Parzival - "Casta" [2014]

Artist: Parzival

Title: Casta

Genre: Neoclassical, Martial Industrial

Country: Denmark / Russia / India

Release date: 2014

Track List: 

1. Kalachakra
2. Kurushektra Purana
3. Himagni Purana
4. Airyanem Vaejah Purana
5. Uttara Purana
6. Navadi Purana
7. Ayo Purana
8. Rudra Purana
9. Yavashtra Purana
10. Andra Purana
11. Regnabit

Parzival was founded in 1999 by Dmitry Bablevsky, who was a member (initially a drummer, then a vocalist known for his unusually low-pitched voice) of several rock bands in late USSR, one of which became popular enough that its members managed to move to Denmark in 1989. In 1992, Bablevsky started a new project called Stiff Miners, which played industrial techno in the vein of "Kapital"-era Laibach. After Stiff Miners have released two full-length albums, Bablevsky decided to abandon the futuristic industrial sound in favour of more medieval neoclassical music. Thus, Parzival was born.

I've read several quite disparaging reviews of early Parzival albums, according to which, the band started as a pretty poor clone of Laibach. However, this album is quite solid, and doesn't sound like plagiarism of Laibach at all. It's a concept work dedicated to the Hindu tradition and the Indian classical music, made with the help of guest musicians from India:

Allerseelen - "Terra Incognita" [2015]

Artist: Allerseelen

Title: Terra Incognita

Genre: Neofolk, "Industrial Folklore"

Country: Austria

Release date: 2015

Track List: 

1. Steingeburt (2015)
2. Fliegerlied
3. Böses Blut
4. Ikarus
5. Flamme (2015)
6. Totenschiff
7. Thule (2015)
8. From The Emptiness
9. Grünes Licht
10. Neunmondmesser
11. Sturmlied (2015)
12. Wir Sind Schwäne (2015)
13. Panzergarten (2015)
14. Was Wissen Wir Vom Licht
15. Schwarzes Vinyl

As you probably know, I rarely go to concerts, and there aren't many ones worth going to where I live. The one and only neofolk concert I've been to was the performance of Allerseelen, Otzepenevshiye and Sal Solaris, which took place in one of local theaters in 2007. Unsurprisingly, the attendance wasn't huge, but Allerseelen's performance was great, even if wasn't too familiar with his studio works at the time (the only his song I've heard before that concert was "Sturmlied 2.0" on some neofolk compilation).

Now, after I've listened to the whole Allerseelen discography, I can saafely say that this relatively new album is one of the best. I'm not too much into the occult/esoteric aspect of Allerseelen's works, but I love the music (which goes far beyond withing the borders of neofolk and even incorporates some elements of jazz and flamenco). While I can't find this particular album on Bandcamp, it can be found on dark-world.ru. There's also a very good detailed review of "Terra Incognita" on Heathen Harvest.

Vàli - "Forlatt" [2004]

Artist: Vàli

Title: Forlatt

Genre: Neofolk, Acoustic

Country: Norway

Release date: 2004

Track List:

1. Naar Vinden Graater...
2. Dypt Inne I Skogen
3. Et Ensomt Minne
4. Nordlysets Dans
5. Lengsel
6. Sorg
7. Skumringens Omfavn
8. Her Ute I Moerket
9. Taake
10. Doedens Evige Kall 

One of the most beautiful works in instrumental neofolk, which is now (deservedly) considered to be one of the classics of the genre. I personally like Vàli more than other similar projects (Tenhi, Nest). Unfortunately, the musician hasn't released anything else until 2013. Haven't listened to his sophomore release it, but I can only hope it to be as good as this one.

