Soror Dolorosa

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Soror Dolorosa
Soror Dolorosa in Bilbao 2012
Soror Dolorosa in Bilbao 2012
General information
origin Toulouse , France
Genre (s) Gothic rock
founding 2001, 2007
resolution 2005
Current occupation
singing
 Andy Julia
guitar
 Nicolas Mons
Drums
 Franck Ligabue
Electric bass
 Hervé Carles
guitar
 David-Alexandre Parquier
former members
singing
 Christophe Guenot
guitar
 Emey

Soror Dolorosa ( Latin sister painful ) is a French gothic rock band.

history

The group was founded in 2001 by Andy Julia, who was previously active as a drummer in various black metal bands, together with three former members of the disbanded Funeraëll. While Julia got involved as a drummer, Franck Ligabue as guitarist, Hervé Carles as bassist and Christophe Guenot as singer.

The band name Soror Dolorosa was based on a suggestion by Carles, who borrowed it from reading the symbolist novel Das tote Brugge by Georges Rodenbach . Julia also stated that the metaphorical figure of the city as a painful sister (in the figurative sense here also as a lover of pain ) of a grieving widower corresponds to the musical idea sought by Soror Dolorosa. According to Julia, the emotional states of passion, sacrifice and insight that go along with the grief are essential steps towards self-awareness, which the group tries to transfer to their performances and their music.

The group performed regularly early in their careers and recorded two unreleased demos . The group disbanded in 2005, but was reactivated after two years and made lasting changes in the line-up during the reunion. Julia replaced Guenot as singer, Ligabue switched to drums and Emey joined the group as the new guitarist. In this new line-up, Soror Dolorosa consolidated their style and recorded a third demo, which was released in 2009 as an EP under the title Severance via Todestrieb Records . The demo was recorded in the home studio of Le Mauvais Oeil musician Artes . Recording and mixing took six months.

In March 2008 the first official recording of the band appeared with the song American Chronicle , on the compilation Poisoned Dead Frogs of the French independent label Manic Depression . With the release of the EP Severance and a number of concert and festival appearances, the group has built a stable circle of fans. In August 2010 , the first studio album was recorded in the Drudenhaus studio of Neb Xort ( Anorexia Nervosa ) for Beneath Gray Skies , a subcontractor of Northern Silence Productions . As a close friend of Julia's, Stéphane “Neige” Paut from Alcest and Amesoeurs made contact with Northern Silence and supported Soror Dolorosa on the label. Northern Silence responded and signed a three-album deal with the band.

The album, released in February 2011, was mainly received positively and increased the popularity of the group, especially in German-speaking countries, whereupon appearances at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen and in the Vienna Viper Room followed. Julia was enthusiastic about the cooperation with Northern Silence , especially with regard to the potential audience of the German black scene , as the group's German label was able to open up a larger market for the music played.

Emey left the group later in the year due to the deadline pressure of the tour activities and was replaced by Nicolas Mons as guitarist. Accompanied by further appearances, the band worked on their second studio album in 2012. No More Heroes was recorded again in the Drudenhaus Studio by Neb Xort and released in January 2013. This second studio album also received more and more positive reviews. The group continued its Europe-wide tour activity and performed again at the WGT in 2015. In October 2015, the group announced that they had signed a contract with Prophecy Productions and were working on a third album under the working title Apollo . Likewise, the two previously released albums and the EP should be re-released via Prophecy.

Style and judgment

Andy Julia's singing, here with Soror Dolorosa at WGT 2015, is often highlighted as a distinctive feature of the group.

The style of Soror Dolorosa is mostly described as a mixture of Cold Wave and Gothic Rock . The group would be in the direct tradition of performers such as Fields of the Nephilim , The Sisters of Mercy , Bauhaus , The Mission and The Cure . Julia confirms the influences of these bands, but explains that the music does not result from the re-enactment of known style fragments, but rather from the context of the common music-making. According to critics, the group has a successful songwriting , but only marginal independence in the genre. In addition, a theatrical quality that is occasionally assessed as excessive is criticized. Meanwhile, "the focus of the band [...] would be more on atmosphere and monotony than on complexity."

The undistorted bass playing is considered the dominant element of the music. The drums, on the other hand, are “reduced to the bare minimum” while the equally undistorted guitar “sets accents”, which is played cleanly and brightly. Guitar and drums would form a basic structure, while bass playing acts as the mainspring.

Julia's voice is often emphasized and described as a “multi-faceted incarnation” of melancholy , which is “pointedly used”, as well as particularly “variable”. Occasionally, his singing appears "lighter than the majority of singers in similar groups". On Metal1.de his vocals are compared to Wayne Hussey's for The Mission.

Discography

  • 2009: Severance (EP, Todestrieb Records)
  • 2011: Blind Scenes (Album, Beneath Gray Skies)
  • 2013: No More Heroes (Album, Beneath Gray Skies)
  • 2017: Apollo (Album, Prophecy Productions)

Web links

Commons : Soror Dolorosa  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Filip von Muylem: SOROR DOLOROSA. Peek-A-Boo-Magazine, accessed August 22, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b c Beneath Gray Skies. Northern Silence Productions, accessed August 22, 2016 .
  3. ↑ CD Northern Silence Special. Northern Silence Productions, accessed August 22, 2016 .
  4. ↑ a b c d Vera: soror dolorosa. Lords of Metal, accessed August 22, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Various - Poisoned Dead Frogs. Discogs, accessed August 22, 2016 .
  6. ↑ a b Vincent Tassy: soror dolorosa. obskuremag, accessed August 22, 2016 .
  7. ↑ a b past. Wave-Gotik-Treffen, accessed on August 22, 2016 .
  8. ↑ No More Heroes. Northern Silence Productions, accessed August 22, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Dark Lord: SOROR DOLOROSA: sign with Prophecy Productions! Stormbringer, accessed August 22, 2016 .
  10. ↑ a b c d e Jan Müller: Blind Scenes. Metal1, accessed August 22, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Dirk Konz: Blind Scenes. (No longer available online.) Metalnews.de, archived from the original on 23 August 2016 ; accessed on August 22, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.metalnews.de
  12. ↑ Johannes Schmuck: Blind Scenes. Music reviews, accessed August 22, 2016 .
  13. ↑ a b c Andreas Krause: Blind Scenes. Bloodchamber, accessed August 22, 2016 .
  14. ^ Andreas Schiffmann: No More Heroes. Music reviews, accessed August 22, 2016 .
  15. ↑ a b c Christoph Emmrich: No More Heroes. Metal1, accessed August 22, 2016 .