcher, musician and all-round renaissance man Kadmon. This CD maintains the high standard we have come to expect. The impeccably designed booklet displays some eye-catching pictures of the Externsteine near Horn in Germany. These images hint at the arcane potency of the tones contained on this disc. Licht acts as an overture, with layers of swelling symphonic sound. A chiming harp plucks its way through a celestial arpeggio, sealing the pure pulchritude of this opening. The luminescent Gletscherlicht perpetuates both the theme and rhapsodic essence of its forebear. Concurrently uplifting and chilling, this is the soundtrack to some mysterious film being played out in the mind´s eye. The same can be said of the icy coldness of Winterschlaf before its snowy sleep thaws under the blazing wings of Feuervogel. A chunky, reverb-drenched bass-line is picked up by pounding drums. Enigmatic lyrics written and sung by Kadmon make this an exceptional composition in the classic Allerseelen mould. Alle Lust will Ewigkeit swaps Kadmon´s lyrics for Friedrich Nietzsche´s, his vocals for Sabine´s and bass for brass. The harsher, more aggressive affair that is Feuertaufe is shortly followed by Käferlied. This brilliant song, in memoriam Ernst Jünger, first appeared on a split 7" with Blood Axis in 1998. Decidedly avant-garde flourishes pepper what is a somewhat techno laced number. Kadmon´s moving and inspirational words provide the piece-de-resistance. Fantastic! I can´t quite decide if this album reaches the pinnacle attained by Sturmlieder. If not, it at least comes within a hearsbreadth. Whether on the lament-like Sibirische Symphonie or the more active Flamme, Stirb und Werde bathes in splendour of light: The frozen stillness of a blind glacial glare. (Judas Kiss 6/MM, England)
When I got this CD and was opening it, I noticed that my mouth was actually dry, my heart was beating faster, and my hands were shaking just a little. An Allerseelen CD is an event. A ritual. An experience to be savoured completely. I have never been disappointed. Allerseelen was founded in 1989 and is basically one man, Kadmon. He lives in Austria. Kadmon has also written a journal called Aorta for a number of years, and is now writing one called Ahnstern. I encourage the study of these journals to anyone of open heart and open mind. The name Allerseelen is German for All Souls. I highly recommend every single Allerseelen album and every compilation on which Allerseelen songs appear. Every single album, 7" and compilation that contains this man´s work is worth your money and your time. I have never heard an Allerseelen piece that sounded weak, poorly done, or uncared for. Allerseelen represent a standard of excellence that is almost unheard of in the world today. Kadmon´s music is, by intent and effect, a spiritual experience. Each album is a ritual journey of sound or of „art as life ritual". Stirb und Werde is no exception. Stirb und Werde refers to the journey of death and rebirth - of pain and death followed by transcendence and illumination. The title means Die and Become. This album expresses the actualising of what death and illumination represent in the old solar cults such as Mithraism. If you are going to let Allerseelen into your life, you might want to do some reading. Julius Evola´s books The Mystery of the Grail and The Hermetic Tradition wouldn´t be bad places to start. The artwork in Stirb und Werde is taken from photographs of the sanctuary Externsteine in Westphalia and stills of Kenneth Anger´s film Lucifer Rising, part of which was also filmed at Externsteine. Externsteine is significant in the death and illumination/rebirth concept, because the natural sandstones at Externsteine were turned into a solar temple by the early Celts. The cover of Stirb und Werde is a picture of a hole in the rock at Externsteine where every year on June 21st the sun shines on what seems to be an altar. The music on Stirb und Werde follows a progression, beginning softly, and almost tentatively, like the first rays of sunlight on the horizon; and, like the sun, a few minutes after this CD has begun to arise, it becomes almost overwhelmingly brilliant. Gletscherlicht/Glacial Light is one of the most powerful pieces of music I have ever heard in my life. Winterschlaf/ Hibernation is a haunting and melancholy beginning to this musical process of dying and is followed by the caustic and surreal death knell called Feuervogel/Fire Bird. Fire Bird reminds me very much of the dark fury heard on Allerseelen´s last album Sturmlieder. Track five is a piece of Nietzsche´s poetry set to music: Alle Lust will Ewigkeit/All Lust Wants Eternity is a ferociously elegant bit of pure Allerseelen magick. Track six is Feuertaufe/Baptism of Fire and I don´t suggest you listen to it on repeat for very long. Then again.. the results could be fascinating especially when combined with darkness and flashing lights. Track seven seems to be the turning point of the album - still in darkness, but turning toward where the light will come; moving toward the Golden Age, but still shackled in Iron. It´s an almost whimsical arrangement, and very physically exciting and inspiring to hear. It´s a track full of hope and desire; it seems to articulate the very heart and soul of Icarus. The movie Wings of Desire comes to mind. Track eight is titled simply Heimkehr/Return. Fragile and tentative, the effect of this song is somehow disturbing, unsettling and wrought with life-affirming fear. Track nine is Sibirische Symphonie/ Siberian Symphony. It reminds me of crossing a long stretch of desert with the heat bearing down, no one to love, and nothing left to live for but life itself. Siberian Symphony is as refined and stately as it is despairing. Track ten Totenlohe/Blaze of the Dead could wake the dead. Track eleven, Flamme/Flame is a song of primitive virility and timeless radiance. The poetry used in Flame is also from Nietzsche and is truly exhilarating when set to this music. Track twelve, Stirb und Werde/Die and Become, reminds me very much of the scenes in Lucifer Rising where there is a woman lying in a sarcophagus carved into the side of a rock. Her hands are folded across her chest, and, as I recall, there is water running near her. It is a very powerful and poignant image - this woman lying peacefully within the substance and strength of the rock, and the current moving swiftly alongside her. Track thirteen, Leichenfarbne Dämmerung/Deadly Pale Twilight, also reminds very much of the film Lucifer Rising in its tone and atmosphere. It even reminds me in some ways of Bobby Beausoleil´s soundtrack. It has that strange, awesome, unnerving effect of being both resplendent and horrifying at the same time. The beauty of all three artists, Anger, Beausoleil and Kadmon, is that they take that resplendent horror and use it as a tool for spiritual awakening. The final trakc is titled, as was the first, simply Licht/Light. The fragile timidity of the first Light is replaced by a light more focused, a light more full and more bright, and more sure of itself. The passion and the power, and the absolute beauty contained in this final arrangement is spectacular. This last track is two minutes and twenty-two seconds of pure, unmitigated rapture. The only other creative majesty I could even begin to compare this album to, would be the experience of standing before one of Anselm Kiefer´s expansive, devastating, and regenerative paintings. If you have ever doubted art´s ability to destroy and re-create those who will let themselves be touched by it, pick any one artist I have mentioned in this review, immerse yourself obsessively in his work, and see who you are when you come out the other side. Succinctly, Stirb und Werde is a masterpiece of the Twentieth Century, and a sentinel of the Golden Age that must surely follow this modern world of darkness. www.starvox.net
Mit schöner Regelmäßigkeit veröffentlicht der österreichische Künstler Kadmon mit seiner Gruppe Allerseelen Werke seiner Tonkunst; waren es im letzten Jahr Vinylprodukte, wie das Ernst Jünger gewidmete Käferlied oder das Ergebnis einer Zusammenarbeit mit der amerikanischen Band Blood Axis, so greift der Künstler für sein neues Werk Stirb und Werde wieder auf die Lichtscheibe (CD) zurück. Wie in seinem gesamten Schaffen, so setzt sich der Österreicher auch diesmal erneut mit Themen wie Natur, Heidentum und Spiritualität auseinander, wofür er selbst die schöne und durchaus zutreffende Bezeichnung Technosophische Tonkunst, also die Verbindung von Technik, Weisheit und Kunst, geprägt hat. Kadmon selbst nennt seine Werke treffend „Lieder und akustische Landschaften". Konnte man seinen frühen Werken oftmals eine gewisse Rauhheit und Rohheit nicht absprechend, so ist Stirb und Werde erstaunlich ruhig, harmonisch. War die Stärke von Allerseelen schon eh die Fähigkeit, hypnotisch anmutende und wirkende Melodien zu schaffen, so schafft es das Duo, die Wirkung seiner Klanglandschaften noch zu erhöhen. Einige dieser „Landschaften" wirken regelrecht bewußtseinserweiternd. Lieder wie Gletscherlicht, Alle Lust will Ewigkeit, Käferlied oder Leichenfarbne Dämmerung dürften sicherlich auch den Hörer beeindrucken, der diese Art von zeitgenössischer Musik normalerweise nicht konsumiert. Eine mehr als gelungene Produktion. (Junge Freiheit 26/99)
Dinge aus unserer heidnischen Vergangenheit wie Runen wirft die Political Correctness- Gesellschaft heute gern in einen Topf mit der Nazi-Ideologie - das bekam auch der Oberösterreicher Kadmon, Kopf des Musikprojektes Allerseelen, zu spüren. Doch anstatt sich davon einschüchtern zu lassen, wurde im Mai seine neueste CD unter dem auf ein Gedicht von Goethe bezogenen Titel Stirb und Werde veröffentlicht. Einige Lieder aus diesem apokalyptischen Fin de Siecle-Werk sind leidenschaftlich-düstere Vertonungen von Nietzsches Dichtung. Die Absicht hinter der musikalischen Arbeit von Allerseelen ist eine Bewußtseinserweiterung, Die suggestive Klangwelt von Allerseelen definiert sich in einer kraftvoller Begegnung von Mythos und Moderne, Tradition und Avantgarde. Diese überirdisch-unheimliche Synthese aus zeitgemäßer Technologie und zeitloser Philosophie versetzt mit einem atmosphärischen Lärmzauber in eine unsichtbare Wirklichkeit. Die düstere Klanglandschaft als atemberaubendes Charakteristikum läßt den eisigen Lufthauch vorzeitlicher Mysterien deutlich spüren und jagt dem Zuhörer kalte Schauer über den Rücken. Die lichterlohen - mal metallischen, mal esoterischen - Klänge von Allerseelen lassen die sonst so starren Grenzen der Zeit verschwinden und bescheren selten gewordene, einzigartige Erfahrungen aus einer Welt, die es nach allen Regeln der Logik gar nicht mehr geben dürfte. (Zur Zeit 27/99)
Nouveau CD d´Allerseelen qui nous propose pour l´occasion une sorte de bilan de ces 10 dernieres annees. On retrouve quelques morceaux recents et retravailles comme Gletscherlicht, Alle Lust will Ewigkeit, Käferlied, Flamme et Leichenfarbne Dämmerung. D´autres titres plus anciens sont presents dans de nouvelles versions, mais il y a quand meme quelques inedits, et notamment l´excellent titre Feuervogel, avec une rhythmique rapide et plutot inhabituelle, Kadmon, ce genie Autrichien, semble donc faire le point sur sa longue carriere, avec ce CD tres captivant, toujours servi par des illustrations bien inspirees) photographies du sanctuaire de l´Externsteine et du film Lucifer Rising de Kenneth Anger), le tout servi par une citation de Jean Baudrillard, que peut-on ajouter? Rien? Si: ce CD est rigoureusement indispensable! (Runen 1)
Onirico e trasognante, per poi gettarsi a capofitto in violente trame fitte di percussioni e stridori industriali, momenti di riacquisita serenità portati in scena dalla voce di sabine che va a scontrarsi con la drammaticita dei testi e la brutalita degli strumenti.. una raccolta che attinge brani lungo tutta la decade che va dale fine degli anni ottanta fino ad oggi, presentando si pezzi editi, ma remixati in maniera davvero excellente, rendendo certi titoli cosi particolari da farli sembrare appena sfornati dalla fucina austriaca di allerseelen. sicuramente un album consigliato, sopratutto per chi non si e mai avvicinato troppo a kadmon, visto che questo stirb und werde rappresenta un ottimo punto di partenza verso un viaggio del tutto particolare nelle passioni ed ossessioni di uno dei maestri della scena apocalittica. non a caso stirb und werde viene dedicato alle altre entita che hanno contribuito, in questi ultimi anni, a rendere chiaro e, per quanto possibile, circoscritto, l´ambiente culturale verso cui ci si rivolge: blood axis, les joyaux de la princesse, waldteufel, scivias.. notevole inoltre l´impatto estetico, grazie alle suggestive istantanee scattatte alle externsteine in westfalia dove tinte di rosso cupo troneggiano lungo tutte le pagine del ricco booklet allegato al compact. (Marble Moon 15)