Amethystium - "Autumn Interlude" [2000]

Artist: Amethystium

Title: Autumn Interlude

Genre: Ambient, New Age

Country: Norway

Release date: 2000

Track List: 

1. Ilona
2. Arcana Voice
3. Calantha
4. Meadowland
5. Autumn Interlude

The debut EP of the Norwegian project that needs no introduction to most fans of ambient and new age music. It was released on CD-R (250 copies) around the same time when Øystein Ramfjord was uploading his music to mp3.com (yeah, I'm present on the internet long enough to remember the "old" mp3.com, which was probably the most popular music hosting service in the early 2000), which eventually led his project to worldwide recognition. I don't listen to new age music that much, but I really like this EP, which in my opinion is one of the best in Amethystium's discography. It's mostly instrumental like the rest of Amethystium's works, with some beautiful female vocals performed by Joyelle Brandt. Of course it's available on dark-world.ru too.

Sophia - "Herbstwerk" [2001]

Artist: Sophia

Title: Herbstwerk

Genre: Neoclassical, Martial Industrial

Country: Sweden

Release date: 2001

Track List: 

1. Miserere
2. Herbstwerk
3. March of Strength
4. Winterflame
5. Inner Turmoil
6. Copper Sun
7. My Salvation
8. Prost!

"Herbstwerk"is one of the first martial industrial albums I've ever heard (in mid-2000s, thanks to Noisebunker), and it left a significant impression on me at the time. It's quite standard in terms of sound, yet very qualitative, as correctly pointed out in this review:

"Pete Pettersson-Bjargo was one of Cold Meat Industry's prodigies during the 90's, doing a fine job ripping off Dead Can Dance circa 1985-87 with his project Arcana and even finding recognition amidst official metal oriented press, such as Terrorizer magazine, in the process. By the turn of the decade the prodigy decided to extend his reach into the militant realm, and thus, Sophia was conceived... Not that Pete was necessarily all too concerned with ideological mumbo-jumbo (Arcana seemed to be pretty apolitical back in those days), though who could really tell but him. Nonetheless, Sophia keenly observed the chosen stylistic margins... Sophia's debut disc exhibited significant doses of dark ambient influence, alongside patches of medieval and gothic sentiments transferred over from Arcana, which were visibly downsized on a pair of EP's anticipating "Herbstwerk". This sophomore effort, then, in retrospect, really is the most traditional, by-the-numbers martial and neo-classical full-length in the project's oeuvre and, thus, the most *traditionalist* in its aesthetic..."

I tried to find this album on Sophia's official Bandcamp page, but found only the best track from it, "March of Strength" (nevertheless, dark-world.ru always comes to the rescue...)

Somnare - "Bellum Esse" [2015]

Artist: Somnare

Title: Bellum Esse

Genre: Neoclassical, Martial Industrial

Country: Spain

Release date: 2015

Track List: 

1. Ruhig
2. Bellum Esse
3. Passages of Melancholy
4. Desertum Infinitus
5. Humanitatis dormit
6. The Earth Slave
7. Ego
8. The Sun carved my tears

I usually don't review anything I receive via my contact form, not only because it isn't intended for demo submission, but mostly because the bands who send me their music apparently are interested only in self-promotion, not in my blog or me as a person, and I really don't like it. That's why I make only very rare exceptions for the artists I already know and like, such as Tamás Kátai.
I decided to make an exception for this Spain-based duo too, because they seem to be genuinely interested in my blog, their music is good, and I don't hear about new Spanish industrial or neofolk projects that often. Anyway, Sonmare are a duo consisting of the cellist/vocalist Pilar Molina and bassist/vocalist DP Rey, formed in 2013 and based out of Madrid:

Funker Vogt - "Aviator" [2007]

Artist: Funker Vogt

Title: Aviator

Genre: EBM, Electro-Industrial

Country: Germany

Release date: 2007

Track List:

1. Welcome To Destruction
2. Paralyzed
3. Child Soldier
4. City Of Darkness
5. My Fortune
6. Hostile Waters
7. Thanatophobia
8. Frozen In Time
9. One
10. Darwin's Nightmare
11. Blind Rage
12. Babylon

I decided to post this album on here after I stumbled upon this review, which in my opinion is spot on:

