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Haus Arafna

Haus Arafna – Dunkelheit Bleibt (7″ 2023)

After the heavy “Asche“, the title does not exactly suggest a happy release. Indeed, the title track is quite like the material on the last album. A great track, with the misanthrope of the “Asche”.

The other track is called “Welt Verzicht” (‘world renunciation’). It is a little lighter on the rhythm, but also more “angstpop”.

The first track is magnificent, the other one is great, but I would not mind some old school Arafna noise again some time.

Links: Haus Arafna, Galakthorrö

Haus Arafna – Asche (2020)

A while ago Galakthorrö material started to appear on Spotify (not all though), apparently the Arafnas were cooking on something. Then there was a newsletter which included new material, even a new Haus Arafna album! The first since 2011! So then some 7 weeks of impatience before I could finally put the new album in my player.

From “Children Of God” (1998) to “Butterfly” (2003) to “You” (2010) to “New York Rhapsody” (2011), Haus Arafna seemed to have been scraping off some rough edges. There always still were noisy industrial tracks, but there came more and more softer tracks.

When you put on “Asche”, it soon becomes clear that the Arafnas did not scrape off the sharp edges immediately. After two great industrial tracks, the pretty rough “Kreise Um Das Nichts” is presented, which also has the first Haus Arafna official video. The track is not as harsh as Haus Arafna can be though.

So after a first round in the player, I took another spin with my eye on the lyrics. From death to mourning and a lot of misanthrope. After a rough start, the album already gets more melancholic in tone, but combined with the lyrics, the new album is actually pretty depressive.

As we are used to from Haus Arafna, the industrial music is beautifully crafted, magnificently detailed, surprising too, since the sound certainly is not entirely the same as on previous albums. “Asche” contains but one track that can be described as melancholic, but it is certainly not all power electronics here. Also mrs. Arafna’s vocals are remarkably absent. She mostly functions as background singer.

Be all this as it may, the tracks on the new album are superb, but damn this album is heavy.

Links: Haus Arafna, Galakthorrö

Haus Arafna ‎* All I Can Give (7″ 2013)

Hello boys and girls. By the time I got my mail, all 903 of this 7″ were sold out. When you order from Galakthorrö directly, you will get a newsletter a few weeks before the official release, so you can get your copies before the rest of the world does. In case of these limited releases, you have to be quick. One thing is for certain though, “All I Can Give” is a brilliant EP! The two tracks on side A are downright stunning. The first is noisy, the second more ‘new style’, but both are absolute masterpieces. Side B has two more melancholic tracks which are also great. So I guess you will have to go around your usual industrial dealers to see if you can get a copy of the latest Haus Arafna.
Links: Haus Arafna, Galakthorrö

v/a * Kosmoloko 2 (cd 2012)

Well well, who would have thought that the 10 years Galakthorrö celebration compilation (2004) would have a follow-up? “Kosmoloko 2” presents exclusive tracks of the remaining Galakthorrö projects. It opens with two tracks of November Növelet, the first in the darker “Kalte Welle” style, the second is lighther and more ‘disco’, a very nice track with mr. Arafna’s vocals. Albert Fisch then blows the listener away with his walls of noise and weird vocals. Then comes a sublime track, certainly the best of the compilation and it is not of Haus Arafna, but of that other star: Herz Jühning. Both his tracks are in the vein of his “Miasma” album and superb. Next up is Hermann Kopp with his strange post-industrial sound experiments with his violin and electonics. The closing tracks are of course for Haus Arafna. The first track is Haus Arafna but a bit different. No, they did not become more poppy. “Lying In State” is a dark noise track with a sublime low frequency rumble for rhythm. The second track is more typical, not so dark, but a nice danceable track with mr. Arafna’s vocals. Indeed, “Kosmoloko 2” is a must-buy for Galakthorrö fans and those who have yet to get acquinted with one of the most interesting labels of today.
Link: Galakthorrö

Haus Arafna * New York Rhapsody (cd 2011)

