Nucleus Torn
Encyclopedia
History
Nucleus Torn was originally founded in 1997 as a one-man bandOne-man band
A one-man band is a musician who plays a number of musical instruments simultaneously using their hands, feet, limbs, and various mechanical contraptions. The simplest type of "one-man band" — a singer accompanying themselves on acoustic guitar and harmonica mounted in a metal "harp rack" below the...
by Fredy Schnyder, a versatile musician playing a variety of instruments including acoustic and electric guitars, the piano, recorders, the hammered dulcimer, the bouzouki, percussions, the oud, and others. Two years later, Schnyder was joined by Patrick Schaad to perform vocals. In 2000, the line-up was further increased by the inclusion of Christoph Steiner on the drums and percussion. This was the band's line-up as the debut EP Silver was released in 2001 (self-released by the band).
More musicians joined the band in 2003 and 2004, and in 2004 the band's second EP Krähenkönigin was released by the Swiss producer Kunsthall, following a two-track demo release titled Submission (2003). In fact, Krähenkönigin had been recorded in 1998 by Fredy Schnyder alone, but it was not released until 2004 --- and even then the release was limited to 300 copies. Fredy Schnyder himself explains this delay in the production/release of Krähenkönigin by the fact that the material had originally been composed by him in "pieces for solo classical guitar" and without access to studio recording equipment. Stylistically, Krähenkönigin is a solo classical guitar album, with the tracks sharing the same general motif and almost comprising a single piece of music. The acoustic guitar themes would be further developed by the band in their later albums, but none of them any longer pertain to the "purely classical" genre as does Krähenkönigin. The three EPs (Krähenkönigin, Silver and Submission) were later remastered and re-released by the band (together with two previously unreleased tracks) on their compilation album Travellers (Prophecy Productions, 2010).
In 2006, Nucleus Torn released their first full album (CD) Nihil; this was also their first release with the German label Prophecy Productions
Prophecy Productions
Prophecy Productions is a German record label located in Zeltingen-Rachtig, founded by Martin Koller in 1996. It proclaims being a "label for eerie emotional music", which roughly comprises artists with a dark metal, black metal, or neofolk background, but a unique and unconventional approach to...
. The official information on the album mentions that it was the result of "roughly three years of labour". This album deviates in its musical style from the band's previous releases: if the EPs can be attributed to the folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
, neoclassical
Neoclassicism (music)
Neoclassicism in music was a twentieth-century trend, particularly current in the period between the two World Wars, in which composers sought to return to aesthetic precepts associated with the broadly defined concept of "classicism", namely order, balance, clarity, economy, and emotional restraint...
or neofolk
Neofolk
Neofolk is a form of folk music-inspired experimental music that emerged from post-industrial music circles. Neofolk can either be solely acoustic folk music or a blend of acoustic folk instrumentation aided by varieties of accompanying sounds such as pianos, strings and elements of industrial...
genres, Nihil features a decidedly broader stylistic pattern, bringing the band into the scene of progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
and extreme metal
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...
. The band's founding member Fredy Schnyder explains this change in the playing style by the desire to blend different genres to convey more emotions:
QUOTE
With ‘Nihil’, we want to cover a broad array of emotions, and for that, we use different styles of music. Apart from that, we wish to prove that different styles of music (being defined as such by people) need not be mutually exclusive at all, if there is an adequate emotional framework for integrating various sounds.
Nihil is the first part of an album trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
that was projected by the band. In 2008, the second part of the trilogy was released as a CD under the title Knell.
The third and final part of the trilogy entitled Andromeda Awaiting was released by the same label in November, 2010. The official description of this album is as follows:
QUOTE
With every new album, Nucleus Torn open new vistas of sound in the realm of avant-garde rock music. Fredy Schnyder, multi-instrumentalist and founder of this ambitious project from Switzerland, plays up to twenty electric and acoustic instruments and ventures radical musical innovations. Following "Nihil" (2006) and "Knell" (2008), "Andromeda Awaiting" provides the disillusioned, yet conciliatory completion of a conceptional trilogy.
As on the two precursors, Nucleus Torn are creating a new sonic realm on "Andromeda Awaiting." This acoustic and ethereal production blends elements of Progressive Rock with influences from Early Music (Middle Ages, Renaissance) and Impressionism as well as Folk and Jazz. Unique musical and compositional abilities are reflected in a pioneering synthesis of various stylistic elements often deemed incompatible. With "Andromeda Awaiting", Nucleus Torn release the most daring and ambitious album of their career to date --- they have reinvented themselves and their music for the third time in a row.
Andromeda Awaiting received some high ratings from a number of international musical magazines, including 5/5 points by METAL OBS, 9/10 points by METALGLORY.DE, 6.5/7 points by METALNEWS.DE, 8/10 points by IMPERIUMI.NET.
Discography
| Year | Title | Format | Label | Catalog # |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Silver Silver Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal... |
EP | No label (self-released) | n/a |
| 2003 | Submission Submission Submission is the acknowledgement of the legitimacy of the power of one's superior or superiors.Submission may also refer to:* Submission/Submitter , an Islamic organisation... |
Demo | No label (self-released) | n/a |
| 2004 (original mix 2001) |
Krähenkönigin | EP/10" | Kunsthall | n/a |
| 2006 | Nihil Nihil Nihil is the eighth album by the German industrial rock band KMFDM, released in 1995. It was recorded in Seattle, Washington. It sold over 120,000 copies.... |
CD | Prophecy Productions Prophecy Productions Prophecy Productions is a German record label located in Zeltingen-Rachtig, founded by Martin Koller in 1996. It proclaims being a "label for eerie emotional music", which roughly comprises artists with a dark metal, black metal, or neofolk background, but a unique and unconventional approach to... |
PRO 086 |
| 2008 | Knell | CD | Prophecy Productions | PRO 093 |
| 2010 | Travellers | CD (Compilation) | Prophecy Productions | PRO 108 |
| 2010 | Andromeda Awaiting | CD (A5 digipack) | Prophecy Productions | PRO 107 |
| 2010 | Whom the Moon a Nightsong Sings Whom the Moon a Nightsong Sings Whom the Moon a Nightsong Sings is a compilation album by various neofolk and metal artists. It was released through Prophecy Productions on October 29, 2010... |
VA compilation (Disc 2) | Prophecy Productions | AB 029 |
For further information on the history of the releases, see the liner notes and credits to Travellers on the band's official web page.