Released 2005 Length 199:26 Label Irond Records | Recorded 1989-2004 Release date 2005 Genre Dark wave | |
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Producer Sopor Aeternus, John A. Rivers Like a Corpse standing in Desperation(2005) Les Fleurs du Mal(2007 Artist Sopor Aeternus & the Ensemble of Shadows Similar Voyager: The Jugglers, The Inexperienced Spiral Tra, Es reiten die Toten so schnell, La Chambre d'Echo, Ich töte mich | ||
Like a Corpse standing in Desperation is the title of a career-spanning rarities box set by darkwave band Sopor Aeternus & the Ensemble of Shadows that was released in 2005. The recordings span fifteen years of "original demos, rarities & documented failures." Re-issued for the first time are the out-of-print EP Ehjeh Ascher Ehjeh and remix album "Voyager - The Jugglers of Jusa", along with the never before heard demo tape Es reiten die Toten so schnell... and the extensively bootlegged "Flowers in Formaldehyde".
Contents
- Sopor aeternus the ensemble of shadows like a corpse standing in desperation full album 2cd
- Overview
- Track listing
- Additional material
- Personnel
- Songs
- References
Sopor aeternus the ensemble of shadows like a corpse standing in desperation full album 2cd
Overview
Like a Corpse... was created in response to the high prices fans would have to pay on eBay for bootleged copies of out of print EPs and albums. John A. Rivers, who personally oversaw the remastering of the first six Sopor Aeternus albums, as well as the two to follow (2003's "Es reiten die Toten so schnell...or: the Vampyre sucking at his own Vein) and 2004's "La Chambre D'Echo" - Where the dead Birds sing) supervised and remastered the contents of this box set. The set also included the concurrently released single, "The Goat" / "The Bells have stopped ringing".
Barring the aforementioned single and demo tape, four previously unreleased songs were included: "White Body", "Watch your Step", "As Fire kissed the Echo Twins" and "The Widow's Dream"; the last of which is based on the Rozz Williams song "A Widow's Dream". "White Body" is sourced from one of the two still-unreleased demo tapes by Sopor Aeternus.
The box set contains three CDs, packaged in their own hardcover booklet; the book also includes liner notes by Anna-Varney Cantodea herself, as well as "the only interview/publication that I have kept over the years." Also included is a working facsimile of the original cassette tape for Es reiten die Toten so schnell..., complete with both original and re-packaged artwork (on both sides); two DVDs (one in NTSC format, the other in PAL) containing five Sopor videos; a T-shirt, a poster, a sticker, patches, buttons, a decorative attachment for a funeral wreath and a signed and numbered certificate of authenticity.
Of interest to some listeners are the two different mixes of the demo tape material. The demo appears on the first disc of the collection in a remastered format, removing tape hiss but adding heavy reverb effects; the cassette included in the set contains the songs as originally mixed. The songs from Jekura - Deep the Eternal Forest and Ehjeh Ascher Ehjeh were also remastered in a similar fashion. Also of note are the two versions of the video for "Deep the eternal Forest"; one, with Anna-Varney Cantodea in black robes, is found on the NTSC DVD; while the other, with Cantodea in white robes, is found on the PAL DVD. The menus of each disc are different as well.
Track listing
All tracks written by Anna-Varney Cantodea.
Tracks 1-8 comprise the demo cassette Es reiten die Toten so schnell.... Tracks 10-12 and 14 are taken from the compilation Jekura - Deep the Eternal Forest. Tracks 15-20 form the complete Ehjeh Ascher Ehjeh EP.
Tracks 1-12 form the Voyager album proper. Tracks 13-15 are bonus tracks, with the latter two forming the Goat / The Bells have stopped ringing single.
Additional material
All tracks written by Sopor Aeternus. Both sides contain the same songs.
Personnel
Es reiten die Toten so schnell...
Ehjeh Ascher Ehjeh, Jekura - Deep the Eternal Forest and all outtakes
"Voyager - The Jugglers of Jusa"
"Flowers in Formaldehyde"
Songs
1Omen Sinistrum (demo)2:15
2Dead Souls (original demo)6:41
3Stake of My Soul (original demo)1:15