Popol Vuh
Nosferatu The Vampyre (Original Sound Track)

When I still didn't listen to Krautrock and the Cosmic German music, I don't remember why (perhaps it happened by chance together with albums of Pink Floyd and Deep Purple) I had a copy of the vinyl Nosferatu by Popol Vuh at home. It was the 1979 press from PDU (an Italian label) while the original version was titled Bruder des Schattens - Sohne des Lichts, released in Germany by Brain in 1978. Occasionally, I think out of curiosity, I would put it on the turntable, but my tastes were not yet well defined and I think I found it boring despite Klaus Kinski's figure on the cover unnerved me quite a bit. Then I watched the film by Werner Herzog, a slow and evocative film where the marriage of music and images reached extraordinary levels. But I still wasn't hooked on Popol Vuh. It was later, once I discovered the masterpiece Hosianna Mantra, that I devoted myself to their cult. Generally, part of the critics argue that the last true masterpiece of Popol Vuh is Einsjäger und Siebenjäger. Actually, until the late '70s, the music of the German group remained artistically intact. Indeed, in my opinion, Nosferatu is, along with the mentioned Hosianna Mantra, their masterpiece.

Anyone wishing to listen to the film's music should turn to the mentioned Bruder des Schattens - Sohne des Lichts. In fact, due to a rights problem, in the same year, an album titled Nosferatu/On The Way To A Little Way was released in France for Egg, which contains however (at least largely) different music.

The first side of Bruder des Schattens - Sohne des Lichts opens with the title track, a long piece that is a classic of theirs and represents a kind of trademark of the Popol Vuh style. The beginning is macabre and gothic with a church choir in the foreground and the oboe sound of Robert Eliscu prominently featured. Then the music becomes calm and meditative, in their typical style, consisting of long-lasting pieces where the work of Al Gromer on the sitar and Daniel Fichelscher on the guitar stand out. We are facing an eternal classic of Popol Vuh, perhaps their last masterpiece. On the second side, there are 3 tracks not far, stylistically speaking, from "Hosianna Mantra". In "Hore der du Wagst" an incredibly inspired Fricke on piano leads us into a state of mystical ecstasy. "Das Schloss des Irttums" is instead a sweet and acoustic musical moment while "Die Umkehr" is characterized by a metaphysical and classical atmosphere that only Popol Vuh knew how to create.

Even the complementary Nosferatu/On The Way To A Little Way is a remarkable work and contains acoustic tracks with oriental sounds alternating with others more electronic and evocative, with reworkings from In Den Garten Pharaos. The latter, with their mysterious and timeless atmosphere, prove perfect at evoking the solitude and despair of the vampire Nosferatu, masterfully played by Klaus Kinski.

Anyone interested in listening to both records together can purchase the 2004 High Tide CD reissue The Two Original Soundtracks Of Werner Herzog's Nosferatu.