Black Tape For A Blue Girl – This Lush Garden Within (1993)

Country: United States

Tracklist

1. Left, Unsaid 04:37
2. The Broken Glass 03:38
3. We Exist, Entwined 05:17
4. Overwhelmed, Beneath Me 03:20
5. This Lush Garden Within 01:49
6. The Christ In The Desert 06:29
7. The Turbulence And The Torment 05:44
8. The Flow Of Our Spirit 03:28
9. Into The Garden 04:10
10. Decomposed By The Fire Of The Firmament 04:14
11. Gravity's Angel 01:50
12. On Broken Shells Of Crystal Dreams 06:40
13. Our Future Imagined 03:21

Black Tape For A Blue Girl is an American dark wave band formed in 1986

by keyboardist/songwriter Sam Rosenthal, the founder of Projekt Records.
Their music has elements of dark wave, ethereal, ambient, neoclassical, and dark cabaret.
The band released seven albums in their first 13 years, covering the mid-80s through late-90s.

Their debut album "The Rope" was released in 1986.

The band's line-up consisted of a core of Sam Rosenthal,

Allan Kraut (on multiple instruments, including drums and guitars) and vocalist and guitarist Oscar Herrera.
Their second album, "Mesmerized By The Sirens", was released a year later, followed by "Ashes In The Brittle Air" in 1989,

"A Chaos Of Desire" in 1991 and "This Lush Garden Within" in 1993.

The core members through this period were Rosenthal and Herrera, with a variety of guest musicians.
Recording of "Remnants Of A Deeper Purity" began in 1995 in Los Angeles and was concluded in 1996.

This was the second album to feature Lucian Casselman on vocals and Vicki Richards on violin.
In 1999, the band released "As One Aflame Laid Bare By Desire", with Oscar Herrera singing two songs on the album

as a parting favor to Rosenthal. The album owes some artistic inspiration to Marcel Duchamp.
Julianna Towns returned for female vocals and also provided guitar arrangements.

After a 15 city tour in July 1998 in preparation for the album's release, she was ejected from the band.
Elysabeth Grant joined the band as violist, but she soon became the lead vocalist

for the band's seventh studio album, "The Scavenger Bride".
Male vocal duties were given to Bret Helm (of Audra) and Athan Maroulis (of Spahn Ranch).
"The Scavenger Bride" was released in 2002, with only two live appearances, as Rosenthal's son was born.
Two years later, the album "Halo Star" was released, which shifted the vocal focus to Bret Helm.
This release also marked a change in the band's lush, ethereal sound,

with a dark cabaret musical style, very similar to the Dresden Dolls and Katzenjammer Kabarett.
In 2009 Athan Maroulis, who appeared on two songs on "The Scavenger Bride" album,

as well as on a cover of Dead Can Dance's "Fortune Presents Gifts Not According To The Book", took over as lead vocalist.
On September 22, 2009, the band released their 10th album, "10 Neurotics",

with the lineup of Rosenthal on acoustic guitar, programming and keyboards,

Brian Viglione (The Dresden Dolls) on drums, percussion, bass and guitar,

and vocalists Maroulis (Spahn Ranch), Laurie Reade (ex-Attrition) and Nicki Jaine on additional vocals.
From 2013 to 2021 four more albums were released while their 30th anniversary in 2016 with the release of "These Fleeting Moments", was marked with the return of original vocalist Oscar Herrera after 17 years absence from the music scene.

 
Memory

Agonije – Testament (1994)

Country: Italy

Tracklist

1. Testament 05:23
2. Adieu, Les Jours 04:33
3. Désir De L'Âme 03:33
4. Millenium 04:57
5. De Loin (Deuxième Movement) 04:05
6. À La Lune 02:32
7. Jeux De Massacre 06:10
8. La Fin 05:30
9. Testament II (The Prelude) 11:53

Agonije was another project by Italian artist Angel G. Villani (also in Black Raven).
The first work of Agonije was published in 1991 with the cassette "Orgasme Du Temp" on the Italian label Hax.
Later in 1992 some tracks from the cassette appeared on the Italian compilation "Tecnologie Del Movimento II".
"Testament" was released in 1994 on the Swiss label Allegoria 

and recorded at Acqualuce Studio and Radio Video Studio in Turin between 1993-94.

 
Memory

Incarnator – Nordic Holocaust (Demo 1992)

Country: Norway

Tracklist

1. In Nocturnal Glory (Bonus Track) 05:04
2. Part I 04:14
3. Part II 03:50

Underground one man black metal project created by Bård Titlestad (aka Zyphrianus)

in the end of 1991 and hailing from the southern part of Norway, Stavanger, Rogaland.

The line up at the beginning except Zyphrianus on vocals and guitars also featured Sanrabb (of the Gehenna fame)

on the guitars but shortly after he left searching for other musical tasks.
The first recording was the promo track "In Nocturnal Glory",

created in February 1992 with Zyphrianus handling all the instruments and vocals.

Later that year by mid-October Zyphrianus went to Sound Suite Studios to record the two track demo "Nordic Holocaust".

Both recordings were passed only to close friends and contacts around the world.

By that time Euronymous of Mayhem got very interested in Incarnator's material

to the point of offering Zyphrianus a contract for a debut album on his Deathlike Silence Productions label.

Of course nothing happened due to Euronymous' death in 1993.

After all these incidents Zyphrianus returned to the isolation he came from,

loosing interest in the then growing black metal scene, which, at his eyes, was getting too much attention from outsiders.
The Memory link features as bonus the promo track "In Nocturnal Glory".

Memory