Customer Reviews

Dead Lovers Saranbande: Face Two

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Legendary ghastly creature Anna Varney deliveres another dark masterpiece from the darkest cave of her psyche. The sound of The Dead Lover's Sarabande, Face I and Face II is a bit more refined and lacks the landmark sickly feel to the songs. Some old fans might get upset over it, while others might see it as a progression. It's just very sad, hopeless, desperate and desolate music. As before, the sound varies from apocalyptic folk to medieval dance to darkwave. The artwork alone makes this an absolute delight for a Sopor fan. If Dead Lover's Sarabande 2 parts are not the best Sopor Aeternus releases, they are definitely the saddest. Listen to this music in remebrance of your deceased lovers, may they rest in peace...

This second installment of the Dead Lovers Sarabande series is by far the most complex and intriguing to date. It seems to have taken the best features of all former Sopor Aeternus releases and woven them into one dark, orchestral tale. The Dead Lovers Sarabande recordings are less "albums" and more "mini-operettas". Cello, violin, oboe, flute, horns....all performed by a full orchestra and most backed by Anna-Varney's ever lamenting voice. It is musically more aggressive and "masculine" than Face One, and unlike most SOPOR recordings this one doesn't have any songs would be considered "darkwave" or club friendly, such as "Hades Pluton" from Face One or "Memories Are Haunted Places" from The Inexperienced Spiral Traveller. I am fortunate enough to own most Sopor Aeternus recordings, and this is definately my favourite!

Anna Varney, lead singer and primary artist and composer of Sopor Aeternus And The Ensemble Of Shadows, is without any doubt in my mind, the most gothic human being on this planet. Formerly a male, (rumours of a sex change abound), her/his (?) voice carries like the most beautiful and the absolute most creepy voice in music. Meaningful, dark, ultra depressing hymns to some far away world. If your looking for "the gothest of them all", you need look no further, this is it!! The music, hard to really explain,.but to give you an idea of the instruments used on this album, here is a summary: double bass, violin, cello, basson, counter basson, oboe, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, tuba, and drums. Total musicianship, total darkness, major, major, major creepy. Still quite beautiful in a morose way. Any Sopor Aeternus album is a good place to start, as they are all amazing.

This is a band of probably twenty people and fronted by an extremly eccentric trannie (Anna Varney) with the most freakish vocals in music today. Slow, creepy, and way, way, way, way, way more Goth than anything else you have been listening to. Violins, cellos, pianos, oboes, harp, and many other instruments all working together to bring darkness into your life. Great music....for fans of DEAD CAN DANCE, CURRENT 93, DEATH IN JUNE, DELERIUM, and ATTRITION. Only Sopor Aeternus is much more creepy than any of those bands.

Oh god I'm so depressed, oh I'm sooooo alone... This is the winiest drivel I've ever heard and also one of the funniest albums ever made. The vocals are so overwrought with "grief" and "pain" and the lyrics are so unbelievably melodramatic that on first listen I burst out laughing, it still kills me. Remember the Saturday Night Live skit where Chris Kattan and Molly Shannon played goth highschool kids holding their "prom of darkness" in the janitors utility room? This is the soundtrack. Should appeal to people still living with their parents or those who need a good laugh.