A
collection of goth/darkwave-minded groups from various locations in
Europe and elsewhere, Defend the Palace is both a showcase for the
Italian Palace of Worms label and the state of the gloomy arts in 2002.
A partial continuation from the earlier Storm the Palace collection,
Defend the Palace explicitly looks at medieval or medieval-inspired
music as filtered through the lens of such creative neo-pagans as Coil,
Current 93, and Fire & Ice, among others. The whole album could
almost hang together as a piece, with a combination of swirling
electronic backing and echoed keyboards and drums flowing through many
of the songs, while acoustic guitar often prominently appears in the
arrangements -- a bit like This Mortal Coil, if achieved partially by
accident. With all tracks exclusive to the album at the time of its
release, it's certainly one for the fans of any of the groups on it to
investigate (though Unto Ashes' opening number, "Funeral March for
Queen Mary," is practically just a fragment). When the groups in
question really embrace the sheer medievalism of it all, it usually
works well -- check out Furvus and its chanting delivery in "Te Deum
Moro" or the elegant female vocal arrangements on O Quam Tristis' "Jube
Domine Benedicere." The rough vocals on Loretta's Doll's "March of 10"
add some more modern bite, though the music certainly tries to convey a
certain martial, cinematic gloom. Many of the acts perhaps betray
sources of recent inspiration more than anything else -- for example,
the Blue Hour's "The Night Is Windless," in which the vocalist sounds
almost uncannily like Johnny Indovina from Human Drama. Other songs
aren't quite so obvious -- Dream Into Dust hints at acoustic Cure
arrangements with "The Trial Invisible," while Socrates Wounded's
effort has some of the prime percussion energy of Siouxsie & the
Banshees. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
Compilation about the Inquisition.
As
the tides of time swept over the world, Europe entered is darkest
period in its short History, The Middle Ages. A time that was ravaged
by war and diseases, when the poor lived in squalor and the rulers of
the kingdoms owned all that they oversaw. It was also a time that the
Church battled head on with the powers of magic and superstition - to
worship a false god meant death at the hands of Gods men. Chaos and
madness ruled supreme. It's out of this living hell on Earth comes yet
another gripping compilation for the prolific Italian label ;Palace of
Worms. Storms collects together some of the more well known bands and
performers form the ethereal, traditional folk inspired scenes, and
presents them together superbly to create a total ambience of the
times. Twentytwo bands from many different countries have contributed
to this outstanding compilation which payshomage to the Dark and Middle
Ages ,all the tracks are previously unreleased . This is the ideal
sequel to "Storm the palace".
