History

The group was founded in 1980 by Angelo Bergamini, and was a pioneering act of the Italian synthpop scene, eventually being the first Italian group to be signed to Virgin Records.

Between 1982 and 1984, Bergamini also played in the Italian italodisco group Hipnosis, which earned a platinum record for album sales in Germany, and had a top-10 hit throughout Europe with their single "Pulstar".

During the eighties, Kirlian Camera's sound became progressively darker, moving away from the synth pop sound dominating their earlier releases. In 1993, they signed to the German label Discordia. 1995 saw them collaborate with labelmates Dive on Obsession EP

Obsession (Dive EP)

-Track listing:#"Kirlian Camera/Dive" - "Obsession" – 5:03 [originally by Animotion]#"Dive" - "Twilight Fields – 3:53 [originally by Kirlian Camera]...

.

While the group's lineup has constantly changed over the years with many members joining and leaving, it has been relatively stable since 1999, with songwriter Angelo Bergamini being joined by full-time singer Elena Fossi.

Albums

• Kirlian Camera (1981, mini album)
• It Doesn't Matter Now (1983)
• Eclipse (Das Schwarze Denkmal)(1988)
• Todesengel The Fall of Life (1991)
• Schmerz (1992)
• Erinnerung (1994)
• Solaris - The Last Corridor (1995)
• Pictures From Eternity (1996)
• The Desert Inside (1997, mini album)
• The Ice Curtain (1997, 2CD compilation)
• Unidentified Light (1998)
• Kalte Container (1999 - contains remixes. A limited edition version includes printed biography)
• Still Air (2000)
• Absentee (2001)
• Uno (2001) (compilation of 'Dawn' demotape and 'Kirlian Camera' mini album)
• Invisible Front 2005 (2004)
• Coroner's Sun (2006)
• Odyssey Europa (2009)
• Shadow Mission HELD V (2009)
• Nightglory (2011)

Singles and EPs

• Passing Masks (1982 - released under name 'Kirlian Camera & Simone Buja)
• Communicate (1983)
• Edges (1984)
• Blue Room (1985)
• Ocean (1986)
• Human Ocean (1986 - single split with The Human League
  The Human League
  The Human League are an English electronic New Wave band formed in Sheffield in 1977. They achieved popularity after a key change in line-up in the early 1980s and have continued recording and performing with moderate commercial success throughout the 1980s up to the present day.The only constant...
  
  )
• Heldenplatz (1987)
• Austria (1988)
• Schmerz (1992, EP)
• Split (1993 single split with Andromeda Complex)
• Eklipse Zwei (1994, EP)
• Obsession
  Obsession (Dive EP)
  -Track listing:#"Kirlian Camera/Dive" - "Obsession" – 5:03 [originally by Animotion]#"Dive" - "Twilight Fields – 3:53 [originally by Kirlian Camera]...
  
   (1995 EP split with Dive)
• Your Face In The Sun (1996)
• Drifitng (1998)
• The Burning Sea (1999)
• Le Printemps Des Larmes (2000)

Controversy

On 26 April 1999, Kirlian Camera was drawn into the then-current sensationalism over Goth culture

Goth subculture

The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...

 when they were off-handedly mentioned by social scientist Alfred Schobert in der Spiegel

Der Spiegel

Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...

, in an interview printed as a sidebar to a 4-page newspaper feature on the Columbine High School shootings

Columbine High School massacre

The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12...

. Schobert contended that the group (along with Death in June

Death in June

Death in June are a neofolk group led by English folk musician Douglas Pearce, better known as Douglas P. The band was originally formed in Britain in 1981 as a trio, but after the other members left in 1984 and 1985 to work on other projects, the group became the work of Douglas P. and various...

 and Boyd Rice

Boyd Rice

Boyd Blake Rice is an American experimental sound/noise musician using the name of NON since the mid-1970s, archivist, actor, photographer, author, member of the Partridge Family Temple religious group, co-founder of the UNPOP art movement and current staff writer for Modern Drunkard...

) was an example of a "neo-fascist element" in contemporary goth

Goth subculture

The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...

 and EBM

Electronic body music

Electronic body music or industrial dance is a music genre that combines elements of industrial music and electronic dance music...

 music, and accused them of performing a Hitler salute

Hitler salute

The Nazi salute, or Hitler salute , was a gesture of greeting in Nazi Germany usually accompanied by saying, Heil Hitler! ["Hail Hitler!"], Heil, mein Führer ["Hail, my leader!"], or Sieg Heil! ["Hail victory!"]...

 onstage.

In their next cd, the group issued a communique, stating that they were offended by the witch hunt against them, but that they wanted to keep their political opinion to themselves, refusing to place the band within one specific political orientation. They denied that they were right wing extremists, pointing out that past member Nancy Appiah was Ghanaian, and that they sing lyrics by the Jewish-German poet August Stramm

August Stramm

August Stramm was a German poet and playwright who is considered one of the first of the expressionists. He also served in the German Army and was killed in action during World War I....

.http://www.kirliancamera.com/lyrics/lyrburning.htm However, they were not allowed to respond in der Spiegel, and as a result show cancellations and protests by Anti-Fascist Action

Anti-Fascist Action

Anti-Fascist Action was a militant anti-fascist organization founded by members of Red Action and other left-wing groups in the United Kingdom in 1985....

continued to dog them through 2002.

Furthermore, from interviews, one could learn that Angelo Bergamini does not state his own political preferences, and that the women from the band are oriented rather towards the left.

External links