Non mi aveva affatto convinto il morbido Sturmlieder ma i segnali che arrivavano dal progetto austriaco da qualche tempo a questa parte disponevano all´ottimismo, segnali regolarmente amplificati su queste pagine. Rinveniamo quei lampi anche in Stirb und Werde, quarto atto per Allerseelen, che non ometti di riproporre il singolo dedicato a Ernst Jünger, Käferlied, e le due partecipazioni a the Nitha Fields e Lucifer Rising, rispettivamente con Alle Lust will Ewigkeit e Flamme. Affrancatosi da una eccessive fissita di stampo ambientale che ne aveva neutralizzato il certo vigore, Kadmon con altra determinazione si dedica a frustate percussive d´ottima rosa nel caso di Gletscherlicht, Totenlohe e Feuertaufe, con squarci da Götterdämmerung quali Licht, Sibirische Symphonie e Winterschlaf e piu convenzionali strutture musicali nella citata Käferlied e in Feuervogel a suggello d´un albo di inedita, per Allerseelen, varietà. (Italia)
Tripudio di fuoco e fiamme - consueto il richiamo ai culti solari pre-cristiani (si vedano le foto scattata presso il santuario mitraico Externsteine (li Anger giro parte di Lucifer Rising)) - nel quarto album degli austriaci Allerseelen. Grevi e serrate ritmiche marziali, interiezioni cameristiche, evocative citazioni nietzscheane e varia oscurita a circoscrivere un alone di misterioso arcaismo. (Rumore 9/99)
Creo que Kadmon mismo ha logrado dar una aproximacion definitoria, o varias, en lo que respecta a su concepto musical y tematico.Cada sonido – ha dicho – es una especie de simbole de lo que realmente quiere expresar, o mejor dicho, cada sonido representa un simbolo de, en cada caso, un tema o temas diferentes tratados. Indudablemente, Allerseelen es un punto clave para entender parte de la filosofia musical y tematica de las formaciones que mas nos interesan dentro del panorama Neo-Pagan- Folk e Industrial. Tras Allerseelen encontramos a un austriaco dedicado ademas a la publicacion de dos fanzines de nombres Aorta y Ahnstern. Ambos suelen ser tematicos y dedicados cada uno de ellos a un personaje en particular o incluso basados en articulos y entrevistas a grupos concretos. Para todos aquellos interesados en profundizar en las ocultas y escondidas sombras de la cultura europea, no hay lugar mejor que la musica de Kadmon bayo su proyecto Allerseelen y sus publicaciones mencionadas. Podemos encontrar, entre los temas tratados en Aorta, libretos dedicados, por ejemplo, al culto indo-europeo de Mithras, al film mistico-lunar de la alemana Leni Riefenstahl Das blaue Licht (La luz azul), a Corneliu Codreanu, fundador de la tambien mistica Guardia de Hierro rumana. Entre los articulos tratados en su nueva publicacion Ahnstern encontramos una entrevista con el director americano Kenneth Anger sobre diversos temas, entre ellos su film Lucifer Rising. Kadmon mismo define la musica de Allerseelen como Technosophische Tonkunst, Konservative Avantgarde: el termino tecnosofico auna las palabras tecnologia y filosofia. Mi trabajo, dice Kadmon, esta muy proximo a la alquimia: formo y modelo ideas, conceptos.. mis aparatos electronicos son mi laboratorio; la alquima fue siempre una ciencia sagrada que trabajo con la tecnologia mas contemporanea y trato de conjugar espiritualidad y tecnologia uniendo contrastes y conceptos opuestos. Pero entremos un poco en este su carto CD. Su estilo, proprio e inconfundible, esta basado por un lado en ritmicas repetitivas simbolicas de bases no exactamente industriales, ambientes combinados y acabados diferentes, tanto para temas ritmicos, como para otros ambientales dentro de espacios sonoros que maneja mejor que nadie. Una mezcla, come dice el mismo, de pasado y presente, de tradicion amoldada a su forma mas particular, y vanguardia disenada de forma original, sin copiar esquemas. Fuente de culturas diversas, come puedes ver, y controvertidas por sus a veces equivocadas interpretaciones y utilizaciones pasadas y presentes. En pocos podras encontrar un interes tan sincero por todo ello. Todos sus discos son recomendables, tanto come todos sus fanzines publicados. Esperamos uen un futuro cercano ahondar mas en la musica y persona de este imprescindible proyecto. (Seküencias de Culto 10)
Au allerseelen stirb und werde albuma tulajdonkeppen folytatja az elözo, sturmlieder altal kijelölt utat. egysegesedtek ezek a latkepek (landscapes), ahogyan kadmon nevezi oket, s egyre inkabb attekinthetobbek is. az elektronika tovabbra is megmaradt az eloterben, s ezaltat - helyenkent - sokkal jobban befogadhato az anyag, mint a sturmlieder. az industrialba hajlanak a legtöbbször a kompoziciok, terjengosebbek is, de azert meg kellokeppen kihaltak es fagyosak tovabbra is, hiaba egyik központi szimbolumuk a tuz es a lang. kadmon ott tudna nagyot lenditeni a produkciojan, ha sokkal inkabb alatamasztottabbak lennenek szövegileg a szerzemenyei. ezuttal harom nietzsche vers került megzenesitesre, mig sajat szöveg csak ketto. a borito konscepcioja tovabbra is a okkultizmus egyik központjat, az externsteine - i prehistorikus szentelyt mutatja be, amelynel a iii. birodalom idejen több ünnepseget is rendeztek. ehhez kapcsodolodik kepekben a lucifer rising c. film nehany jelenete - furcsa szimbiozist alkotva. a magam reszerol azt gondolom, leginkabb olyan dalokban tudja magat megtalalni a csoport, mint a flamme, totenlohe vagy az alle lust will ewigkeit es a winterschjlaft. jelenthet valamit, hogy ezek közül kettonek egy-egy nietzsche vers adja az alapjat. (Mozgalom)
www.geocities.com/ahnstern
ALLERSEELEN CD NEUSCHWABENLAND
ALLERSEELEN CD NEUSCHWABENLAND
DoLP with various additional songs in preparation
Songs: Einstieg, Mit fester Hand, Nornar Nagli, Gläserne Kugel, Panzergarten, Cordon Dorado, König, Isländische Umarmungen, Idun, Hartung, Julmond, Neuschwabenland, Blonder Wein, Wiederkehr
Gelungenes Gesamtkunstwerk. Mit Neuschwabenland schuf der österreichische Künstler Kadmon sein bisher eingängigstes Allerseelen-Album. Was zuvor von avantgardistisch-experimentellen Soundscapes geprägt war, ist mittlerweile ungewöhnlich harmonisch klingenden elektronischen, sogenannten fin de siècle military pop songs gewichen, bei denen sich die düsteren Ambient- Klangmalereien mit monoton stampfenden, wuchtigen Rhythmen und fast schon säuselnd hypnotischen Melodien und gelegentlich eingestreuten Streicher-Samples verbinden. Dazu interpretiert Kadmon neben eigenen auch Texte von Hermann und Ninon Hesse, läßt Oskar Werner (Fahrenheit 451) in Blonder Wein Rainer Maria Rilke rezitieren und ließ sich selbst bei König musikalisch von Kirlian Cameras Motionless inspirieren. Abgerundet wird das gelungene Gesamtkunstwerk durch ein wunderschön von Salt gestaltetes Artwork. (Zillo 9/2000)
Neuschwabenland ist ein Meisterwerk. Der Titel wird wieder einmal für Unruhe sorgen, und wenn man die Assoziationen des pfiffigen wilden Kerls aus Friaul-Julisch-Venetien nicht kennt, so ist dies durchaus verständlich. Neuschwabenland ist ein Schmankerl. Die Stimmungen reichen von stahlgrünen Klanglandschaften, verruchten Momentaufnahmen südamerikanischer Rotlichtbezirke und lasziven Tangorhythmen bis hin zu harschem Military Pop. König ist eine eigenwillige Interpretation von Kirlian Cameras Motionless, Blonder Wein und Cordon Dorado könnten in jeder Tangolounge laufen, und mit Hartung findet sich eine gewaltige Technoversion eines Tracks von der CD Gotos=Kalanda wieder. Eine CD für Träumer. (Black 21/2000) www.blackmagazin.com
Some years ago Allerseelen was known for a raw, industrial sound, but things have changed in the camp of Kadmon. His style now can be described as ' fin de siècle military pop'. Neuschwabenland is a perfectly produced album. The songs have nice melodies, original rhythms and sounds and a special atmosphere, making me think of ice and glass. One of the songs, 'König', is inspired by the track 'Motionless' from Kirlian Camera, a band where more songs on this album remind me of, although Allerseelen shows more emotions. One of the highlights is the irresistible title track. http://www.funprox.com/judgment/review.asp?show=114
il miglior disco degli allerseelen, punto e basta. potrei fermarmi qui e avrei detto tuttol. il migliore, veramente. per tutti i fan del gruppo austriaco di gerhard, ma non solo. neuschwabenland ci ripropone il gruppo in versione meno harsh e piu atmosferica. piu belli i suioni, migliore la produzione. i brani sono tutti bellissimi. come al solito l´artowrk e molto curato ed in linea con le produzioni precedenti anche se la copertina e leggermente diversa da quanto ci si potrebbo aspettare. il booklet ricalca lo stile a cui siamo abituati, tra ghiacciai e gelide acque in un atmosfera davvero glaciale. l´opera e composta da 14 brani per una durata totale di 70 minuti. si parte con l´introduttiva einstieg, misteriosa e cupa nella sua ossessiva melodia e si prosegue con mit fester hand, un brano come solo gerhard sa creare, basato su un poema di hermann hesse. troviamo poi nornar nagli e panzergarten gia edite sul 7" que ha preceduto l´uscita del cd. la prima novita si fa ascoltare col brano gläserne kugel dal sound qaue definirei quasi easy-listening ma pur sempre nelle stile tipico di allerseelen. ma le sorprese non finiscono qui, anzi. il brani könig col suo incedere quasi etnico si ispira a motionless dei kirlian camera ed e une dei pezzi piu belli ed originali dell´intera opera. e poi ancora idun e neuschwabenland che sanno incantare con la loro poesia tra ritmi industriali, voci misteriose e note di pianoforte. il cd si chiude con wiederkehr, definita dallo stesso gerhard come industrial dancefloor, che riprende la melodia di einstieg in vortice ritmico frenetico. da segnalare la presenza di hartung e julmond, due brani gia presenti in gotos=kalanda qui riproposti in interessanti versioni arricchite. complimenti! www.geocities.com/raunend
I remember Allerseelen as a rather harsh ritual-industrial project, and exciting enough when that sort of music was a novelty to me. Parallel to the development of my own musical tastes, allerseelen has also matured and developed and mellowed, although the new material recognisably retains gerhard´s unique and distinctive signature. Neuschwabenland is a sophisticated and polished electronic soundscape with good melodies and insistent military beats. Its title refers to the alleged historical ambition to claim Antarctica for Germany. Recorded in 1999, the songs are conceveid as fin de siècle military pop songs. The impressive filmic intro leads into an album of suspense, mystery and dreaminess - particularly on blonder wein - and maintains its momentum throughout. (rik) www.fluxeuropa.com
