Black Swan – When The Angels Of Twilight Dance (1998)

Country: Finland

Tracklist

1. The Tavastian Parade 07:41
2. Under Cloak And Hood 04:55
3. Into The Sea Of Sorrow 05:35
4. Autumn In Eden 05:54
5. The Withering Flower Of Life 05:01
6. Mist 02:21
7. To Behold The Sky Of Flames 07:50
8. When The Angels Of Twilight Dance 07:55

Black Swan started as a two-man project of T. Palokangas and J. Tuomivaara.

The band released ''Demo '96'' with T. Palokangas handling guitars and vocals 

and J. Tuomivaara handling keyboards and programming.

After the demo they decided to expand to a five-man set, 

mainly because of the impossibilities of playing a real live set with just two men.

A bit later Palokangas decided to concentrate mainly to the guitar work 

and Antti Haapapuro (also in Dolorian, Aeoga, Arktau Eos, Halo Manash and I.corax) joined the band as a vocalist.

In the summer of 1997 Black Swan started playing live shows steadily and recorded their second demo ''Autumn In Eden''.

In the fall they signed a record deal with Mastervox 

and one year later they offered their first full length album entitled "When The Angels Of Twilight Dance".
Ari Kukkohovi also provides live percussion for the bands Arktau Eos and Dolorian.

Memory

Xenomorph – Cassandra's Nightmare (1998)

Country: Germany

Tracklist

1. Necroid Millenium 07:58
2. Hallucinatory Spheres 09:15
3. Abominations 09:40
4. Torrent Of Insanity 09:49
5. Acid For Blood 07:17
6. Obscure Spectre 09:22
7. Apocalyptic Ritual 07:46
8. Cassandra's Nightmare 08:27

Xenomorph is the one-man band of Mark Petrick, based in Berlin, Germany.
The band is considered one of the veterans in the trance scene who has played live shows in many countries. 

Mark sees himself as the inventor of horror-trance, a unique style that was unprecedented in 1996 when he created songs like "Obscure Spectre" which has upset many goa-people and was considered "unspiritual" or "un-goa-ish". 

Regardless of the initial anti-sentiment against his music he has kept and refined his style throughout the years 

in which the community has become more open and appreciative for dark music.

Unlike most younger trance artists who just listen to trance music, Mark was exposed to a multitude 

of musical influences like new wave, punk/post-punk, gothic, rock-music, death-rock, industrial, EBM, 

power-noise, death-metal, crossover/hardcore as well as classical music and soundtracks.
He started to be musically active in 1985 as a bass-player in a goth-band called "Fog Drowning".

In 1990 he formed his own EBM band "Terminal Warfare" in which he was the lead singer and has composed the songs.
He then joined the local band "Whippet Of Trench" as a keyboard player besides his own project one year later.

Due to him being a multi-instrumentalist, he was asked to play guitar/bass and keyboards 

for a couple of shows with the local industrial band "The Unknown" in 1993.
As an enthusiastic fan of death-metal, he also found himself in loose collaborations with local death-metal bands 

as an audio-engineer/guitarist for their demo-recordings in the studio.
After a long time of inspiration the second Xenomorph album "Qlippoth" was released in 2003

on Gnostic Records which is Xenomorph's own record label.

Until today Xenomorph has continued to produce cutting-edge dark electronic music and he has done 

the mastering post-production for more than 30 releases of various labels.
In November 2007 the 3rd Xenomorph Album "Demagoguery Of The Obscurants" was released.

It contains 10 quite different tracks packed into an elaborate concept critically reflecting current, past 

and future world events already prophesizing the economic crisis of 2009 and the formation of the New World Order.

Memory

Jackal's Truth ‎– Promo 98 (Demo 1998)

Country: Greece

Tracklist

1. The Quest Of The Ultimate Knowledge 07:24
2. Acherontas 05:28
3. Fovos - The Two Horned Man (Bonus Track) 05:40

Jackal's Truth was formed in early 1996 in Larissa, Greece by Kostas (vocals/guitars) and George A. (drums).

In the summer Zacharias (guitars) and George (bass) joined the group to complete the lineup.

In the autumn of 1996 they went to the studio to record their debut demo "Dominus Silvae" which was released in 1997, 

with the help of Agapi (female vocals) and Grigoris P. (keyboards/sound engineer).
The respond that the band got for their demo was great and helped them to perform live 

with bands such as Rotting Christ, Kawir, Exhumation and other local bands.
After the demo was released, Stefanos (also member of Stardrowned) joined the band as their keyboard player 

while Greg replaced George on bass and the band went on and recorded their 2nd release, 

called "Promo 98" which was exclusively for record companies.
The tracks on the promo were more extreme, technical and melodic than the ones on the demo.
Unfortunately, Jackal's Truth didn't make it in time and the band split up in 2000.
The Memory link contains as a bonus the amazing track "Fovos - The Two Horned Man".

Memory

En Nihil – Death Keeps (1997)

Country: United States

Tracklist

1. Final Bliss (Edit) 08:58
2. Blood + Bone 14:57
3. Fall 07:35
4. Open Your Eyes And See Death 12:41
5. Drift III 13:38

En Nihil (originally under the name Nihil) formed in 1994, in California, by Adam Fritz 

and over the course of 3 years from 1994 to 1997 created a substantial amount of music 

stretching into every subgenre of the experimental realm. 

Everything from tribal rhythms, ethereal drifts, dark ambient, chaotic harsh noise, death industrial, 

cut-up sound collages, field recordings and so on, all of them with a dark, emotional side 

ranging from minimalism to detailed, heavily layered and intricate productions to pure improvisation.
"Death Keeps" articulates a deep fascination with death, not the physical, but the emotional aspect 

and the fear of the most inevitable fate we will all share.
The album was recorded between October 1995 - October 1996 and released by Red Stream in 1997.
After 13 years of silence, En Nihil returned to recording in 2010, 

and has since unleashed a stream of albums, cassette releases and splits.

