Prince Des Tenebres

A dusty tape full of creaks, hisses and squeaks swooped down at HDK headquarters a while ago. Its author, one who calls himself "the Prince of Darkness" (sic), remains a mystery. On the tape minimal sounds, limping scores, silences full of anguished expectation, short instrumental excerpts that have the flavor of foggy and humid winter evenings, of the soil of ancient cemeteries, of loneliness, of putrefaction and decay.

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HDK has delighted and entertained you with orchestral soundtracks, accompanied by grandiloquent arrangements, told you about epic feats and made you live "cinematic" experiences... but after all... the true spirit of the dungeon-synth, its raw and crystalline essence, lies in records like this one, which we could define - a bit hastily - naive, but which in the end overwhelm you with their evocative force.

The shadow of masterpieces that speak about love and death such as Werner Herzog's "Nosferatu" or Carl Dreyer's "Vampyr" hover among the notes of this sound spell that we invite you to listen to with the lights off (or at least only in the dim light of your music player display!).

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"You, who like a dagger ploughed
Into my heart with deadly thrill:
You who, stronger than a crowd
Of demons, mad, and dressed to kill,

Of my dejected soul have made
Your bed, your lodging, and domain:
To whom I'm linked (Unseemly jade!)
As is a convict to his chain,

Or as the gamester to his dice,
Or as the drunkard to his dram,
Or as the carrion to its lice —
I curse you. Would my curse could damn!

I have besought the sudden blade
To win for me my freedom back.
Perfidious poison I have prayed
To help my cowardice. Alack!

Both poison and the sword disdained
My cowardice, and seemed to say
"You are not fit to be unchained
From your damned servitude. Away,

You imbecile! since if from her empire
We were to liberate the slave,
You'd raise the carrion of your vampire,
By your own kisses, from the grave."

"The Vampire" - Charles Baudelaire, 1857
crédits
paru le 28 septembre 2022

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The artwork of this tape is by Manu Wolfspider and is a tribute to Werner Herzog's Nosferatu.