The Deathship Has A New Captain

Since the beginning of time there was darkness, and with darkness came fear. Through the slumber of aeons it could never be undone. The dark, the wicked and sinister dwells in all of our minds and now the stars are right to welcome the grand reprensentatives of horror in this time and age. Ladies and Gentlemen, the portals of darkness are open and the dead hunt over the earth... here comes... The Vision Bleack is the new band from former Empyrium main man Ulf Theodor Schwadorf (I didn't say Schwarzkopf). After releasing four albums with Empyrium , A Wintersunset in 1996, Songs of Moors & Misty Fields in 1997, Where At Night The Wood Grouse Plays in 1999 and Weiland in 2002, Mr. Schwadorf decided after 8 years of exploring nature-mystics it was time to move on and dedicate his life to a new concept and project. The Vision Bleak was born. "You can not move away from your roots" Schwadorf says in the last Empyrium Weiland interview a laconic view on his new band. The new single is the largest Horror theatre. Curtains up for Schwadorf and Konstanz, 2 circus entertainers emerge to catch the souls of the audience and to extend the fear and shock. Six-foot high towering guitars, a sawing melotron and voices from the grave honour the mind of horror as well as its representatives - first and foremost Max Schreck, John Carpenter, Friedrich Murnau or George Romero. The band focuses on horror movies such as The Fog, Mountains Of Madness, Nosferatu, Metropolis and the legends of Werewolves and of course Frankenstein, all wrapped with heavy riffage, ensembles of choirs, strings, keyboards and clean male and female vocals. The spoken word passages in and between some songs were spoken by the german voice of the evil wizard Saruman from the Lord Of The Ring. Although Elisabeth Dane features only spoken words with musical acompaniment in a neoclassical rock style, it remains the best songs on this first effort. For those who are film buffs, Elisabeth Dane was the lost ship in John Carpenter's cult horror film, The Fog. The dark epic rock Lone Night Rider is also a killing song with its driving distorted guitar. Of course this album is XXX with all the clichés that such a band might put into the music. Low male vocals and operatic female singing in high tones that suit each other perfectly, but it remains a stylish gothic horror rock album filled with tasteful atmosphere. I am not that familiar with horror metal, but this one is better than Cadaveria's first album and probably among the top ten of the genre. I really suggest you check out that stuff. There will be two different versions of the CD - one normal Jewel Case and one extra luxurious double CD with 5 bonus tracks. These bonus tracks are the songs A Shadow Arose, Wolfmoon, The Lone Night Rider, The Grand Devilry and Deathship Symphony in classical versions, played with a string ensemble. Additionally the band shot a video clip to the song Wolfmoon some weeks ago.