Country: Netherlands
Tracklist
1. Invocation 04:03
2. Nervengeist 11:24
3. The Shadow Gods 05:59
4. Leviathan Rising 12:19
5. Tears On Shutters 03:43
6. The Heart 04:43
2. Nervengeist 11:24
3. The Shadow Gods 05:59
4. Leviathan Rising 12:19
5. Tears On Shutters 03:43
6. The Heart 04:43
Swartalf was a project from Holland that remained somewhat of a mystery.
The only known member was named Count Ycklagh,
but it was believed that musicians from some famous black metal bands were involved.
A statement on the Phallus Dei Official facebook page appeared on 17 March 2015 stating:
A statement on the Phallus Dei Official facebook page appeared on 17 March 2015 stating:
"Swartalf was Richard Van Kruysdijk's dark ambient project."
Richard van Kruysdijk (drummer/multi-instrumentalist/producer/composer) is most known
for his work with German eclectic industrial band Phallus Dei and many other musical projects.
The debut album, "Candles Burning Blue", that released by Memento Mori in 1996,
Richard van Kruysdijk (drummer/multi-instrumentalist/producer/composer) is most known
for his work with German eclectic industrial band Phallus Dei and many other musical projects.
The debut album, "Candles Burning Blue", that released by Memento Mori in 1996,
was an impressive combination of ambient electronics, neoclassical strings and a touch of droning riffing.
The second album, "The Golden Section", released in 2000, showed a more powerful sound,
The second album, "The Golden Section", released in 2000, showed a more powerful sound,
topped by crunching guitars and massive industrial metal percussion, combined with bombastic orchestral arrangements
and gothic poetry recited by hellish male vocals countered by heavenly female chants.
Due to some idiot employee at Relapse Records saying in the Dark Ambient section of one of their catalogs that Swartalf sounded like Mortiis--along with the odd title of Candles Burning Blue being cool--I ordered this from them without hearing a single note beforehand. No, Swartalf didn't sound anything like Mortiis! Even though not the best cds ever I still played them quite a bit (I got both, and interesting how they turned to industrial metal on The Golden Section). Crazy that still pretty much nothing is known about Swartalf years later but I guess they didn't sell a lot. "The Shadow Gods" remains one of my all-time favorite dungeon synth tracks though.
ReplyDeleteWell back in the day everything non metal (dungeon synth, ambient, industrial etc.) was very often fallen under the general atmospheric tag in many mail order catalogs.
DeleteIf you did not knew anything about a band when you got their album in your hands usually the description that you had read was not even came close to the end result 😂. But again there was a certain beauty on this whole procedure.
The strange thing about Swartalf and Richard Van Kruysdijk is that even if you visit his site on https://www.richardvankruysdijk.com/ i believe that there is no mention or info about his participation on the project.