Bruno Nicolai – Tutti I Colori Del Buio (1972)

Composer: Bruno Nicolai

 

Tracklist

 1. Magico Incontro 02:12
2. Bambole 01:46
3. Medium 02:03
4. Magico Incontro 03:25
5. Insidia 01:52
6. Suggestione 02:28
7. Magico Incontro 02:58
8. Evocazione 03:12
9. Bambole 01:45
10. Esorcismo 03:03
11. Oppressione 02:22
12. Magico Incontro 02:53
13. Ipnosi 02:31
14. Invasamento 02:15
15. Sabba 03:44
16. Incantesimo 03:28
17. Propiziazione 02:38
18. Insidia 01:45
19. Sabba 05:45
20. Immateriale 02:57
21. Espiazione 01:45
22. Medium 03:43
23. Insidia 02:30
24. Magico Incontro 01:29
25. Insidia 02:28
26. Magico Incontro 01:11
27. Invasamento 03:37
28. Sabba 03:46
29. Magico Incontro 02:23

 

 Bruno Nicolai (20 May 1926 – 16 August 1991) was an Italian film music composer, orchestra director,

conductor, pianist and musical editor, most active in the 1960s through the 1980s.
While studying piano and composition at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome,

he befriended Ennio Morricone and formed a long working relationship,

with Nicolai eventually conducting for and co-scoring films with Morricone.

Morricone noted in an interview discussing the Dollars Trilogy:

"I chose a great musician and friend to be my conductor, Bruno Nicolai,

who conducted almost every score of mine from that point on until 1974.".
Nicolai also scored a number of giallo exploitation films and wrote many scores for director Jesús Franco.
Nicolai's compositions are characterized by their rich orchestration and innovative use of instruments, 

including bells, anvils, and whips, elements that became synonymous with the spaghetti western sound. 

He also explored various musical styles, from classical to avant-garde,

and was known for his work in library music, founding the labels Gemelli and Edi-Pan.
His work was also featured in Tarantino's films "Kill Bill: Volume 2" and "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood".
"All The Colors Of The Dark" (Italian: Tutti I Colori Del Buio) is a 1972 giallo film directed by Sergio Martino

and starring George Hilton, Edwige Fenech, Ivan Rassimov, Julián Ugarte, George Rigaud, Susan Scott and Marina Malfatti.

The film was also released under the alternate titles "Day Of The Maniac" and "They're Coming To Get You!".

 
Memory

Angrenost – Evil (MCD 1998)

Country: Portugal

Tracklist

1. Inside The Starlight Tunnel 01:10
2. Cosmic Journey At The Night Skies 06:12
3. Timeless 02:52
4. Twilight Portal 07:30
5. Eternal Silence 02:04

Angrenost was formed in 1995 when Pursan and Ainvar (Storm Legion, Sirius) joined forces.
In 1997 they recorded in one afternoon at Pinguim Studios the demo-EP "Evil",

that was released in 1998 as a MCD by the label Andromeda Creations.
After many issues the band split apart by the end of 1998,

just before recording their debut album, and stayed in a coma for almost twelve years.
In 2010 Pursan reactivated Angrenost without Ainvar but with two new members,

Erdsaf (Bass, Drum programming) and Enobólico (Guitars, Maldição, Murmúrio, Wavelength Satan).
After a deal established with the Italian label Code666 Records,

in 2013 Angrenost released their debut album "Planet Muscaria".

In "Planet Muscaria" their sound differentiated into a more cold industrial/ambient/black metal

and their lyrics explored the psychological depths of human psyche and the miserable side in the human existence.
In 2017 they released on Altare Productions the album "Nox Et Hiems" this time with W.uR (Israthoum, Monte Penumbra)

replacing Enobólico on guitars and their style changing again into a more traditional black metal sound 

with Pursan delivering an excellent performance on vocals similar to that of Aldrahn (Urarv) and Attila Csihar (Mayhem).
2022 saw the return of founder Ainvar (aka A.Ara) on guitars replacing W.uR 

and also the addition of Magnús Skúlason (Misþyrming, ex-Svartidauði) on drums.

Memory

Blood Original Soundtrack (1997)

Composers: Daniel Bernstein, Guy Whitmore, Mike Cody

Tracklist

1. Pestis Cruento 05:11
2. Unholy Voices 07:08
3. Dark Carnival 02:55
4. Infuscomus 04:37
5. Father Time 04:51
6. Waiting For The End 03:11
7. Fate Of The Damned 02:55
8. Double, Double, Toil And Trouble 02:08
9. Cryptic Passage 0:47

Blood is a 3D first-person shooter video game developed by Monolith Productions and published by GT Interactive.

The shareware version was released for MS-DOS on March 6, 1997,

while the full version was later released on May 21 in North America and June 20 in Europe.
The game follows the story of Caleb, an undead early 20th century gunslinger

seeking revenge against the dark god Tchernobog and features occult and horror themes.

Blood includes large amounts of graphic violence, a large arsenal of weapons

ranging from the standard to the bizarre, and numerous enemies and bosses.
Blood received largely positive reviews from critics upon its release, with many praising its creative level designs,

the humor (particularly its use of pop-culture references), atmosphere and its gameplay,

though some criticism was aimed at the game’s challenging difficulty.

