Upcoming releases on Lupus Lounge to be postponed to May 11, 2009 - 2009/04/17

Unfortunately the release dates of Geist's "Galeere", Helrunar's "Grátr", Drautran's "Unter dem Banner der Nordwinde", and Farsot's "042103freitod" need to be postponed to May 11, 2009.

ARCTIC PLATEAU "On A Sad Sunny Day" to be released on June 15, 2009 - 2009/04/17

ARCTIC PLATEAU - this is the nom de plume of Gianluca Divirgilio, an Italian musician with an incredible sense for epic arrangements and song structures whose first recordings offer timeless music between the poles of Post Rock, Shoegaze, New Wave and Indie.

"I am so inspired by the sadness that I feel I have found the joy." These are the first lyrics you'll hear on "On A Sad Sunny Day", the debut album by ARCTIC PLATEAU, and this sentiment is the golden thread that runs through each of the eleven tracks. This album enchants you with an open, dream-like atmosphere and is characterized by a fascinating ambivalence of hope and melancholy, euphoria and sadness. It's like an introspective trip into your inner self and into your own past, a rekindling of memories and sealed-up emotions. The artist himself describes his compositions as 'explicitly dreamed music', and we can't think of any better term for the music of this one-man project.

The release of "On A Sad Sunny Day" is set for June 15, 2009. You can get a first glimpse of the album here with its title track.

AUTUMNBLAZE "Perdition Diaries" to be released on June 15, 2009 - 2009/04/17

AUTUMNBLAZE ... that does ring a bell, doesn't it? The band who ventured into the realms of alternative rock with their last album"Words Are Not What They Seem" (2004) and then imploded two years later because of internal differences now sees its phoenix-like resurrection – the classic line-up of Eldron, Arisjel, and Schwadorf (The Vision Bleak etc.) has come together again to record a new album.

"Perdition Diaries" is something of a statement, the fruit of a return to the roots of AUTUMNBLAZE, and it comes across like a creative eruption. This album is a tribute to 1990's-era dark metal, to a time where the conventions of metal were trampled underfoot and the genre's conceptual chains were irrevocably broken from the inside. AUTUMNBLAZE mastermind Eldron puts it more precisely, "Bands such as Paradise Lost, Anathema, Katatonia, My Dying Bride, Dark Tranquillity, or At The Gates are prime examples for an exploration of the human soul, the struggle of the individual against the chasms of life. Away from the metal standards of the 1980's, towards a kind of deeply emotional resistance against the norms. We spit on all those who are blindfolded by their own limitations, and we continue that which was begun in the early nineties!"

In 2009, AUTUMNBLAZE have returned to the unvarnished originality of their artistic and creative urge. Intense music enwrought with whipping melodies and full of aggression, and pieces with basic instrumentation filled with a fragile despair – between these musical poles the lyrics unfold their "Perdition Diaries": hopes, dreams, the powerful secrets of music, arrogance, annihilation, loss, and despondency. The personal destinies portrayed here turn into symbols that come alive in the depths of the listener's emotions, weaving their own images there and opening their own unique, sealed-up diaries.

The release of "Perdition Diaries" is set for June 15, 2009. You can get a first glimpse of the album here with the song "Brudermord".

KLIMT 1918 "Ghost Of A Tape Listener" EP now available - 2009/04/17

The digital EP "Ghost Of A Tape Listener" by Klimt 1918 is now available from several digital music retailers (i.e. iTunes). Besides the title track and "Skygazer" (both taken from last year's album "Just In Case We'll Never Meet Again (Soundtrack For The Cassette Generation)"), the EP also contains the previously unreleased and exclusive song "Blackeberg 1981". Remaining stocks of the digipak version of the "Ghost..." EP (limited to 300 copies and originally produced for Prophecy club members) can now be ordered at the ProMedia online shop.

"Ghost Of A Tape Listener" on Youtube

GEЇST: "In den Werften der Galeere" EP and "Galeere" release party - 2009/04/16

In tandem with the new Geïst album "Galeere" to be released on May 2nd, the band will publish the limited, hand-numbered EP "In den Werften der Galeere" with a print run of only 300 copies. This EP contains pre-production versions of the tracks 'Galeere', 'Helike', and 'Unter toten Kapitänen', a tentative draft of the album's cover on the sleeve as well as detailed liner notes courtesy of Alboin.
"In den Werften der Galeere" will be made available exclusively for members of the Prophecy Club and via ProMedia's online shop.

To celebrate the publication of "Galeere", Geïst are going to host a release party in Bad Salzuflen (LOKation) on May 9th. Apart from Geïst, Todtgelichter and Agatha Shot are going to perform as well. Please find further information on this event at www.myspace.com/geistmetal.

