Tag: featured

Horror Sacri (2025)

21.08.2025

The fourth Darkwave album marks a clear departure from its predecessors — and not just musically. For the first time in the project’s history, vocals appear alongside the instrumental compositions. This new element adds an essential dimension of expression, allowing the music’s message to be communicated more directly and fully. No longer confined to titles, cover art, and sonic atmosphere alone, the narrative now unfolds through the human voice as well — direct, unfiltered, and unmistakably personal.

The title, Horror Sacri, is a Latin phrase meaning “sacred dread” or “fear of the sacred” — a complex emotional state blending awe, reverence, and fear in the face of the divine or transcendent. Rather than taking a theological or dogmatic stance, the album approaches this theme from a deeply personal and introspective perspective. While honoring the mystery of the sacred, it also acknowledges the fear, struggle, and rebellion that often accompany the human experience of transcendence — culminating in death, which brings this internal conflict to an end. In this sense, Horror Sacri serves as a natural continuation of Darkwave’s previous instrumental works: Hexapla, Missa Innominata, and Thanatology.

The album also represents a milestone in the Darkwave catalogue by featuring guest artists for the first time. Fredrik Keith Croona, the intense and versatile vocalist of the blackened death metal band Against I, and Fati Urbán, whose ethereal voice adds an otherworldly dimension, both contribute to the record’s emotional and sonic depth.

Blending the familiar with the unfamiliar, the instrumental with the vocal, Horror Sacri opens a new chapter in the evolution of Darkwave — one that invites the listener to confront the unknown with open ears and a receptive mind.

Track listing

Total playing time: 43:36

Thanatology (2023)

03.08.2023

The third full-length Darkwave release, Thanatology, is an intensely emotional journey into the depths of formative memories, emotions, and experiences – those silent forces that shape the spiritual essence of a person. Harnessing the expressive power of instrumental progressive metal, the album paints vivid inner landscapes, translating these emotional currents into six distinct movements, each carrying a title that serves as a guidepost along the way.

“Memento mori.” The phrase echoed throughout medieval Christianity as a stark reminder of life’s impermanence: “Remember that you must die.” Humanity has always grappled with the weight of its own finiteness, responding in countless ways to the unsettling reality of mortality. Thanatology offers its own contemplation on this eternal theme, resonating with Jack Kerouac’s poignant words: “I’m writing this book because we’re all going to die.” (Visions of Cody).

In essence, the six tracks of Thanatology – released on August 3, 2023, precisely on the second anniversary of Hexapla – form an intimate soundtrack to a spiritual pilgrimage. A passage through time, memory, and the inevitable recognition of life’s transience. As an instrumental work, Thanatology does not seek to provide definitive answers to the existential questions that haunt us. Instead, it aims to evoke emotions – subtle, profound, and deeply personal – that might serve as a guide through this introspective and transformative journey.

With this in mind, Thanatology stands as both a continuation and culmination of Hexapla and Missa Innominata, weaving the first three Darkwave albums into a deeply interconnected narrative.

Track listing

  1. The Last Wasted Dawn (6:38)
  2. Stepping Through The Shadow Line (8:01)
  3. Necronym (5:07)
  4. Legacy Of The Worthless (4:58)
  5. All Shall Perish (6:34)
  6. Farewell Before Sunset (6:20)

Total playing time: 52:31