The Inexperienced Spiral Traveller
Encyclopedia
The inexperienced Spiral Traveller (aus dem Schoß der Hölle ward geboren die Totensonne) (German
: "from the Womb of Hell was born the Sun of the Dead") is the third album by darkwave
band Sopor Aeternus & the Ensemble of Shadows, and was released in 1997. The inexperienced Spiral Traveller continued the Renaissance
- and Baroque
-inspired sound of "Todeswunsch - Sous le soleil de Saturne", but with tighter arrangements and the re-introduction of drum machine
s. A limited edition of 3,000 copies was initially available alongside the regular edition, and the album has been re-issued at least twice since.
and brass
. The musical palette was enhanced by the edition of actual violin
, cello
and lute
players, where synthesizers had been previously used. Drum machines were also integrated with the live percussion on several songs, and production values were at their highest yet with full use of studio techniques, as heard on opening track "Sylla'borêal". Despite this, Anna-Varney Cantodea has publicly stated her distaste for the album, stating:
Similar comments were made about the accompanying remix album, "Voyager - The Jugglers of Jusa
".
The subject matter of the album mainly deals with the isolation brought on by Cantodea's illnesses through life. It has been stated in interviews that one illness nearly blinded her permanently, and much of the imagery of the album comes from that episode. The identity of the "loyal friend" mentioned is unknown (although many fans now believe this reference is primarily to depression), but on the later-released "La Chambre D'Echo" - Where the dead Birds sing, Cantodea states that "this once so loyal friend ..., he's not that welcome anymore." The song "Birth - Fiendish Figuration" was re-recorded for this album, while "May I kiss your Wound ?" would be re-recorded for "Songs from the inverted Womb"
.
In 2004, The inexperienced Spiral Traveller was re-issued with entirely new artwork, including radically new art and liner notes. The new artwork emulates a tourism package, including a passport and the photographs from the older version encaspulated in Polaroid
borders. The back cover also featured a mock advertisement for the Synchro-Box, quoted to be "the best device to travel the continuum".
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: "from the Womb of Hell was born the Sun of the Dead") is the third album by darkwave
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, and was released in 1997. The inexperienced Spiral Traveller continued the Renaissance
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...
- and Baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
-inspired sound of "Todeswunsch - Sous le soleil de Saturne", but with tighter arrangements and the re-introduction of drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
s. A limited edition of 3,000 copies was initially available alongside the regular edition, and the album has been re-issued at least twice since.
Overview
The inexperienced Spiral Traveller was the first album to set the sound of Sopor in stone, with its tighter, more expressive arrangements and full utilization of stringsString instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
and brass
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
. The musical palette was enhanced by the edition of actual violin
Violin
The 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....
, cello
Cello
The 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...
and lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
players, where synthesizers had been previously used. Drum machines were also integrated with the live percussion on several songs, and production values were at their highest yet with full use of studio techniques, as heard on opening track "Sylla'borêal". Despite this, Anna-Varney Cantodea has publicly stated her distaste for the album, stating:
Hmm... Well... Let's put it this way: The inexperienced Spiral Traveller, has been the worst album I have ever recorded... And after that... It slowly got better.
Similar comments were made about the accompanying remix album, "Voyager - The Jugglers of Jusa
Voyager - The Jugglers of Jusa
Voyager: The Jugglers of Jusa is the first remix album by darkwave band Sopor Aeternus & the Ensemble of Shadows, and was released in 1997. It was released as a companion to The inexperienced Spiral Traveller , also released that year, and primarily features alternate versions of songs from that...
".
The subject matter of the album mainly deals with the isolation brought on by Cantodea's illnesses through life. It has been stated in interviews that one illness nearly blinded her permanently, and much of the imagery of the album comes from that episode. The identity of the "loyal friend" mentioned is unknown (although many fans now believe this reference is primarily to depression), but on the later-released "La Chambre D'Echo" - Where the dead Birds sing, Cantodea states that "this once so loyal friend ..., he's not that welcome anymore." The song "Birth - Fiendish Figuration" was re-recorded for this album, while "May I kiss your Wound ?" would be re-recorded for "Songs from the inverted Womb"
Songs from the inverted Womb
"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 the...
.
In 2004, The inexperienced Spiral Traveller was re-issued with entirely new artwork, including radically new art and liner notes. The new artwork emulates a tourism package, including a passport and the photographs from the older version encaspulated in Polaroid
Instant film
Instant film is a type of photographic film first introduced by Polaroid that is designed to be used in an instant camera...
borders. The back cover also featured a mock advertisement for the Synchro-Box, quoted to be "the best device to travel the continuum".
Track listing
All songs by Anna-Varney Cantodea, unless otherwise noted.- "Sylla'borêal (Embracing the Dead prior to the Service)" – 5:05
- "Question(s) Beyond Terms (Who is confronting the Impossible?)" – 5:44
- "C'ayllagher a Dom'bhrail (There is no need to remind me)" – 0:58
- "To a loyal Friend" (anonymous 16th century ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
composition; arr. Sopor Aeternus) – 6:58 - "Never trust the Obvious (or: The Innocence of Devils)" – 6:52
- "The inexperienced Spiral Traveller *a fragment*" – 5:08
- "Memalon" – 7:24
- "Memories are Haunted Places (Birth - Fiendish Figuration, vers.)" – 5:42
- "Die Widerspenstigkeit unerwünschter Gedanken" – 2:32
- "Synchronicity (To Saturn:Orion)" – 0:27
- "Totenlicht (Infant in the face of Time)" – 6:02
- "Ein freundliches Wort... (...hat meine Seele berührt.)" – 5:11
- "Die Toten kehren wieder mit dem Wind" – 2:55
- "May I kiss your Wound?" – 5:47
- "Ein gütiges Lächeln auf den Gesichtern der Toten..." – 5:26
Personnel
- Una Fallada: 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....
- Matthias Eder: 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...
- Gerrit Fischer: GuitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Constanze Spengler: LuteLuteLute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
- Anna-Varney Cantodea: Vocals, all other instruments and programming