Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows
Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows is a darkwave band consisting solely of Anna-Varney Cantodea. Not much is known about Anna-Varney, save for the tortured life he lived which led to the band's existence. He has said in several interviews that he spent nearly three decades in extreme states of depression, despair and loneliness, all of which resulted in his discovery of the "Ensemble Of Shadows", otherwordly presences and/or voices who stirred his musical senses and guided him to share the works in his head with the public. He does not perform live "in front of humans."
The music itself is quite emotional and dreary, using a variety of brass, woodwinds (in particular, flutes), string quartets and various guitars. In some instances, synthesizers and drum machines or real percussion is used. Anna-Varney has clearly stated that he creates his music about himself, solely for himself. Various themes include death, suicide, karmatic pain, loneliness and sadness. A very important concept is the idea of becoming or being a woman, or at least removal of the male genitalia in favour of attaining the female variant (in later album artwork, Anna-Varney is usually shown nude with a vagina which has been edited in rather than surgically altered due to spiritual conflicts.) There are also several musical themes that reappear in his works; the most notable example is the song "Birth – Fiendish Figuration" which has appeared in at least four forms on separate releases. Other songs contain similar melodic lines or lyrics from an earlier release.
Discography
- "Es reiten die Toten so schnell..." (demo tape) (1989) – limited to 50 copies
- "...Ich töte mich jedesmal aufs Neue, doch ich bin unsterblich, und ich erstehe wieder auf; in einer Vision der Untergangs..." (1994)
- "Todeswunsch" – Sous le soleil de Saturne (1995)
- Ehjeh Ascher Ehjeh EP (1995) – limited to 3000 copies
- "The inexperienced Spiral Traveller" (1997)
- "Voyager" – The Jugglers of Jusa (1997) – limited to 3000 copies
- "Dead Lovers' Sarabande" (Face One) (1999)
- "Dead Lovers' Sarabande" (Face Two) (1999)
- "Songs from the Inverted Womb" (2000)
- Nenia C'alladhan (2002) – side project with Constance Fröhling
- "Es Reiten Die Toten So Schnell" or, the Vampyre sucking at his own Vein (2003)
- "La Chambre D'Echo" – Where the dead Birds sing (2004)
- "Flowers in Formaldehyde" EP (2004) – limited to 2000 copies
"...Ich töte mich..." and Todeswunsch" were repackaged and re-released in 1999. All albums except for "Voyager" and those released after 2000 were repackaged and re-released again in 2004.
External Links
Categories: Musical group stubs