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poppy

Sieben * High Broad Field (cd+dvd 2006 trisol)

When I noticed that the new album of Sieben comes with a one hour DVD, I figured that I might get myself another Sieben album. Sieben is another of these bands that make good music, but I don’t think it is necessary to get all albums. “High Broad Field” is a hearplay, so there are guest-vocalists on this album. Another result of this is, that this cd is really an album, instead of a collection of songs. Of course the sound is again catchy and all about Matt Howden’s violin. “High Broad Field” is another good album.
Then to the DVD. It is the album put to film by Joao Paulo Simoes. The film is not too interesting. Slow shots of nature, but with now and then a naked Martina Goodman to add to the interestness. It is not a film to watch (however it does have a story), but more something to play on the background. <4/12/06><3>

Sieben * Sex And Wildflowers (cd 2003 trisol)

The new cd of this soloproject of Matt Howden (Sol Invictus) is the second one that I got from him. I totally adore “Our Solitary Confinement” (2002) and “Sex And Wildflowers” certainly didn’t let me down. The violin-virtuose Howden made the music all by himself. Still it is full and complex and of course the violin plays the main part. The music is poppy, swinging at times and always very moving. Howden also sings with his very nice Dead Can Dance like vocals, but for the rest the music is not comperable to anything I know. Modern classical mixed with gothic elements, I don’t know how to describe it. I can only say I love it and when you are looking for something out of the ordinary but great, try one of mr. Howden’s cds. <25/10/03><4.5>

Sieben * Our Solitary Confinement (cd 2002 trisol)

I saw this violin-virtuose play in Antwerpen a while ago, I think it was under his own name Matt Howden. I didn’t really know Howden then, only from the usually stated earlier cooperations with different bands. He has released music himself for a while under different names as well though. His show was wonderfull, just him on stage with his electric violin and some effect-equipment. This Sieben cd is less minimalistic though. There is singing in almost every track, guitar, drums and other instruments to make a quite full kind of music. Sometimes Howden’s violin is much on the foreground, sometimes not. All in all something very different from what I usually listen to and it is hard to describe the music. Maybe somewhere between soft pop and modern classical music? Oh well, just give the man a try if you never heard him! <9/11/02><4>

Sieben * The Line And The Hook (cd 2001 tursa)

This Sieben cd was released before the other two that I reviewed here somewhere else. “The Line And The Hook” differs quite a bit of those other two in style and sounds more like the “Hellfires” cd under the name of Matt Howden (see review), but “The Line…” is not THAT experimental. Still it seems that the newer the Sieben cds get, the better, so in order of the 2003 “Sex And Wildflowers” and the 2002 “Our Solitary Confinement”, “The Line…” is the least interesting of the three. Still recommandable and like I wrote in the “Hellfires” review: “quite unlike the rest of my discoteque”. <27/7/04><3>

Sieben * Forbid The Sun’s Escape (cd 1999 tursa)

This is the first cd under the name Sieben and by far the least interesting of them. Of course it is a good thing that the newer the cds get, the better they become, but when you -like me- are buying them in backwards order, some disappointment is inevitable. This cd is more experimental, less poppy and there is less violin. Still it is a nice cd, but like I said, the newer the Sieben cds get, the better. <24/9/04><2>

Ostara * Whispers To The Soul (10″ 2001 eis & licht tonträger)

Ostara joined the ranks of Eislicht who now release this 10″ which was originally supposed to be a mcd on World Serpent.
Side A contains all known songs, both Never Weep and Overworld from the picture 7″ (also reviewed somewhere) and The Trees March North which has been available as mp3 from the band’s webpage for a while. All three very poppy neo-folk songs going a few steps further than the first Ostara cd of a while back. Side B opens with a strange experimental track and then we get two live songs. The end of the 10″ proves that there is also a dark side to Ostara…… Get a copy if you can!

Ostara * Never Weep/Overworld (picture 7″ 2001 world serpent)

Waiting for future releases we are kept silent with a wonderfull 7″. Two modest and very poppy neo-folk songs going a bit further than on the “Secret Homeland” cd. Eh, what more is there to say?
Aha, now I get the story. This 7″ was supposed to be rereleased as a mcd with two extra tracks by World Serpent, but since Ostara left World Serpent this will be a 10″ on Eis & Licht.

Ostara * Secret Homeland (cd 2000 osterraed)

Ostara is the new incarnation of Richard Leviathan and Timothy Jenn who made name with the well-known neo-folk band Strength Through Joy. Ostara seems to be a continuation or evolution that couldn. t bear the same name.
In some way you can say that Ostara is the next step in neo-folk music or at least a modern and more accesible version of it. Some songs sound a bit like the previous band, while most songs have a lot less of the ‘classic’ neo-folk sound.
A big difference for example is the way the strikers are used. Another point is the use of a slide guitar. Most remarkably -though- is the way the percussion is used. Especially the last element gives this cd the ‘poppy’ sound that you may have heard off. Also the way of singing often adds to this. Then there are female backing vocals at times. Anyway, whereas some songs are still pretty neo-folkish, other more sound like romantic popsongs which is something that you may have to get used to.
I have heard this cd a couple of times when I write this review. I like it better than the first time. Secret Homeland is definitely a cd that has to grow on you. I praise the courage to reach so far for the borders of popmusic and surely think highly of the progressive urge of this release. Why should World Serpent neo-folk. always sound more or less the same?
Still, Secret Homeland is not too much of my taste. I think it is alright, but not smashing. Some nice songs, some less nice. <23/6/00><3>
Well, I feel like something has to be added. The songs of Secret Homeland keep haunting around in my head which makes me put on the cd once in a while. Every time I play it, I like it better and now I’m up a point that I actually really like Secret Homeland. Also I keep hearing new things in the background and nice melodies that had passed me before. This seriously is the first time that it took me so lang to appreciate a cd. I usually can tell if I like something after one time playing, sometimes I need two or three times of playing, but seldom have I to adjust my opinion. Here I do have to, a little, so with a new date, comes a new rating. <19/8/00><4>

Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio * Apocalips (cd 2006 cold meat industry)

I wasn’t sure if I had to get this album. ORE is good, but their albums are usually quite the same. Also the songs from the band’s Myspace site weren’t too promising: more ORE. I am glad that I got to hear the album afterall though! “Apocalips” is more poppy, more militant, more bombastic and more industrial. More trendy I might say, but these elements that were already part of the sound, but which are now enlarged, surely did good. I particularly like the more industrial/noisy edges in a couple of songs. The sound is still very ORE, but a bit different, as if the band reinvented itself. Better? Hmmm, “Apocalips” is surely one of the better albums, but the best maybe not. Still an album that both ORE fans and lovers of a more military pop sound should get their hands on.

Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio / Spiritual Front * Satyriasis (cd 2005 cold meat industry)

On first sight these are not the first bands that I think about for releasing a split cd. On second hand, why not? Both bands make their own style of ‘neofolk’ (by lack of a better word), like ‘musical jokes’, make repetitive music and have something with sex. So the two bands decided to make a split cd. “Satyriasis” is only 35 minutes, the first and the last tracks are cooperations between the bands, the rest are tracks by the two bands alone. Not all new, but the styles of the bands go well together and this cd is certainly very enjoyable.