It later gained a cult following from reviewers and it is considered to be one of the best games on the Build engine.
The Blood franchise was continued with two official expansion packs

titled Plasma Pak (developed by Monolith) and Cryptic Passage (developed by Sunstorm Interactive).

A sequel titled Blood II: The Chosen was later released on November 25, 1998.
The soundtrack to the game was composed by Daniel Bernstein, Guy Whitmore and Mike Cody.
Daniel Bernstein is a composer for video games and movies.

Born in Leningrad in the Soviet Union, he received a Bachelor in computer science

and an Master Of Arts in music composition from the University of Virginia.

Bernstein started in games in 1996 working in development and sound design.
He has also worked as a composer for Monolith Productions

where he collaborated with Guy Whitmore on titles such as Blood and Claw.

Outside of video games, he also wrote the soundtrack for the short movies "Kansas" in 1998 and "Maid Of Honor" in 1999.

Changing career, he joined WildTangent as the Director of Product Strategy, and later left in 2002 to create Sandlot Games.
While still acting as Sandlot's CEO, he returned to composition with the soundtrack to the film "The Penitent Man" in 2010.
Guy Whitmore is a composer specializing in video game music, notable for creating the soundtracks to Captain Claw,

Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza, Russian Squares, Peggle 2, Shivers, Shivers II: Harvest of Souls,

Blood, Blood II: The Chosen, Shogo: Mobile Armor Division and No One Lives Forever.

He is the co-founder of a music production company called Music Design Network 

and a founding member of the Seattle Composers Alliance.
Guy Whitmore has specialized in creating "adaptive music" for video games, using techniques such as cross-fading,

location-based music, and techniques to render music "on-the-fly" rather than using "pre-rendered" linear tracks.

Memory

The Eye – Supremacy (1997)

Country: France

Tracklist

1. The Eternal Oath Of Lie 06:37
2. The Land 02:50
3. The Call Of A Thousand Souls 07:07
4. My Supremacy 06:26
5. Aidyl 03:10
6. The Purest Domination In Wisdom (The Eternal Eye) 05:12
7. Your Weakness... (Bastard Son Of Fear) 05:55
8. The Eye 02:09

Formed around 1996 in Mondeville, Lower Normandy, France, The Eye was a side-project of Vindsval, 

better known from his band Blut Aus Nord among his other acts.

Much like the early Blut Aus Nord albums, Vindsval recorded everything on his own,

and the style of music is quite similar to that of the first Blut Aus Nord albums,

meaning dark, repetitive compositions of cold, hypnotic black metal.

In its short lived existence The Eye released a demo in 1996 entitled "Normanniska"

and a full length album in 1997 on the French label Velvet Music International entitled "Supremacy".
In 2014 there was a rumor that Vindsval had reformed the project

this time with the help of Tor-Helge Skei (aka Cernunnus of Manes, Manii) but no news have surfaced since then.
The Memory link contains as bonus the tracks from their demo.

Memory

Les Baxter – The Pit And The Pendulum (1961)

Composer: Les Baxter

Tracklist

1. Main Titles 04:46
2. Francis Inquires 01:32
3. Elizabeth's Tomb 02:46
4. Nicholas' Trauma 06:22
5. Music In The Night 03:09
6. Incipient Madness 02:41
7. Castle Medina 00:58
8. Nightmare 00:40
9. Dark Corridors 01:26
10. Dead End 02:09
11. Nicholas' Guilt 01:45
12. Late Wife 00:24
13. Suspicions 03:03
14. True, True! 05:19
15. Voices And Spiderwebs 05:10
16. Don Medina's Return 02:18
17. The Pit And The Pendulum 06:29
18. End Titles 02:12

The Pit And The Pendulum is a 1961 horror film directed by Roger Corman,

starring Vincent Price, Barbara Steele, John Kerr, and Luana Anders.

The screenplay by Richard Matheson was loosely inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's 1842 short story of the same name.
The film was the second title in the popular series of Poe adaptations released by American International Pictures,

the first having been Corman's House Of Usher released the previous year.
Like House, the film features widescreen cinematography by Floyd Crosby,

sets designed by art director Daniel Haller, and a film score composed by Les Baxter.

A critical and box-office hit, Pit's success convinced AIP and Corman to continue adapting Poe stories 

for another six films, five of them starring Vincent Price.

The series ended in 1965 with the release of The Tomb Of Ligeia.
Film critics have noted the film's strong influence on numerous subsequent Italian thrillers,

from Mario Bava's The Whip And The Body (1963) to Dario Argento's Deep Red (1975).
Stephen King has described one of Pit's major shock sequences

as being among the most important moments in post-1960 horror film.
Leslie Thompson "Les" Baxter (March 14, 1922 – January 15, 1996) was a best-selling American musician and composer.

