Dark Sanctuary
De Lumière et d'Obscurité

Dead Can Dance were not only the pioneers of a genre but also the most credible interpreters of the musical trend that emerged from their arrival on the dark scene of the eighties.

It's a tough life, therefore, for all those who decide to follow the path indicated by the famed Perry/Gerrard duo, having to inevitably confront monuments like "Spleen and Ideal," "Within the Realm of a Dying Sun," "The Serpent's Egg": this is because creating works that do not simply rehash the clichés typical of the genre and, at the same time, do not evoke, in every single moment, an unmerciful comparison with the Masters, means being able to walk, with the skill of an accomplished tightrope walker, on a thread suspended in the void.

Falling is easy, but there are those who manage to reach the other side unharmed, and the French Dark Sanctuary certainly belong to that club. This is because Dark Sanctuary is a group of refined and well-prepared musicians; because their music is a refined and well-cut diamond, luminous and dazzling in its black splendor.

In 2000, with "De Lumière et d'Obscurité", the French released their second recording: a work capable of overshadowing a debut that was all in all negligible and opening the doors to fame. In the years to follow, critics and public alike would compete in praising this rising star of gothic music, a star that would continue to shine with works of always excellent value. It is obligatory in this regard to mention at least "L'être Las - L'Envers du Miroir," "Les Mémoires Blessées" (probably the absolute masterpiece), and the first part of "Exaudi Vocem Meam."

Although Our Heroes will be able to grow and further refine their art, this "De Lumière et d'Obscurité" lends itself to our ears as an extremely mature work, elegant in form, smooth in sound, inspired in composition: lasting a full 72 minutes, "De Lumière et d'Obscurité" never for a moment gives us the impression that it should have lasted a moment less.

Because the music of Dark Sanctuary moves and evolves without any haste, as if it comes from a dimension where time has ceased to have relevance on things. The ticking of the rain, a distant bell tolling, notes that slide into the air, incorruptible, pure, inviolate, like beams of darkness that gradually fill the small room at twilight that separates us from the world and from life: chamber music suspended between dream and reality, played in a non-place of ivory and shiny marble, whose black veins gently draw the outlines of a sensitive and delicate soul condemned to serve an eternal penance.

Stone angels, from their lofty positions, watch impassively at the celestial swirling of these notes that intoxicate the environment with modest romanticism: majestic organ passages, the mournful entwining of violins, the melancholic touch of the piano.

From time to time, an acoustic guitar, the enchanted flow of a bagpipe, the solemn trot of hand percussion: the six musicians, each according to their own inspiration, shape a composite and graceful sound that shines with the choral quality and perfect balance of minds and hearts that come together miraculously as if the music of Dark Sanctuary were a single and inseparable entity.

Above all stands the desolate song of the amazing Marquise Ermia, sweet and distraught muse who weaves her fragile lament like a victim of a spell, beyond the opaque reflections of an ice bell that serves as her eternal prison: her impalpable soliloquies, lost in the echo of rooms far from the world, ethereal vocalizations blending with the patter of rain, with the funereal flow of the organ, with the solemnity of the choirs, the winds, and the strings.

Her voice doubles, triples, multiplies, dissolving into poignant harmonies, into interweavings bordering on perfection, so much so that the weight of every tonal variation seems to become fundamental in the overall architecture of the melodies.

The French language only adds further charm to the compositions, which from time to time love to be stained with the arcane solemnity of the Latin language.

The splendid final crescendo of the title track (the flourishes of the Marquise that send chills, her voice plunging obliquely like the moribund flight of butterflies that die in the wind and fall into the void) or the pressing canto mantra of "Cet En Fer au Paradis" (the liveliest episode, the one that more than any other recalls the inspiration of the great Gerrard) are examples that show how an organ and two chimes are not enough to "create atmosphere": in a genre like this, what makes the difference is precisely the willingness to not stop at the typical settings of the gothic imagination, and the ability to go beyond, to weave truly beautiful, inspired tunes, capable of captivating with every twist, every shiver, every fall and rebirth.

Traversed by an indissoluble thread of melancholy, the music of Dark Sanctuary is an elegant exploration, between light and shadow, of the most hidden and secret places of the soul. A music that manages to be at once rich in pathos (the sumptuous "La Chute de l'Ange") and reflective (the unsettling "Ordre et Décadence", where formidable Latin verses marry with a dissonant bed of industrial loops). Precisely because the sufferings of the condemned accompany the meditation on themselves in relation to what has been: eternity is a road traveled backwards, among regrets and remorse, aimed at exploring the fatalities and errors that only the wisdom of Death and Pain can reveal to us.

The journey concludes with a fitting tribute to the Masters, precisely with that "Summoning of the Muse", penned by Perry/Gerrard, which we find in the legendary "Within the Realm of a Dying Sun". The circle is closed, then, and we find ourselves finally at the beginning of it all: Dead Can Dance, whose spirit emerges from the notes of this beautiful cover (quite faithful, I must say), confirm themselves as the undisputed fathers of the genre.

This does not detract from the fact that Dark Sanctuary, with dedication, passion, and an extraordinary melodic talent, demonstrate not only that they can enchant with truly inspired music but also that they know how to reinterpret a genre, injecting freshness, expanding its horizons, enriching it with new shades, reading it in a new light.

Or, we might say, in a new darkness ...