Empyrium
Songs Of Moors And Misty Fields
Prophecy, 1997

The most powerful art is that whose creator possesses an unclouded understanding of the potential his/her work contains towards arousing impressions of the unforeseen, as if it were borne from some astonishing spectral endowment. Such an artist undoubtedly experiences existence with an intimate sensitivity of a nature which passes over the ordinary as a quickly fading daydream lost to the soulless calls of immediate attention to some task of illusion elevated to an absurd level of significance. For the experience of life is a constant rising and falling, full of dynamic emotional fluctuations and dramatic alterations in hopes and fears. The best art seeks to reflect this reality of human experience in a work that portrays the struggle of life as something worthwhile and beautiful, even in its most dejected representations. Art of this nature reminds us, if we are indeed so quick to forget, of the dependency of light on dark, of beauty on repulsive, and of life on death. Works from this realm bring into clear the entirety of life in the universal, communicating truth and meaning within all that defines the process of the world.

Germany’s Empyrium stimulate the Romanticist state of heavy metal in overflow, as second full-length disc, Songs Of Moors & Misty Fields, is an iridescent expression of passionate melancholy and reverence of nature’s splendor. It is music that reveals emotional veracities through subtle fluctuation inside movements which proceed towards glistening climaxes, much like beholding a vast and brilliant landscape after reaching a summit on a long journey. Through the language of purest yearning, these hymns to enchanting midnight stillness in the form of profoundly solemn doom metal create atmospheres of striking clarity like that of the most brilliant dawn imaginable which could only ever follow a night of absolute silence under the clearest of nightskies. This is an album inspired by the autumnal spirit of cold seasons, sensitive to emotional shifts under the influence of such periods. This presence establishes and maintains a marvelous consistency throughout the work’s entirety, to a degree that reflects a transcending of base experience towards the dreamworlds discovered within a myriad of thoughts. Compositions are demanding of attention as is common to most doom metal, yet these songs evade unnecessary meanderings, sustaining flow of movement like eloquent, beautiful poetry, in which each passage builds towards a sweeping emotional revelation. Though much of this material dwells in embracing sorrow through anticipating atmospheres and touching beauty, its wintry obscurity is not alien to exalting rises in the shape of dramatic musical themes. Indeed, the pristine elegance of Empyrium’s sound relies on such powerful moments for totality of effect.

Songs develop over extended formats, ascending in dramatic display towards vistas of abundant beauty, merging orchestral elegance with doom metal paradigm in vivid layers of instrumentation presented through powerful sound. As Empyrium is the musical vision of Markus Schwadorf, the majority of the instrumentation has been performed by him, including vocals, drums, guitars, and bass. Drums and bass are functional towards the foundation of compositional structure, with drums granted an immense presence in the mix, and played with a tasteful balance between minimalist rhythm and variation. Vocals are bleak screams of the black metal fashion, clean and deep singing of the gothic rock tradition, and an effective spoken word thick with a vampiric tone of nocturnal sentiment. The quality of these vocals range from the exceptional to the sometimes awkward, usually during the more forced sounding gothic singing, yet most often these vocals communicate the appropriate feeling intended, even when falling short of perfection in technique. Rhythm guitars are mostly understated, serving as part of structural foundation along with drums and bass, while lead guitars weep and glide above. It is the lead guitar work on this disc that, more than any other instrumental performance here, raises this work to a transcendental level. Fluently graceful, these leads lustrously express a profound yearning of the spirit in a world that grows with hatred and envy of the eloquent and intellectual, in life as well as in artistic presentation. Never separate from the whole of a song, the leads blend and enhance the grandness of emotional capacity and sonorous glory of these epics of night solitude. Fellow musicians Andreas and Nadine provide synthesizer, flute and cello, furnishing the music with classical and folk touches that bring this work to a higher level of majestic and emotive character. Consistent throughout is a somber romanticism of an essence that has perhaps never been expressed so passionately and effectively in the realm of metal music.

