The Gloomster: 13 moments of death

On the pathway of doomed souls

13 moments of death by The Gloomster (yet another project by the poet Arne Pahlke) is described by the author himself as the "soundtrack" to a "film" depicting the many different ways to die. Death by accident, recklessness or illness, by law (execution), by the hand of a murderer or by one's own hand. Being killed in a war is a serious possibility as well, but that would be an entirely different story and what mostly interests Arne here is, I believe, the view of death as a private, individual experience - a more or less unpredicted occurrence in the routine of an otherwise peaceful, or at least ordinary life (with the obvious exception of Long way to the electric chair) - though "ordinary" is actually a term too generalised to apply to the vicissitudes of each particular person's way of living.

Ralph Buckley: Mary Magdalene & The Song of Solomon

An armful of modern protest ballads

In the materialistic, hypocritical apathy of our century, Ralph Buckley is one of those stubborn voices of protest - a modern troubadour of freedom (which in itself has ended up being a fairly relative concept, especially considering the way this world has turned out and what it threatens to become in the future).

Die Schatten: Solanum

Black nightshade

Solanum or "nightshades" is the generic name for a variety of plants most of which are terminally toxic; in particular, black nightshade (Atropa Belladonna in Latin) is a subshrub of the Solanaceae family, whose poison is used in medicine to enlarge the pupils of the eyes - an effect provoked naturally by darkness itself, as vision strives to adapt to it.

Melanculia: maldita

Eternal melancholy

Sensitive acoustic rock ballads with well-written lyrics and this slightly scorched, unpretentiously appealing voice that conveys pure and sincere emotion. The title, Spanish for "wretched one", adds a touch of mystery but also determines the entire album's tone and mood.

Project System 12: Blood and Roses for Lady McBeth

The Dark Lady, the blood and the roses

A beautiful and gripping title and an alternation between darker and luminous, tender and energetic themes, with the eponymous track being one of the highlights of the album. The reference to a "canonically" sinister literary character such as Lady Macbeth could not be better accompanied than by blood and roses, both symbols of femininity and metaphors for the dangerous facets of the human soul.