The Devil & The Universe have just released their second album “Haunted Summer” The follow up to their exceptional debut album :IMPRINT DAATH: was inspired by the summer of 1816, when poet and author Lord Byron, sent out an invitation for friends to enjoy the summer air at his villa on Lake Geneva. The invited party partially consisted of the novelist-couple Percy und Mary Shelley, Mary Shelley’s half-sister Claire Clairmont and the author and physician John W. Polidori. The host and the guests combated boredom at the Villa “Diodati” by consuming drugs, and partaking in sex and séance sessions. The decadent time-filling got increasingly radical and culminated in a frenzy of physical and moral transgressions. More than a few of the guests and the household staff left the Villa psychologically rattled after that summer holiday. Mary Shelley, deeply affected by the experience, went on to write her world-famous book ‚Frankenstein’.
The Goats assembled in a small chapel in a forest in Styria. Four weeks were spent to evoke the ghost of that ‚Haunted Summer of 1816’. Tools of the occult such as automatic writing (as demonstrated during Tarot card reading) and necromancy were used to help form the musical ambition.
So what type of monster did The Devil & The Universe manage to conjure up? The album opens with the title track Haunted Summer an interesting choice of samples mixed with a ritualistic drums and then hell is let loose with a hell fired blistering guitar against the omnipresent invocation. Be very afraid if you listen to this track in the dark! Next comes Stygian with an even more bombastic ritual feel to invoke a frenzy on the dancefloor with great use of samples and dulcimer. Love it! Cloak Of Dispersion opens with a haunting brass refrain from darker times which blends perfectly with the keyboards and instrumentation. A very eastern satanic feel. Wow!
Danaus Plexippus is possible the most powerful song The Devil & The Universe have made with strong nod to John Carpenter meets Blade Runner descending into the abyss. Again this will work very well on a darkwave dancefloor. Exceptional!
The Goat Head – opens with another satanic sample and this time a full own devlishly danced up assault on the dancefloor which I can’t wait to play in my next live DJ set. Hellbound !
The Curse Of Byron – is a sinisterly sexy track, great use of the dulcimer and sparse electronic soundscapes. A ritual opus. Great track!
Calling Of The Shadows – has a pseudo arabian mephisto mittelalter feel with great uptempo eletronic drums and sprinkling of John Carpenter’s The Thing. Nice sample. This will burn a hole in the dancefloor. Love it! Phantasmagoria – Opens like the evil offspring of Dead Can Dance a very malevolent musical track. Great use of fallen angelic vocals with maybe a splash of Killing Joke’s Communion in the keyboards – Epic ! Gipfelrausch has an almost Wagnerian feel mixed with goat bells. Towards the end it reminds me a bit of Rosa Crvx. Elisa Fields – was also on the last single and is hauntingly disturbing. Womb Of The Night – one of the stand out tracks on the last Ep and a good choice to include it on the album. A great track for the devilish darkwave dancefloor. Love it! Haunted Meadows – a mix of lost spirits swirling through the haze of neofolk. Great! Diodati 1816 brings the album to a close by casting an atmosphere of pure dread. Don’t listen alone late at night or you may feel a hand on your shoulder!
What a great follow up! Love it!
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http://aufnahmeundwiedergabe.bigcartel.com/product/a-w-lp008-the-devil-the-universe-haunted-summer-lp-cd
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