Equinoxe Records - Newsletter #19 - April 2005
==============================================

Thorsten
(Equinoxe Records)


Contents
========

- Foreword
- Pre-order limited Ikon album
- Endless Warm Up Festival
- Ikon: "Destroying The World To Save It"
- The House Of Usher / Ikon: "Sanctuary"
- Mystigma: "Universal Surrender"
- Mystigma & Ikon release parties
- Interviews
- Concerts
- Homepages


Foreword
========


Pre-order limited Ikon-album
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It appears quite certain that the limited version of the new Ikon album "Destroying The World To Save It", which will be released on May 9th 2005, will be sold out very soon. So, because we really want you to have the chance to get a copy before they are forever gone, we offer you the opportunity to pre-order this double-CD in a digipak for 16.-- Euro + postage, to be sure that you don't miss it. Just send an E-Mail to info@equinoxe-records.com .


Endless Warm Up Festival
========================

Indeed there is no regular Equinoxe party in May, but before the Wave-Gotik-Treffen we will have a small festival with the following bands: Mystigma, I Synthesist, Psyche, The Invincible Se x (Project of The Invincible Spirit and The Fair Se x), Angel Theory, Massiv In Mensch (tbc) and Steril (tbc). It will happen on Tuesday, 10th May 2005 beginning 18.30 o'clock for cheap 5.-- Euro to cover the costs, as always in club Sonic Soest / Germany ( www.sonic-soest.de ).

What can you expect? A relaxed meeting, a "public rehearsal", so to speak. No stress, just good times. Once everybody is on the stage, who knows what else will happen? :-)  All in all, something out of the ordinary is available for you, where communication with the artists is allowed -- hiding in the backstage is not permitted! When nobody is on the stage (that is to say, while the cable chaos is being disentangled) there will be background music out of the reserves (you can bring your own CDs!) and the beamer will become hot from different presentations, too. If you've not experienced the Equinoxe party, here's your chance to get started. :-)


Ikon: "Destroying The World To Save It"
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The new Ikon-album "Destroying The World To Save It" will be released on May 9th 2005. The limited first issue will be a double-CD including a live-and-remix-bonus CD in a digipak.
Ikon was always in top form when the core members of the band -- Chris McCarter (vocals, guitar) and Dino Molinaro (bass) -- charted Ikon's musical course.  With the support of Clifford Ennis (guitar, vocals) from Subterfuge (who shares the spotlight with Chris on the project Jerusalem Syndrome), Ikon calls upon the band's past strengths and returns to the successful sound of club-hits like "Condemnation" and "Subversion", as well as the continuing club favorite, "Fall Apart", Ikon's impressive Death in June cover.

The new album from Ikon is in no sense a spur-of-the-moment release, but one carefully crafted by the band over time. Other than a "best of" collection and such bonbons as their "Ceremony" single on which Ikon attests to the influences of Joy Division / New Order, four years have elapsed since Ikon's album "On the Edge of Forever". Their new disc, "Destroying the World to Save It", proves that it was well worth the wait.

After the band was founded in 1991, Ikon's superb dark vision and musical response to religious and political delusion and dissent made it a wave-rock legend. Those legendary qualities once again appear on their new release with such uncompromising force that even the most rabid fan in Ikon's dedicated fan-base will be filled with enthusiasm.  As compared to the earlier album "On the Edge of Forever", the production of the new album is a mighty step forward, and the compositions on "Destroying the World to Save It" are authentic and deep in a sense seldom found nowadays.


The House Of Usher / Ikon: "Sanctuary"
======================================

The split-single "Sanctuary" from The House Of Usher and Ikon will be released on May 9th 2005 in a limited and hand-numbered edition of 500 copies in orange vinyl.
Some traditions are preserved through the centuries; and so, the inhabitants of the Eifel, the rustic landscape in the far western part of Germany known as Matronensteine, feel the haunting of the past at altars dating back to Roman times. The rituals of tradition are keenly present, and the residents of the area bring small gifts to good-willed goddesses as they find refuge in the relics of bygone days. Under the broad shadow of such sanctuary of reflection and tradition, the concept for a musical single was born that fused the performing energies and interpretative powers of two uncompromising gothic bands: Ikon and The House of Usher.

For one of the participants in this project -- The House of Usher -- achieving recognition of the band's prowess did not come readily. The lukewarm early reception for the band is reflected in the comment of the editor in chief of an independent German magazine about 10 years ago who adjudged The House of Usher as "a band without a future". Little did the editor know that the band would continue and survive such bleak pronouncements. Indeed, the band's unprecedented and authentic style would ultimately earn it the status of gothic-rock legend that it currently enjoys. Ironically, the magazine that spoke with little enthusiasm for the band is now long dead and gone, and The House of Usher has outlived many other contemporaries of those early days. It can now boast the patina of age as a veteran band reaping the rewards of longevity and a history of solid productions. They now extend their potent discography with "The Floor She Walked Upon", a supernaturally beautiful composition invested with all of the outstanding elements that have been engraved upon the band's style and yet with even more deep gothic intent thrown into the mix to the pleasure of their audience. It is the most engrossing and danceable production in the band's 15-year history and one that affirms a most promising outlook for the anticipated release of the new album "Radio Cornwall" this autumn.