Memory

Dolorian ‎– When All The Laughter Has Gone (1999)

 

Country: Finland

Tracklist

1. Desolated Colours 07:19
2. My Weary Eyes 08:22
3. A Part Of Darkness 06:24
4. When All The Laughter Has Gone 05:52
5. Collapsed 09:18
6. Fields 04:45
7. With Scorn / Perish 11:11

Dolorian is a doom metal band from Oulu, Finland.

Their early recordings are viewed as some of the earliest examples of blackened doom metal.

Later recordings mixed dark ambient music with the traditional doom metal style.
The band was founded in mid-1997 as a duo consisting of Anti Haapapuro and Ari Kukkohovi.

Their combination of varied songs, structures and melodies, several vocal styles, 

and obscure spiritual lyrics set the band apart from many others in their genre.
Dolorian recorded their first demos in autumn 1997 at Tico-Tico Studios with temporary keyboard player H. Riihinen.

They were subsequently signed with Wounded Love Records.

In 1998 the band along with their new keyboard player J. Ontero, 

recorded the debut album "When All The Laughter Has Gone" that was released in 1999.
The following year, the band recorded their second album entitled "Dolorian".
The self-titled album was a continuation of the black doom sound of their debut 

with much quieter vocals and a more psychedelic and ambient approach.
In 2002, Dolorian recorded songs for a split release with Shining, but record label problems delayed its release until 2003.

In 2006, the band released their third album, "Voidwards",

which demonstrated a further shift in their sound and included the usage of dark ambient elements.
All the members of the band are involved in dark ambient projects (such as Arktau Eos, Halo Manash, 

Aeoga and I.corax, as well in the 90's melodic black metal band Black Swan), 

which has likely shifted their concentration away from Dolorian.

Memory

Decree – Wake Of Devastation (1997)

 

Country: Canada

Tracklist

1. Delusion 04:27
2. The Last Day 04:29
3. Who Dares? 03:02
4. Fire Of Offering 05:04
5. Madness Unveiled 03:22
6. Talons Grasp 05:43
7. Never Nearer 04:35
8. Darkness Visible 06:20
9. Downward 04:28
10. Bitter End 04:45

Decree is a Vancouver based act currently consisting of Chris Peterson (Front Line Assembly, Delerium, Will), 

Ross Redhead and Sean Lawson.
This is the second incarnation of the band which was founded in 1991 by Peterson and John McRae, 

culminating in the duo's 1996 album, "Wake Of Devastation" that was released on Decibel Records and Offbeat Records.
1997 turned out to be a year of change for Decree as the original line up parted ways opening the door for Sean Lawson (vocalist) and Ross Redhead (guitar, bass, noise) to join Chris Peterson (keyboards) in Decree.
Throughout the following years tracks for a second album were recorded during brief periods of inactivity in between Chris’s obligations with the bands Frontline Assembly, Noise Unit, Pro-tech and Delerium. 

In 2004 "Moment Of Silence" was released on Metropolis Records in North America and Minuswelt/Musik Fabrik in Europe.

Decree's sound has varied a lot over the space of two albums.
"Wake Of Devastation" reminds at times Test Dept. with harsh dark ambient/noise/drone influences.

Their second offering, "Moment Of Silence" brings both beats and guitars into the mix that varies from drum and bass break beats to harder industrial metal-influenced pieces, with less in the way of the noisy drones.
Their third offering was the long awaited album "Fateless" which was released on May 2011 on Art Of Fact Records.

Once again Chris Peterson has managed to build a wall of pounding rhythms and angry noise industrial 

that expands on the sound of prior Decree releases while retaining the vision and sonic values 

that have earned the well deserved reputation as one of the heaviest bands in the industrial music genre.

Memory

Helga Pogatschar – Mars Requiem (1995)

 

Country: Germany

Tracklist

1. Mars 03:29
2. Introitus 05:34
3. Kyrie 05:59
4. Graduale 05:42
5. Tractus 06:12
6. Sequentia 06:14
7. Offertorium 08:05
8. Sanctus 07:43
9. Agnus Dei 07:05
10. Communio 06:30
11. Qohelet 03:01

Helga Pogatschar (born in 1966) is a German composer.
Her work covers a wide range of styles, from songs for piano and voice, radio plays, 
music for dance performances and theater projects combining contemporary music with electronics, 
video/computer graphic installations, music for children, commercial jingles and music that stands outside every genre.
She studied classical piano at the Munich Music University from 1986 till 1991.
Her education was followed by composition studies in classical and film/TV field.
She also spent two years as a guest student at the Studio for Electronic/Acoustic Music in Göteborg, Sweden.
While still a student, she saw the premiere of some of her works, like the music for the video-installation  
Lost In Space in 1992, a piece for two singers and electronics, 
where she worked with Ernst Horn, musician and composer of electro/darkwave band Deine Lakaien.
Afterwards she was a lecturer at the colleges of music in Munich and Hamburg.
She was awarded the project scholarship for contemporary music and media and the music award of the city of Munich.
In 1995 she released her first album, "Mars Requiem".
This album was constructed as a classical requiem with liturgical Latin texts, sung by five vocalists, 
and it mainly was generated on samplers using sometimes strange and threatening sounds.
This work gained her some attention in the music press and oddly enough proved to reach people of various genres, 
as Helga Pogatschar got well-known in the gothic circle and even was mentioned on play lists of death/black metal fanzines.
In parallel her works "Mars Requiem", "Titus Trash Tatar“ and "Inanna“ were published on CD by Chrom Records.

Memory