After working as an arranger and composer for swing bands,

he developed his own style of easy listening music, known as Exotica and scored over 100 motion pictures.
Baxter studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory before moving to Los Angeles at Pepperdine College.
From 1943 on he played tenor and baritone saxophone for the Freddie Slack big band.
Abandoning a concert career as a pianist, he turned to popular music as a singer.
In 1950 Baxter started arranging and conducting for Capitol Records 

 and conducted the orchestra in two early Nat King Cole hits, "Mona Lisa" and "Too Young".

He also recorded Yma Sumac's first album: "Voice Of The Xtabay",

which can be considered one of the first recordings of Exotica.
In 1951 he made the original recording of "Quiet Village" which years later became a hit for Martin Denny.

In 1953 he scored his first movie, the sailing travelogue Tanga Tika.
With his own orchestra, he released a number of hits including "Ruby" (1953), "Unchained Melody" (1955),

"The Poor People Of Paris" (1956) and "Sinner Man" (1956).
"Unchained Melody" was the first million seller for Baxter and was awarded a gold disc.
"The Poor People Of Paris" also sold over one million copies.
He also achieved success with concept albums of his own orchestral suites: Le Sacre Du Sauvage, Festival Of The Gnomes,

Ports Of Pleasure, and Brazil Now, the first three for Capitol and the fourth on Gene Norman's Crescendo label.

The list of musicians on these recordings includes Plas Johnson and Clare Fischer.
Baxter also wrote the "Whistle" theme from the TV show Lassie.
In the 1960s, he formed the Balladeers, a conservative folk group in suits that at one time featured a young David Crosby.

Later he used some of the same singers from that group for a studio project called The Forum.

He worked in radio as musical director of The Halls Of Ivy and the Bob Hope and Abbott And Costello shows.
Like his counterparts Henry Mancini and Lalo Schifrin, Baxter worked in films in the 1960s and 1970s. 

He worked on movie scores for B-movie studio American International Pictures 

where he composed scores for Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe films and other horror and beach party films

including House Of Usher, The Pit And The Pendulum, The Raven, Muscle Beach Party and Beach Blanket Bingo.

He also composed a new score for the theatrical release of the 1970 horror film Cry Of The Banshee 

after AIP rejected Wilfred Josephs's original one.

Howard W. Koch recalled that Baxter composed, orchestrated and recorded

the entire score of The Yellow Tomahawk (1954) in a total of three hours for $5,000.
When soundtrack work fell off in the 1980s, he scored music for theme parks such as SeaWorld.

Memory

Vemod – Demo 1998 (Demo 1998)

Country: Norway

Tracklist

1. Prelogue 01:44
2. The Last Of My Kind 05:38
3. Vixi 06:39
4. Vitium Vitae 04:02
5. Epilogue 04:02

Atmospheric black metal project created around 1997 in Trondheim, Norway.
The band consisted of two brothers, Strigis Maeroris and Felis Maeroris (ex-Exitium, ex-Midnattsvrede, ex-Exitium Mundi).
In 1998 they released their demo in a very limited quantities, about 50 copies,

that was spread among friends of the band.
By 2005 Vemod had become Strigis Maeroris solo project as Felis Maeroris had decided to leave the band.
At least four more new tracks were published on Vemod's Myspace page by Strigis Maeroris

 before the project vanished into obscurity around 2008 (?).

Memory

Bo Harwood & Lance Rubin – Happy Birthday To Me (1981)

Composers: Bo Harwood & Lance Rubin

Tracklist

1 - 19 Untitled 52:41

 

 Happy Birthday To Me is a 1981 slasher film directed by J. Lee Thompson,

(famous for the 1962 classic movie Cape Fear), and starring Melissa Sue Anderson and Glenn Ford.
Its plot revolves around six brutal murders occurring around a popular high school senior's birthday.
The movie was released theatrically in North America on May 15, 1981

and while reception was generally negative, it has since achieved a cult following.
Actress Melissa Sue Anderson, who had garnered childhood fame for her portrayal of Mary Ingalls

 on the television series Little House On The Prairie, was cast in the film's lead, marking her major feature debut.
Hollywood actor Glenn Ford, who played Jonathan Kent in Richard Donner’s Superman (1978),

was less-than-thrilled to be in a slasher film and apparently he was unpleasant on the set.
The make-up effects were done by special effects guru Tom Burman.
The film's ending was changed to hide the fact that the script was being rewritten so late in production.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released Happy Birthday To Me on DVD in 2004 with an entirely different,

uncredited musical score that diverged from the one used in the original cut.
On October 13, 2009, Anchor Bay Entertainment re-released the film on DVD with original musical score reintroduced.
Bo Harwood (known for his work on films directed by John Cassavetes) and Lance Rubin provided the film's score.

Syreeta Wright, one-time wife of Stevie Wonder, provided the eerie closing track,

composed by Lance Rubin that plays over the credits.