The other band involved -- the Australian-rooted Ikon, who are currently cresting the scene with their new album "Destroying the World to Save It" -- attest to the remarkable polarity in their creativity with exclusive tracks "Death by Dawn (Psychic Vampire Part II)" and "None Worse than a Woman Spurned", one track brimming with electrifying wave-rock, the other demonstrating atmospheric neo-folk from this multi-layered band. Ikon was always in top form when the core members of the band -- Chris McCarter (vocals, guitar) and Dino Molinaro (bass) - charted Ikon's musical course. With the support of Clifford Ennis (guitar, vocals) from Subterfuge (who shares the spotlight with Crhis on the project Jerusalem Syndrome), Ikon calls upon the band's past strengths and returns to the successful sound of club-hits like "Condemnation" and "Subversion", as well as the continuing club favorite, "Fall Apart", Ikon's impressive Death in June cover. At Wave & Gotik Treffen 2005 in Leipzig, Germany, it is finally possible to see the most well known gothic export from Australia live here in Europe.

Because of the many pre-orders, it is certain that the new limited edition single will soon be a much sought-after collector's item and early purchase is strongly encouraged!  Order now!


Mystigma: "Universal Surrender"
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The new Mystigma-album will be released on May 9th 2005.

What more beautiful object could music have than to awaken feelings in a person's heart that are both familiar and yet inexplicable, creating perhaps a deep longing, imparting a sense of the divine in a layer of melancholia. On the new Mystigma album "Universal Surrender", it is certain that the heart will surrender itself many times over to such feelings, as the disc is full of songs that challenge the listener's sensory capabilities and create a musical cinema of feelings that cross between dramatic tension and intimate vulnerability. The combination is exquisite. Yet, Mystigma defies any attempt to neatly categorize their music by presenting a style that is truly unique and quintessentially Mystigma: Guitars too heavy for pure Gothic and a sound overall too darkly melodic for Metal, leading the press already to draw comparisons to Paradise Lost and Tiamt in considering the band's MCD "Higher Circumstances".

But what truly gives Mystigma its identity is the well-evolved and veteran nature of the band. There is indeed a soul, a dark soul, acquired by hard work over the band's 10-year existence centered around songwriter brothers Jörg and Torsten Bäumer. The importance of songwriting is amply shown by lyrics that communicate depth and substance unlike the lyrics of so many bands in which the words are of small consequence, if they are considered at all. The name Mystigma itself promises a game of unraveling dark mysteries that invites the listener to experience the message that the band brilliantly conveys. In the past, Mystigma accomplished that goal of capturing and intensely relating to its audience at festivals like "Black Elben Festival 2002" or the "Herbstnächte 2003" and this year at "That Spring Festival" and "Wave Gotik Treffen 2005". 2005 could become the year of a new black star on the gothic-heaven. The year of Mystigma.


Mystigma & Ikon-release-parties
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In the following clubs there will be release parties including raffles for the two new albums from Mystigma and Ikon.

01.05.05 - Guitarmen Of The Apocalypse - Forum - Bielefeld / Germany
04.05.05 - Heaven Sent - Sputnikhalle - Münster / Germany
04.05.05 - Dreams - Koblenz / Germany
06.05.05 - Bunker - Chemnitz / Germany
06.05.05 - Schwarzwäsche - Waschhaus - Potsdam / Germany
06.05.05 - Labor - Hannover / Germany
07.05.06 - Dark Area - Kassel / Germany
07.05.05 - Danse Gothique Party - Music Club Alte Post - Flensburg / Germany
07.05.05 - Omen Party - Club XQ - Amsterdam / The Netherlands
07.05.05 - Canossa - Saarbrücken / Germany
07.05.05 - Melodorm - Kaufbeuren / Germany
13.05.05 - Zentrum Zoo - Tübingen / Germany
13.05.05 - Pagan Love Songs - Zwischenfall - Bochum / Germany
14.05.05 - KUZ - Mainz / Germany
15.05.05 - Moritzbastei - Leipzig / Germany
20.05.05 - Sacre Coeur - Dortmund / Germany
21.05.05 - JUZ Piranha - Mannheim / Germany
25.05.05 - Skeletal Remains - Mad'n'Crazy - Berlin / Germany
28.05.05 - Die schwarze Nacht - Hasenburg - Lüneburg / Germany
28.05.05 - Black Veil - Leeds / United Kingdom
04.06.05 - Gothic Nation - Tom's Musikkeller - Enkirch / Germany


Interviews
==========

All bands are always ready for interviews by E-Mail or phone. Just send us a short email if you are interested.


Concerts
========

Ikon:

13.-16. May 2005 - Wave Gotik Treffen 2005 - Leipzig / Germany
19. May 2005 - Tower - Bremen / Germany
20. May 2005 - Zwischenfall - Bochum / Germany


Mystigma:

13.-16. May 2005 - Wave Gotik Treffen 2005 - Leipzig / Germany
04. June 2005 - That Spring Festival - Magdeburg / Germany
28. October 2005 - Little John - Rheine / Germany (with Neon Dream and Das Ich)


Neon Dream:

28. October 2005 - Little John - Rheine / Germany (with Mystigma and Das Ich)


Homepages
=========

http://www.equinoxe-records.com
http://www.e-noxe.de
http://www.the-house-of-usher.de
http://www.sonic-soest.de
http://www.avaritia.net
http://www.ikondomain.com
http://www.mystigma.de
http://www.neondream.de
http://www.pronoianmade.com
http://www.slyde.de
http://www.temple-of-twilight.de