Following on from their previous compilation 'Storm the Palace of Worms', Italian label Palace of Worms return with yet another musical epic representing of struggle for survival and supremacy that washed over Europe in its darkest of historical periods, The middle ages'. A time of turmoil and uncertainty, death and disease where part of everyday life, where persecution by the church was common place and poverty and fear proved to be the milestone around the necks of the commoners, which helped the ruling classes keep them in check and underfoot. As a musical accompaniment to such an uncertain time of death and struggle, POW's have collated together twenty-two artists that represent some of the more established elements in today's scene. From the monumental European neo-folk melodies of Judas Kiss favourites Belborn that can be found near the beginning of this collection, you're sucked into the beautifully compelling and strongly European atmosphere of the album. Most elements from the current crop of European styles are represented here, from the afore mentioned neo-folk anthems, to dark ambience and experimental soundscapes, to pounding martial 'call to arms' to traditional medieval ditties, the spectrum of genres covered is most impressive as is the calibre of artists that appear which include Dream into Dust, Von Thronstahl, Sophia and Sieben to name only a few. As with their previous compilations POW have managed to produce another diverse and enjoyable compilation that would fit in nicely to any collection of today's artists. A very recommended compilation release that showcases tracks from some fabulous artists.
FUNPROX
( http://www.funprox.com/judgment/review.asp?show=348
)
A few years ago the Italian label Palace of Worms released the compilation "Storm the palace', with 18 bands paying homage to medieval times. Quite a decent compilation, though not with many tracks that are still memorable. Now there is a sequel, "Defend the palace". Agaian this compilation brings together some of the finest names in the neofolk/classical/medieval scene. No less that 22 acts are present, most of them with unreleased material.
"Storm the palace" was divided into three segments, this new compilation continues the story with two parts: 'Act IV: The unexpected arrival' and 'Act V: The palace's revenge'. The medieval theme makes sure that there is a nice atmopshere throughout this album. Again it has become a solid sampler, with some interesting tracks, and a few promising acts that were new to me. The songs I like most from 'Act IV' are by Unto Ashes, Belborn, Sieben, Hexentanz, Dawn of Reflection and O Quam Tristis. Gae Bolg, Sophia, Mysterian, Von Thronstahl, Summer Ends and Pimentola are some of my favourite tracks of 'Act V'.
ROCK HARD ITALY
Finalmente una raccolta degna di nota, contenente ben 22 brani (per altrettanti artisti) opportunamente selezionati dalla nostrana PoW. La cosa interessante è che questo sampler contiene solo inediti composti e registrati per l’occasione, e per una volta tanto anche le scelte stilistiche non fanno a pugni l’una con l’altra, a differenza di certe accozzaglie male assemblate ascoltate di recente. La ricercatezza delle proposte (di cui solo alcune accasate presso la PoW) è il filo conduttore: suoni acustici, spesso e volentieri eterei, talvolta più puramente ambient, altre volte vicini al folk apocalittico, in un viaggio a ritroso attraverso secoli passati…
Salvo un paio di brani e certe cose eccessivamente corte, in pratica tutte le band partecipanti non deludono, e tra gli highlights della raccolta vanno senza dubbio menzionati The Blue Hour (la loro ballata folk è davvero sentita…), Sieben, The Machine In The Garden (con una song acustica intensa e drammatica), Furvus (autentico splendore sacro), Dawn Of Reflection (con un pezzo davvero scuro), i validi “O Quam Tristis…” (il loro mix etereo-elettronico affascina…), Dream Into Dust (la loro “The Trial Invisibile” è davvero malinconica…) ed i Sophia di Mr. Pettersson (con l’inquietante e nerissima “Perceval”).
Tutto materiale di buon livello, dunque, e come avrete notato non mancano nomi piuttosto quotati, oltre ovviamente ai gruppi del roster PoW (inspiegabile, però, l’assenza dei Luna In Cælo): una raccolta adattissima per chi vuole scoprire sonorità particolari e ricercate, ma interessante anche per i più forniti cultori del genere.
