Die Schatten: Yggdrasil

Half-life, half-darkness

Yggdrasil is, according to Norse mythology, the "world tree" that forms the link between the heavens and the sources of pure cold water and wisdom. A brilliant title for a musical work whose "branches" and "roots" extend into the many different aspects of our world - the heaven/hell of everyday life; the fragility of human relationships; the frightening night of the soul; and last but not least, the potential existence of intelligent life in outer space.

The heaving rhythm of Frost im Hirn suggests an intense impression of life frozen in its own mad orbit, movement and stillness identified; the melody in Vision is poignantly beautiful, the sober and succinct arrangement evoking the limpidity of a water mirror under a clear but melancholy sky. Elegos follows with its delicate, dignified sorrow (elegy), a graceful play between luminosity and darkness - light deepening the shadows, giving life to the silhouettes embossed in the surface of a dream or a nightmare. Stille echoes Frost im Hirn with its title, style and structure, as well as with its brisk, addictive refrain that reflects the tension of brief passionate encounters, devoid of any emotional evolution.

The poet Robert Browning wrote that "a man's reach should exceed his grasp. Or what's a heaven for?" Erkennen & Moral raises a real moral question of whether man has the right to reach into whatever exists beyond his grasp ("heaven") and attempt a communication with extraterrestrial life, while Drama descends into the tenebrous maze of a serial killer's psyche, mirroring another kind of "hubris" - that of man's reach into "inferno". The cycle is closed with Winter, whose austere, crystalline melodiousness leaves behind a feeling of gentle sadness and purification at the same time, like the white light of the sun on a calm wintry morning.

The sensitive, expressive vocals and pristine instrumentations create an atmosphere that elicits rather than imposes thoughts, emotions and mental imagery. One might be tempted to discern a remote stylistic affinity with bands like Ultravox (also mentioned by a couple of other reviewers), Dead Can Dance or even Virgin Prunes, but the listener's own points of reference do not necessarily coincide with the artist's actual intentions or influences.