Memory

Otus Scops – Les Neiges Éternelles (Demo 1994)

Country: Austria

Tracklist

1. Myth 07:25
2. Everlasting Snow 13:08
3. Myth (Bonus Instrumental Version) 07:25
4. Everlasting Snow (Bonus Instrumental Version) 13:08

Mostly known for the involvement of Renaud Tschirner (Elend, ex-Korovakill etc.),

the band was created around 1992 and had continuously faced line-up problems.
The core trio of keyboards/synths, violin/vocals and drums, untypical for any metal band,

was finally completed by a permanent guitar player in 1993.
From the start, the electric violin used heavy distortion, as a guitar substitute,

and the synths provided the base of the band's sound.
In 1993 with the addition of Roland Wurzer (Darkwell) on bass guitar, Otus Scops set the foundations of a strong line up.
A few concerts were played in 1994, and following the release of the first Elend album 

one month prior to the recording of “Les Neiges Éternelles”,

the band thought the time was convenient for finally trying to secure a record deal.
Two compositions that best captured their sound were selected for this recording.
Unfortunately, they were over a year old by that time 

and what once must have sounded extremely original had certainly lost most of its appeal by late 1994.
The distorted violin, which had surely contributed to Otus Scops’s originality,

was completely dropped for this recording and all concerts during this last phase in the band’s existence.
The violin still plays from start to finish on both compositions, making massive use of various effects, 

but due to the two guitars, which could provide the continuous stereo low end brutality a single guitar and violin could not,

no violin distortion was deemed necessary any longer.
Also the rudimentary recording conditions did certainly not help

at a time when bands generally went into a professional recording studio even for their demos.
No serious record label seemed to be interested, so the band finally dissolved after one more gig was played in early 1995, with the musicians either moving to their main bands, abandoning their instrument, or venturing into other genres.

Memory

Lavra – Bluenothing (1995)

Country: Finland

Tracklist

1. Strange Lands 06:36
2. To Elide Something 06:24
3. Yesterday It Was Silent 05:27
4. From The Suction Of Blue 07:08
5. E Minor 07:10
6. Never 05:33

Lavra was an atmospheric/doom/post/rock project from Finland

that was created from the progression of the band Sceptical Schizo.
Sceptical Schizo was created in 1988 as a death/thrash band and from 1989 to 1991 they released four demos.
The band was constantly searching for a more original and personal sound and in late 1991,

with the addition of a second guitarist, they recorded four tracks of atmospheric doom/death metal.
Two of these songs (Into The Suction Of Blue / Withdrawn) were released as a self-produced 7" vinyl EP in June of 1992.
The remaining two songs were offered to some labels and in late 1992 the Italian Wounded Love Records

agreed to publish them as a 7" vinyl EP entitled "The Plight", a release that saw the light of day in early 1993.
At the same time they decided to change their name to Larva.
As Larva the band moved one step forward with their style

and in 1995 they released the album "Bluenothing" on the Finnish Demonosound label.
The track "From The Suction Of Blue" was also a remade version of the Sceptical Schizo track "Into The Suction Of Blue".
After the release of the album the band for unknown reasons was disbanded.
In 2019 two of the remaining members of their old line up decided to resurrect Sceptical Schizo

and released the EP "Aggressions" with their style nowadays moving towards thrash metal territories.

Memory

Armando Trovajoli – Ercole Al Centro Della Terra (Hercules In The Haunted World) Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1961)

 

Composer: Armando Trovajoli

Tracklist

1. Preludio 02:11
2. Titoli 03:11
3. Apparizione Di Ercole 01:49
4. Agguato & Battaglia 01:42
5. Nel Regno Di Lyco 01:55
6. Deianira Prigioniera Di Lyco 01:30
7. Pazzia Di Deianira 02:50
8. L'Oracolo 02:03
9. Lotta Di Ercole & Salpando Verso L'Ade 03:24
10. Risveglio Nell'Ade 01:46
11. La Mela D'Oro 02:58
12. Stratagemma Di Ercole & Il Mostro Di Pietra 02:49
13. Tortura & Distruzione Del Mostro 01:39
14. Ombre Dell'Ade 01:02
15. Precipizio Di Fiamme 01:35
16. Vento Infernale 02:15
17. Appesi Al Vuoto 03:45
18. Anima Perduta 02:38
19. In Mare & Tempesta 02:07
20. Arrivo Ad Ecalia 01:30
21. Ercole E Deianira (Tema D'Amore) 02:04
22. Oscuro Presagio & Uccisione Di Elettra 02:03
23. Il Potere Maligno Di Lyco 02:14
24. Deianira Contro Lyco & Amore Di Persefone 01:47
25. Risveglio Dei Morti Viventi 05:29
26. Ercole Contro Lyco 01:39
27. Ercole Contro I Morti Viventi & Il Ritorno 03:05
28. L'Amore Trionfa (Finale) 01:17
29. Ercole Al Centro Della Terra (Intervallo Film) 00:19

"Hercules In The Haunted World" (Italian: "Ercole Al Centro Della Terra", lit. "Hercules At The Center Of The Earth")

is a 1961 Italian sword and sandal (aka peplum) film and the second official directorial effort of Mario Bava.
British bodybuilder Reg Park plays Hercules while British actor Christopher Lee appears as Hercules' nemesis Lico.

Shooting at Cinecittà, director Mario Bava used some of the same sets

from the earlier "Hercules And The Conquest Of Atlantis" which had already starred Reg Park.
The film started a short-living subgenre of films trying to combine the peplum genre with horror/gothic elements.

