 Summer / 2008 - Metal 4 Life (4/5) Summer / 2008 - Gothtronic (8.4/10) Summer / 2008 - Vampire Magazine Summer / 2008 - Lords of Metal (78/100) Review from "CONCRETE WEB". Rated 99/100 "Did you know, Elvira Madigan was an actual person living & dying in the 19 th century, whose illicit love affair with a Swedish luitenant has been the subject of a very popular Swedish '60s movie? Born in Denmark, she was a tightrope dancer and trick riders, who travelled around Scandinavia with her father's travelling circus. It's following a performance in Sweden that she and her luitenant (a count) fell in desperate love. Desperate, because the man was already tied to a wife and two children. They wrote love latters to each other for over a year, and then fled to Denmark to live out the last month of their life. With their last money, they picked up a picnic basket and travelled to a little Danish island where, after their meal, the luitenant first shot his beloved and then himself. The story bares resemblance to the even more famous Mayerling affair (in which an Austrian prince was involved). Of course, the movie that was made on thàt topic (a Hollywood production) was somewhat more internationally popular, but even today the grave at the same island they died on is visited by tourists and lovers from all over the world. Okay, so Elvira Madigan is also the one-man band of Sweden-born Marcus Hammerström , more commenly known as Marcus H. Madigan . As it's now been over 3 years since the last EM album Angelis Demonae – Wiccan Aftermath – Bloodstained Covers For Sirens And Sinners , which was released in early January 2005 but thanks to an overzealous person (yours truly) already saw its review posted on December 19 th , 2004...I feel compelled to repeat the history-of-the-band (as said review is no longer available for your scrutiny). So...I thought I'd do a creative copy-paste job, adding pertinent details where necessary. Here goes... This is the one-man project of one Markus H. Madigan . In a former life, he was part of Andalucia , a band that never broke through because of the Grunge break-out in the early Nineties. Disillusioned by that, and thanks to the fact that he'd purchased a studio in the last days of his former band, he decided to fiddle around with some music which didn't really fall under the Death monicker he used to walk around under. The project becomes somewhat of a reality when he records his first demo Varsel in 1998 (which is still intented to be released as the as yet unreleased self-titled debut), and starts messing around designing cover artwork for a couple of imaginary albums. Playing around that way, he decides to take things more seriously, and since he's got material enough, he starts the recordings for the first official album Blackarts , and starts up the website on which he posts some of the songs. Weary with the thought of having all this fine music under his belt, he then sends his material out to all relevant labels. However, even before getting any news back, he decides it's better to hold the reigns, founding his own label Northlore , on which the album is released in 2000 (with bonus tracks). But even before the album's release, Markus had started recordings for the follow-up Witches – Salem (1692 Vs 2001) (which gets released on Northlore in 2001). Late 2002 recordings for third album Angelis Demonae began (a collection of covers in Blackened version including, among others, Tori Amos ' "Ieee" , and recorded at a moment in time when Marcus felt creatively empty after having put his whole in the first two recording sessions – still,the album is simply fantastic, and got a top rating from yours truly), eventually finished & mixed in January 2003. Then, Black Lodge licences Witches..." and as a result of that Markus is enabled to completely rebuild his studio. March of 2003 already saw the re-release (in re-mixed, re-mastered, & re-packaged version) of Blackarts . In April of the same year, pre-production for the next album begins (a pre-production which would take him the whole year of 2004). January 21 st of 2005 saw the release of Angelis Demonae , its release postponed to allow the promotion for Blackarts to take its fullest effect. (for a more detailed story told by the man himself, surf to elviramadigan.com/bio) So, why did it take so long for THIS album to be released, since so much time has elapsed since the previous album hit the streets, and since Marcus had already done pre-production