When you think that there was a big gap between “Butterfly” (2003) and “You” (2010) you may, like me, not have heard of a little Haus Arafna side project. Our good Arafna couple was asked to do the music for the 12 September 2009 New York Fashion Week show of Katie Gallagher. Because the result is (of course you would almost say) quite different from the usual Haus Arafna sound, mr. and mrs. Arafna delayed the release untill after “You” on purpose. So, what is it then, this “New York Rhapsody”? The 45 minute album opens with a coule of strange soft industrial sound collages nothing you are familar with of Haus Arafna (but when you know the Herman Kopp album…). The fourth track “I did it for you” begins more familiar. It is a nice soft angstpop song. “You know how to destroy me” is a dark industrial track, a real Haus Arafna piece of electronics, again with vocals. The next one is a softer track and then comes a new floorfiller. “Heart beats blood flow” is a brilliant dirty dance track. From then on the sound becomes softer again.
The booklet has photos that I suppose came from the show and they fit well in the Haus Arafna concept. “New York Rhapsody” is a real Haus Arafna cd, but the circumstances forced or allowed our “Industrialists” couple to think over the presentation. The result may be ‘softer’ for Haus Arafna standards, but this sure is no November Növelet. “No sign of “Screams ‘n’ Shouts” here. Instead Haus Arafna created Angst-Pop hits and Industrial Monsters with an extra dose of darkness, almost as if the March into Destruction has to be sweetened somewhat. Well-dressed, of course…”
Link: Haus Arafna, Gallakthorrö

Haus Arafna * You (cd 2010)

Announced for 1 December, but aleady available (in fact, the vinyl version is already sold out!), after seven years Haus Arafna finally comes with a new album. The snippets that have been available at Galakthorroe.de for some time seemed to suggest that Haus Arafna returned to the harder, early sound, but there aren’t many noise tracks on “You”. After a soft, weird and nice opener, you are mostly presented with more soft “angstpop” songs (indeed, with singing). Only here and there there are some noisy sounds and only a couple of the 12 tracks presented are in the harder Haus Arafna-style. I like the softer style of Haus Arafna, but I surely also enjoy the more industrial noise side of the project, so some more harsch tracks would have been nice. Still a good new album though.
Links: Haus Arafna, Galakthorrö

Haus Arafna * Children Of God (cd 1998)

Children Of GodSince the last new album is already 5 years old, I decided to buy some older material and ‘work my way backwards’ to see to how early I like Haus Arafna. “Version 2000” the cover of “Children of God” says, I gues the first pressing was gone rapidly. “Children Of God” “includes the mega-hit Last Dream Of Jesus” and is musically and thematically (artwork) quite extreme. This album is another step forward to the great sound of later material. There are some hardly distorted rhythms in some tracks, others are relatively tranquil and ‘discoïsh’, such as the great “Anatomy of a murder”. Leaving out the really extreme material of the earlier days, Haus Arafna is rapidly becoming one of my favourite exponents of extreme electronics.
Links: Haus Arafna, Galakthorrö

Haus Arafna * Blut + Nachblutung (cd 2006)

Trilogie des BlutesOriginally released in 1995 as “Blut / Trilogie des Blutes”, this 2006 rerelease contains “Nachblutung” as bonus. This results in a nice length of about an hour. Even though this is some of the earlier material, this album is not as extreme as Haus Arafna can get. Mind you, this cd is still a lot more industrial noise than “Butterfly”! The music of Haus Arafna will fall hard on the average music listener, but I personally like it a lot. It is extreme, especially in some tracks of an earlier release such as this, but structured and nicely rhythmical. I must add that I am no fond of the very early more chaotic noise sound, but the tracks here were a good step in the right direction. I never really got to buy more of Haus Arafna than the magnificent “Butterfly“, but this puts me back on track.
Links: Haus Arafna, Galakthorrö

v/a * Kosmoloko (cd 2004 galakthorrö)

KosmolokoI have had this compilation on the computer for some time, but good things I want to have ‘for real’. This compilation celebrated 10 years of Galakthorrö and opens with an old style harsch industrial noise track of Haus Arafna. The second track is also for Haus Arafna, but this time more the ‘new style’. Subliminal continues with two harsch noise tracks, but things get more tranquil with Karl Runau. Then follow two magnificent tracks that were mostly the reason for me buying this cd. Maska Genetik is unfortunately no longer on Galakthorrö and even seems to cease to exist, but his two noisy disco-industrial tracks are very much Galakthorrö and some of the best tracks this label released. Of course the compilation would not be complete without November Növelet, two great “angstpop” (and/or “kalte welle”?) tracks in the “From Heaven On Earth” style. Unfortunately the running time is only 38 minutes…

Haus Arafna * Butterfly (cd 2003 galakthorrö)

How often have I doubted whether or not to buy a cd of mr. and mrs. Arafna and afterall I bought the newest cd. This lovely couple proves to make oldfashioned industrial. Rhythmical, noisy sounds and distorted vocals, but also sung and even clear vocals and technoish elements. A nice mix of the old and the new sounds, so to say. I had expected Haus Arafna to be harder, but still this is a very enjoyable industrial cd. <25/12/03><3>