This is music that effects a precipitous ambiance of vast landscapes of natural beauty that always brings sentimental sadness and haunting impressions to the beholder. It speaks of the frigid desperation of experiential anguish and delicate yet crushing weight of emotional affectations and lamentations, and aches for the uncultivatable essence of nature. Empyrium have crafted a divine work of emotional and absolutely invigorating musical art. Like all powerfully moving art, it communicates the journey of life through representations of sentiments known to all who recognize that existence is not limited to the immediate task at hand, but an entirety of experience encompassing much struggle and elation. These compositions flow in melodious streams of spacious and enigmatic yet shining brilliance, forsaking the gratuitously corruptive and unrefined for elegant strength and intelligent motion to reflect a broader perceptual experience. Songs Of Moors And Misty Fields is powerful yet contemplative majesty of music.

8/25/06

1. When Shadows Grow Longer
2. The Blue Mists of Night
3. Mourners
4. Ode to Melancholy
5. Lover’s Grief
6. The Ensemble of Silence

Empyruim
Weiland
Prophecy, 2002

Having made the transition from atmospheric folk-influenced doom metal to an entirely acoustic-guitar based dark folk sound on 1999's Where At Night The Wood Grouse Plays, Germany’s Empyrium release Weiland, a further development into this direction that presents a broadening of concept and instrumentation. The feel of the music retains the rustic elements of earlier works, and the reliance on purely acoustic and organic instruments allows for an enhancement of the band’s nature-sensitive essence through intensified concentration and evolution in composition. Acoustic guitar forms the base of the sound, while an array of instrumentation such as cello, piano, mellotron, violins, and bass guitar assist structure and embellish emotional themes. Understated yet prominent drums bring elevation of intensity to certain passages, and a variety of vocal approaches weave a dynamic of emotional expression in the way of choral singing, operatic chanting, and a touch of blackened screaming that brings sinister spirits to darker sections. The atmosphere is benighted and gothic, evocative of the Romantic, immersed in forsaken vestiges, thick and enchanted forestland. Invigorated character shapes thematic substance towards antiquated modes of thought.

Apportioned over three discs, each representing a conceptual identity in both musical and thematic substance yet integral to an entirety, Weiland weaves tales of wayward forest journeys and nocturnal escapades of the mind and soul through an elegantly dark music of twilight woodland mystery and passion bringing to life brilliantly detailed and abundant imagery. Melancholy passages contrast with uplifting moments of fading consternation and confined grief, articulated exquisitely through excellent vocal phrasing and singing of deep feeling and musical intelligence. An ancient spirit of isolation lurks within these tracks, recalling ages of a more noble and heroic, yet harsh and dreary, way of life. The music is eloquent, cultured, pastoral, haunting, and beautiful.

Embracing the shining and abysmal illuminations of existence is an identifying characteristic of all work from Empyrium. Though the musical direction has been altered towards pure folk, the music still seeks to reflect the essential meaning of human nature as it relates to the environment. It is music from another time and place, and harshly conflicts with the modern ideas of music as artistic communication. There is nothing remotely entertaining about this effort. It is serious and beautiful music that inspires lonely contemplation in deep woods by a warming fire. In the heart of "Waldpoesie" violins and cello dance in gorgeous motion in a tearful celebration of life in what amounts to the emotional peak of the three discs, yet mythical darkness in fantastic symbolism is quick to claim its presence as a reminder that all life relies on its inevitable end. Movements of such a nature appear frequently through Weiland, as revelations form in obscurity like phantoms awakened in the dreams of the dead in their eternal, mournful celebration.

8/27/06

1. Kein Hirtenfeuer Glimmt Mehr
2. Heimwarts
3. Nebel
4. Fortgang
5. A Cappella
6. Nachhall

Kapitel II: Waldpoesie

1. Waldpoesie

Kapitel III: Wassergeister

1. Die Schwane im Schilf
2. Am Wasserfall
3. Fossegrim
4. Der Nix
5. Das Blau-Kristallne Kammerlein

A Wintersunset (Prophecy, 1996)
Songs Of Moors & Misty Fields (Prophecy, 1997)
Where At Night The Wood Grouse Plays (Prophecy, 1999)
Auszüge aus Weiland 7" (Prophecy, 2002)
Weiland (Prophecy, 2002)
A Retrospective... compilation (Prophecy, 2006)
A Retrospective... boxed set (Prophecy, 2006)