Saga 2020

Carl Nielsen’s incidental music The Mother was written for a gala celebrating the reunification of Southern Jutland with Denmark. The score first appeared in print in 2007 and has never been recorded in its entirety. This recording places the music in the right context for the first time, therefore providing us with a new picture of Carl Nielsen as a composer for the theatre. Carl Nielsen uses familiar songs in the play, including the Danish national anthem as well as a curious use of the national anthems from the allied countries that, with their attacks on Germany, determined the fate of Southern Jutland.

US avantgarde black/death act IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT presents its 4th studio album, “Alphaville”, which continues the group’s saga of New York City inspired atmospheric yet technical metal that takes you from top floor. Featuring cover art by Zbigniew M. Bielak (Ghost, Deicide, Watain), who contributed one of his most stunning creations to date! Cover versions of “Experiment” (Voivod) & “Happy Home” (The Residents)

This Speyer, Germany-based band is unique in the modern world of progressive rock, in that their music sounds so unique. Like Hats Off Gentlemen, It’s Adequate, their music is so hard to pinpoint, to any specific influences, although you can hear flavors and essences from every great progressive band, from Genesis to ELP. No, PGM has its own unique sound, and they have been constantly evolving that sound over the years. That uniqueness starts with the sound of their vocalist, Philip Griffiths. Sounding a little like a regal Michael Sandler, from Saga. The music follows with rich ambiance when Pia Darnstaedter enters the scene to provide flute…

On their authentic masterpiece Zeichen, the Wolves from VARG return to their roots and embark on a journey further down a new road. Forget anything you have seen or heard about them in the past few years and embrace the new album as a reboot of a band that never ceased to evolve and has gotten rid of everything superfluous. This seventh full length release marks a new era for the Wolves, haunted by wild battles, death and bloodlust - a resurrection from the fields of pagan metal, pairing razor-sharp melodic death riffs with Freki's furious vocals. Within the first seconds of the album opener breaking loose, VARG pulls the listener into the year “793” that heralded the ferocious era of the Vikings. In contrast, "Fara Til Ranar", including additional female vocals, is a melancholic, captivating saga about the Nordic sea goddess Rán, who pulls wandering sailors down into her wet grave. "Verräter", on the other hand, emphasizes the suffering and vengeance towards former allies with rapid guitar leads and ultimately the album culminates in the mighty title hymn “Zeichen”. In addition to the ten new tracks, the mediabook contains a bonus CD featuring alternative versions of each song the band recorded with renowned guest musicians from Eluveitie, Nachtblut and Equilibrium among others. Looking at the final opus, it's not surprising why VARG took four years after the publication of Das Ende Aller Lügen (which hit number 17 on the German charts) to regather their forces, and today, Zeichen shows that Freki, Fenrier, Morkai and Garm consciously took their time to realign their inner compass and are not afraid of musical and intellectual freedom.

From the opening funeral dirge of the Quartet No.1 to the incandescent frenzy that concludes the fifth, this disc offers a genuine panorama of the Bartókian universe. It's a world unto itself, constantly stamped with the heritage of Hungarian folklore so dear to the composer. Two years after a first volume devoted to the even-numbered works (Nos. 2, 4 and 6), the musicians of the Jerusalem Quartet expertly complete their recording of a key cycle of modern chamber music, a musical saga drawn on the scale of a lifetime.