| FluxEuropa - dark music and more FluxEuropa has suspended active publication and no longer requires items for review. The site is, however, being maintained as an archive and you can still order Amazon products which helps to subsidise its continuation. |
 |
 |
|
ALLERSEELENAllerseelen was founded in 1989 by Kadmon, an Austrian artist and writer deeply involved in researching and publishing essays on occult-related subjects. His magazine, Aorta, is as important a part of his work as his music and these two activities are closely connected. Like FluxEuropa, Kadmon is concerned with the meeting of myth and modernity, tradition and the avant-garde, archaism and the nuclear age, and has coined the term 'Technosophical' to describe his musical synthesis of these polarities. Kadmon further believes that if the divisions between the worlds of matter and spirit, nature and culture, and materialism and spirituality are not resolved, the world will destroy itself; and he sees his work as part of a "conservative avant-garde", which seeks to overcome plutocratic materialism with a natural pantheistic religiosity as it existed in pagan antiquity. Kadmon views his art as magic. Rejecting New Age attitudes which he sees as just a camouflaged materialism, he views magic as the triumph of the spirit over matter and thus over stagnation. Combining the organic and synthetic poles of Kadmon's worldview, Allerseelen's music is ritual-industrial. CRUORCruor (1994 AORCD01) is an anthology of recordings from 1989-1993. The themes of the 14 tracks are based on the ancient European faith of Mithraism which is central to Allerseelen and Aorta. Influenced by industrial and Tibetan religious music, Kadmon has blended elements of these styles, together with salsa and techno rhythms. The music is more synthetic than organic, and yet - out of the mechanical rhythms - a ritual sound is formed. GOTOS=KALANDAThe songs on Gotos=Kalanda (1995 AORCD02) were recorded in 1992-1994 and are based on the cycle of twelve spiritual poems dedicated to the twelve months of the year written by the Austrian poet and rune initiate, Karl Maria Wiligut (1866-1946). The musical style is similar to Cruor except that the poems are here declaimed in various styles providing a human voice element. STURMLIEDERSturmlieder (1997 AORCD03) is less frantic than the earlier albums, more varied musically and softened by female vocals. While this may come as a disappointment to those seeking extreme music, I feel this the best album so far. Architectural enthusiast will be interested in the cover which shows the Haus Atlantis in Bremen, an expressionistic building constructed by Bernhard Hoetger in 1929-1931. As ever, Kadmon's mystical message extends beyond music. PUBLICATIONSAorta reflects particular interest in Mithraism, shamanism and the Cathars. All issues have a bilingual text in German and English, and are thus accessible to a wide audience. Two particularly interesting issues deal with the survival of pagan folk customs: the Drums of Calanda (No. 3) and the serpent-goddess-derived cult of San Domenico di Cocullo (No. 16). Kadmon also has a publication called Ahnstern, issue 2 of which contains a very interesting interview with the American underground film director, Kenneth Anger. Ahnstern is also bilingual in German and English. Rik - 7 May 1997 CONTACTRecordings and publications are available directly from Aorta at the address below. The recordings and some written matter are also available from Storm in America and from Misanthropy in England.
|
||
 |
 |
HOME
| ART
| BOOKS
| FILMS
| MUSIC
| MUSIC
2 | PERSONAE
| LOCALITY
| MISCELLANY
| LINKS © FluxEuropa.com |