The Umbersun

by Elend

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Grimmrobe Eschatological neo-classical doom.

Beautifully terrifying. Favorite track: Umbra.

Seb A unique piece in the history of dark music, this album is a neverending maelstrom of symphonic brutality and beauty. Expect no guitars but the strangest symphosynthetic sound. Yet what could feel like a limitation makes for an even more iconic sound. The Umbersun is a titanic, volcanic cloud agitated by red thunder, whose raw energy is pierced with moments of sublime quietness. Give it at least one listen and prepare to be drawn in a one of a kind pool of obsidian operatic apocalypse. Favorite track: Du Tréfonds des Ténèbres.

Ippocalyptica This is avant-garde, neoclassical, experimental madness of the highest order, and is also metal as fuck. This is not Elend’s best album, but it is close, and as my first exposure to them over two decades ago, it will always occupy prime real estate in my heart. Now that Elend is recording new material once again, I implore everyone to check them out, acknowledging that they are not everyone’s cup of tea. Still, if you like dissonant black metal, you just might find that this is for you!

clickbeetle3364 This is a masterpiece. Most played album of the year. Each piece is fantastic, but the album is greater than the sum of its parts. Listen to the whole thing through and you get violent, chaotic pieces like "Apocalypse" juxtaposed with the soft, achingly beautiful "Moon of Amber"—heightening the impact of both. It's an emotional roller coaster and dark/light contrast unlike any other. Favorite track: Moon of Amber.

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Digipack edition with a 16 page booklet.

Includes unlimited streaming of The Umbersun via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Purchasable with gift card

€10.42 EUR or more

1.	Overture 02:46	buy track
2.	Du Tréfonds des Ténèbres 10:42	buy track
3.	Melpomene 10:26	buy track
4.	Moon of Amber 06:17	buy track
5.	Apocalypse 09:13	buy track
6.	Umbra 08:42	buy track
7.	The Umbersun 05:46	buy track
8.	In the Embrasure of Heaven 05:53	buy track
9.	The Wake of the Angel 04:46	buy track
10.	Au Tréfonds des Ténèbres 05:03	buy track

credits

released August 3, 2021

Recording personnel:

Tricia Bentley, Hilary Brennan, Rachael Clegg, Bridget Corderoy, Carolynne Cox, Sally Donegani, Alison Eden, Karen Filsell, Claire Hills, Rachel King, Felice Kuin, Wendy Norman, Kathy Willis, Olivia Maffett
sopranos

Debbie Bright, Kathryn Cook, Denise Fabb, Victoria Kendall, Katy Meiklejohn, Yvette Miller, Fiona Robinson, Hatty Webb, Lorna Youngs
altos

Tim Bull, Tim Colbourn, Peter da Costa, Mark Fenton, Michael King
basses

Peter Broadbent
director

Nathalie Barbary
solo soprano

Alison Eden
whispered female voice

All other vocals, instruments, sequencing, programming and sound-editing by Iskandar Hasnawi, Sébastien Roland and Renaud Tschirner.

Words and music written by Hasnawi / Tschirner.

Recorded at Wolf Studios, London (1997). Engineered by Dominique Brethes and Damian Taylor.
Mixed by Dominique Brethes and Sébastien Roland.
Produced by Elend and Dominique Brethes. Pre-produced by Elend at The Fall.
Remastered by Renaud Tschirner and Sébastien Roland at The Fall (2007).
Mastered for Bandcamp by Renaud Tschirner at The Tidefall (2021).

Artwork by Elend. Layout by Silere Omnia.

Originally released on Music for Nations in May 1998 (CD MFN 239, jewel case, 9 tracks).

(p) & (c) Orphika/Noevdia 2021.
(p) & (c) Music For Nations 1998.
Licensed courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited.
All logos and trademarks protected.

license

about

Elend Paris, France

Founded in 1993 by Iskandar Hasnawi, joined by Renaud Tschirner, (1993-2020) and later by Sébastien Roland (1997-present), ELEND have released two trilogies of albums so far, the "Officium Tenebrarum" (1994-1998) and the "Winds Cycle" (2003-2007). After a hiatus of 13 years, ELEND resumed their work in 2019. IH and SR are currently working on a new cycle of albums. ... more

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