neuschwabenland takes its name from the part of antarctica claimed by germany in a mysterious expedition which took place between 1938 and 1939. appropriately, the cover is adorned with oronteus finaeus´1531 map of that last great, unexplored continent, superimposed over its modern counterpart. a chilling, deep blue-green background completes this profusion of polar pulchritude. it is not only the packaging that possesses the texture of ice, however. einstieg guides the listener down into a shimmering world of subterranean glacial caverns. one´s consciousness is mesmerised by siren-like strings and metallic chimes, that glisten like frozen stalactites in this palace of ice. mit fester hand doesn´t so much break the spell as transform it. strident stabs of bass and brass cut through a biting arctic wind which carries the silvery sound of a glockenspiel over the snowbound landscape. kadmon intones hermann hesse´s words with a resoluteness worthy of the title. nornar nagli is followed by gläserne kugel, a sophisticated upbeat number which veers toward pop territory in terms of its melody and construction. the piece dies away in a whirl of phasing, psychedelic synths, and is replaced by the harsher strains of panzergarten. this gelid love-song constitutes one of the outstanding moments of the cd. cordon dorado soars upwards through the blizzard, circling like a falcon above the chill conditions below. what manifests itself as a mental image conveyed by the tango style rhythm of this brief instrumental appears as a lyrical motif in its successor, könig. the shrill cries of a bird of prey introduce a composition that mixes a rock steady bass-line and a jazz tinged drum pattern with electronic flourishes. the addition of string and brass sections imbues the whole with a sense of subdued tension which acts as the perfect vehicle for kadmon´s pondering, poetic lyrics. this tenor is also evident on the next two tracks, the ernst jünger inspired isländische umarmungen and idun. the latter utilises avant-garde piano playing alongside dark ambient soundscapes to create a slowly uncoiling atmosphere. after re-workings of hartung and julmond from the 1994 release gotos=kalanda comes the title track. it is perhaps this work that best fits the allerseelen main-man´s description of neuschwabenland as a collection of fin-de-siècle military pop songs. kadmon and sabine perform a brumal duet against a backdrob of pulsating bass and sweeping reverberations. a crystal clear glockenspiel weaves its way through the tundra, before yielding to the sheer beauty of blonder wein. wonderfully expressive violins at last provide a respite from the cold, whilst kadmon whispers a toast to "that sacred order that leads and ordains us, that finds us and unites us". but, everything recurs, and things are finally brought fully circle via the pounding wiederkehr. as always with allerseelen, one is left feeling enthused and invigorated by a brilliant listening experience. with concepts and music of this quality, kadmons looks set to remain at the forefront of cutting-edge sounds for years to come. (Judas Kiss, England)
In atlantisch-eisigem Blau zeigt sich Allerseelens Hommage an das antarktische Gralsgebiet. Titel wie König, Panzergarten und Cordon Dorado unterhalten mit argentinischer Bordellmusik und technosophischem Military Pop. Die Inspirationen, die Kadmon von seinen Musen bezieht, weisen den Weg in zunehmend femininere Klangwelten, in denen Isländische Umarmungen und Iduns Äpfel gedeihen. (Kshatriya)
se stirb und werde mi aveva catturato attraverso le sue idee, emozioni e ritmi vitali, la nuova prova ad ampio respiro di kadmon trasmette un senso di stupore ed intrigante curiosità gia a partire dall´effficace lay-out di cui si fregia. questa neuschwabenland, identificata con il continente antartico (efficacemente ritratto sulla stupenda copertina del compact) colpisce recondite fantasie e sensazioni di gelida utopia legate ad argomenti in parte da considerarsi tabu, non tanto perche inerenti a chissa quali trame "scorrette" quanto rispetto alla loro effettiva norietà, ma comunque capaci di trasportaci lontano, verso mondi di sogno e territori circondati da fredde nebbie perenni. quattordici movimenti di lucido allerseelen sound per portare alla luce temi quali l´utopia del progetto nueva germania in paraguay, le suggestioni dello scrittore cileno miguel serrano, le parole prese a prestito dallo scomparso runendichter islandese sveinbjörn beinteinsson (gia famoso grazie al documento sonoro edda voluto da david tibet), o gli struggenti versi di lotta e amore ambientati nel giardino dei panzer di vienna. e sempre un piacere occuparsi di progetti cosi pieni di idee e vitalita, e neuschwabenland, forte di queste sue arie da military pop messe in moto da cadenze marziali e ritmi da dancefloor sembra non voler sbagliare un solo colpo. buon per noi. da segnalare l´uscita del 7" dal vinile grigio in edizione limitata nornar nagli/ panzergarten che ha effettivamente preceduto neuschwabenland cosi come accadde per il piccolo vinile blue ghiaccio dedicato a leni riefenstahl rispetto a stirb und werde, e se quest´ultimo con i suoi toni rosso fuoco sembrava voler evocare le pulsioni vitali del ciclo cosmico ordinato dalla ruota dell´eterna morte e rinascita, neuschwabenland, con le sue distese di ghiacci eterni si carica di significati ben riflessi nell´idea di un ordine statico e monumentale, preservato dalla corruzione grazie ad assiomi di indiscutibile immutabilita del sentire perpetuo. un pellegrinaggio sonoro attraverso gli infiniti deserti ghiacciati del continente antartico in compagnia di uno dei piu valenti musicisti della nuova avanguardia elettronica europea. ma se neuschwabenland vi avra catturato cosi come ha fatto con il sottoscritto, bene, la prossima uscita del concept-album venezia promette di non retrocedere di un solo passo la bellezza e la forza espressiva di questa band dal cuore avventuroso. altamente consigliato. (Marble Moon 16)
preannunciato dall´excellente 7" nornar nagli/panzergarten di cui dissi la primavera scorsa, neuschwabenland sigla il quinto capitolo di allerseelen. un apripista, il singolo, i cui brani vengono ospitati anche nell´album, come di frequente si fa in ambito pop. si tratta d´altronde, e lo stesso kadmon a sottolinearlo con felice intuizione nel booklet, di pop songs militari di fine secolo, ma la definizione non deve allarmare ipotizzando chissa quali fruibile concessioni. l´evoluzione di allerseelen e stata costante e coerente, e neuschwabenland e forse piu accessibile di passati lavori ma anche di una forza comunicativa senza precedenti, un approdo a cui eravamo tutto sommato preparati alla luce delle ultime, ottime, tracce che di allerseelen s´erano raccolte. diviso tra crepuscolari, ma spesso tecnologicamente ferite, arie epico-romantiche, einstieg, könig, ispirata da motionless di kirlian camera, hartung, blonder wein, wiederkehr, e canzoni possibili, gläserne kugel, nel solco della mitgliore elettrowave eighties, la brumosa mit fester hand, la schiacciante panzergarten, la strizzatina d´occhio a the robots die isländische umarmung, l´ipnotica title track, la marcia d´automi di julmond, neuschwabenland coglie appieno quell´essenza sottilmente persuasiva che e propria delle military songs. (Blow Up)
www.geocities.com/ahnstern
DoLP with various additional songs in preparation
Songs: Einstieg, Mit fester Hand, Nornar Nagli, Gläserne Kugel, Panzergarten, Cordon Dorado, König, Isländische Umarmungen, Idun, Hartung, Julmond, Neuschwabenland, Blonder Wein, Wiederkehr
Gelungenes Gesamtkunstwerk. Mit Neuschwabenland schuf der österreichische Künstler Kadmon sein bisher eingängigstes Allerseelen-Album. Was zuvor von avantgardistisch-experimentellen Soundscapes geprägt war, ist mittlerweile ungewöhnlich harmonisch klingenden elektronischen, sogenannten fin de siècle military pop songs gewichen, bei denen sich die düsteren Ambient- Klangmalereien mit monoton stampfenden, wuchtigen Rhythmen und fast schon säuselnd hypnotischen Melodien und gelegentlich eingestreuten Streicher-Samples verbinden. Dazu interpretiert Kadmon neben eigenen auch Texte von Hermann und Ninon Hesse, läßt Oskar Werner (Fahrenheit 451) in Blonder Wein Rainer Maria Rilke rezitieren und ließ sich selbst bei König musikalisch von Kirlian Cameras Motionless inspirieren. Abgerundet wird das gelungene Gesamtkunstwerk durch ein wunderschön von Salt gestaltetes Artwork. (Zillo 9/2000)
Neuschwabenland ist ein Meisterwerk. Der Titel wird wieder einmal für Unruhe sorgen, und wenn man die Assoziationen des pfiffigen wilden Kerls aus Friaul-Julisch-Venetien nicht kennt, so ist dies durchaus verständlich. Neuschwabenland ist ein Schmankerl. Die Stimmungen reichen von stahlgrünen Klanglandschaften, verruchten Momentaufnahmen südamerikanischer Rotlichtbezirke und lasziven Tangorhythmen bis hin zu harschem Military Pop. König ist eine eigenwillige Interpretation von Kirlian Cameras Motionless, Blonder Wein und Cordon Dorado könnten in jeder Tangolounge laufen, und mit Hartung findet sich eine gewaltige Technoversion eines Tracks von der CD Gotos=Kalanda wieder. Eine CD für Träumer. (Black 21/2000) www.blackmagazin.com
Some years ago Allerseelen was known for a raw, industrial sound, but things have changed in the camp of Kadmon. His style now can be described as ' fin de siècle military pop'. Neuschwabenland is a perfectly produced album. The songs have nice melodies, original rhythms and sounds and a special atmosphere, making me think of ice and glass. One of the songs, 'König', is inspired by the track 'Motionless' from Kirlian Camera, a band where more songs on this album remind me of, although Allerseelen shows more emotions. One of the highlights is the irresistible title track. http://www.funprox.com/judgment/review.asp?show=114
il miglior disco degli allerseelen, punto e basta. potrei fermarmi qui e avrei detto tuttol. il migliore, veramente. per tutti i fan del gruppo austriaco di gerhard, ma non solo. neuschwabenland ci ripropone il gruppo in versione meno harsh e piu atmosferica. piu belli i suioni, migliore la produzione. i brani sono tutti bellissimi. come al solito l´artowrk e molto curato ed in linea con le produzioni precedenti anche se la copertina e leggermente diversa da quanto ci si potrebbo aspettare. il booklet ricalca lo stile a cui siamo abituati, tra ghiacciai e gelide acque in un atmosfera davvero glaciale. l´opera e composta da 14 brani per una durata totale di 70 minuti. si parte con l´introduttiva einstieg, misteriosa e cupa nella sua ossessiva melodia e si prosegue con mit fester hand, un brano come solo gerhard sa creare, basato su un poema di hermann hesse. troviamo poi nornar nagli e panzergarten gia edite sul 7" que ha preceduto l´uscita del cd. la prima novita si fa ascoltare col brano gläserne kugel dal sound qaue definirei quasi easy-listening ma pur sempre nelle stile tipico di allerseelen. ma le sorprese non finiscono qui, anzi. il brani könig col suo incedere quasi etnico si ispira a motionless dei kirlian camera ed e une dei pezzi piu belli ed originali dell´intera opera. e poi ancora idun e neuschwabenland che sanno incantare con la loro poesia tra ritmi industriali, voci misteriose e note di pianoforte. il cd si chiude con wiederkehr, definita dallo stesso gerhard come industrial dancefloor, che riprende la melodia di einstieg in vortice ritmico frenetico. da segnalare la presenza di hartung e julmond, due brani gia presenti in gotos=kalanda qui riproposti in interessanti versioni arricchite. complimenti! www.geocities.com/raunend
I remember Allerseelen as a rather harsh ritual-industrial project, and exciting enough when that sort of music was a novelty to me. Parallel to the development of my own musical tastes, allerseelen has also matured and developed and mellowed, although the new material recognisably retains gerhard´s unique and distinctive signature. Neuschwabenland is a sophisticated and polished electronic soundscape with good melodies and insistent military beats. Its title refers to the alleged historical ambition to claim Antarctica for Germany. Recorded in 1999, the songs are conceveid as fin de siècle military pop songs. The impressive filmic intro leads into an album of suspense, mystery and dreaminess - particularly on blonder wein - and maintains its momentum throughout. (rik) www.fluxeuropa.com