for this album during most of the year 2004? To be perfectly honest, that were questions which went through my mind too at first, but I lost interest completely after giving the album its first listening session! I mean, the quality on offer is of such dazzling hight, it makes one forget ones troubles all together. The album being conceptual in nature, it tells a story which even now, after having given the disc at least six or seven spins in the cd-player, I have been unable to unravel. Part of that is due to the incredible vocal soundscape, which is often layered in a schizophrenic way of speaking, Marcus bending his voice in all possible manners you might imagine (from deep Death growls to shrieked or screamed Blackened ones, over rather clean, and with a story-telling mode which can be grave, a Blackened whisper, or more "normal"...and then he manages to find yet other ways to express his lyrics)...and getting away with it all admirably perfect! The 73:31 album has a total of 15 tracks, 4 of which carry the same main title of "Demonaria" , which are àll sub-divided in 3 parts even if they dó flow into each other seemlessly. The same can, to a certain extend, also be said for the rest of the album. Because even if you're getting changing moods of intensity and underlaying feelings of threat (or dread), the album is listened to as a continued saga from start to finish (even if there àre a few short silences between some of the tracks). With only two instrumental tracks (the 1:42 "Solstice & Sleepwalking" – orchestrated keyboards emulating the sound of cello followed by some mandolin and flute and more strings – which is situated some 15 minutes into the saga following the two first rather aggressive opening songs, and the 1:51 album closer "Regency" , which is again a calmer passage with piano) you can imagine quite a bit of lyrics available to scrutinize and unravel. In spite of the album's length, the listener is therefore drawn from track to track unknonwingly (unless he's watching the counter on the cd-player) in a feeble attempt to put everything that's being growled, shrieked, whispered, sang, or told, to memory (hey, even I am no hero when decoding those Blackened vocals...I too prefer a lyrics sheet, you know). With the music changing constantly in intensities (more energetic passages with still quite some orchestrated flavouring and sharp electric guitars are alternated against moments purely "Classical" infatuation, which can also be calmer with a simple and almost Ambient piano, or more bombastic with full orchestral feel) your attention span is really drawn to extremes, and you'll soon (well, soon...it does take nearly 74 minutes for the album to be finished, remember?) find yourself reaching for that "play" button to listen to the album's story all over again! In short, I do hope the retail version wíll have a lyrics sheet, because that'll make things a lot easier on the listener, who'll then be able to get submerged into the musical landscape of the album. I hear there's to be a digibook version of the album, so I guess at least thére you will indééd find the lyrics, eh? In good tradition Marcus has posted a couple of songs off the new album at myspace.com/elviramadigan (also a song off each of the last two albums) for you to enjoy. If you hadn't heard about Elvira Madigan yet, but àre interested in Symphonical Black Metal, then by all means check this out, because EM is at the top in the genre! Not surprisingly, you'll find Regent Sie nominated into my personal "Best Albums Of 2008"-list!" - Tony <<< Back Review from "METAL4LIFE". Rated 4/5 "Or to give it its Sunday name "Regent Sie She Devils Of Demonlore Of Blood, Crosses & Biblewars". Couple that with a hot fantasy chick cover, and you're thinking symphonic goth, or pagan metal. Well, you'd be wrong. For Elvira Madigan is actually a bloke called Marcus Hammarström, and he's dishing out a remarkably good offering of symphonic black metal. A direction which makes sense for someone naming his project after Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major. Actually, that's a lie, but I'm just making sure you're paying attention. For this Elvira Madigan is named for the 19th century Danish tightrope walker and trick rider, whose illicit affair and death at the hands of her lover* were the subject of a Swedish film back in 1967. Who was named after Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C majo And it's that story that provides