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 Few weeks ago Cold Meat Industry served us another dish. This time it's a collective release of two already quite known projects in postindustrial world - DAWN & DUSK ENTWINED and :GOLGATHA: 'Sang Graal' has rather interesting concept, just look at the title. I thought that it would be nice to ask musicians few questions and let David (D&DE) and Chris (:GOLGATHA:) encourage (or discourage) us to listen to this album. I liked last two :GOLGATHA: albums - one of the reasons was musical eclectism of both releases. I ask Chris is this time situation the same and to what degree „Sang Graal” is different than the previous releases. "The musical design always refers to the respective subject of the album, and while "Tales of Transgression & sacrifice" has a strong ritual influence, "Sang Graal" features strong neoclassical influences. This is also due to the fact it was equally composed together with the French master of martial neo classical ambience Dawn & Dusk Entwined. But I can assure that all people who enjoyed our first albums will like "Sang Graal" as well: it is all there - pounding rhythms, dark ambient structures, mysterious harmonies and vocals, some decent folk guitars etc. "Sang Graal" features the voices of David (D&DE), Sorakey (from "Garden of Love") and myself. The songs from "Sang Graal" we played live worked very well" Right, Chris mentions his collaborator, DAWN & DUSK ENTWINED. So I ask David how did it happen that they joined forces with :GOLGATHA: "I got in contact in 2006 with Christoph Donarski who proposed me to work with him on something like a cooperation between our two projects. He liked D&DE and I recently discovered his work with :GOLGATHA: and found it a good idea to try and mix our musical universes and see what happen. At the time he just signed with CMI and naturally we proposed our work to Roger Karmanik who was immediately enthusiast" Let's talk a moment about the concept. Why exactly Saint Graal? "This is not Saint Graal but "Sang Graal" from old french "Sang Real", out of the only christian interpretation. Christoph Donarski proposed to work on this theme that seemed promising by focusing on the pagan roots of the grail through different aspects, theories and points of view that are presented throughout all the different songs of the album", says David. When I ask Chris is the concept treated in more historical or more metaphorical way, he answers: "Neither nor, I would say. "Sang Graal" is a muscial exploration of the mythological sources and the modern re-readings of the Holy Grail. This might also be historical and metaphorical in a way, but mainly it is mythological. From the ancient fertility rites via the blood chalice, King Arthur, to Maria Magdalena and the bloodline of Christ and the Cathars - it is all there. We were strongly inspired by the British filmmaker Richard Stanley, who did the documentary THE SECRET GLORY (and the early Fields of the Nephilim-Videos). - By the way: The first CD-r by :Golgatha:, "Waste Land", was inspired by T.S. Eliot's epic poem of that title, which treats the Grail mythos on a metaphorical level. As this was already done, "Sang Graal" can be seen as pure aural mythology, if you like. The few people who own "Waste Land" will recognize some sound elements which were modified here due to the subject"   Let's get back to musical questions. I ask David about differences between this album and "Septentrion": "I worked in a different mood on each project, I found more esoterism on Sang Graal rather than Septentrion, but it's always hard for me to describe such things, it's after all to the listener to tell. I should add that SG was written before Septentrion, and I probably wouldn't have done Septentrion before SG first, so they are somehow linked musically and the listener won’t get lost! Moreover, SG was a real collaboration between our two bands, each song was in one way or another reworked by each other, so all the songs are a common work and it is hard for someone who listen to this album to tell who has done what!" Also Chris seems to be very pleased for this collaboration: "Our cooperation was symbiotic in the best sense. In the beginning I sent David some sketches and sounds, and he did the same, so we worked on the tracks of the other. Then I had some ideas for lyrics and additional instruments, and we added that again. This lasted for nearly two years. Some people might identify one song or another as more Dawn & Dusk or :Golgatha:, but you can never be sure... Our musical style and abilities improved by this experience - at least that is my personal opinion. I hope we will be able to play this album live some day soon" Ok, and what about graphic design of the release? Will it be equally impressive as for example "Tales of Transgression & Sacrifice"? ""Tales of Transgression & Sacrifice" was a very special and personal recording, in which Roger of CMI put a lot of trust and energy. We owe him a lot for this great publication, which brings Birthe Klementowski's photowork to great effect. I think we did not disappoint him... It was clear from the beginning that "Sang Graal" will be a different project, so we decided to create a 6-panel-digipak with a very focussed design. David did the artwork, and you can expect unique images of the Cathar-castle Montségur etc. The cover will feature another photo by Birthe which perfectly fits the context. "Sang Graal" is an epic 70+-minutes album which might appeal to all people who loved Dawn & Dusk's "Septentrion" or our "Seven Pillars". For all curious, you can find some sample-tracks on MySpace: www.myspace.com/schaedelstaette Stark |
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