Songs from the inverted Womb
Encyclopedia
"Songs from the inverted Womb" is the darkwave
band Sopor Aeternus & the Ensemble of Shadows' sixth album
, released in 2000. The album is dedicated to the "memory and resurrection
" of Little Seven, a boy who died "at the age of six"; "inverted Womb" was recorded in an attempt to resurrect (at least) the memory of the boy. A double vinyl edition and a CD boxed set were also released in limited quantities of 666 and 3,000 copies, respectively.
-inspired sound of the "Dead Lovers' Sarabande" albums by adding more conventional song structures and by adding a live drummer. With even more expressive arrangements and enhanced songwriting, "inverted Womb" shares many properties with progressive rock
. Two songs from previous albums were re-recorded: "May I kiss your Wound ?", from "The inexperienced Spiral Traveller
" appears in a new arrangement; while "Résumé... -" is a dramatic re-working of "Time stands still... (...but stops for no-one)" from Sopor Aeternus' first album, "...Ich töte mich jedesmal aufs Neue, doch ich bin unsterblich, und ich erstehe wieder auf; in einer Vision des Untergangs...".
As the album is dedicated to "Little Seven", much of the lyrics revolves around finding and caring for the dead boy, as well as other dead children; most of the lyrical imagery revolves around familial plots
in small towns in the Middle Ages
. "Saturn devouring his Children" deals with necrophagia (the act of eating a corpse), while "There was a Country by the Sea" is an epic tale of finding a boy in a foreign land who has built a catacomb underneath his house; the boy explains to the protagonist that he was able to seal away his mother's bones using "jet-black granules" "piled up in a certain, specific form", but he remains ever vigilant in the tomb so that she will not return to life.
"Résumé... -" was used by Bam Margera
in two of his films: Haggard: The Movie
and CKY3; "Eldorado" also made an appearance in CKY3. Though not publicly mentioned by Cantodea or Apocalyptic Vision, the inclusion of "Résumé... -" on the Haggard soundtrack indicates that permission was granted for use of the two songs.
"Songs from the inverted Womb" was re-released on CD with newly packaged artwork in 2004.
Darkwave
Dark Wave or darkwave is a music genre that began in the late 1970s, coinciding with the popularity of New Wave and post-punk. Building on those basic principles, dark wave added dark, introspective lyrics and an undertone of sorrow for some bands...
band Sopor Aeternus & the Ensemble of Shadows' sixth album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, released in 2000. The album is dedicated to the "memory and resurrection
Resurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
" of Little Seven, a boy who died "at the age of six"; "inverted Womb" was recorded in an attempt to resurrect (at least) the memory of the boy. A double vinyl edition and a CD boxed set were also released in limited quantities of 666 and 3,000 copies, respectively.
Overview
"Songs from the inverted Womb" builds on the chamber musicChamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
-inspired sound of the "Dead Lovers' Sarabande" albums by adding more conventional song structures and by adding a live drummer. With even more expressive arrangements and enhanced songwriting, "inverted Womb" shares many properties with 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...
. Two songs from previous albums were re-recorded: "May I kiss your Wound ?", from "The inexperienced Spiral Traveller
The Inexperienced Spiral Traveller
The inexperienced Spiral Traveller is the third album by darkwave band Sopor Aeternus & the Ensemble of Shadows, and was released in 1997...
" appears in a new arrangement; while "Résumé... -" is a dramatic re-working of "Time stands still... (...but stops for no-one)" from Sopor Aeternus' first album, "...Ich töte mich jedesmal aufs Neue, doch ich bin unsterblich, und ich erstehe wieder auf; in einer Vision des Untergangs...".
As the album is dedicated to "Little Seven", much of the lyrics revolves around finding and caring for the dead boy, as well as other dead children; most of the lyrical imagery revolves around familial plots
Grave (burial)
A grave is a location where a dead body is buried. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as graveyards or cemeteries....
in small towns in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. "Saturn devouring his Children" deals with necrophagia (the act of eating a corpse), while "There was a Country by the Sea" is an epic tale of finding a boy in a foreign land who has built a catacomb underneath his house; the boy explains to the protagonist that he was able to seal away his mother's bones using "jet-black granules" "piled up in a certain, specific form", but he remains ever vigilant in the tomb so that she will not return to life.
"Résumé... -" was used by Bam Margera
Bam Margera
Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera is an American professional skateboarder, television and radio personality, actor and daredevil. He released a series of videos under the CKY banner and came to prominence after being drafted into MTV's Jackass crew...
in two of his films: Haggard: The Movie
Haggard: The Movie
Haggard: The Movie is a 2003 American independent comedy film based on the true story of how reality television personality Ryan Dunn's promiscuous girlfriend cheated on him. The film was financed, directed and produced by Bam Margera.- Plot :...
and CKY3; "Eldorado" also made an appearance in CKY3. Though not publicly mentioned by Cantodea or Apocalyptic Vision, the inclusion of "Résumé... -" on the Haggard soundtrack indicates that permission was granted for use of the two songs.
"Songs from the inverted Womb" was re-released on CD with newly packaged artwork in 2004.
Track listing
All songs written by Anna-Varney Cantodea.- "Introduction: Something Wicked this Way comes..." – 4:42
- "Tales from the inverted Womb" – 4:48
- "Do you know about the Water of Life?" – 4:49
- "...And Bringer of Sadness" – 6:45
- "Résumé... -" – 8:28
- "Totes Kind / Little dead Boy" – 7:18
- "May I kiss your Wound ?" – 7:00
- "Saturn devouring his Children" – 7:02
- "There was a Country by the Sea" – 12:03
- "Little velveteen Knight" – 5:52
- "EldoradoEldorado (poem)"Eldorado" is a ballad poem by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in April 1849.-Summary:The poem describes the journey of a "gallant knight" in search of the legendary El Dorado. The knight spends much of his life on this quest...
(by Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
)" – 3:42
Personnel
- Katrin Ebert: ViolinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Martin Höfert: CelloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Johannes Knirsch: Double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
- Jutta Sinsel: ClarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca... - Guido Spitz: BassoonBassoonThe bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
, contrabassoonContrabassoonThe contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower... - Alexander Gröb: TrumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Carsten Weilnau: TromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- Eugene de la Fontaine: TubaTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
- Simon-Tobias Ostheim: Drums, percussion
- Anna-Varney Cantodea: Vocals, all other instruments and programming