the concept for this, um, concept album. He's not someone who can be rushed into things as he's been working on this for over five years, and if you were one of the three people who remembered his debut "Witches - Salem (1692 vs 2001)", you wouldn't have had a punt on something this good being the end product. However, don't come here thinking it's one of those smooth, crossover BM albums, for despite the symphonic element, this is still harsh, on the bone music. The seventy four minutes and multiple (23) parts, run seamlessly together as Mr Hammarström takes us on a fascinating musical journey, incorporating a narrative structure and the kind of music that Cradle Of Filth were capable of, prior to mellowing out. As well as CoF, there are nods to the likes of Bathory and Einherjer, as the music rampages, soars and swoops. And, according to Mr Hammarström, it's all one hunnerd percent real, with no computer doolallery going on. As it's intended to be listened to as a whole, it's foolish to pick individual 'songs', but the third movement 'Demonaria III: Grin - Murder Of Kroues / Severed / Vow Of Feebleman", takes some beating. An excellent album, where one mans vision comes to fruition. * he was a much older, married army officer. They ran away together, went for a picnic, he shot her, then shot himself. Love, eh?" - Metal 4 Life staff <<< Back Review from "GOTHTRONIC". Rated 8.4/10 "It’s still miraculous to see that there are Metal bands with only one band member. Elvira Madigan is such a band, in which Marcus H. Madigan is the only band member. Listening to the new album Regent Sie makes it hard to believe that Marcus is the only man behind this music. The variation of instruments and voices at Regent Sie is enormous and it’s impossible to place this music in just one genre. Listening to the opening song Mortal Man & The King says everything about the variety of this album. It would be too easy to say that Elvira Madigan is just another Black Metal band, because this is so much more than that. This is also Gothic, Dark Metal and Avant-garde. And we’re not even talking about the influences from the Folk and Classical genre. All these different styles make Regent Sie to a special and various album. And with 74 minutes it’s also a long album, but on the other hand, the album would not be this good if it would be any shorter. Now classical music is interchanged by hard Black Metal, hearing games and pure Heavy Metal. Marcus knows ho to combine those styles, and he’s doing that without losing the tension of this album. The music surprises, but it also sounds reliable. Perhaps the only possible comparison can be made with the King Diamond albums, although King Diamond is less classical than Elvira Madigan and a little bit more evil. Maybe we just have to say that this is a special Metal album and Marcus is very talented musician? Cause I believe that’s the truth about Elvira Madigan and Regent Sie." - Ate <<< Back Review from "VAMPIRE MAGZINE". No Rating "In my review of “Witches – Salem (1692 vs. 2001)" I was quite impressed by this one-man-project called Elvira Madigan. The album was a daring combination of extreme metal in the vein of Cradle of Filth and symphonic music. It seems like mastermind Marcus Hämmarstrom had about the same feeling that I had on that “Witches” album regarding the possibility to reach the more extreme fans, as this “Regent Sie” has turned out a lot more aggressive and heavier… Before this album Elvira Madigan has recorded a cover-album which was made solely for Hämmarstrom’s own inspiration and therefore probably never promoted that much. And to be fair, I don’t care about cover albums either, as much they may please the personal satisfaction of the artist: indeed, an artist, because that is how this Marcus Hämmarstrom may be qualified. Yet with this "Regent Sie" I think it is wise to turn our attention to Elvira MAdigan once more as listeners. It is hard to understand from the info accompanying this album to see that this is Elvira Madigan’s swansong. On the one hand I can relate to this: Hämmarstrom will probably see this album as ‘finished’ and therefore see this band as completed. “Regent Sie” is actually one big ride: the album is divided into 23 tracks, altogether creating one big song. Yep, the good man makes it again hard for those who prefer a simple album of 10 songs each lasting about 4 minutes, and I applaud such initiatives when it is done in this way. Elvira Madigan has not