Customer Reviews

Archives 1

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

With the Archives 2-volume set, Delerium traces its roots as a goth-rock instrumental experiment, and shows us not only how solid a foundation its sound was built on, way-back-when, but also how far it has come. The album is an excellent addition to a collector's collection, but may disappoint fans new to the Delerium sound.

Archives is a "best of" of Delerium's old works: Vol.1 encapsulates four albums from 1988-1992. The album delivers haunting, slightly exotic gothic melodies that consist mostly of samples and beats strung together for maximum effect. The result is an enjoyable (if slightly repetative at times) trip through a different set of moods and emotions, carefully crafted and well executed.

But for fans of newer Delerium material, (Semantic Spaces, Karma, Poem) this album may fall short of the mark. Now known for its pop vocalists like Sarah Mclaughlin and Kristy Hawkshaw, and its fully developed sound that challenges the line between goth and pop, Delerium has progressed considerably since its 1988 debut. The songs on Archives precede a 1994 rebirth that added vocals and a level of complexity; as a result, they lack some of the luster (and the vocals) associated with newer Delerium.

Which isn't to say that the Archives are bad - thy're not. But they are different. Fans of dark gothic music will enjoy the albums, and Delerium fans who appreciate all three post-1994 albums will hear the underlying sound they love forming in each of the tracks. The Archives are a practical solution to wanting more of the Delerium experience, and they deliver an enjoyable set of melodies. But those looking for more songs like "Silence," "Innocente," or "Euphoria" had best look elsewhere. Archives Vol. 1 & 2, while well-crafted albums in their own right, are not as accessible or as well-developed as Karma, Poem, or Semantic Spaces.

Before hell evolved into heaven with the future dreamy pop melodies of 'Poem' and 'Chimera', something unsettling must have been stirring in the creative minds of Leeb, Fulber and Peterson, manifesting into their earlier more ambient works. Because they've been around since the late 80s, they decided to release two albums filled with several songs from each of their hard-to-find 'Archives' and this is v.1 containing two discs. There's 5 tracks taken from 'Faces, Forms and Illusions' (1988), 7 tracks from 'Morpheus' (1989), 5 tracks from 'Syrophenikan' (1991), and 4 tracks from 'Stone Tower' (1992). Although I do not find their most recent endeavors to be conventional in the typical radio sense, their older sound is far less cohesive with no real hook lines or ethereal vocals. The atmosphere is mostly dark and melancholic with dragging rhythms, haunting Gregorian chants, creepy chimes among other noise effects that will often make you feel somnolent (drowsy), as one of the songs is called, but I find this great to fall asleep or simply relax to as it is soothing if you enjoy this type of music. I catch myself listening to 'Semantic Spaces' along with the rest of their later material more than their dusty archives retrieved from the past but I appreciate everything these guys put out and am fascinated with their vast differences and how they've so drastically progressed as the wheels of time moved forward...

I am a massive Delerium fan and have been for a few years now. I'm in the process of checking out the group's older material which doesn't have the angelic female vocals found on "Karma", "Poem" and even "Semantic Spaces". Unfortunately finding the group's early albums such as "Faces, Forms, and Illusions", "Morpheus", and "Stone Tower" is like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack. Most major record stores do not carry the group's albums when they were on Hypnotic/Cleopatra records. I don't have a problem finding their albums prior to "Karma" because a local record store where I live carries the albums I just listed however for a lot of Delerium fans I am sure they have trouble because there aren't many copies readily available. Both volumes of "Spiritual Archives" that were just recently released contains music from the group's days when they were putting out strictly ambient music minus the female vocals. I already own "Syrophenikan" but that didn't stop me from buying the first volume of "Spiritual Archives". I was intrigued to hear if there was any difference in "Faces, Forms and Illusions", "Morpheus", and "Stone Tower". There isn't but I don't mean that in a negative way. The music is extremely moody and enchanting. The songs collected from "Faces, Forms, and Illusions", "Morpheus", "Syrophenikan", and "Stone Tower" is definitely far darker than the music found on "Karma" and "Poem". The layers of various ambient sounds adds a richness to the music not heard on "Karma" and "Poem". I particularly enjoyed the songs off "Faces, Forms and Illusions" as we as "Syrophenikan". Now while most of my favorite Delerium songs are off "Karma" and "Poem", I dug the tribal, orchestral ambient sounds of Delerium's earliest material. It is such a contrast to the music that they have been releasing in recent years.

Having approached this one after exploring one of their more recent re-mixed albums, I was somewhat surprised at the lack of vocals and more laid back vibe. This one's much more reminiscent of early Dead Can Dance or David Sylvian than the more upbeat sounds of today...which can be very good at times, and somewhat monotonous at other times. All-in-all it is a very relaxing and moody work that does reveal the inherent genius of these musicians and demonstrates once again their versatility and great vision.

Volume 1 Archive covers the best 4 albums in my opinion of early Delerium works.

'Faces, Forms & Illusions' - 9/10

'Morpheus' - 9.5/10

'Syrophenikan' - 10/10 The track Embodying is a absolute standout as this song as dark chants with a strong ambient beat. This album has many great songs on it and was Delerium at its best.

And look out for the song 'Drama', if not the best song by Delerium is in the top 5.

Fuzzy Wuzzy's Summary:
***** Highly recommended with warm fuzzies!

I would rate Delerium's both earlier and later works five stars. While their later works accompanied by all of the sugar-coated female vocals would fit into the nightclubs of today, I find that these earlier recordings hark back to the underground sounds of the 80s. The feel of most of the tracks on this 2-CD set reminds me of a combination of Dead Can Dance, and the experimental electronics of Throbbing Gristle, Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel (aka Foetus Inc, aka Jim Thirlwell), and early Cabaret Voltaire (if you removed Stephen Mallinder's vocals and just left Richard H Kirk to play with his electronics). Whether you call that "dark" or "ambient" or "gothic", or whether you call it more "experimental" in nature... I like it! But if you are expecting these "Archives" to be similar to their later works with all of the guest female vocals, this may not appeal as much to you due to the lack of vocals and sparser arrangements of melodies.

If you don't want to pick up all their back catalog, this is a great CD to have.

Electronic music at its best! Can be used to test your audio system's low frequency performance:-)

Songs in the Archives vol 1 album are gloomy. Maybe the dark side of Delerium.

I fell in love with Delerium's special atmosphere. I loved voices and sensations of Karma, Poem and Chimaera. I tried but I hardly reach the end of this cd without falling asleep. it's not Delerium's music, it's just a collections of ideas of sounds used to perform and create all the rest. I didn't like it.