Whispers in the Shadow
| Whispers in the Shadow | |
|---|---|
_001.jpg) Whispers in the Shadow at the 2016 Amphi Festival |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Alternative rock , gothic rock , dark wave |
| founding | 1996 |
| Website | www.whispersintheshadow.com |
| Current occupation | |
| Ashley Dayour | |
| Fork | |
| Martin Acid | |
| Reinhard Schwarzinger | |
| Lazy Schulz | |
| former members | |
bass |
Richard Lederer (1996–1999) |
guitar |
Sebastian Adam (1996-1999) |
Drums |
Markus Houben (1999–2000) |
bass |
Francis (2002-2005) |
Drums |
Mäx Lambert (2003-2005) |
Drums |
Siggi Meier (2003) |
Drums |
Curt Benes (2000-2003, 2006-2009) |
Drums |
Reinhard Schwarzinger (2010-2013) |
Whispers in the Shadow is a band from Austria that was founded in 1996. The band was inspired by the story The Whisperer in Darkness by HP Lovecraft in choosing their name .
history
Whispers in the Shadow was originally founded as a solo project by singer and guitarist Ashley Dayour. After various demo releases followed the first appearances in the line-up of Ashley Dayour (vocals, guitar), Richard Lederer (bass), who is also active for the projects Die banished Kinder Evas , Ice Ages and Summoning , and Sebastian Adam (guitar). A drum computer took over the place on the drums at that time .
Just a year later, the trio received a record deal and released their debut album, Laudanum . In 1999, the second album followed in November , stylistically following its predecessor almost seamlessly and with the song Train, a club hit. In 2000, Whispers in the Shadow returned with a new line-up, and added drummer Markus Houben, with the third album A Taste of Decay . Shortly after the album was released, Houben left the band and was replaced by Curt Benes. 2001 saw the release of the fourth album, Permanent Illusions - a concept album with a background story written by the Austrian author Thomas Havlik. With this work, the band moved away from Gothic Rock and increasingly worked with psychedelic rock elements. After numerous concerts all over Europe, including four times in a row at the annual Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig, the band released their first live album Everything You Knew Was Wrong , a double CD that also contains rare pieces from the early days are. After a tour with the German band Garden of Delight it was quiet about the formation. Numerous line-up and label changes forced her to take a break.
In 2007 a new sign of life followed with the live CD A Cold Night , which was recorded at the 10th anniversary concert in Vienna. Furthermore, the first two albums were laudanum and November re -mastered and re-released with exclusive bonus material. In 2008 the band signed a record deal with the Echozone / Fastball label and in autumn presented their first studio album in seven years, Into the Arms of Chaos - which was supposed to be a new beginning both musically and lyrically. This was produced by John A. Rivers, who has also mixed albums from The Chameleons , Clan of Xymox , Virgin Prunes , Sopor Aeternus and Dead Can Dance . Influenced by chaos magic and occult authors such as Austin Osman Spare , Aleister Crowley , Dion Fortune , Kenneth Grant , Arthurmachen and Algernon Blackwood, as well as the Cthulhu myth of HP Lovecraft , the quartet was now musically a lot stronger and harder than before. This album was also released in a special edition with a 70-minute DVD including a live concert as well as interviews and background information. In 2009 the compilation album Borrowed Nightmares & Forgotten Dreams was released. In addition to numerous remix and cover versions by bands such as Persephone , Garden of Delight and The House of Usher, it also contains five unreleased tracks from an album that has never been released. There was also a highly acclaimed appearance at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen and other festivals, including for the first time at the M'era Luna Festival .