Roberto Filippozzi
ELEGY Magazine (numéro 23 - août-septembre 2002)
Après avoir attaqué le Palais (Storm the Palace) il va falloir le défendre, ce que nous propose le label Palace of Worms dans cette double compilation Defend the Palace. Et pour cela, nous avons à nos côtés des alliés de poids et de choc puisqu'il s'agit de quelques-uns des meilleurs groupes de dark-folk, de néoclassique ou de musique rituelle qui soient. A titre d'exemple : Unto Ashes, Regard Extrême, Sieben, Hexentanz, Gae Bolg, Sophia, Von Thronstahl. Pas mal, non? Bien sûr, tous les morceaux ne se valent pas, ainsi l'affreux mais heureusement court "Trotto" de Sir Logla and the Black Knights, mais certains valent à eux-seuls l'achat de ce CD comme le "White Logic" de Chthonic Force, le "Beckon His Slaughter" de Sieben ou encore le "Trial of the Beast" de Dawn of Reflection.
Bref, que du bon et du solide dans cette compilation élaborée avec soin et goût, à l'instar du tribute à Sol Invictus... décidément l'alchimie musicale devient un art raffiné.
Barberousse
SORTED MAGAZINE( http://sortedmagazine.com/ )
"Defend the Palace", it probably won't surprise people interested in this kind of music, is the "sequel" to the Palace of Worms' "Storm the palace" compilation of a few years ago. It's much the same story, a variety of mediaeval-inspired sounds from different bands, this time featuring the Machine in the Garden, Loretta's Doll and Dream Into Dust as the main attractions.
Unto Ashes kick the fourth act (acts I-III are on "Storm the palace") off in full-on classical style with 'Funeral march for Queen Mary', followed by Belborn, who ruin an acoustic vocal piece in German with some pointless black metal style roaring in the middle. Regard Extrême put it back on track with the authentic sounding mediaeval instrumental, while the Blue Horn treat us to a powerful ballad with stunning vocals. Then there are some strong vocal-based pieces from Sieben and the Machine in the Garden, before Furvus take us back to a more traditional mediaeval style. Hexentanz mix a doomy soundscape effect with mediaeval military music and a witchy spoken word vocal rather well, which feeds nicely into the Hammer Horror soundtrack Gothic of Dawn of Reflection's 'Trial of the beast' with the deep exorcism spoken vocals. 'Jube Domine Benedicere' is O Quam Tristis... in fine form, a ye olde folk song underlain with a taste of modern electronica. Loretta's Doll live up to expectations with 'March of 10', a great dark, brooding piece built around marching drums.
Gaë Bolg and the Church of Fand kick off Act V with a quirky piece with sprightly rhythms, horns and somewhat overblown vocals. Messrs Rush and Dall do a quick change around to re-emerge as Dream Into Dust for 'The Trial Invisible', which sounds strangely like Radiohead, but in a good way, as if Thom Yorke had pulled his head out of his ass and mixed the pop simplicity of their debut with some of the atmospherics of their later stuff. Still, it's strange to hear it from Dream Into Dust, but anyway, it's followed by the bright and cheerful bit of flutes and drumming that is Sir Logla and the Black Nights and then a return to the gloom with the ultra doomy and atmospheric 'White Logic' by Chtonic Force, but it's an enjoyable gloom all the same. The same can not be said for the leaden doomfest that is Sophia's 'Perceval' or the strange, but fairly boring, mix of atmospheric noises and guitar that is 4th Sign of the Apocalypse's 'He hungers for the sting of insolent flesh'. Socrates Wounded win the prize for the longest song title with 'Contradiction for the god, who wants to know himself... in you', a rather bright piece with a lot of metallic drumming and some bloke mumbling, a rather pointless ditty really, but not bad, before Mysterian get all doomy again, but 'The pale halls of Pluto' is a more mediaeval funereal type of doom and it's pretty good. Von Thronsahl's 'Shuld + Sühne' is a rather nice piece of cut and pasting, mixing film samples and bits of classical music on top of a simple organ melody, it's kind of like the sound of some strange fairground ride. Summer Ends seem a bit modern with a track called '1984', but it's a really great piece, that simply mixes the voice track from a German film with some acoustic guitar and a little drums… to dramatic effect. And then Pimentola wrap it all up with the pseudo-classical 'Outro'.