neuschwabenland takes its name from the part of antarctica claimed by germany in a mysterious expedition which took place between 1938 and 1939. appropriately, the cover is adorned with oronteus finaeus´1531 map of that last great, unexplored continent, superimposed over its modern counterpart. a chilling, deep blue-green background completes this profusion of polar pulchritude. it is not only the packaging that possesses the texture of ice, however. einstieg guides the listener down into a shimmering world of subterranean glacial caverns. one´s consciousness is mesmerised by siren-like strings and metallic chimes, that glisten like frozen stalactites in this palace of ice. mit fester hand doesn´t so much break the spell as transform it. strident stabs of bass and brass cut through a biting arctic wind which carries the silvery sound of a glockenspiel over the snowbound landscape. kadmon intones hermann hesse´s words with a resoluteness worthy of the title. nornar nagli is followed by gläserne kugel, a sophisticated upbeat number which veers toward pop territory in terms of its melody and construction. the piece dies away in a whirl of phasing, psychedelic synths, and is replaced by the harsher strains of panzergarten. this gelid love-song constitutes one of the outstanding moments of the cd. cordon dorado soars upwards through the blizzard, circling like a falcon above the chill conditions below. what manifests itself as a mental image conveyed by the tango style rhythm of this brief instrumental appears as a lyrical motif in its successor, könig. the shrill cries of a bird of prey introduce a composition that mixes a rock steady bass-line and a jazz tinged drum pattern with electronic flourishes. the addition of string and brass sections imbues the whole with a sense of subdued tension which acts as the perfect vehicle for kadmon´s pondering, poetic lyrics. this tenor is also evident on the next two tracks, the ernst jünger inspired isländische umarmungen and idun. the latter utilises avant-garde piano playing alongside dark ambient soundscapes to create a slowly uncoiling atmosphere. after re-workings of hartung and julmond from the 1994 release gotos=kalanda comes the title track. it is perhaps this work that best fits the allerseelen main-man´s description of neuschwabenland as a collection of fin-de-siècle military pop songs. kadmon and sabine perform a brumal duet against a backdrob of pulsating bass and sweeping reverberations. a crystal clear glockenspiel weaves its way through the tundra, before yielding to the sheer beauty of blonder wein. wonderfully expressive violins at last provide a respite from the cold, whilst kadmon whispers a toast to "that sacred order that leads and ordains us, that finds us and unites us". but, everything recurs, and things are finally brought fully circle via the pounding wiederkehr. as always with allerseelen, one is left feeling enthused and invigorated by a brilliant listening experience. with concepts and music of this quality, kadmons looks set to remain at the forefront of cutting-edge sounds for years to come. (Judas Kiss, England)
In atlantisch-eisigem Blau zeigt sich Allerseelens Hommage an das antarktische Gralsgebiet. Titel wie König, Panzergarten und Cordon Dorado unterhalten mit argentinischer Bordellmusik und technosophischem Military Pop. Die Inspirationen, die Kadmon von seinen Musen bezieht, weisen den Weg in zunehmend femininere Klangwelten, in denen Isländische Umarmungen und Iduns Äpfel gedeihen. (Kshatriya)
se stirb und werde mi aveva catturato attraverso le sue idee, emozioni e ritmi vitali, la nuova prova ad ampio respiro di kadmon trasmette un senso di stupore ed intrigante curiosità gia a partire dall´effficace lay-out di cui si fregia. questa neuschwabenland, identificata con il continente antartico (efficacemente ritratto sulla stupenda copertina del compact) colpisce recondite fantasie e sensazioni di gelida utopia legate ad argomenti in parte da considerarsi tabu, non tanto perche inerenti a chissa quali trame "scorrette" quanto rispetto alla loro effettiva norietà, ma comunque capaci di trasportaci lontano, verso mondi di sogno e territori circondati da fredde nebbie perenni. quattordici movimenti di lucido allerseelen sound per portare alla luce temi quali l´utopia del progetto nueva germania in paraguay, le suggestioni dello scrittore cileno miguel serrano, le parole prese a prestito dallo scomparso runendichter islandese sveinbjörn beinteinsson (gia famoso grazie al documento sonoro edda voluto da david tibet), o gli struggenti versi di lotta e amore ambientati nel giardino dei panzer di vienna. e sempre un piacere occuparsi di progetti cosi pieni di idee e vitalita, e neuschwabenland, forte di queste sue arie da military pop messe in moto da cadenze marziali e ritmi da dancefloor sembra non voler sbagliare un solo colpo. buon per noi. da segnalare l´uscita del 7" dal vinile grigio in edizione limitata nornar nagli/ panzergarten che ha effettivamente preceduto neuschwabenland cosi come accadde per il piccolo vinile blue ghiaccio dedicato a leni riefenstahl rispetto a stirb und werde, e se quest´ultimo con i suoi toni rosso fuoco sembrava voler evocare le pulsioni vitali del ciclo cosmico ordinato dalla ruota dell´eterna morte e rinascita, neuschwabenland, con le sue distese di ghiacci eterni si carica di significati ben riflessi nell´idea di un ordine statico e monumentale, preservato dalla corruzione grazie ad assiomi di indiscutibile immutabilita del sentire perpetuo. un pellegrinaggio sonoro attraverso gli infiniti deserti ghiacciati del continente antartico in compagnia di uno dei piu valenti musicisti della nuova avanguardia elettronica europea. ma se neuschwabenland vi avra catturato cosi come ha fatto con il sottoscritto, bene, la prossima uscita del concept-album venezia promette di non retrocedere di un solo passo la bellezza e la forza espressiva di questa band dal cuore avventuroso. altamente consigliato. (Marble Moon 16)
preannunciato dall´excellente 7" nornar nagli/panzergarten di cui dissi la primavera scorsa, neuschwabenland sigla il quinto capitolo di allerseelen. un apripista, il singolo, i cui brani vengono ospitati anche nell´album, come di frequente si fa in ambito pop. si tratta d´altronde, e lo stesso kadmon a sottolinearlo con felice intuizione nel booklet, di pop songs militari di fine secolo, ma la definizione non deve allarmare ipotizzando chissa quali fruibile concessioni. l´evoluzione di allerseelen e stata costante e coerente, e neuschwabenland e forse piu accessibile di passati lavori ma anche di una forza comunicativa senza precedenti, un approdo a cui eravamo tutto sommato preparati alla luce delle ultime, ottime, tracce che di allerseelen s´erano raccolte. diviso tra crepuscolari, ma spesso tecnologicamente ferite, arie epico-romantiche, einstieg, könig, ispirata da motionless di kirlian camera, hartung, blonder wein, wiederkehr, e canzoni possibili, gläserne kugel, nel solco della mitgliore elettrowave eighties, la brumosa mit fester hand, la schiacciante panzergarten, la strizzatina d´occhio a the robots die isländische umarmung, l´ipnotica title track, la marcia d´automi di julmond, neuschwabenland coglie appieno quell´essenza sottilmente persuasiva che e propria delle military songs. (Blow Up)
www.geocities.com/ahnstern
Saturday, December 10, 2005
LOOKING FOR EUROPE
Andreas Diesel/Dieter Gehrten: Looking for Europe. Neofolk und Hintergründe (Auerbach Tonträger 2005)
ISBN 3-936878-02-1
Ein neues, sehr sorgfältig recherchiertes Buch, in dem etliche Musiker zu Wort kommen, die von Dichtern, Künstlern, Philosophen wie Arnold Böcklin, Jean Cocteau, William Blake, Gabriele d´Annunzio, Julius Evola, Martin Heidegger, Ernst Jünger, Yukio Mishima, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ezra Pound stark beeinflußt sind, ist jüngst im Verlag Auerbach Tonträger erschienen - und einige dieser Musiker sind bisweilen ebenso umstritten wie manche dieser Autoren. Neofolk - vielen Ernst Jünger-Lesern vermutlich eine terra incognita - ist eine Musiksparte, die in den letzten fünfzehn Jahren eine starke Renaissance erfährt. Im Grunde handelt es sich um eine eigene Kunstrichtung, eine fröhliche Wissenschaft, die wie kaum eine andere Dichtung und Heimatverbundenheit mit Mythologie, Philosophie, Symbolismus verbindet und häufig auf faszinierende Weise Malerei und Photographie in ihre Schallplatten und CDs einfließen läßt. Neofolk erscheint als eine Gegenkultur, deren Wert und Tragweite für die europäische Kunst- und Geistesgeschichte vielleicht erst in einigen Jahrzehnten wirklich erfaßt wird, vielleicht vergleichbar der Kunst der Präraffaeliten, des Symbolismus, des Jugendstil.
In welchen Zusammenhängen erscheint Ernst Jünger in diesem Buch? Auf den Marmorklippen beeinflußte ein Lied der englischen Gruppe Death In June. Inspiriert durch dieses Werk wurde auch die Gruppe Ostara für ihr Lied "On the Marble Cliffs". Von besonderer Bedeutung ist Ernst Jünger im Werk von Lady Morphia, deren Gründer Nick Nedzynski EJ als den "letzten Ritter" bezeichnet - diese Gruppe zitierte in einem Lied aus Jüngers Sanduhrbuch und vertonte auch einzelne Stellen aus dem Waldgang. Ebenfalls stark geprägt von Ernst Jünger ist die amerikanische Formation Blood Axis. Auch die deutsche Gruppe Orplid nennt Ernst Jünger als Einfluß. Auch die österreichische Gruppe Allerseelen verweist in ihren Arbeiten mehrmals auf Ernst Jünger - eine ihrer CDs heißt "Abenteuerliches Herz", eines ihrer Lieder "Annäherungen" nach dem gleichnamigen Drogenbuch Ernst Jüngers.
Nick Nedzynski, ein Musiker der englischen Gruppe Lady Morphia und auch Mitwirkender der deutschen Formation Werkraum: "Für mich war Jünger der Autor des letzten Jahrhunderts, wenn nicht der Autor überhaupt. Seine Werke berühren Teile meiner Seele, die nichts anderes so berühren. Seine Art, Sprache zu verwenden und Dinge zu verbildlichen, ist bewundernswert."
Das Buch ist hervorragend recherchiert, ordentlich gegliedert, es enthält zahlreiche Illustrationen, einen umfangreichen Anhang und - ganz wichtig! - einen Index, lädt also als Nachschlagewerk auch herrlich ein zum Querlesen und Schmökern. Zusätzlich dazu ist eine eigene Edition mit vier CDs und einem eigenen kleinen Buch der in Looking for Europe beschriebenen Musikgruppen erhältlich.
Gerhard
www.prophecy.cd
http://www.steinklang-records.at/
www.geocities.com/ahnstern
http://allerseelen.blogspot.com/
ISBN 3-936878-02-1
Ein neues, sehr sorgfältig recherchiertes Buch, in dem etliche Musiker zu Wort kommen, die von Dichtern, Künstlern, Philosophen wie Arnold Böcklin, Jean Cocteau, William Blake, Gabriele d´Annunzio, Julius Evola, Martin Heidegger, Ernst Jünger, Yukio Mishima, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ezra Pound stark beeinflußt sind, ist jüngst im Verlag Auerbach Tonträger erschienen - und einige dieser Musiker sind bisweilen ebenso umstritten wie manche dieser Autoren. Neofolk - vielen Ernst Jünger-Lesern vermutlich eine terra incognita - ist eine Musiksparte, die in den letzten fünfzehn Jahren eine starke Renaissance erfährt. Im Grunde handelt es sich um eine eigene Kunstrichtung, eine fröhliche Wissenschaft, die wie kaum eine andere Dichtung und Heimatverbundenheit mit Mythologie, Philosophie, Symbolismus verbindet und häufig auf faszinierende Weise Malerei und Photographie in ihre Schallplatten und CDs einfließen läßt. Neofolk erscheint als eine Gegenkultur, deren Wert und Tragweite für die europäische Kunst- und Geistesgeschichte vielleicht erst in einigen Jahrzehnten wirklich erfaßt wird, vielleicht vergleichbar der Kunst der Präraffaeliten, des Symbolismus, des Jugendstil.
In welchen Zusammenhängen erscheint Ernst Jünger in diesem Buch? Auf den Marmorklippen beeinflußte ein Lied der englischen Gruppe Death In June. Inspiriert durch dieses Werk wurde auch die Gruppe Ostara für ihr Lied "On the Marble Cliffs". Von besonderer Bedeutung ist Ernst Jünger im Werk von Lady Morphia, deren Gründer Nick Nedzynski EJ als den "letzten Ritter" bezeichnet - diese Gruppe zitierte in einem Lied aus Jüngers Sanduhrbuch und vertonte auch einzelne Stellen aus dem Waldgang. Ebenfalls stark geprägt von Ernst Jünger ist die amerikanische Formation Blood Axis. Auch die deutsche Gruppe Orplid nennt Ernst Jünger als Einfluß. Auch die österreichische Gruppe Allerseelen verweist in ihren Arbeiten mehrmals auf Ernst Jünger - eine ihrer CDs heißt "Abenteuerliches Herz", eines ihrer Lieder "Annäherungen" nach dem gleichnamigen Drogenbuch Ernst Jüngers.
Nick Nedzynski, ein Musiker der englischen Gruppe Lady Morphia und auch Mitwirkender der deutschen Formation Werkraum: "Für mich war Jünger der Autor des letzten Jahrhunderts, wenn nicht der Autor überhaupt. Seine Werke berühren Teile meiner Seele, die nichts anderes so berühren. Seine Art, Sprache zu verwenden und Dinge zu verbildlichen, ist bewundernswert."
Das Buch ist hervorragend recherchiert, ordentlich gegliedert, es enthält zahlreiche Illustrationen, einen umfangreichen Anhang und - ganz wichtig! - einen Index, lädt also als Nachschlagewerk auch herrlich ein zum Querlesen und Schmökern. Zusätzlich dazu ist eine eigene Edition mit vier CDs und einem eigenen kleinen Buch der in Looking for Europe beschriebenen Musikgruppen erhältlich.
Gerhard
www.prophecy.cd
http://www.steinklang-records.at/
www.geocities.com/ahnstern
http://allerseelen.blogspot.com/
Sunday, November 27, 2005
HEILIGE FEUER IV CD + DVD
WALDTEUFEL MCD RAUHNACHT
500 copies
CD Euro 10
I. Allerseelengebet (Friedrich Hielscher)
Il. In den Zwölften (Hugo Kaeker)
III. Hexe Hild (Leopold Weber)
IV. Ur-Odin (Karl Wolfskehl)
"Rauhnacht" consists of almost 30 minutes of brand new music, with the exception of "AIIerseeIengebet" which was recorded Iast year far the occasion of the WiId Hunt concert at a church in PortIand. The songs/soundpoems all deal with the Wild
Hunt/Twelve Nights complex of foIklore & myth, wintery themes that are fitting far the upcoming season. We are very pleased with the result.