Films considered belonging to this subgenre include Riccardo Freda's "The Witch's Curse"

and Sergio Corbucci's and Giacomo Gentilomo's "Maciste Contro Il Vampiro".
The soundtrack of the film was composed by Armando Trovajoli (also Trovaioli, 2 September 1917 – 28 February 2013),

an Italian film composer and pianist with over 300 credits as composer and/or conductor,

many of them jazz scores for exploitation films of the Commedia all'italiana genre.

Trovajoli collaborated with Dino Risi, Vittorio De Sica, Ettore Scola on a number of projects

and was also the author of several Italian musicals.
Digitmovies in 2006 released for the first time the complete original motion picture score that is characterized

by innovative sound experiments that almost anticipate the colors of later psychedelic era in the decade.

Memory

Onna-Kodomo – Syuuka (1997)

 

Country: Japan

Tracklist

1. Echo 09:25
2. When She Ascend For Steps 03:50
3. Driftin' 06:41
4. Phantom Pain 04:43
5. Black Forest - I Can't Sleep 05:58
6. Stray Sheep 08:47
7. Syuuka (The Last Song) 20:03

Onna-Kodomo was a Japanese trio that consisted of Yuko Hasegawa (bass, voice),

Shizuo Uchida (bass, guitar, also a member of Nijiumu) and Shinmei Suzuki (violin).
The band released in 1995 the cassette "終歌" and was featured on both the "Tokyo Flashback 4" compilation series

from Japan's P.S.F. Records and on the "Land Of The Rising Noise Vol. 2" compilation by Charnel Music.
In 1997 their debut CD "Syuuka" was released revealing their beautiful dreamy music.
"Syuuka" consists of minimalistic slow etheral/ambient with simple bass lines while

Shinmei Suzuki's electric violin chords blends with Yuko Hasegawa's gorgeously eerie/chanting vocals.
The album "Hypnosis" was Onna-Kodomo's next work in 2003, that is an one-hour solo by Yuko Hasegawa mostly on bass, followed by the album "Oboro" in 2003 featuring Hasegawa and Shinmei Suzuki on violin and sax.
Shizuo Uchida, among his many projects, has also teamed up with another Hasegawa, Hirotomo Hasegawa

 to record under the moniker Hasegawa-Shizuo, while together with Yuko Hasegawa 

joined Masahiro Deguchi to form the project Le Son De L'Os.

Memory

Darkstyle – Black Crystals (MCD 1997)

 

 

Country: Finland

 

Tracklist

1. Castle Of Sorrow 04:16
2. Black Crystals 03:53
3. Behind The Rainbow 03:28
4. Cold Charisma 04:11
5. Through The Secret Fire 04:40

Darkstyle was formed in Turku, Finland by Weno in 1992.
The band recorded two demo tapes, "Return To The Shadow" in 1993, and "Cold Charisma" in 1995,
followed by the MCD "Black Crystals" in 1997.
Although Darkstyle was mostly a solo project, Weno was assisted on some of his releases by Anna on keyboards.
The band played mid-tempo atmospheric dark / black metal, with repetitive / hypnotizing song structures,

using simple drum programming, whispering vocals and haunting keyboard parts.
Darkstyle's last effort was the MCD "Whispering Wnoices" in 2003,

that was released through Weno's personal label Wiola Geistin.

Memory

Lord Kaos – Thorns Of Impurity (1997)

Country: Australia

Tracklist

1. Crystal Lakes 07:44
2. Hall Of Sorrow 05:29
3. Golden Winds On Red Streams Of Ocean Lightning 05:37
4. Freezing Ornate Throne 06:22
5. Dark Tower Of Immolation 06:20
6. Under The Darkest Shade 04:42
7. Red Sky Of Angels Dying 05:12
8. In The Icy Realm 04:55
9. Fountains Of Impure Essence 03:29
10. Thorns Of Impurity 08:05

Lord Kaos was an Australian black metal band that created in Sydney in 1994.
Formed by guitarist Jamie "Astennu" Stinson (ex-Covenant, ex-Carpe Tenebrum, ex-Dimmu Borgir) 

and vocalist Jamie Marsh, they soon dropped the original drummer in favor of a drum machine

and recorded their demo "Path To My Funeral Light" in 1995.
Later the same year, with the help of Incubus on bass and backing vocals, they recorded the album "Thorns Of Impurity".
The album was recorded for release on Sydney label Warhead Records

but also found interest from Norway's Head Not Found.

This caused a split in the group when Astennu relocated to Norway to pursue release for Lord Kaos there,

only for the remaining band members to resist the move.
The release was delayed due to this course of action and it was not issued (by Warhead Records eventually) until 1997.
By then, Astennu had completed his first Carpe Tenebrum album "Majestic Nothingness"

and had joined Dimmu Borgir as a lead guitarist.
With the departure of Astennu, Lord Kaos came to a standstill.
At the end of 1997 the band played on the Australian tour of Cradle of Filth and work began on a second album.

Several tracks were eventually recorded and one, "Black Earth",

later appeared on the 1999 compilation "Under The Southern Cross", from Sydney label Chatterbox Records.
By mid-1999 line up changes put Lord Kaos into hiatus.
In 2000 the band was active once more and played some shows in early 2001,

but later in December Lord Kaos announced their disband.