SECRETS OF THE MOON: "Privilegivm" recordings almost finished and official listening session - 2009/04/16

Secrets Of The Moon are nearly finished recording their fourth album, "Privilegivm". "The recording sessions for our new album have been hugely satisfying," the band's guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter sG tells us about the state of affairs. "In terms of sound, this is the best material we have recorded so far. The songs have reached the level of 'Antithesis' even before being mixed. They have an intense depth and are unpredictable."
"Privilegivm" will probably be released in September 2009. Before that, Secrets Of The Moon will make some live appearances in Germany in May (see tour dates at the bottom of this mail) to present selections from the forthcoming album.

Additionally Secrets Of The Moon, the Access Bar Berlin and Prophecy Productions invite to an exclusive listening session for the band's upcoming album "Privilegivm" on June 13, 2009 at Access Bar Berlin. Not only will all participants have the chance to listen to the album some time before its release, but the band will also perform some new songs live on stage with support from their labelmates Farsot. ENTRANCE IS FREE!
If you want to be part of this eventful night, please send a short email with your name(s) to privilegivm@hotmail.de. You will receive guestlist spots. There's only limited space. In case you're writing for a magazine and would like to interview the band during this evening, please remark this in your email as well.

Intense, mystical, timeless: DORNENREICH on extensive tour through Germany in autumn - 2009/04/16

This September, Dornenreich are going to do an extensive club tour in Germany - the first one since 2001. The set list of these concerts is going to be a journey through Dornenreich's 13 years of history, plus there will be first impressions from their forthcoming studio album "Flammentriebe". On this tour, Dornenreich will be supported by funeral doom band Ahab and Fen from England.

The magical perception of nature and life - LES DISCRETS sign with Prophecy - 2009/04/03

Les Discrets, the solo project founded by Fursy Teyssier (Alcest, Amesoeurs) in 2003, steps forth from its Myspace existence into the light of day.
"'Les Discrets' (engl.: the discreet ones) are those creatures that live in nature and who bring nature to life, the ones who make the leaves move, who put dew on the flowers each morning, who throw the pollen in the air ... That's a parallel life that we are not able to see, but that many of us can feel. The project's concept is pervaded by this perception of nature as well as my existential questions, especially about the feelings of love and death, as I always found a parallel between nature and human life and love," Fursy outlines the concept of Les Discrets.

Les Discrets have just signed a five-album contract with Prophecy Productions and have thus laid the foundation for a fruitful long-term relationship. The release of the project's as-yet-untitled debut album is tentatively scheduled for autumn 2009.

http://www.myspace.com/lesdiscrets

HELRUNAR's "Grátr" available again in May - 2009/04/03

"Grátr", Helrunar's debut album, was released in a limited edition of 500 CDs back in 2003. By no means was this first sign of life the tentative steps of newbies in the world of pagan and black metal, nor were Helrunar searching for their own identity or the style that fits them best. No, the vision of the three musicians from Muenster/Germany was fully realized right from the start, and "Grátr" already contained all characteristics that would establish Helrunar as one of the genre's leading lights in the years to come: furious pagan/black metal hymns that are as catchy as they are aggressive, complete with an individual, philosophical and spiritual bend to their lyrics. Apart from that, Helrunar's debut set the standards the band easily met on their later releases: distinctive songwriting, expressive vocals, and powerful production values on top of it.

Hence, it is hardly surprising that songs from "Grátr" such as 'Seelenwinter', 'Ich bin die Leere', or 'Raune mit der Tiefe' are still ranking among Helrunar's absolute live favourites. No surprise, too, that many of Helrunar's die-hard fans consider "Grátr" as the band's best album, making the CD one of the most sought-after records of the whole scene.
To cater to these demands, "Grátr" will finally be re-released for the band's followers. The first 3,000 copies of this reissue will be presented in a graceful Digipak containing a bonus CD with another one of Helrunar's rare tracks, 'Hauch wird Sturm'!

Early works of DRAUTRAN and FARSOT available again in May - 2009/04/03

Shortly before the end of the last millennium, the band Drautran from Kiel, Germany, self-released "Unter dem Banner der Nordwinde", an album that has become a landmark of stormy Nordic Metal. The lore of this album's extraordinary quality quickly made the circuit in the international scene underground, and within a short time its first press was out of stock. To meet the enormous demand for Drautran's debut album, "Unter dem Banner..." is now re-released with improved artwork and in Digipak format.

With their self-released debut album "042103freitod" (2004), Farsot likewise achieved some success right from the start - soon, they were considered one of the most promising newcomers in Germany's black metal scene. Already on this early release Farsot were creating a thoroughly dismal mood, inviting the listener to wallow in deep melancholy and Todessehnsucht (yearning for death). Their debut recording has been sold out for a long time and is now re-released with enhanced artwork in an extraordinary Digipak as well.