Anneke Van Giersbergen "The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest (Mexico, InsideOut Music, IOMLTDCD-577)"

The Darkest Skies Are the Brightest is the third solo studio album by Anneke van Giersbergen, released on 26 February 2021 by Inside Out Music. It was written entirely by van Giersbergen and produced by Gijs Coolen.

After releasing the first VUUR album in 2017 and going on tour, Anneke van Giersbergen and the band started plans of recording a second album for the project in 2018. This first effort, although, had been financially demanding, and recording a second album and going on a second tour would imply more financial risks. At the same time, the singer's marriage went through difficulties and she and her husband envisioned a divorce. As a way of recovering and think about her future life decisions, van Giersbergen retreated alone to a small house near the woods outside Eindhoven. She then started writing songs by herself there, with just an acoustic guitar and basic musical gear, without the intention of transforming them into a full album. In 2020, delving back to that songs, the singer invited her friend and producer Gijs Coolen to help her polish the songs. Eleven of them ended up becoming a full album, and so van Giersbergen decided to release them. The release was announced on 16 November 2020, along with the cover artwork and the tracklist. The title, The Darkest Skies Are the Brightest, reflects the album main themes and refers to the idea that people are forced to find answers regarding big life questions when facing personal challenges.

The first single from the album, "My Promise", was released on 4 December. The lyrics came from van Giersbergen reflecting on how her life after a divorce would be and revolves around her determination to fight for love. According to the singer, "for the new album [she] wrote a lot of songs filled with messages of love and heartache, but [she] also went on a more propulsive journey, with darker storytelling", which is clear in the second single released, "Hurricane". Musically, the album follows a more melancholic and modest landscape, opposite to the singer latest progressive metal ventures. It features mainly acoustic guitars, strings, horns and percussion, along with van Giersbergen's vocals.

Track listing

All music and lyrics composed by Anneke van Giersbergen and produced by Gijs Coolen.

1. "Agape" 4:09
2. "Hurricane" 3:57
3. "My Promise" 4:27
4. "I Saw a Car" 3:39
5. "The Soul Knows" 3:52
6. "The End" 4:19
7. "Keep It Simple" 3:56
8. "Lo and Behold" 2:50
9. "Losing You" 3:41
10. "Survive" 3:46
11. "Love You Like I Love You" 3:12

Total length: 41:48

Recording information:

Pieter Hoekstra (Pie Design) - artwork, layout

Snir Gedasi Design - design (heart)

Robbin Gielen - management (assisted by)

Rob Snijders - management

Darius van Helfteren - mastering

Guido Aalbers - mixing

Lida van Straaten - other (hair & makeup)

Dylan van Duijne - other (styling)

Mark Uyl - photography

Erik Spanjers - recording (string arrangements)

Kari Rueslåtten "Silence Is The Only Sound"

Kari Rueslåtten (born 3 October 1973) is a Norwegian soprano singer, songwriter and keyboardist, who was well known for being the former lead singer and songwriter for the now disbanded Norwegian doom metal/experimental band, The 3rd and the Mortal from 1992 to 1994. The 3rd and the Mortal was one of the early bands that used a lead female singer in the metal scene, in which inspired bands such as The Gathering, Flowing Tears and Nightwish.

Rueslåtten was born in Trondheim. After taking part of some local bands, she was only 19 when she joined the cult progressive doom metal band The 3rd and the Mortal with whom she recorded the demo The 3rd And The Mortal in 1993, the EP Sorrow in 1993 and the full-length album Tears Laid in Earth in 1994 through the record label Voices of Wonder. The music was strongly atmospheric mixing progressive and metal elements.


After she left the band she joined the project Storm and recorded Nordavind before she released her first solo project Demo Recordings, both being Nordic-folk-music styled.

Silence Is the Only Sound is her latest album, released in 2017.

Garmarna "Guds Spelemän"

Garmarna is a Swedish folk rock band. Their songs are mainly old Scandinavian ballads.

Guds spelemän ((The fiddlers of God) is Garmarna's second full-length album, released in 1996. All songs except "Njaalkeme" (which is in Southern Sami) are sung in Swedish. The album contains a number Scandinavian gloomy folklore songs.

The reviewer for AllMusic wrote that Garmarna managed to keep a light and graceful approach at presenting the content of the songs "that might even have disturbed the Brothers Grimm".

Track listing

1. "Herr Mannelig (Sir Mannelig)" – 6:22
2. "Vänner och Fränder (Friends and Relatives)" – 5:11
3. "Halling från Makedonien (Halling from Macedonia)" – 2:45
4. "Min Man (My Husband)" – 4:20
5. "Varulven (Werewolf)" – 4:55
6. "Hilla Lilla" – 6:19
7. "Drew Drusnaar/Idag som igår (Today as before)" – 2:46
8. "Njaalkeme (Hunger)" – 5:05
9. "Herr Holger (Sir Holger)" – 4:58
10. "Guds Spelemän (The Fiddlers of God)" – 5:27