Memory

Haimad – Majestic (MCD 1999)

Country: Sweden

Tracklist

1. Immortal Winds 04:41
2. Path Of The Elder Gods 04:41
3. Eclipse Of Mankind 02:07
4. Ancient Gates 04:41
5. Majestic 07:37

Haimad was formed in Sundsvall, Sweden in 1994.
The band was consisted of a full line up and released in 1995 the demo "A Dream Vision Vanished", 
followed by a second tape in 1997 entitled "The Horned Moon".
After the release of the MCD "Majestic" in 1999 the band went on a long hiatus.
Many years went by without a sign of life before Azradan, the only remaining founding member,
set out to resurrect the band and recruited a new line-up
in order to create melodic/symphonic black metal in the best tradition of the Scandinavian mid-90s.
Finally 25 years after their founding, Haimad released the EP "The Return" in 2019 on Northern Silence Productions.
The Memory Link contains as a bonus track the song "Under Spread Wings Of Eternal Darkness" 
that was featured on the compilation "Satanic Rites - A Tribute To Hell" released by Full Moon Productions in 1998.

Memory

Toru Takemitsu – Kwaidan (1965)

Composer: Toru Takemitsu

Tracklist

1. Ki 06:00
2. Yuki 06:53
3. Biwa-Uta 11:06
4. Bunraku 03:14

"Kwaidan" (怪談, Kaidan, literally "ghost stories") is a 1965 Japanese anthology horror film

and the first color film of Masaki Kobayashi, known for "The Human Condition", "Harakiri" and "Samurai Rebellion".
It is based on stories from Lafcadio Hearn's collections of Japanese folk tales,
mainly "Kwaidan: Stories And Studies Of Strange Things", for which it is named.
The film consists of four separate and unrelated stories.
It won the Special Jury Prize at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival

and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.
Tōru Takemitsu (武満 徹, Takemitsu Tōru, October 8, 1930 – February 20, 1996)

was a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory.

Largely self-taught, Takemitsu possessed consummate skill in the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre.
He is famed for combining elements of oriental and occidental philosophy to create a sound uniquely his own

and for fusing opposites together such as sound with silence and tradition with innovation.
He composed several hundred independent works of music, scored more than ninety films and published twenty books.
He was also a founding member of the Jikken Kobo (experimental workshop) in Japan,

a group of avant-garde artists who distanced themselves from academia

and whose collaborative work is often regarded among the most influential of the 20th century.
His 1957 Requiem for string orchestra attracted international attention, led to several commissions from across the world and established his reputation as one of the leading 20th-century Japanese composers.
He was the recipient of numerous awards and honours and the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award is named after him.
In under 40 years Takemitsu composed music for over 100 films, some of which were written for purely financial reasons.
However, as the composer attained financial independence, he grew more selective,

often reading whole scripts before agreeing to compose the music, and later surveying the action on set,

"breathing the atmosphere" whilst conceiving his musical ideas.
One notable consideration in Takemitsu's composition for film was his careful use of silence

(also important in many of his concert works), which often immediately intensifies the events on screen

and prevents any monotony through a continuous musical accompaniment.

Some of the films that he score are "Harakiri" (1962), "Woman In The Dunes" (1964), "The Face Of Another" (1966),

"Samurai Rebellion" (1967), "Ran" (1985) and the documentary "Antonio Gaudí" (1984).

Memory

Akhenaton – Divine Symphonies (1995)

Country: France

Tracklist

1. Raising (Intro) 00:33
2. Unutterable Verity 07:07
3. Remissions / The Sign Of Herou 08:05
4. In The Circle Of Wizards / Ritual 05:05
5. Chase With The Shadows 03:06
6. Cross The Styx (Dance With The Souls) 02:11
7. The Kingdom Of Wisdom 05:17
8. At The Gates Of Obscurity 03:10
9. Final Battle (Against Your Dark Side) 04:08
10. Pharao (The Karma Of The Hierophante) 03:41

Vincent Urbain aka Lord V. Akhenaton (ex-Amaymon, ex-Winds Of Sirius, ex-The Seven Gates)
released his first album in 1994 under the name Daemonium entitled "Dark Opera Of The Ancient War Spirit".
The album was released by Adipocere Records and was a mix of black metal, medieval and classical music.
In 1995, Vincent changed the name of the project to Akhenaton
and after the recording of the demo "Solar Forces", he released the album "Divine Symphonies".
The album received excellent reviews and remains one of the most sold French extreme metal albums of all time.
A video was also made for the track "The Kingdom Of Wisdom".
After a very long hiatus Vincent decided make his return in 2012 under the moniker Sandragon.
This time, he surrounded himself with musicians to deliver the third part of his trilogy.
In 2015 "Requiem For Apocalypse" was finally released by Wake Up Dead Records.
In July 2016 Adipocere Records released the "Daemonium-Akhenaton-Sandragon: Thy Mystic Trilogy"
vinyl compilation containing all the three albums.