CHANGES/ANDREW KING MCD UNTILLED SPLIT
500 copies
CD Euro 10
CHANGES
I. Mahabharata of the Soul (Taylor(Tesluk)
II. Flame (Taylor)
III. Anthem to Freedom (Tesluk)
IV. Shenandoah (Taylor)
V. ...And Finally (Taylor)
ANDREW KING
VI. Two Brothers (trad.)
VII. Dives and Lazarus (trad.)
VIII. What is the lite of a Man (trad.)
IX. Kommer I snart, I Husmaend (Aakjaer/Nielsen)
X. The Farmer's Toast (trad.)
www.terra-fria.com
ALLERSEELEN - HEILIGE FEUER CD, DVD
Allerseelen brought back from Mother Russia and her beautiful daughters some dozens copies of the HEILIGE FEUER IV CD and the brand-new HEILIGE FEUER IV DVD, both excellent anthologies compiled by Der Angriff and Indiestate, the organizers of the Allerseelen + Changes live performances in St. Petersburg and Moscow in November 2005.
HEILIGE FEUER IV CD
Vetrophonia (Linja Mass), Painslut, Rasthof Dachau, Allerseelen, Bearer of the Inmost Sun
CD Euro 12
HEILIGE FEUER IV DVD
Vetrophonia (Linja Mass), Painslut, Rasthof Dachau, Allerseelen, Bearer of the Inmost Sun
DVD Euro 17
Postage Euro 3 (sea mail)
Please order from Aorta c/o Petak, Postfach 778, A-1011 Wien
aorta (at) aon.at
500 copies
CD Euro 10
I. Allerseelengebet (Friedrich Hielscher)
Il. In den Zwölften (Hugo Kaeker)
III. Hexe Hild (Leopold Weber)
IV. Ur-Odin (Karl Wolfskehl)
"Rauhnacht" consists of almost 30 minutes of brand new music, with the exception of "AIIerseeIengebet" which was recorded Iast year far the occasion of the WiId Hunt concert at a church in PortIand. The songs/soundpoems all deal with the Wild
Hunt/Twelve Nights complex of foIklore & myth, wintery themes that are fitting far the upcoming season. We are very pleased with the result.
CHANGES/ANDREW KING MCD UNTILLED SPLIT
500 copies
CD Euro 10
CHANGES
I. Mahabharata of the Soul (Taylor(Tesluk)
II. Flame (Taylor)
III. Anthem to Freedom (Tesluk)
IV. Shenandoah (Taylor)
V. ...And Finally (Taylor)
ANDREW KING
VI. Two Brothers (trad.)
VII. Dives and Lazarus (trad.)
VIII. What is the lite of a Man (trad.)
IX. Kommer I snart, I Husmaend (Aakjaer/Nielsen)
X. The Farmer's Toast (trad.)
www.terra-fria.com
ALLERSEELEN - HEILIGE FEUER CD, DVD
Allerseelen brought back from Mother Russia and her beautiful daughters some dozens copies of the HEILIGE FEUER IV CD and the brand-new HEILIGE FEUER IV DVD, both excellent anthologies compiled by Der Angriff and Indiestate, the organizers of the Allerseelen + Changes live performances in St. Petersburg and Moscow in November 2005.
HEILIGE FEUER IV CD
Vetrophonia (Linja Mass), Painslut, Rasthof Dachau, Allerseelen, Bearer of the Inmost Sun
CD Euro 12
HEILIGE FEUER IV DVD
Vetrophonia (Linja Mass), Painslut, Rasthof Dachau, Allerseelen, Bearer of the Inmost Sun
DVD Euro 17
Postage Euro 3 (sea mail)
Please order from Aorta c/o Petak, Postfach 778, A-1011 Wien
aorta (at) aon.at
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Monday, November 14, 2005
2005 ALLERSEELEN HELDRUNGEN
Allerseelen - Wasserschloß Heldrungen - Thüringen
1.IV.MMV
GERHARD: ZAUBERISCHE ZEIT
"Gegen die moderne Welt konspirieren nur jene erfolgreich, welche die Bewunderung der Schönheit verbreiten."
(Nicolás Gómez Dávila)
FLAMMENZAUBER 5
WASSERBURG HELDRUNGEN (THÜRINGEN)
1.+2.IV.MMV
Zinnober.net
Lichttaufe.com
The Lindbergh Baby, Triarii, Allerseelen = Flores de Fyer, Coph Nia
Sturmpercht, Agnivolok, Blood Axis
Arriving in the early afternoon at Wasserschloss Heldrungen in Thüringen. A beautiful castle on an artificial island surrounded by water, meadows, trees. Feeling like a troubadour being invited on a magical island with a treasure hidden somewhere in its underground. An amazing dream coming true: Nothing is a matter of course. Being thankful for the possibility to perform in venues like this. Too many memories of dusty concert places in the past. The first day of April like a summer day. The sky gentian-blue. Meeting on this Zauberinsel other friends and troubadours. Making the acquaintance of a lovely young gentleman named Aldwyn Everett Cornelius Moynihan.
The Lindbergh Baby - psychoactive folklore songs written by Scott Broderick singing and playing guitar, Annabel Lee on violin and Michael Moynihan on accordeon and bodhran drum. Triarii - percussion, samples. Coph Nia with a very industrial bass and percussion.
Allerseelen performing using the name Flores de Fyer, an expression taken from a fairy tale from the Dolomites where the people are still talking Ladin, a language which is called the Edelweiss of the Romanic languages. The Hungarian drummers martial and precise as always, the Austrian bassist as passionate as usual. Several very old and some very new songs. The new song Wir tragen ein Licht (on the Allerseelen DoLP Sturmlieder) being dedicated to John Balance, the influential late singer of Coil. During this song the singer holding in his hand a human skull with a black sun painted on its forehead - not the black sun of the Wewelsburg in Westfalen, but the alchemical black sun that Coil used as emblem.
Visiting Weimar in the morning. The Schlangenstein in the park close to the creek Ilm - a beautiful sculpture of a serpent surrounding a stone from 1787 by Gottlieb Martin Klauer - a beautiful symbolic manifestation of the power of spirituality, wisdom over matter. But this Serpent Stone was an imitation - the original had been heavily damaged in early 1945 by aircraft bombs. Was this destruction another allegory? Returning to the idyllic island Heldrungen. In the water boats, swans. Being interviewed under the trees close to the castle for the DVD edition of Flammenzauber V.
Sturmpercht - an unforgettable live performance far away from their mountains. A powerful and incredible manifestation of the Austrian Way of Life. Hypnotic alpinism. Many songs based on the legends of the magical mountain Untersberg. The musicians heavily costumed like the wild hunt. The singer like an ancient medicine man wearing a fur and a huge pair of antlers. Accordeon, bass, guitar, drums. On stage surrounded by a huge amount of Austrian handicraft - branches, antlers, various totems - obviously the members were fighting on stage in vain against their Heimweh. Agnivolok - beautiful mystical Russian songs performed by Vera Agnivolok. Blood Axis - beautiful and powerful. Violin, accordeon, bodhran, bass, electric guitar and drums. Some amazing new songs. Especially some new songs very impressive, one traditional just featuring Michael singing and playing his bodhran drum. An amazing electric guitar.
Returning after these sunny days to a dusty city making me even more aware of having participated in a very magical event, an incredible festival taking place in another land, in another time. Dreams that came true in a field of force named music, memories of a peaceful and powerful Flammenzauber 5 - these memories being the actual treasure of this castle and island which the listeners and musicians are taking with them in their adventurous hearts. Being glad and grateful having been a part of this field of force. A Dankeschön to all the organizers of Flammenzauber 5, the activists of Lichttaufe and Zinnober.
Gerhard, 5.IV.MMV
1.IV.MMV
GERHARD: ZAUBERISCHE ZEIT
"Gegen die moderne Welt konspirieren nur jene erfolgreich, welche die Bewunderung der Schönheit verbreiten."
(Nicolás Gómez Dávila)
FLAMMENZAUBER 5
WASSERBURG HELDRUNGEN (THÜRINGEN)
1.+2.IV.MMV
Zinnober.net
Lichttaufe.com
The Lindbergh Baby, Triarii, Allerseelen = Flores de Fyer, Coph Nia
Sturmpercht, Agnivolok, Blood Axis
Arriving in the early afternoon at Wasserschloss Heldrungen in Thüringen. A beautiful castle on an artificial island surrounded by water, meadows, trees. Feeling like a troubadour being invited on a magical island with a treasure hidden somewhere in its underground. An amazing dream coming true: Nothing is a matter of course. Being thankful for the possibility to perform in venues like this. Too many memories of dusty concert places in the past. The first day of April like a summer day. The sky gentian-blue. Meeting on this Zauberinsel other friends and troubadours. Making the acquaintance of a lovely young gentleman named Aldwyn Everett Cornelius Moynihan.
The Lindbergh Baby - psychoactive folklore songs written by Scott Broderick singing and playing guitar, Annabel Lee on violin and Michael Moynihan on accordeon and bodhran drum. Triarii - percussion, samples. Coph Nia with a very industrial bass and percussion.
Allerseelen performing using the name Flores de Fyer, an expression taken from a fairy tale from the Dolomites where the people are still talking Ladin, a language which is called the Edelweiss of the Romanic languages. The Hungarian drummers martial and precise as always, the Austrian bassist as passionate as usual. Several very old and some very new songs. The new song Wir tragen ein Licht (on the Allerseelen DoLP Sturmlieder) being dedicated to John Balance, the influential late singer of Coil. During this song the singer holding in his hand a human skull with a black sun painted on its forehead - not the black sun of the Wewelsburg in Westfalen, but the alchemical black sun that Coil used as emblem.
Visiting Weimar in the morning. The Schlangenstein in the park close to the creek Ilm - a beautiful sculpture of a serpent surrounding a stone from 1787 by Gottlieb Martin Klauer - a beautiful symbolic manifestation of the power of spirituality, wisdom over matter. But this Serpent Stone was an imitation - the original had been heavily damaged in early 1945 by aircraft bombs. Was this destruction another allegory? Returning to the idyllic island Heldrungen. In the water boats, swans. Being interviewed under the trees close to the castle for the DVD edition of Flammenzauber V.
Sturmpercht - an unforgettable live performance far away from their mountains. A powerful and incredible manifestation of the Austrian Way of Life. Hypnotic alpinism. Many songs based on the legends of the magical mountain Untersberg. The musicians heavily costumed like the wild hunt. The singer like an ancient medicine man wearing a fur and a huge pair of antlers. Accordeon, bass, guitar, drums. On stage surrounded by a huge amount of Austrian handicraft - branches, antlers, various totems - obviously the members were fighting on stage in vain against their Heimweh. Agnivolok - beautiful mystical Russian songs performed by Vera Agnivolok. Blood Axis - beautiful and powerful. Violin, accordeon, bodhran, bass, electric guitar and drums. Some amazing new songs. Especially some new songs very impressive, one traditional just featuring Michael singing and playing his bodhran drum. An amazing electric guitar.
Returning after these sunny days to a dusty city making me even more aware of having participated in a very magical event, an incredible festival taking place in another land, in another time. Dreams that came true in a field of force named music, memories of a peaceful and powerful Flammenzauber 5 - these memories being the actual treasure of this castle and island which the listeners and musicians are taking with them in their adventurous hearts. Being glad and grateful having been a part of this field of force. A Dankeschön to all the organizers of Flammenzauber 5, the activists of Lichttaufe and Zinnober.
Gerhard, 5.IV.MMV
2005 ALLERSEELEN KOPENHAGEN
SOLBLOT, DIE WEISSE ROSE, ALLERSEELEN
KOPENHAGEN, 19.III.MMV
www.bragagild.dk
DEN TALENDE KNOGLE
Flying to Kopenhagen. Azure sky. Himmel - in German just one word where the English language distinguishes between sky and heaven. The clouds below the airplane reminding me of photos of the antarctic Neuschwabenland. Reading some lines in Martin Heidegger, Was heisst Denken? "Was sich entzieht, kann sogar den Menschen wesentlicher angehen und in den Anspruch nehmen als alles Anwesende, das ihn trifft und betrifft." At the horizon the Austrian mountains. The desire to be there again. Looking forward to new experiences and impressions. Walking around with a member of Bragagild in the streets of Kopenhagen. Many antiquariats, many books also in German by Rainer Maria Rilke. My drummers arriving from Budapest.