This is another fine collection of mediaeval inspired music from Palace of Worms and well worth adding to your collection if you've a taste for the old world.
Girl the Bourgeois Individualis
SEKUENCIAS DE CULTO- (http://www.arrakis.es/~sdczine/DEFEND%20THE%20PALACE.htm)
The Palace Of Worms label has released a couple of interesting compilations in the past, and this new "chapter" follows the trace of the previous ones in terms of quality bands and mostly unreleased tracks. Particularly this is some kind of continued story after the release of "Storm The Palace" three years ago, where contributed some very interesting and recognised acts such as Rosa Crvx, Ataraxia, The Protagonist, Nothvs Filivs Mortis, Halalaz' Runedance, Ontario Blue, etc. This new disc is focussed again in the dark and middle ages and on many of its ever intriguing topics such as holy war, plagues, religion, and so on. I mean, the story facts are many, and the inspiration for these bands contributing, accordingly, varied.
The CD is split in two parts, each one containing eleven bands. "Act IV: The Unexpected Arrival" begins the story with a short instrumental intro by Unto Ashes, an appropriated composition with keyboarded-medieval melodies and introductory drums. Next are the Germans Belborn with "Flammentod", a band I have never liked due to its sometimes simplicity and mainly to its lack of originality, a some kind of pop dark folk with lyrics sung in their language. Much better is the following, and one of the highlights of the compilation, they are Regard Extrême and "Amour Te Volerai", here we see a huge difference between a more artificial sound of the first track and a great composition with its nice medieval touch with troubadour reminiscences; enter the whole reign of this excellent track. We change of style and found a nice band, The Blue Hour, deep sincere male voice simply accompanied with acoustic guitar, bass and slight backing ambient, I would say a some kind "neofolk" piece but with a proper orientation that I hope to hear again in form of a full album, very interesting anyway, the track is under the name of "The Night Is Windless". Sieben gives a piece named "Beckon His Slaughter" that is no other thing than a new version of the title "Barley" included in their first album, a track which was sung by Sally Doherty and Jane Howden. In this new one we can hear a renewed version more adapted to the current style of the band and with the main voice of the now only member, Matt Howden, added by Jane's backing vocals. A very nice new approach. "Far From Home" by The Machine In The Garden" is an acoustic ballad with soft but passionate female vocals inclined to a dark wave style, interesting at least. I had listened an album by the Italian project Furvus, and was not very attracted of the general result, however, "The Deum Moro" is much more convincing, a medieval composition with Latin preaching voice and chants, some kind of sacred piece with clavichord sound, organs and some orchestrated parts. In a similar way, and quite oriented to the general atmosphere of the compilation, we have the next band, Hexentanz (a project of Psychonaut and of The Soil Bleeds Black members), with the track "Asmodeus" Rise"; after an introductory and mysterious atmosphere it turns out to be a very lively composition with strong real drums and flute joined by a peculiar reciting female voice.
Another unknown band for me is, like the previous one, Dawn Of Reflection. Their track, "Trial Of The Beast", shows a more tragic and darker side of the compilation with an unclassifiable composition containing a severe recitation and some apocalyptic result aided by original percussion accompaniment, the piece keep growing in its incisive enchantment till the very end. "O Quam Tristis" is a French band that have already released two albums through Palace Of Worms. Their style is based in a modern version of old medieval tunes, joining electronica and real instruments like flute, acoustic guitar and voices, like in this case, "Jube Domine Benedicere", which is a clear example of their music inclinations. The closing track of this act is "March Of 10" by Loretta's Doll, as usual the composer is varied and prolific and this is a piece with rolling drums adding his deep voice to a creation that joins experimentation and less rare accompaniment like piano and other melodies. Another piece of very own personality.