Memory

Akira Yamaoka – Silent Hill Original Soundtrack (1999)

Composer: Akira Yamaoka

Tracklist
1. Silent Hill 02:51
2. All 02:07
3. The Wait 00:09
4. Until Death 00:51
5. Over 02:04
6. Devil's Lyric 01:26
7. Rising Sun 00:57
8. For All 02:39
9. Follow The Leader 00:52
10. Claw Finger 01:32
11. Hear Nothing 01:33
12. Flesh Kill 00:19
13. Killed By Death 01:25
14. Don't Cry 01:29
15. The Bitter Season 01:26
16. Moonchild 02:48
17. Never Again 00:45
18. Fear Of The Dark 01:13
19. Half Day 00:39
20. Heaven Give Me Say 01:47
21. Far 01:14
22. I'll Kill You 02:52
23. My Justice For You 01:21
24. Devil's Lyric 2 00:25
25. Dead End 00:17
26. Ain't Gonna Run 01:12
27. Nothing Else 00:51
28. Alive 00:33
29. Never Again 01:01
30. Die 00:56
31. Never End_Never End_Never End 00:46
32. Down Time 01:38
33. Kill Angels 01:16
34. Only You 01:16
35. Not Tomorrow 1 00:48
36. Not Tomorrow 2 01:38
37. My Heaven 03:17
38. Tears Of... 03:16
39. Killing Time 02:54
40. She 02:36
41. Esperándote 06:26
42. Silent Hill (Otherside) 06:23

Silent Hill is a survival horror video game for the PlayStation published by Konami and developed by Team Silent.
It is the first installment in the Silent Hill series and was released
in North America and Europe in February 1999 and in Japan in March 1999.
The game follows Harry Mason as he searches for his missing adopted daughter in the town of Silent Hill.
Akira Yamaoka (born February 6, 1968) is a Japanese video game music composer, sound designer, guitarist, and producer.
Yamaoka attended Tokyo Art College, where he studied product design and interior design.
He joined Konami on September 21, 1993 and immediately began to work on the games
Contra: Hard Corps, Sparkster, and Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2.
He then shortly thereafter worked on the music for the PC Engine and Sega CD versions of Snatcher.
When Konami began searching for a musician to compose Silent Hill's score,
Yamaoka volunteered because he thought he was the only one capable of making the soundtrack.
Although initially hired as a composer, he soon became involved in overall sound design.
In addition to the music, he was in charge of tasks such as sound effect creation and audio mastering.
Yamaoka did not watch game scenes, but created the music independently from its visuals.
The style of his compositions was influenced by Twin Peaks composer Angelo Badalamenti.
To differentiate Silent Hill from other games and to give it a cold and rusty feel, Yamaoka opted for industrial music.
When he presented his music to the other staff members for the first time, they misinterpreted his sound as a game bug.
Yamaoka had to explain that this noise was intended for the music,
and the team only withdrew their initial objection after he elaborated on his reasons for choosing this style.
On March 5, 1999, the album Silent Hill Original Soundtracks was released in Japan.
The 41st track on the CD "Esperándote" was composed by Rika Muranaka.
After Yamaoka had approached her to create a piece of music for the game,
she suggested the use of bandoneóns, violins, and a Spanish-speaking singer.
It was decided to make the song a tango, and Muranaka composed the melody for the English lyrics she had conceived.
When she arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to record the translated Spanish lyrics with Argentine singer Vanesa Quiroz,
Muranaka realized that the syllables did not match the melodic line any more, and she had to recompose it in five minutes.
Silent Hill received positive reviews from critics on its release and was commercially successful.
It is considered a defining title in the survival horror genre,
and is also considered by many to be one of the greatest video games ever made,
as it moved away from B movie horror elements toward a more psychological horror style, emphasizing atmosphere.

Memory

Bishop Of Hexen - Archives Of An Enchanted Philosophy (1997)

Country: Israel

Tracklist

1. Crossing The Borders Between Light And Darkness 02:27
2. The Surreal Touch Between Steel And Flesh 04:34
3. Lure My Spelled Emotions 05:54
4. Wading Through Sensuous Journeys 10:00
5. When A Witch Becomes A Pale Bride 07:38
6. Diaries Of Primeval Tragedies 07:11
7. To Begin The Quest Towards The Noble Dark Cause 05:02
8. The Fascinating Installment Of Triumph 01:58

Bishop Of Hexen was formed in late 1994 in Ramat-Hasharon, Israel.
In 1995, the band entered the studios to record its debut demo tape "Ancient Hymns Of Legends & Lore",
that got extremely good responses and was completely sold out at 450 copies.
Many record labels were interested in signing the band for a record deal
and finally Bishop Of Hexen signed with the South Korean label HammerHeart Productions for one full length album.
In July 1996 they entered the studios once again, and released the first full length album in April 1997,
entitled "Archives Of An Enchanted Philosophy", presenting 8 tracks of atmospheric/symphonic black metal.
In 2004, after seven years of silence, the band rejoined once again
and recorded a promo CD, entitled "Unveil The Curtain Of Sanity".
The promo contained 4 new tracks and was highly appraised by record labels & magazines around the scene.
In early 2005, Bishop Of Hexen signed with the Austrian label CCP Records and in June 2006
a second full length album entitled "The Nightmarish Compositions" was released.
In 2009, two tracks from the album, "The Somber Grounds Of Truth" and "A Serpentine Crave"
were picked to be featured on the highly praised "Brutal Legend" video game soundtrack
(Starring Jack Black as voice over), gaining to the band a vast exposure to new listeners.
In 2011 the band parted ways with CCP Records and in early 2012 The Bishop Of Hexen (now adding "The" on their logo) released a promo cd entitled "A Ceremony At the Edge Of A Burning Page".
Nowadays the band is still active and they are preparing the release of their new album entitled "The Death Masquerade".

