Artist ATARAXIA Title "Nosce Te Ipsum"
Label   Cat. No.   Format  
Tracks  
Well, having read the PR stuff, I wasn' t sure what to expect at all but. what I actually got was a music which deserves a much wider audience. Comparisons with such people as the COCTEAIJ TWINS, ENYA, CLANNAD are inevitable but these influences (if such they are) show through rarely - and the vocalist sounds a little more like a lighter, more melodic NICO, although again, this is an easy cop out, for your humble reviewer - her voice is probably stronger than any of those mentioned below.

The album opens with "Aigues Mortes" - large and dramatic music built around a thudding bass drum. The vocalist has a strong voice which follows the music perfectly while choral backing adds just the right amount of colour. "Te Es La Force Du Silence" follows with a sort of crossover between the COCTEAUs and the BRITH GOF/TEST DEPT album sound - melodic yet
retaining a spine of pure granite. "Fleč Et Fabian" follows this, again like the GUTHRIE/FRAZER partnership, but somehow this reaches further, goes beyond mere music to tap human emotion, showing us some place of beauty and inspiration we didn't know we were missing. It ends leaving you feeling empty with loss in the visceral seat of your soul. "Nosce Te Ipsum", the last track on side one begins a little Folksy/Medieval, then gains a good running pace, carrying the listener along on a tide of intense music.

"Zweistimmenstauschung" starts side two, another fastish-paced, massive piece of music which diversifies in style and composition at intervals, keeping a hard, tight sound while making occasional forays into the field of tense madness. "Torquemada" - which may be about that nice Spanish guy - has a chilling hardness with a rising sound which might give members of WHITEHOUSE bad dreams. It has a Middle-Ages feel to it, which certainly adds to the atmosphere. "In Articulo Mortis" closes the album with a medium-paced track - fully-fleshed out but somehow loose, closer to improvisation, this time the vocalist bringing SIOUXSIE to mind, even to the point of gritty flanged guitar.

If this review has germinated interest in you, then buy a copy of it & listen to it loud - it's an experience I can enjoy all too rarely!
Reviewer ANTONY BURNHAM for METAMORPHIC JOURNEYMAN
Reading other reviews of this cassette elsewhere and seeing them compared to COCTEAUS / DEAD CAN DANCE etc. I was looking forward to this. I wasn't disappointed. Opening track "Aigues Mortes" uses percussion to create a dramatic and slightly Gothic effect. The second track "Tu Es La Force Du Silence" reminded me very much of ORDO EQUITUM SOLIS, especially in the vocal department. "Flee Et Fabian" continues in the same vein, with drum machine percussion and more keyboards, but still managing to retain an ethereal quality. The final track this side uses mandolins to create a truly medieval atmosphere. The first track on side two "Nosce Te Ipsum" uses the drum machine a little too much, and spoils the atmosphere a little. Real percussion is best suited to this type of music, and that's what sets people like DEAD CAN DANCE and ORDO EQUITUM SOLIS from the rest. The next track uses acoustic guitar, light percussion and vocals only, making this one of my favourite tracks on the cassette. The final track "Torquemada" is the only track here which seems to follow a song structure, making it sound a little like an early 80's Goth song, only with better vocals. If it weren't for a couple of tracks, this would be an absolutely superb tape. I'll certainly be watching their progress closely from now on - a CD release wouldn't go amiss.
Reviewer reprinted from IMPULSE #4
An earlier cassette album than "Arazzi", but equally as good, with another batch of even darker songs and lush instrumentals. The opener, "Aigues Mortes" speaks of desolation and oblivion, as does much of the rest of this album, despite its superabundance of melody and rich harmony. There's nothing on here that I can fault - may be the sound is slightly less clear than on "Arazzi", but since this an older work anyway that's hardly a point for argument. At the same time seemingly direct yet blackly symbolic, it glides through green pastures that are evidently not what they appear to be; this is hinted at by the almost militaristic electronic percussion used throughout. Superficially warm and endearing, there is a infesting canker at the heart of this music, gradually radiating outwards. "Nosce Te Ipsum" - know thyself and know the danger, for it is close at hand.
Reviewer Reprinted from MFTEQ #9 (VEIL)