changed their style: it is still a range of everything in between symphonic, heavy and progressive metal, combined with that touch of Cradle of Filth. The Cradle of Filth comparison is not only based on the way that Marcus Hämmarstrom sings, but also because of the tempo and the intensity of the songs. And strange as it may sound, it all fits together like a glove. That in itself is the biggest achievement of this “Regent Sie”, because only few artists or bands manage to accomplish that. Because of the integral character of the album, it is hard to pinpoint out personal favorites or songs, as once more, all is connected to each other. The art work is once more great (Louis Rojo fans will love it), the production is great and up from opening ‘Mortal Man & The King’ to closing ‘Regency’ (guess the background of the album’s title) it is one flowing audiosonic ride or painting: you must see th ewhole of it to understand it. A compliment to mister Hämmarstrom, and I sure hope that the man will stay active in metal, because he is way too talented to stop making music. “Regent Sie” is a swan song in the right way, and I hope Elvira Madigan or this album will never go down the way of oblivion. My compliments!" - Neithan <<< Back Review from "LORDS OF METAL". Rated 78/100 "A new chapter has been written in the huge chronicles of intellectual black metal projects. We already notice it in the name of this project Elvira Madigan: lone operator Marcus Hammarström chose a tightrope dancer who committed suicide together with her high-classed lover. The artwork and the name may deceive you we are dealing with another female gothic singer, but that is totally wrong: this is complex symphonic black metal you need some time and patience for to fathom. Above mentioned Marcus has worked on this concept album for five years. In full it is entitled: 'Regent Sie (Shedevils Of Demonlore - Of Blood, Crosses And Biblewars)'. Previous creations as the never released first album, the poor produced 'Witches - Salem (1692 vs 2001)' or the capricious cover album 'Angelis Deamonae - Wiccan Afermath' were nothing but finger exercises to make this prestigious dream come true. In this respect it is really a pity that lyrics are not included within this promo, because it seems essential to me to get any grip on the musical escapades of our Swedish friend. All the more because several short narrative parts are important in the concept. What I have is seventy-four minutes of music shifting from mordant black metal in the vein of Cradle Of Filth and heavy symphonic passages. The production was criticized in the past. Marcus still swears by an organic product lacking any interference of computers, still the sound of drums and keyboards is quite synthetic from time to time (read: programmed) and still I have to say it is sometimes marring the quality of Madigan's immense composing talent. Strangely enough it reminded me of 'Crimson' from Edge Of Sanity now and then. With the footnote that Edge Of Sanity used to be death metal in their ferocious outbursts and this is black metal and Dan Swanö - if I may speak frankly - happens to be a greater talent than Marcus Hammarström. But that is maybe mainly due to his clinging to an old-school production. Nevertheless I want to wind with a positive remark: doing this all by yourself must be a huge achievement!" - Lords of Metal <<< Back Review from "Metal District". No rating "Regent Sie - Shedevils of Demonlore - Of Blood, Crosses & Biblewars" - so der vollständige Titel dieses neuen Werks von Marcus H.(Hammarström) Madigan, der seine Fans satte fünf Jahre darben liess seit dem letzten Release. Dass Marcus nicht gerade zu den mundfaulen Musikern gehört, ist hinlänglich bekannt, mit diesem Werk hat er aber glaube ich sämtliche Grenzen für nicht existent erklärt, um nicht zu sagen, er ist völlig durchgedreht. Das sollte aber nicht negativ aufgefasst werden, das nur vorweg, im Gegenteil, es zaubert mir ein erfreutes Lächeln ins Gesicht. An der Ausarbeitung des Konzepts und der dahinterstehenden Geschichte arbeitete Marcus schon seit 2002, seit 2003 widmet er sich den Aufnahmen. Wenn man alles alleine macht - das tut er nach wie vor, Texte, Musik, Aufnahmen, alles meist im eigenen Studio, selbst den grössten Teil des Abmischens macht er alleine, wobei er Wert auf die Feststellung legt, dass dabei keinerlei Trigger, Toneffekte oder gar Computer zum Einsatz kommen - dauert dies naturgemäss etwas länger. Fünf Jahre sind