On the roof of the Börsen, the old stock exchange, a monument of four dragons, their tails coiled together, forming a grey conic tower. Soundcheck of Solblot from Sweden, Die weisse Rose from Denmark, Allerseelen. My bassist arriving. In the afternoon the vinterbanket, the last winter banquet before the beginning of spring - grillet vildsvin (roasted boar) and many other things to eat. Thinking of Gullinborsti. This vinterbanket is a tradition of Bragagild, grillet vildsvin is eaten each year at this spring festival. Before the concerts den talende knogle (the talking bone) was passed around, a bone of the first boar that was eaten five years ago. Every one holding the talking bone was allowed to talk, to recite, to ask or just to say thank you. I said thank you for the invitation and the great meal prepared by a girl of Bragagild. I had one special wish - holding the talking bone during the whole Allerseelen concert. Solblot with ancient Swedish songs, guitar, accordion, long horn, beautiful music, but very short. Die weisse Rose with four drummers, one of them fourteen, soundscapes, some voices of Max Ernst and Klaus Kinski. On the stage white roses. Allerseelen were dynamic, music as ammunition - on my back and head I felt several wooden splinters from the sticks of one of the drummers. Holding the microphone in the left hand, den talende knogle in the right hand. During the love song Löwin I wound some white roses of Die weisse Rose around the talking bone.
Walking around in the sunshine with my bassist close to the Stadsgraven. The first flowers apart from the white roses yesterday. Visiting the Nationalmuseet with members of Allerseelen, Bragagild, Die Weisse Rose. I was impressed by the large, dark lures - strange ritual music instruments which were found by pairs in the black swamps. They looked more like tools. Oak coffins with dead women and men. The men with swords, the women still having combs and daggers with them - they would need them again after awakening. Woollen blankets to avoid that they freeze. There is no death, just sleep in cold nights. Thinking of Miguel Serrano´s beautiful words: "In diesem Kampf wechselt man auch nicht die Seite. Nur während des Todes ist einem eine kurze Ruhe vergönnt." Stones with helleristning (rock carvings). A stone like a small portable throne with footprints for an emperor or magician - who is standing on it, has power. Thinking of the stone birth out of the petra genetrix. Pieces of dark amber. Large rune stones, Tirsted from Lolland, Tryggevaelde from Ostsjaelland. The runic inscriptions almost always vertical, from the bottom to the top. The famous silver cauldron from Gundestrup which was fabricated in South Eastern Europe. Drinking Malbec red wine, Yggdrasil´s Mjöd (mead).
Spring equinox. Beautiful weather. Travelling by train with a member of Die weisse Rose to Odense. Going by bus to Otterup. In the North of Odense a beautiful and very dynamic "devilish" black sculpture of Thor with his hammer on his chariot with the two he-goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr. Dolmens and tomb chambers close to Kappendrup. Close to Emmelev a beautiful little jaettestue (dolmen), surrounded by thorns like Dornröschen, the sleeping beauty in the fairy tale. Close to Emmelev too a beautiful large dolmen, this one having a more martial impression - like a bunker. The entrances of the two dolmens looked towards South-East. Staying in the evening and night in Odense. Listening to the strange and surreal songs of Else Marie Pade. Listening to the dark chants of Utrenja, composed by Krzysztof Penderecki.
Going by train to Roskilde. The ships of the vikings. Buying a small Thor´s hammer which was found on the Danish island Falster. The Roskilde fjord. Going by bus to Öm. Walking on the road two kilometres to a beautiful tumulus, appearing like a female breast. It was possible to go inside the hill. The stone chamber had a length of around seven meters. Its roof consisted of heavy rocks. A beautiful place to spend the night. Its entrance looked towards East, the direction the rising sun. Almost no bones were found inside the chamber, solely flints, amber pearls. Maybe this tumulus was no tomb hill but a place where women went to give birth to their children. In a culture where death was sacred, birth of course had to be considered as sacred too. In fairy tales the farmers brought each winter solstice food to the jaette (spirit) living inside the dolmen to have a good harvest in the next year. Another hint to fertility. I was glad, saying thank you to be able to be at this place which appeared to me like the middle of Denmark. Is there a connection between the German words danken (to say thank you) and denken (to think)? The gaya scienza - to be able to say thank you, to be aware that everything might be completely different the next days: Als wärs das letzte Mal. Returning to Kopenhagen by bus and train. Being interviewed for the Danish black metal/industrial magazine Evilution. Speaking about the talking bone, about dolmens, about art as a powerful psychoactive field of force, about songs as seeds and lyrics as seeds, about my sold-out magazines Aorta and Ahnstern and its re-publication later this year in a beautiful old-fashioned book edition by Ajna, featuring all the tracts and the interviews with Kenneth Anger, Michael Moynihan, Varg Vikernes, Z´ev.
In the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Many beautiful symbols in the garden and on the facade of this building which would cause a lot of problems if I decided to use them for one of my publications. A Mithras relief. Again being fascinated by the dynamics of this monument and movement - a circle being formed by the tail of the bull touching the coat of Mithras who closes with one hand the nostrils of the bull and pulling the dagger with the other hand into the flesh of the animal. Fleisch - again in German only one word for the English distinction between flesh and meat. Statues of some muses - Melpomene (tragedy), Polymnia (hymns), Erato (poetry), Thaleia (drama). But Polymnia and Thaleia without arms like the female saint in Alejandro Jodorowsky´s psychoactive movie Santa Sangre. Also a marble bust by Antonio Canova from 1807 which seems to show Mithras with the Phrygean cap. Etruskan art. Egyptian stone reliefs - the representations of the Egyptian ships reminded me of the books of Jürgen Spanuth about Northern influences on the Egypt culture. Returning to Austria. The clouds blueish and purple like on the paintings by Nikolas Roerich.
A thank you to all members of Bragagild.
Gerhard
26.III.MMV
Danish dolmens:
http://www.nordfynsweb.dk/cgi-bin/index.pl?side-00-02-06.shtml
EVILUTION 1 - English interviews with Darkthrone, Laibach, Mayhem, Blutharsch, Napalm Death (December 2004). Recommended. Next issue with English interviews with Allerseelen, Ostara, Death in June:
www.evilutionmagazine.com
"Am Sonnabend, den 19. März 2005, richtete die Bragagild-Gemeinschaft im malerischen Kopenhagen in relativ kleiner Runde eine Konzertveranstaltung mit Solblot, Die weiße Rose sowie Allerseelen aus. Gegen 18 Uhr betrat dann das schwedische Projekt Solblot die Bühne: 3 Musiker, instrumental ausgerüstet mit Bläser/Akkordeon, akustischer Gitarre sowie Trommel. Die Band lieferte ein sehr schönes Neofolk-Konzert ab, gerade wegen des Akkordeons vielleicht etwas mit Forseti vergleichbar, allerdings deutlich „schneller“ gespielt. Leider dauerte der Vortrag nur knapp eine halbe Stunde. Ich wünsche mir, von dem Projekt demnächst mehr zu hören (Aufnahmen gibt es noch nicht), denn die haben Potential und wussten jeden zu begeistern. Gesungen wurde in ihrer Muttersprache. Anschließend wurde das Konzept des „Talking Bone“ vorgestellt: man hält einen Knochen in der Hand und äußert dazu laut seine Gedanken, Wünsche etc. Dieser machte die Runde, und so konnte sich jeder den Gästen mitteilen. Danach dann der Auftritt des dänischen Projektes Die weiße Rose: 4 Trommler, von denen 2 auch zum Mikrofon griffen und Manifeste verkündeten. Der Rest kam vom Band, und im Hintergrund lief Filmmaterial ab. Die Intensität der Trommeln passte sehr gut zu den Samples, jedoch gerieten einige Stücke etwas zu lang. Die Musiker standen nach ihrem Trommel- und Spracheinsatz teilweise 5 Minuten still auf der Bühne und ließen die Samples auf das Publikum wirken. Der Höhepunkt des Abends war auf jeden Fall Allerseelen: Gerhard am Mikro, die beiden Cawatana-Trommler sowie Marcel P. am Bass. Und was soll ich sagen: ein phantastisches Konzert! Die Trommler entfachten, unterstützt vom Bass, ein wahres Feuerwerk, es war so laut, dass die Samples vom Band kaum zu hören waren. Das machte aber auch nichts, da das Live-Konzept von Allerseelen mit den hochkarätigen Musikern eine perfekte Alternative zu den Studioaufnahmen darstellt. Gerhard hielt während des gesamten Auftritts den Knochen in der Hand und schleuderte seinen Sprechgesang förmlich ins Publikum. Es kam richtig Bewegung in die Runde, jeder im Raum war gefesselt von der treibenden Musik. Allerseelen spielte sich quer durch das gesamte Repertoire und hat sich mittlerweile seinen eigenen Stern am Himmel der hochkarätigen Livebands gesichert. Ich kann nur an die Standhaftigkeit der Rosenheimer appellieren, dass das Allerseelen-Konzert nächsten Monat im Blackout-Club auch stattfindet, sie würden sonst wirklich etwas verpassen. Nach den 2 lautstark vom Publikum geforderten Zugaben war der musikalische Teil des Abends beendet, und wir konnten bis Mitternacht noch das slowenische Bier genießen, die Reste des Buffets vertilgen und die Unterhaltungen fortsetzen. Vielen Dank an Bragagild für die ausgezeichnete Organisation und für den Genuß der dänischen Gastfreundschaft!
Axel Meese, März 2005
http://www.lichttaufe.de/lichttaufe/1x/data/s_content.php?id=Ax2005-03-21-0410
KOPENHAGEN, 19.III.MMV
www.bragagild.dk
DEN TALENDE KNOGLE
Flying to Kopenhagen. Azure sky. Himmel - in German just one word where the English language distinguishes between sky and heaven. The clouds below the airplane reminding me of photos of the antarctic Neuschwabenland. Reading some lines in Martin Heidegger, Was heisst Denken? "Was sich entzieht, kann sogar den Menschen wesentlicher angehen und in den Anspruch nehmen als alles Anwesende, das ihn trifft und betrifft." At the horizon the Austrian mountains. The desire to be there again. Looking forward to new experiences and impressions. Walking around with a member of Bragagild in the streets of Kopenhagen. Many antiquariats, many books also in German by Rainer Maria Rilke. My drummers arriving from Budapest.
On the roof of the Börsen, the old stock exchange, a monument of four dragons, their tails coiled together, forming a grey conic tower. Soundcheck of Solblot from Sweden, Die weisse Rose from Denmark, Allerseelen. My bassist arriving. In the afternoon the vinterbanket, the last winter banquet before the beginning of spring - grillet vildsvin (roasted boar) and many other things to eat. Thinking of Gullinborsti. This vinterbanket is a tradition of Bragagild, grillet vildsvin is eaten each year at this spring festival. Before the concerts den talende knogle (the talking bone) was passed around, a bone of the first boar that was eaten five years ago. Every one holding the talking bone was allowed to talk, to recite, to ask or just to say thank you. I said thank you for the invitation and the great meal prepared by a girl of Bragagild. I had one special wish - holding the talking bone during the whole Allerseelen concert. Solblot with ancient Swedish songs, guitar, accordion, long horn, beautiful music, but very short. Die weisse Rose with four drummers, one of them fourteen, soundscapes, some voices of Max Ernst and Klaus Kinski. On the stage white roses. Allerseelen were dynamic, music as ammunition - on my back and head I felt several wooden splinters from the sticks of one of the drummers. Holding the microphone in the left hand, den talende knogle in the right hand. During the love song Löwin I wound some white roses of Die weisse Rose around the talking bone.
Walking around in the sunshine with my bassist close to the Stadsgraven. The first flowers apart from the white roses yesterday. Visiting the Nationalmuseet with members of Allerseelen, Bragagild, Die Weisse Rose. I was impressed by the large, dark lures - strange ritual music instruments which were found by pairs in the black swamps. They looked more like tools. Oak coffins with dead women and men. The men with swords, the women still having combs and daggers with them - they would need them again after awakening. Woollen blankets to avoid that they freeze. There is no death, just sleep in cold nights. Thinking of Miguel Serrano´s beautiful words: "In diesem Kampf wechselt man auch nicht die Seite. Nur während des Todes ist einem eine kurze Ruhe vergönnt." Stones with helleristning (rock carvings). A stone like a small portable throne with footprints for an emperor or magician - who is standing on it, has power. Thinking of the stone birth out of the petra genetrix. Pieces of dark amber. Large rune stones, Tirsted from Lolland, Tryggevaelde from Ostsjaelland. The runic inscriptions almost always vertical, from the bottom to the top. The famous silver cauldron from Gundestrup which was fabricated in South Eastern Europe. Drinking Malbec red wine, Yggdrasil´s Mjöd (mead).
Spring equinox. Beautiful weather. Travelling by train with a member of Die weisse Rose to Odense. Going by bus to Otterup. In the North of Odense a beautiful and very dynamic "devilish" black sculpture of Thor with his hammer on his chariot with the two he-goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr. Dolmens and tomb chambers close to Kappendrup. Close to Emmelev a beautiful little jaettestue (dolmen), surrounded by thorns like Dornröschen, the sleeping beauty in the fairy tale. Close to Emmelev too a beautiful large dolmen, this one having a more martial impression - like a bunker. The entrances of the two dolmens looked towards South-East. Staying in the evening and night in Odense. Listening to the strange and surreal songs of Else Marie Pade. Listening to the dark chants of Utrenja, composed by Krzysztof Penderecki.
