and their studio album 'Momente'. Their unhoped-for return into a scene they have been heavily influencing let the Gothic year 2012 begin more promising than was to be expected - with an honest snapshot ranging among the best material ever to be released by
.
Now, spring starts equally unexpected and full of surprises. While 'Momente' portrayed the artists in their usual creative cooperation, they created something truly exceptional for a truly exceptional release: With 'Fragmente',
Thomas and
Sonja present the official sister album to 'Momente' and dare a unique walk on the borderline. In an attempt never tried before, they both interpret the work in their very own personal way.
And when looking at the numerous artistic activities of this duo, one quickly gets an impression of what to expect:
Thomas Rainer, letting off steam with his Imperial Industrial machinery
Nachtmahr, having shaped harsh electronic music with
Siechtum, travelling the worlds as a DJ and having discovered numerous Electro projects, is facing
Sonja Kraushofer, also known for her neoclassical work with
Persephone, her Gothic Rock band
Coma Divine and her career as a musical singer. And for the very first time, they don't unite their creative minds but interpret their band
L'Ame Immortelle from their very own point of view.
What came out is a unique testimonial of free-running creativity, a two-faced and yet homogenous perspective on 'Momente' openly displaying the special status equally well as the different stylistic currents present in the re-awakened duos' artistic souls. After the songs already wandered through numerous guises before they ended up on 'Momente',
Thomas and
Sonja now completely reworked the material or even recorded it again.
Thomas Rainer's view of the release has become understandably electronic. He turns the anthem 'Banish' into a dark club monster sounding like a bastard between
Nachtmahr and
L'Ame Immortelle and cloaks 'Demon' into a humming Dubstep aura. His partner in crime thoroughly acts out her passion for fragile sound worlds of melancholy. With her mystical orchestration, theatrical structures and soulful tunes, she gives songs like 'The Heart' the atmosphere of a cabaret stage in twilight and guides us into a shady bar of broken dreams with her version of 'Why Can't I Make You Feel?'. Alone and yet together, they master a rare feat and make the tracks even more real, intense and personal than was deemed possible.
10 fragments. Genuine. True. Searching for existence and its' sense.