dennoch eine lange Zeit, die sich aber in zweierlei Hinsicht gelohnt haben. Die Geschichte ist ausgereift und sehr detailliert, und auch die Arrangements strotzen nur so vor liebevollen Details, die in dieser Tiefe noch nie zuvor auf einem ELVIRA MADIGAN Album zu hören waren. Besonders faszinierend ist dabei, dass dieses Album ohne grossartige Veränderungen auch auf einer Theaterbühne stehen könnte! Auch wenn Herr Madigan schon immer ein begnadeter Musiker war, hört man "Regent Sie" doch auch die persönliche Reifung, die Perfektionierung seiner Fähigkeiten an. Viele werden bemängeln, dass sich oberflächlich betrachtet musikalisch nicht sehr viel verändert hat, was durchaus stimmt, das war aber auch nie Intention. Die Perfektion dieser, seiner ureigenen Vision von extremer Musik war das Ziel, und das ist ihm mehr als gelungen. Und was macht ELVIRA MADIGAN nun für Musik? Diese Frage lässt sich gar nicht so einfach beantworten. Hier finden wir ganz viel Experimentelles, ganz viel Avantgarde und ebenso viel Extreme Metal. Dieses Wort schmeckt mir eigentlich nicht, da es eine rein ideologiedefinierte Abspaltung vom Black Metal bedeutet, die sich durch den Mangel an Satanismus auszeichnet. ELVIRA MADIGAN macht aber tatsächlich keinen Black Metal, nicht einmal Avantgarde-Black Metal, sondern er nimmt eine Reihe wichtiger musikalischer Merkmale von BM, transformiert und transzendiert diese in seine Vision, steckt sie in ein Gewand aus opereskem Bombast und experimentellem Avantgardismus, malt sie mit ausladenen Fantasystories aus und verschmilzt das Ganze so zu einem homogenen Kunstprodukt, das in dieser Form einzigartig ist. Vielleicht kann man es 'Avantgarde Extreme' nennen, aber Genrebezeichnungen und vor allem Genreregeln sind dem Herren zutiefst zuwider, weswegen ich mir eine Schublade hier mal verklemme. Extrem ist es in vielerlei Hinsicht, die Kompositionen bewegen sich fast durchweg im Highspeedsektor, viele Vocals sind extremes Kreischen, und wenn der Avantegarde die Oberhand gewinnt, ist auch dies extrem, sehr detailliert und dann meistens leise, die Konstrastierungen sind extrem und zeichnen intensiv an der Storyline mit. Die Entstehungszeit ist extrem lang, und das Label zeichnet sich in diesem Fall durch extreme Geduld aus. Allerdings hätte alles andere auch zum Ende der Zusammenarbeit geführt, denn auch Marcus ist extrem, egoistisch und kompromisslos, einzig auf das Schaffen seiner Vision fokussiert. Im Umkehrschluss heisst das für den Hörer, dass hier kaum Spielraum für eigene Interpretationen ist, um einzutauchen muss man sich wie bei einem Gemälde fragen, was hatte der Schöpfer hier im Sinn? Lässt man sich darauf ein, bekommt man eine komplexe, sehr plastische und detaillierte Geschichte, an der Shakespeare seine helle Freude gehabt hätte! Diese Details werden von abwechslungsreichen Arrangements getragen, aber fast noch mehr trägt Marcus' unglaubliches Gesangsspektrum zu den vielen feinen Abstufungen im emotionalen Ausdruck bei, von extremem Kreischen bis hin zu operesk-cleanen Passagen beherrscht er jede Tonlage und alle, die dazwischen existieren können füllt er gleichermassen aus. Ungewöhnlich ist auch der Entstehungsprozess an sich, denn hier steht allein die Vision im Zentrum, weder der Künstler selbst spielt eine Rolle, noch die musikalischen Mittel. So reicht das Spektrum konsequent und kompromisslos von stark schwarzmetallisch beeinflussten Kompositionen bis hin zu Teilen, die überhaupt kein Metal sind, aber zu jeder Sekunde einhundert prozentig ELVIRA MADIGAN, einhundert prozentig allein der Erfüllung der Vision dienen. "Regent Sie" ist mehr als jedes andere ELVIRA MADIGAN Album bisher für Leute, die sich gerne in fremde Welten entführen lassen und sich dabei einen Dreck um Genres scheren. Wie immer reizt die Spieldauer die maximal möglichen 74 Minuten einer CD fast komplett aus, und ebenfalls wie immer ziert ein Luis Royo Bild das Cover. Das Artwork sprengt den Rahmen eines Booklets mit vollgepackten 36 Seiten und wurde ebenfalls komplett von Marcus selbst gestaltet, womit er einen weiteren überzeugenden Baustein seines Multitalents unter Beweis stellt. "Regent Sie" ist in der Tat mehr Theaterstück mit Vorspiel und vier Akten als profanes Konzeptalbum, die Geschichte erinnert nicht zuletzt aufgrund des oft verwendeten Altenglischs an Shakespeare, auch die gezeichneten Charaktere kommen einem manches Mal 'bekannt' vor. Aber mehr will ich hier nicht verraten." - Velvet Metal District <<< Back |