"The biggest knock on Funker Vogt (aside from the ridiculous lyrics- it seems they were written in German and translated word for word into English) has been their repetitiveness. If you have heard one Funker Vogt song, you've heard them all. Well with Aviator, they have put together an excellent album. The pace is varied and the lyrics, though simple, can be thoughtful at times. This disc is solid from start to finish"

Indeed, the earlier works of Funker Vogt seem to be too repetitive for me (can't say much about the lyrics, since I'm not a native English speaker myself), and a lot of people don't like the direction which the band took recently with their new vocalist Sacha Korn (which himself is a controversial figure), but this album features a lot of very catchy tracks ("Child Soldier", "City Of Darkness", "Hostile Waters", "Darwin's Nightmare") which are among my all-time favourites in EBM/electro-industrial. The atmosphere is great as well. I personally prefer the extended version with 3 bonus tracks ("Deathmachine", "Lost In Translation" and "Snow Was Falling") by Metropolis Records, but it isn't as easy to find as this basic one.

Einstürzende Neubauten - "Kollaps" [1981]

Artist: Einstürzende Neubauten

Title: Kollaps

Genre: Noise, Percussion Industrial

Country: Germany

Release date: 1981

Track List: 

1. Tanz Debil
2. Steh Auf Berlin
3. Negativ Nein
4. U-Haft Muzak
5. Draussen Ist Fientlich
6. Hören Mit Schmerzen
7. Jet'm
8. Kollaps
9. Sehnsucht
10. Vorm Krieg
11. Hirnsäge
12. Abstieg & Zerfall
13. Helga
14. Negativ Nein (live)

The famous "inaudible" debut album of E.Neubauten, which is widely viewed as one of the most radical (more radical than punk) and shocking releases of its time. Although it's certainly much noisy than their releases from 1990-2000s, it doesn't sound much harsher than Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music" - but, compared to "MMM", it features vocals (well... sort of) and much broader range of sound/noise sources, including various found objects.

Definitely not an album for everyday listening, yet it's an extemely valuable document from the early days of mighty German industrial scene. I don't own it on any physical media, yet I have the "Strategies Against Architecture 80-83" CD which features mostly (but not only) the live versions of the tracks from "Kollaps". Of course, it can be found on dark-world.ru too.

Das Ich - "Lava" [2004]

Artist: Das Ich

Title: Lava

Genre: Darkwave, Electro-Industrial

Country: Germany

Release date: 2004

Track List: 

1. Schwarzer Stern
2. Meine Wiege
3. Fieber
4. Sennsucht
5. Tot Im Kopf
6. Vulkan
7. Uterus
8. Seele Tanzt
9. Lava
10. Urkraft

Don't know why this album,which safely can be called a classic by now, wasn't posted on my blog before. Das Ich are one of the longest-running bands on the German "Schwarze Szene", but this particular album contributed probably the most to their popularity here (even me, who rarely attend concerts, have been to their live show at one of the ForGotTen festivals a few years ago). Compared to their early works, it's much more "danceable" and generally accessible to an average listener, with very catchy tracks like "Schwarzer Stern", "Vulkan", or "Seele Tanzt". Absolutely recommended to all fans of dark music with lyrics in German, and especially if you're learning that language.

Download

Front Line Assembly - "Civilization" [2004]

Artist: Front Line Assembly

Title: Civilization

Genre: EBM, Electro-Industrial

Country: Canada

Release date: 2004

Track List: 

1. Psychosomatic
2. Maniacal
3. Transmitter
4. Vanished
5. Strategic
6. Civilization
7. Fragmented
8. Parasite
9. Dissident
10. Schicksal

My blog won't be complete without at least one album by these legends of Canadian electro-industrial scene. I chose "Civilization" because it's the first album by FLA I've ever hear (when I bought it on a cassette ~10 years ago), and it's still my favourite in their whole discography. I'm not a big fan of their later works (from "Artificial Soldier" and so on), but "Civilization" offers a perfect mix of their classic sound and more mainstream, chillout-oriented sound in the vein of their side project Delerium. I couldn't find this album on Bandcamp, but it isn't hard to find elsewhere (including on dark-world.ru).