Going by train to Roskilde. The ships of the vikings. Buying a small Thor´s hammer which was found on the Danish island Falster. The Roskilde fjord. Going by bus to Öm. Walking on the road two kilometres to a beautiful tumulus, appearing like a female breast. It was possible to go inside the hill. The stone chamber had a length of around seven meters. Its roof consisted of heavy rocks. A beautiful place to spend the night. Its entrance looked towards East, the direction the rising sun. Almost no bones were found inside the chamber, solely flints, amber pearls. Maybe this tumulus was no tomb hill but a place where women went to give birth to their children. In a culture where death was sacred, birth of course had to be considered as sacred too. In fairy tales the farmers brought each winter solstice food to the jaette (spirit) living inside the dolmen to have a good harvest in the next year. Another hint to fertility. I was glad, saying thank you to be able to be at this place which appeared to me like the middle of Denmark. Is there a connection between the German words danken (to say thank you) and denken (to think)? The gaya scienza - to be able to say thank you, to be aware that everything might be completely different the next days: Als wärs das letzte Mal. Returning to Kopenhagen by bus and train. Being interviewed for the Danish black metal/industrial magazine Evilution. Speaking about the talking bone, about dolmens, about art as a powerful psychoactive field of force, about songs as seeds and lyrics as seeds, about my sold-out magazines Aorta and Ahnstern and its re-publication later this year in a beautiful old-fashioned book edition by Ajna, featuring all the tracts and the interviews with Kenneth Anger, Michael Moynihan, Varg Vikernes, Z´ev.
In the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Many beautiful symbols in the garden and on the facade of this building which would cause a lot of problems if I decided to use them for one of my publications. A Mithras relief. Again being fascinated by the dynamics of this monument and movement - a circle being formed by the tail of the bull touching the coat of Mithras who closes with one hand the nostrils of the bull and pulling the dagger with the other hand into the flesh of the animal. Fleisch - again in German only one word for the English distinction between flesh and meat. Statues of some muses - Melpomene (tragedy), Polymnia (hymns), Erato (poetry), Thaleia (drama). But Polymnia and Thaleia without arms like the female saint in Alejandro Jodorowsky´s psychoactive movie Santa Sangre. Also a marble bust by Antonio Canova from 1807 which seems to show Mithras with the Phrygean cap. Etruskan art. Egyptian stone reliefs - the representations of the Egyptian ships reminded me of the books of Jürgen Spanuth about Northern influences on the Egypt culture. Returning to Austria. The clouds blueish and purple like on the paintings by Nikolas Roerich.
A thank you to all members of Bragagild.
Gerhard
26.III.MMV
Danish dolmens:
http://www.nordfynsweb.dk/cgi-bin/index.pl?side-00-02-06.shtml
EVILUTION 1 - English interviews with Darkthrone, Laibach, Mayhem, Blutharsch, Napalm Death (December 2004). Recommended. Next issue with English interviews with Allerseelen, Ostara, Death in June:
www.evilutionmagazine.com
"Am Sonnabend, den 19. März 2005, richtete die Bragagild-Gemeinschaft im malerischen Kopenhagen in relativ kleiner Runde eine Konzertveranstaltung mit Solblot, Die weiße Rose sowie Allerseelen aus. Gegen 18 Uhr betrat dann das schwedische Projekt Solblot die Bühne: 3 Musiker, instrumental ausgerüstet mit Bläser/Akkordeon, akustischer Gitarre sowie Trommel. Die Band lieferte ein sehr schönes Neofolk-Konzert ab, gerade wegen des Akkordeons vielleicht etwas mit Forseti vergleichbar, allerdings deutlich „schneller“ gespielt. Leider dauerte der Vortrag nur knapp eine halbe Stunde. Ich wünsche mir, von dem Projekt demnächst mehr zu hören (Aufnahmen gibt es noch nicht), denn die haben Potential und wussten jeden zu begeistern. Gesungen wurde in ihrer Muttersprache. Anschließend wurde das Konzept des „Talking Bone“ vorgestellt: man hält einen Knochen in der Hand und äußert dazu laut seine Gedanken, Wünsche etc. Dieser machte die Runde, und so konnte sich jeder den Gästen mitteilen. Danach dann der Auftritt des dänischen Projektes Die weiße Rose: 4 Trommler, von denen 2 auch zum Mikrofon griffen und Manifeste verkündeten. Der Rest kam vom Band, und im Hintergrund lief Filmmaterial ab. Die Intensität der Trommeln passte sehr gut zu den Samples, jedoch gerieten einige Stücke etwas zu lang. Die Musiker standen nach ihrem Trommel- und Spracheinsatz teilweise 5 Minuten still auf der Bühne und ließen die Samples auf das Publikum wirken. Der Höhepunkt des Abends war auf jeden Fall Allerseelen: Gerhard am Mikro, die beiden Cawatana-Trommler sowie Marcel P. am Bass. Und was soll ich sagen: ein phantastisches Konzert! Die Trommler entfachten, unterstützt vom Bass, ein wahres Feuerwerk, es war so laut, dass die Samples vom Band kaum zu hören waren. Das machte aber auch nichts, da das Live-Konzept von Allerseelen mit den hochkarätigen Musikern eine perfekte Alternative zu den Studioaufnahmen darstellt. Gerhard hielt während des gesamten Auftritts den Knochen in der Hand und schleuderte seinen Sprechgesang förmlich ins Publikum. Es kam richtig Bewegung in die Runde, jeder im Raum war gefesselt von der treibenden Musik. Allerseelen spielte sich quer durch das gesamte Repertoire und hat sich mittlerweile seinen eigenen Stern am Himmel der hochkarätigen Livebands gesichert. Ich kann nur an die Standhaftigkeit der Rosenheimer appellieren, dass das Allerseelen-Konzert nächsten Monat im Blackout-Club auch stattfindet, sie würden sonst wirklich etwas verpassen. Nach den 2 lautstark vom Publikum geforderten Zugaben war der musikalische Teil des Abends beendet, und wir konnten bis Mitternacht noch das slowenische Bier genießen, die Reste des Buffets vertilgen und die Unterhaltungen fortsetzen. Vielen Dank an Bragagild für die ausgezeichnete Organisation und für den Genuß der dänischen Gastfreundschaft!
Axel Meese, März 2005
http://www.lichttaufe.de/lichttaufe/1x/data/s_content.php?id=Ax2005-03-21-0410
2003 ALLERSEELEN PORTUGAL
Portugal
November MMIII
Allerseelen performed live on November 1st, 2003, in the Museu Arqueologico in Odrinhas, close to Sintra. The event was organized by Dagaz/ Sol de Ferro/ Terra Fria.
"Todos conheceis a intratavel melancolia que se apodera de nos ao recordamos tempos felizes." (Ernst Jünger, Sobre as falesias de marmore)
"Em cima, ficava ainda demoradamente sentado a janela, invadido por uma alegria serena, sentinao do fundo do coracao come a vida interra se desbobinava do fuso em fios dourados." (Ernst Jünger, Sobre as falesias de marmore)
The airplane from Wien to Lisboa. Blazing sunlight on the wings. Thinking of the book Sun and Steel by Yukio Mishima. In the evening with my drummers in Lisboa. Rain. The paving-stones slippery - like a paradise for frogs jumping around in the steep lanes of Lisboa. The Cervejeria da Trindade. The Incognito Bar. The first copies of the Allerseelen MCD Pedra which was published especially for the concert in Odrinhas.
Sintra was beautiful, very autumnal. The lane with the beautiful name Caminho dos Castanhais. Visiting the artificial paradise Quinta da Regaleira with the mysterious Poco Iniciatico, a staircase of initiation built deep into the ground with three tunnels leading to other parts of this hidden world with grottoes, pools. Reminding me of The Magical Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The strange flower Jarro, its vanilla white blossom like an ear with a long white microphone in its inside. Soundcheck and concert in the Museu Arqueologico in Odrinhas. Presenting on stage all the new songs of the MCD Pedra. In the audience also some small children. Midnight dinner in Azenhas do Mar.
The Museo Arqueologico of Belem - stone warriors from the North of Portugal, their expression of saudade reminding of the tragic figure of Don Quijote. Wild boars made from stone. The beautiful cloister of the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, also in Belem, with some beautiful flowers and mandalas in the stone. A large dolmen in Belas, between Sintra and Lisboa, re-constructed with the help of three-hundert soldiers. Peacocks in evergreen trees covered with moss. Books on the megalithic culture of Portugal, menirs, dolmens, cromeleques. Vinho tinto from Alentejo.
Searching in the cloister of the Se Catedral in Lisboa for the corvo e coruja, the raven and the owl which I had discovered in the book Portugal. Terra de Misterios by Paulo Alexandre Loucao. Finding Auf den Marmorklippen by Ernst Jünger in Portuguese, Sobre as Falesias de Marmore. Drinking coffee in the Casa d´Alentejo. In the Museu Arqueologico do Carmo many prehistoric artefacts, stones and bones and pottery with rock carvings. Two Inka mummies, a girl and a boy. The noisy soundscapes of Imbolc. The green eyes of the Portuguese cats. In the evening reading some lines in the two books by Otto Rahn, translated into Portuguese.
The train to Porto. Many impressions. Being almost in a state of dream or drunkenness. Vinho verde. The beautiful and passionate music of Sangre Cavallum, full of saudade. Sleeping in front of an open fire.
The train from Porto to Regua and Vila Real. The most beautiful colours of outono, autumn along the Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses. Golden chestnut-trees, ruby-red vine leaves, the ferns like rusty. More and more hills. Steep vineyards, tunnels, the hoopers of the train. Blood-red leaves. Lemons, oranges growing on the trees. Alto Douro, Tras-os-Montes. The river Douro like the Donau in the Strudengau. More and more stones, granite. Beautiful blue blossoms with purple pentagrams inside. Between Regua and Vila Real one of the most beautiful landscapes I ever saw . Flaming red vineyards, darkbrown earth. The colours of scarlet, gold. The excavations of Panoias. The small town Chaves. Drinking Brandymel. The dark music of Karnnos, Wolfskin. Visiting in the moonlight the ruins of the castle Montfort. The cries of the corujas, the owls.
Serra do Geres. Cows with long twisted horns. Beautiful mountains with grey peaks, golden chestnut-trees, golden maples, golden oaks. The ruin of the Mosteiro close to Pitoes das Junias and the sounds of the accordion of Karnnos in the warm sun of Callaecia. A small cromeleque in the evening, between the rising moon and the setting sun. Eating bacalhao, stockfish. Vinho tinto Cabeca de Touro. Walking in the blue light of the moon through pine woods. The blue face of the moon here much more clear than in Central Europe, mouth and nose like a painting by Joan Miro.
The ancient Roman gold mines of Tres Minas in the East of Vila Pouca de Aguiar. A long subterranean tunnel. Silver drops of water on the ceiling. The earth on the shoes like a mud containing particles of gold. Some ravens in the air. Thinking of alchemy. The actual gold not inside in the tunnels where the Romans were searching for it but on the outside - to be aware of the beauty of the omnipresent gold of the leaves. The autumnal music of Comus. The waste lands of Serra da Falperra and Serra da Marao. Being tired and enchanted - cansado e encantado. The Cozinha de Quessus in Penafiel - rural kitchen, vinho verde. The powerful and passionate and psychoactive folklore of Sangre Cavallum, again containing a lot of saudade - a word which needs in German three different words - Schwermut, Sehnsucht, Wehmut.
A rainy day in the Serra do Geres. A rainbow. The beautiful Roman and Templaric church of Bravaes with stone ravens looking like odal runes on the portal. The dolmens of Mezio, wild chestnut-brown horses in the rust-brown ferns that are turning whole hills into hills of rust. Cow bones in the fog. In the twilight the village Soajo with the strange corn containers named Espigeiros which look like the tombstones of the Bogomiles. Visiting at midnight in the rain the beautiful dolmen Santa Marta of Penafiel.
Alto Douro. The dolmen Orca Grande close to Alvite. Nossa Senhora da Lapa, a beautiful grotto sanctuary inside a church with a narrow tunnel. The castel of Penedono. Close to Penela da Beira the church ruin Nossa Senhora do Monte with a dolmen that was used as altar. Another dolmen close to the church. Great landscape, golden glowing chestnut-trees, dark-grey granite, blueish hills and a strange sunlight between the heavy clouds. Close to the river Douro, close to the village Sao Joao da Pesoveira in the twilight on the hill of Sao Salvador do Mundo - three white chapels on the hill, close to one of them a gruta, a grotto leading maybe to one of the other chapels. Radio Aveiro playing music by Allerseelen, O Paradis and other groups in the programme 4 Luas, Four Moons. At the beach. The water and the clouds again like grey granite.