We approach the second part, the "Act V: The Palace's Revenge" with Gaë Bolg and The Church of Fand" opening. Eric's Roger band enter this new act with "La Marche de L'Ankou", obviously a marching song with the usual vocals and trumpet being the main protagonists, as well as a style dominated by a strange form of conceiving the dark ages. I think Dream Into Dust is yet to have the recognition it deserves as a very particular and interesting act as it is. Derek Rush's project is for me one of the few that can combined several styles by keeping its own originality and without falling in an impossible and unbearable mix of each. This ballad here presented have the name of "The Trial Invisible", aside his latest contributions to compilations more inclined to some kind of dark ambient, this song offers acoustic guitar and some characteristic non acoustic construction to form an original way of composing. His soft voice is very convincing and adapt the original composition that at first sight may look as a more simple dark wave (?) style. I await for the follow up to his great album "The World We Have Lost". Another totally unknown act for me is Sir Logia and The Black Knights with the track "Trotto", a short piece with programmed percussion and sounds in close style to the general concept. Chthonic Force's "White Logic" follows, a more convincing instrumentation with real drums backing the storytelling voice of a man and the menacing female repetitive phrase, a piece that can be one of the best examples of this new Palace. Another side of the concept is reflected by Sophia and "Perceval", a monumental track, very close to what Peter Pettersson is developing in his late recordings, being this a piece with dark orchestrated melodies and marching percussion. I can judge the music of the next act, 4th Sign of the Apocalypse, only be several tracks on compilations. This is one of the projects of Bryin Dall from Loretta's Doll (others are Athanor and A Murder Of Angels, this last one together with Derek Rush Of Dream Into Dust) and, as in other compositions, he offers through this moniker a very rare and personal way of experimenting with sounds to get a continued abstraction of a dark nature. Socrates Wounded is a young band that I have find also on compilations, the track here included is quite short an hardly we can give a real opinion of the project: a dark folk piece with reciting voice. Mysterian is a new band for me, including "The Pale Halls Of Pluto", a piece with a sonority that brings reminiscences of certain mediaeval tunes, not surprising I would say. The Germans Von Thronstahl in "Shuld + Sühne" show the ever oppressing and inquisitorial side of the church with lots of sampled voices and its more melodic but usual style, maybe more apocalyptic and less pompous than in other occasions. The instrumental "1984" is presented by Summer Ends, this is a very typical dark folk guitar conformed with the style of some important bands of the genre, accompanied by sampled voices and sporadic percussion. The album closes with an outro by Pimentola, a nice neoclassical end for a CD that, as all compilations, have its highs and its lows. Recommendable to all those interested in the styles presented since you will find mostly unreleased tracks.
F. Paco González.
VER SACRUM - (http://www.versacrum.com/recensioni/rec200211)
L’interessante etichetta italiana Palace of Worms, ci regala, dopo “Storm the Palace” un’altra bella compilation dedicata al Medioevo e alla sua “età oscura”. Vengono presentate in un CD ben 22 bands, provenienti da differenti paesi, che si collocano nell’ambito della musica medievale, apocalittica, industriale oscura. L’antologia non è affatto un’accozzaglia di pezzi (come la maggior parte delle compilation!), ma cerca principalmente di costruire un’atmosfera e un’ambientazione che riporti al passato, senza per questo sciogliere i legami con il presente (e con il futuro), perfetta colonna sonora di un film di fantascienza dai toni neomedievali. Le immagini evocate sono infatti quelle di un mondo strano ed esoterico, fatto di misteri e di inquietudine, di cavalieri misteriosi, di guerre tribali, di stragi sanguinose, di peccati e di pene inquisitorie, ma anche di momenti di malinconia e dolcezza.
Tra i gruppi presentati molti vengono dagli Stati Uniti, tra cui vanno ricordati i bravi Unto Ashes, con un arrangiamento tratto da Henry Purcell, i The Machine in the Garden, con il bel brano “Far from home” e i Loretta’s Doll. Tra gli europei si segnalano l’ottimo Sieben, i francesi “O Quam Tristis....”, decisamente uno dei gruppi nuovi più notevoli del momento, gli oscuri Sophia (ovvero l’altro lato degli Arcana) e l’italiano Furvus, con l’affascinante brano “Te Deum Oro”.
Ma molti sono anche i gruppi davvero poco conosciuti, che si rivelano piuttosto interessanti, come gli Hexentanz, i Dawn of Reflection, i Dream into Dust, e molti altri ancora. Una compilation dunque sicuramente da ascoltare e consigliata a tutti gli amanti delle sonorità oscure. Web: http://www.palaceofworms.com.
(Mircalla)