In April 2010, The Eternal Arcane will be the sixth studio album. This is the second part of a tetralogy about the different levels of alchemy . The previous album Into the Arms of Chaos represented the first area "Nigredo"; now the band is dedicated to the second phase, albedo . Musically, the chosen path will be continued, but there are also innovations such as B. female vocals, sung by Amandine Ferrari of the British gothic rock band The Eden House, which is made up of former members of the related Fields of the Nephilim . The first official music video was also shot: Blood, Sweat & Tears is a mixture of story and performance. At the beginning of the year long-time drummer Curt Benes left the band, Reinhard Schwarzinger took his place behind the drums. At the winter solstice on December 21, 2010, the limited edition of 777 copies of the live DVD Searching for Light , a recording of a live concert in Vienna 2010, was released. In April 2011 Whispers in the Shadow went on a European tour with Merciful Nuns and Vendemmian and released the 6-track EP The Lightbringer , which includes a cover version of the Leonard Cohen classic First we take Manhattan and other unreleased tracks. Most of the pieces on the EP deal with the fall of the archangel Lucifer .
In 2012 Whispers in the Shadow signed a contract with the German gothic rock label Solar Lodge and published the third part of their quadrology, The Rites of Passage , which deals with the alchemical phase of Citrinitas. There are also more oriental influences on this album, which is mainly achieved through the use of dulcimer , various percussion instruments and the use of Vic Anselmo's voice . The band also shoots an elaborate 6-minute video clip for the title track, which, like the album itself, deals with the topics Babalon / Thelema and the tarot card "The Moon". Again, there is an influence from HP Lovecraft. This was followed by a European tour that also included appearances at the Amphi Festival in Cologne and the Shadowplay Festival in Belgium.
In 2014 the band published the conclusion of the quadrology they started in 2008. Beyond the Cycles of Time differs a lot from the previous albums with its cold, distant sound. The CD "Dead Letter Songs 2007-2014" was also released as a bonus album. In addition to unreleased tracks, it also contains three cover versions by David Bowie , U2 and Gary Numan . At the same time, the DVD Images & Oracels and its own tarot set consisting of cover elements from the 4 cycle albums were released.
style
The first two works were clearly influenced by post-punk and the music of The Cure . With the third album A Taste of Decay Whispers in the Shadow showed themselves to be much more rock-oriented. At the same time, elements of progressive and post-rock came to the fore, but without foregoing the typical Gothic rock elements. The relevant press has referred to the music as "Goth Floyd" since then, alluding to the style of the band, which was influenced by Pink Floyd .
Trivia
Ashley Dayour was also the guitarist for the band Veneno para las Hadas from 2006 to 2007 and for L'Âme Immortelle from 2001 to 2010 . He also runs the dark ambient solo project Music For Rituals and is also a songwriter and guitarist for the band Coma Divine , which consists of members from L'Âme Immortelle and Persephone . In 2013 he started the Ghost Wave group The Devil & the Universe together with the Viennese musician David Pfister .
Discography
Albums
- 1997: Laudanum (republished in 2008)
- 1999: November (re-released 2008)
- 2000: A Taste of Decay
- 2001: Permanent Illusions
- 2008: Into the Arms of Chaos (How to Steal the Fire from Heaven) (also as a limited edition with 70 min DVD including a live concert 2008)
- 2010: The Eternal Arcane
- 2012: The Rites of Passage
- 2014: Beyond the Cycles of Time
Compilations and live albums
- 2003: Everything You Knew Was Wrong (live double album)
- 2007: A Cold Night (Live in Vienna, October 25, 2006)
- 2009: Borrowed Nightmares & Forgotten Dreams - The Remixed, The Reworked and The Abandoned (compilation)
- 2011: Searching for Light - Live in Vienna (live DVD limited to 777 copies)
- 2012: If Wormwood Falls - Live in Berlin 09/29/2012 (Download Album)
- 2013: Live in Leipzig May 20th, 2013 (download album)
- 2014: Images & Oracles (Live in Vienna & Frankfurt 2011 DVD)
- 2014: Dead Letter Songs 2007-2014 (Outtakes album)
Singles, demos and EPs
- 1996: Descent (demo tape, compilation)
- 2000: Autumn Leaves and Trippy Dreams (Live EP)
- 2011: The Lightbringer (incl. Limited Bonus EP Music for Rituals Vol. I - The Babalon Workings )
Web links
- Official website
- Whispers in the Shadow at laut.de
- Whispers in the Shadow at Discogs (English)