Train to Lisboa. Síntra. Castel dos Mouros. Much granite stones, prehistoric traces, cisterns. The lighthouse Cabo da Roca. In Sintra a bookshop with Hölderlin in German and Portuguese: Elegias. In his poems again the Portuguese saudade very strong. In the village Janas the beautiful circular church Sao Mamede, unfortunately closed. The village Gouveia with its streets that have poems instead of names. In the evening in the Museu Arqueologico in Odrinhas - Roman sarcophags, stones, wisigothic stones, estelas discoideas, Templaric tomb stones. Walking in the moonlight. The village Eugaria - here the houses have no numbers but names. Searching for the Tholos de Monge, close to the Convento dos Capuchos.
Hölderlin reminding me of Alto Douro: "Und des heiligen Tranks sind voll im Strome die Schiffe, Städte und Inseln, sie sind trunken von Weinen."/"E os barcos que navegom vao carregados da bebida sagrada, cidades e ilhas estao ebrias de vinhos." And: "Warme Berge mit Wein"/"Cheia do vinho dos montes calidos."
Early in the morning the train to Lisboa. The ferryboat over the Tejo which was full of fog to Barreiro. The train to Lagos. The sea. The black sea ravens, corvos do mar. An iron rune on the coast. The white menhir Aspadrantes close to Raposeira. The nocturnal sea in Hortas do Tabual. The milky way very clear. The lighthouse Cabo de Sao Vicente - a lot of dolphins in the sea, around two-hundred metres away. Black paramilitary troops of dolphins heading towards North. Like a secret mission. My mission: art. The Templaric church Nossa Senhora de Guadelupe. The Necropole megalitica de Alcalar, unfortunately closed.
The train back to Lisboa and Sintra. The Convento dos Capuchos. A very earthy place, a lot of little cells for the monks, almost like caves. In some way a subterranean sanctuary. A beautiful place where the sun is said to shine at the two solstices through the round hole above the door of the chapel close to the well. Finally the Tholos de Monge, like the remainings of a megalithic tower. A bosque encantado in the twilight, a very beautiful magical wood, the branches with a fur of moss. Branches like green or black flames. Moss, ivy. Like paintings by Ivan Bilibin.
The chapel Santa Eufemia. The Parque de Pena - very much granite, very much wood. Beautiful. Many caves, for example the Gruta do Monge. The temple Alto de Santo Antonio with its twelve columns and the red Templars´ cross. Stormy weather. The Cruz Alta. Again at the Tholos of Monge. The church of Pedenha. The beach of Praia da Adraga, the storm throwing huge amounts of spuma branca, white foam, on the land - like a snow storm. Visiting again Azenha do Mar. Having dinner in a great restaurant. Fish. Great wine. Cor rubi, ruby colour. The poems of Fernando Pessoa. Portugal as Port-do-Gral.
The Casa da Alentejo in Lisboa. Leaving for Austria. The sunset glowing-red like Luzifers Hofgesind, a book which I saw various times in Portuguese in some houses in Portugal.
Gerhard, 31.III.MMIV
Aorta c/o Petak, Postfach 778, A-1011 Wien
www.geocities.com/ahnstern
http://allerseelen.dagaz-music.com/
http://www.terra-fria.com/
http://www.steinklang-records.at/
November MMIII
Allerseelen performed live on November 1st, 2003, in the Museu Arqueologico in Odrinhas, close to Sintra. The event was organized by Dagaz/ Sol de Ferro/ Terra Fria.
"Todos conheceis a intratavel melancolia que se apodera de nos ao recordamos tempos felizes." (Ernst Jünger, Sobre as falesias de marmore)
"Em cima, ficava ainda demoradamente sentado a janela, invadido por uma alegria serena, sentinao do fundo do coracao come a vida interra se desbobinava do fuso em fios dourados." (Ernst Jünger, Sobre as falesias de marmore)
The airplane from Wien to Lisboa. Blazing sunlight on the wings. Thinking of the book Sun and Steel by Yukio Mishima. In the evening with my drummers in Lisboa. Rain. The paving-stones slippery - like a paradise for frogs jumping around in the steep lanes of Lisboa. The Cervejeria da Trindade. The Incognito Bar. The first copies of the Allerseelen MCD Pedra which was published especially for the concert in Odrinhas.
Sintra was beautiful, very autumnal. The lane with the beautiful name Caminho dos Castanhais. Visiting the artificial paradise Quinta da Regaleira with the mysterious Poco Iniciatico, a staircase of initiation built deep into the ground with three tunnels leading to other parts of this hidden world with grottoes, pools. Reminding me of The Magical Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The strange flower Jarro, its vanilla white blossom like an ear with a long white microphone in its inside. Soundcheck and concert in the Museu Arqueologico in Odrinhas. Presenting on stage all the new songs of the MCD Pedra. In the audience also some small children. Midnight dinner in Azenhas do Mar.
The Museo Arqueologico of Belem - stone warriors from the North of Portugal, their expression of saudade reminding of the tragic figure of Don Quijote. Wild boars made from stone. The beautiful cloister of the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, also in Belem, with some beautiful flowers and mandalas in the stone. A large dolmen in Belas, between Sintra and Lisboa, re-constructed with the help of three-hundert soldiers. Peacocks in evergreen trees covered with moss. Books on the megalithic culture of Portugal, menirs, dolmens, cromeleques. Vinho tinto from Alentejo.
Searching in the cloister of the Se Catedral in Lisboa for the corvo e coruja, the raven and the owl which I had discovered in the book Portugal. Terra de Misterios by Paulo Alexandre Loucao. Finding Auf den Marmorklippen by Ernst Jünger in Portuguese, Sobre as Falesias de Marmore. Drinking coffee in the Casa d´Alentejo. In the Museu Arqueologico do Carmo many prehistoric artefacts, stones and bones and pottery with rock carvings. Two Inka mummies, a girl and a boy. The noisy soundscapes of Imbolc. The green eyes of the Portuguese cats. In the evening reading some lines in the two books by Otto Rahn, translated into Portuguese.
The train to Porto. Many impressions. Being almost in a state of dream or drunkenness. Vinho verde. The beautiful and passionate music of Sangre Cavallum, full of saudade. Sleeping in front of an open fire.
The train from Porto to Regua and Vila Real. The most beautiful colours of outono, autumn along the Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses. Golden chestnut-trees, ruby-red vine leaves, the ferns like rusty. More and more hills. Steep vineyards, tunnels, the hoopers of the train. Blood-red leaves. Lemons, oranges growing on the trees. Alto Douro, Tras-os-Montes. The river Douro like the Donau in the Strudengau. More and more stones, granite. Beautiful blue blossoms with purple pentagrams inside. Between Regua and Vila Real one of the most beautiful landscapes I ever saw . Flaming red vineyards, darkbrown earth. The colours of scarlet, gold. The excavations of Panoias. The small town Chaves. Drinking Brandymel. The dark music of Karnnos, Wolfskin. Visiting in the moonlight the ruins of the castle Montfort. The cries of the corujas, the owls.
Serra do Geres. Cows with long twisted horns. Beautiful mountains with grey peaks, golden chestnut-trees, golden maples, golden oaks. The ruin of the Mosteiro close to Pitoes das Junias and the sounds of the accordion of Karnnos in the warm sun of Callaecia. A small cromeleque in the evening, between the rising moon and the setting sun. Eating bacalhao, stockfish. Vinho tinto Cabeca de Touro. Walking in the blue light of the moon through pine woods. The blue face of the moon here much more clear than in Central Europe, mouth and nose like a painting by Joan Miro.
The ancient Roman gold mines of Tres Minas in the East of Vila Pouca de Aguiar. A long subterranean tunnel. Silver drops of water on the ceiling. The earth on the shoes like a mud containing particles of gold. Some ravens in the air. Thinking of alchemy. The actual gold not inside in the tunnels where the Romans were searching for it but on the outside - to be aware of the beauty of the omnipresent gold of the leaves. The autumnal music of Comus. The waste lands of Serra da Falperra and Serra da Marao. Being tired and enchanted - cansado e encantado. The Cozinha de Quessus in Penafiel - rural kitchen, vinho verde. The powerful and passionate and psychoactive folklore of Sangre Cavallum, again containing a lot of saudade - a word which needs in German three different words - Schwermut, Sehnsucht, Wehmut.
A rainy day in the Serra do Geres. A rainbow. The beautiful Roman and Templaric church of Bravaes with stone ravens looking like odal runes on the portal. The dolmens of Mezio, wild chestnut-brown horses in the rust-brown ferns that are turning whole hills into hills of rust. Cow bones in the fog. In the twilight the village Soajo with the strange corn containers named Espigeiros which look like the tombstones of the Bogomiles. Visiting at midnight in the rain the beautiful dolmen Santa Marta of Penafiel.
Alto Douro. The dolmen Orca Grande close to Alvite. Nossa Senhora da Lapa, a beautiful grotto sanctuary inside a church with a narrow tunnel. The castel of Penedono. Close to Penela da Beira the church ruin Nossa Senhora do Monte with a dolmen that was used as altar. Another dolmen close to the church. Great landscape, golden glowing chestnut-trees, dark-grey granite, blueish hills and a strange sunlight between the heavy clouds. Close to the river Douro, close to the village Sao Joao da Pesoveira in the twilight on the hill of Sao Salvador do Mundo - three white chapels on the hill, close to one of them a gruta, a grotto leading maybe to one of the other chapels. Radio Aveiro playing music by Allerseelen, O Paradis and other groups in the programme 4 Luas, Four Moons. At the beach. The water and the clouds again like grey granite.
Train to Lisboa. Síntra. Castel dos Mouros. Much granite stones, prehistoric traces, cisterns. The lighthouse Cabo da Roca. In Sintra a bookshop with Hölderlin in German and Portuguese: Elegias. In his poems again the Portuguese saudade very strong. In the village Janas the beautiful circular church Sao Mamede, unfortunately closed. The village Gouveia with its streets that have poems instead of names. In the evening in the Museu Arqueologico in Odrinhas - Roman sarcophags, stones, wisigothic stones, estelas discoideas, Templaric tomb stones. Walking in the moonlight. The village Eugaria - here the houses have no numbers but names. Searching for the Tholos de Monge, close to the Convento dos Capuchos.
Hölderlin reminding me of Alto Douro: "Und des heiligen Tranks sind voll im Strome die Schiffe, Städte und Inseln, sie sind trunken von Weinen."/"E os barcos que navegom vao carregados da bebida sagrada, cidades e ilhas estao ebrias de vinhos." And: "Warme Berge mit Wein"/"Cheia do vinho dos montes calidos."
Early in the morning the train to Lisboa. The ferryboat over the Tejo which was full of fog to Barreiro. The train to Lagos. The sea. The black sea ravens, corvos do mar. An iron rune on the coast. The white menhir Aspadrantes close to Raposeira. The nocturnal sea in Hortas do Tabual. The milky way very clear. The lighthouse Cabo de Sao Vicente - a lot of dolphins in the sea, around two-hundred metres away. Black paramilitary troops of dolphins heading towards North. Like a secret mission. My mission: art. The Templaric church Nossa Senhora de Guadelupe. The Necropole megalitica de Alcalar, unfortunately closed.
The train back to Lisboa and Sintra. The Convento dos Capuchos. A very earthy place, a lot of little cells for the monks, almost like caves. In some way a subterranean sanctuary. A beautiful place where the sun is said to shine at the two solstices through the round hole above the door of the chapel close to the well. Finally the Tholos de Monge, like the remainings of a megalithic tower. A bosque encantado in the twilight, a very beautiful magical wood, the branches with a fur of moss. Branches like green or black flames. Moss, ivy. Like paintings by Ivan Bilibin.
The chapel Santa Eufemia. The Parque de Pena - very much granite, very much wood. Beautiful. Many caves, for example the Gruta do Monge. The temple Alto de Santo Antonio with its twelve columns and the red Templars´ cross. Stormy weather. The Cruz Alta. Again at the Tholos of Monge. The church of Pedenha. The beach of Praia da Adraga, the storm throwing huge amounts of spuma branca, white foam, on the land - like a snow storm. Visiting again Azenha do Mar. Having dinner in a great restaurant. Fish. Great wine. Cor rubi, ruby colour. The poems of Fernando Pessoa. Portugal as Port-do-Gral.
The Casa da Alentejo in Lisboa. Leaving for Austria. The sunset glowing-red like Luzifers Hofgesind, a book which I saw various times in Portuguese in some houses in Portugal.
Gerhard, 31.III.MMIV
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