The White Goddess
| The White Goddess | ||||
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| Studio album from Atlantean Codex | ||||
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Publication |
4th October 2013 |
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Cruz del Sur Music (CD) Ván Records (LP) |
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running time |
57 min 57 s |
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Atlantean Code |
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Studio (s) |
Boar Cult Studios, Sulzbach-Rosenberg |
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The White Goddess is the second studio album by the German heavy / doom metal band Atlantean Kodex . It was released on October 4, 2013 on CD via Cruz del Sur Music and as an LP via Ván Records . With the album, the band reached a chart position for the first time .
Emergence
The album was already written and recorded in 2012. The recordings took place in the band's own Boar Cult Studio in Sulzbach-Rosenberg . An external person was only called in for mixing and mastering . However, the musicians were initially dissatisfied with the result and revised the material in small details. So some songs were rearranged and some vocal lines were rewritten. According to the guitarist Manuel Trummer, the title Heresiarch sounds completely different from the original version.
In addition to the titles represented on the album, the songs Kodex Battalions and Virgin - Mother - Crone were recorded. These were not used for the album because, in the opinion of the musicians, they did not fit the other titles. They may be released on an EP at a later date .
The guest musicians at Enthroned in Clouds and Fire are the Ödgodlricht church choir and Karl Pendragon Weiss as speaker. Elaine Harrington is a guest singer on Twelve Stars and an Azure Gown . Drummer Mario White played the piano - Outro with the song White Goddess Unveiled one. According to Manuel Trummer, Weiß was inspired by the song No Dreams Breed in Breathless Sleep by the Swedish band Dissection . The album booklet was designed by Benjamin Harff, who handcrafted an illuminated manuscript for it.
background
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The central themes of the album are death , rebirth , mythology and religion, and the common European heritage. As an allegory , the musicians used the figure of the white goddess , who appears in different forms in all European mythologies.
“She usually embodies death and rebirth. But it is also the muse that gives people the awareness of their mortality and thus drives them to create something lasting before they return to their natural state, death. We found the mythological and pan-European dimension appealing against the background of the current political situation in Europe. A Europe in ruins - shortly before its rebirth? "
Sol Invictus refers to the Roman sun god Sol . Twelve Stars and an Azure Gown contains excerpts from a speech by the British politician Winston Churchill in 1946. At that time, in Zurich , he spoke of a European tragedy and described Europe as a cultural union. According to Manuel Trummer, the song ends with the prospect of rebirth. The fall of the city of Passau is based on the novel of the same name by Carl Amery . According to Manuel Trummer, Enthroned in Clouds and Fire is an homage to the band Bathory .
The album cover shows the picture Der Mönch am Meer by the German painter Caspar David Friedrich , which was created between 1808 and 1810. Guitarist Manuel Trummer explained in an interview that the picture would fit the theme of the album.
reception
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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Like its predecessor, the German magazine Rock Hard named The White Goddess album of the month. Boris Kaiser wrote in his review that the album is "one of those very rare records that protrude so clearly from the chaos that they can hardly be measured by normal standards". According to Kaiser, “anything better than this album” has not been heard “in Heavy Metal in the last ten, probably 20 years”, for which he gave the highest rating. According to Colin Brinker from the online magazine Metal.de , Atlantean Kodex have "put the crown on the perfect songwriting of The Golden Bough ". The White Goddess would be “the album against which every other band in the genre will have to be measured in the future” and offers “epic metal in perfection”. Brinker awarded ten out of ten points.
Reinhold Reither from the online magazine Stormbringer saved himself from playing tips in his review because The White Goddess "is a gods album of a combo from front to back that will soon leave the supposedly greats miles behind" and asked who Manowar actually would be. Reither also awarded the highest rating. The magazines Powermetal.de , Musikreviews.de and Bloodchamber.de received further top ratings . Dorian Gorr from Metal Hammer magazine saw the album more critically , as in his opinion singer Markus Becker lacks the finishing touches between all the perfectly hit notes that would transform him from a good singer into a character. Gorr rated The White Goddess five out of seven.
The White Goddess entered the German album charts at number 65 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Boris Kaiser: Europe will fall . In: Rock Hard , September 2013, page 70
- ↑ a b c Paul Batteiger: Interview with Manuel Trummer (Guitars). The Metal Crypt, accessed November 2, 2013 .
- ↑ a b c Boris Kaiser: Somewhere in Prussia . In: Rock Hard, October 2013, page 24
- ↑ a b Endamon: Kneel before Atlantean Codex. Metalstorm.de, archived from the original on June 13, 2014 ; Retrieved November 2, 2013 .
- ↑ Leif Kringen: ATLANTEAN CODE: No happy anthems. Metal Squadron, accessed November 2, 2013 .
- ↑ Ansgar Hastenpflug: Interview with the Atlantean Codex. XXL skirt, archived from the original on November 4, 2013 ; Retrieved November 2, 2013 .
- ^ Atlantean Codex. Musicline.de , archived from the original on November 3, 2013 ; Retrieved November 1, 2013 .
- ↑ Boris Kaiser: Atlantean Codex - The White Goddess . In: Rock Hard, October 2013, p. 113
- ↑ Colin Brinker: The White Goddess. Metal.de, accessed on November 2, 2013 .
- ↑ Reinhold Reither: ATLANTEAN CODE - The White Goddess. Stormbringer.at, accessed on November 2, 2013 .
- ↑ Holger Andrae: ATLANTEAN CODE - The White Goddess. Powermetal.de , accessed on November 2, 2013 .
- ^ Lothar Hausfeld: Atlantean Codex: The White Goddess (Review). Musikreviews.de, accessed on November 2, 2013 .
- ↑ Michael Bach: Atlantean Codex - The White Goddess. Bloodchamber.de, accessed November 2, 2013 .
- ↑ Dorian Gorr: Atlantean Codex - The White Goddess. Metal Hammer . Retrieved November 2, 2013 .