Memory

Enid – Nachtgedanken (1998)

Country: Germany

Tracklist

1. Silentium Obscuritate 01:08
2. Institutio Immortales 08:26
3. Of Wisdom's Shadows 06:13
4. Aurora 06:27
5. Nachtgedanken 09:22
6. Art Of The Blacksmith 04:23
7. Nebelthron 01:58
8. Intransitority 07:28

Martin Wiese and Florian Dammasch found the project Enid in 1997 inspired by Summoning’s "Minas Morgul" album.
The same year they released their self titled demo with music solely composed by Martin.
200 copies were sold to several distribution services and the tape was enthusiastically reviewed by some fanzines.
After the release of the demo the recordings of two songs for a 7“ EP entitled "Der Tag Zur Nacht Sich Senkt...“ began.
This release finally saw the light of day in 2001 as a 10“ MLP limited to 500 copies,
including two bonus tracks and released by the German label Ketzer.
In August 1998 eight new songs were recorded for their debut album named "Nachtgedanken" ("Night Thoughts")
that was released on tape format by Elven Witchcraft.
After signing to Austrian label CCP Records the CD version of "Nachtgedanken" was available in 1999.
In August 1999 the large part of the material for their second album was already completed.
After Florian got in contact with drummer Moritz Neuner (Abigor, DornenReich, Darkwell, Graveworm, Korova, Angizia etc.) and vocalist Maria Dorn (Stardust, Agony, Vanitas) and asked them to join Enid,
the band entered the CCP Studio in April 2000 to record their second album entitled "Abschiedsreigen".
After some line up changes in 2001 Enid signed a deal for 4 albums with the  Italian label Code666 
and in 2002 the album "Seelenspiegel" was completed.
Enid’s first gig took place in Porta Westfalica during the release party of "Seelenspiegel".
Several other live performances followed with bands like Menhir, Odroerir and Anubiz.
In September 2003 their fourth album "Gradwanderer" saw the light of day followed by "Munsalvaesche" in 2011.

Memory

Ewigkeit – Starscape (1999)

 

Country: England

Tracklist

1. Point Of Origin 05:30
2. Unveiling The Mystery 03:39
3. The Legend Of Keshara 03:40
4. The Return Of Planet 'X' 04:01
5. Deviant 00:54
6. Lightspeed Evolution 04:00
7. Starscape 04:06
8. Capsule 04:36
9. Birth Of Horus 03:39
10. Space Symphony 06:15
11. Dragons Burning 03:12

Ewigkeit was formed in 1995 as a musical project of English artist James Fogarty

 aka Mr. Fog (In The Woods..., Old Forest, Orcrypt etc.).
Ewigkeit started out playing black metal but later became much more experimental.
After the release of the first album, "Battle Furies" on a short-lived Neat Records subsidiary called Eldethorn,

Fogarty gave his entire music collection away to an Oxfam charity shop

so that he would be free of influences creating his next work. 

"Starscape" was received well by the extreme music press, but label folded and the project was put on hiatus.
During the missing years, Fogarty concentrated on his other black metal project "The Meads Of Asphodel"

and his collaboration with Jimmy Cauty on the multi-media project Blacksmoke.
In 2003 "Land Of Fog", was eventually released on Metal Age Productions.
Fogarty himself regarded this as the first Ewigkeit album, and it gained him enough attention

to get his project signed to Earache Records, on which "Radio Ixtlan" was released in 2004.
Released in 2005, "Conspiritus", a conceptual album examining conspiracy theories,

has been hailed by many as "marking a maturation of Ewigkeit's eclectic sound.
Also in 2005, a music video was made for the track "Its Not Reality".
In 2006, Ewigkeit made a live video recording entitled "Ewigkeit - Live From A Bunker",

which displayed the project in a live setting acting as a free "online" gig.
The 25 minute set (filmed in a Nuclear Bunker in the vicinity of Brighton, England) was uploaded to Google video.
Also recorded was a free download mp3 EP, "Return To The Land Of Fog".
The project was disbanded in March of 2007 and Fogarty started a new project called The Bombs Of Enduring Freedom.
Ewigkeit was reactivated in 2012 again with a black metal sound, and three more studio albums were released

"Back To Beyond" (2012), "Cosmic Man" (2017) and a re-recorded version of "Battle Furies" entitled "Battle Furies 2.017".
In 2019 "DISClose" album and a re-recorded version of "Starscape" entitled "Starscape 2.019" were also released.

Memory