Eerie Archives

Volume One of Delerium's Archives series includes selections from four early albums: Faces, Forms & Illusions; Morpheus; Syrophenikan; and Stone Tower. Fans will obviously be familiar with this material already, but it's nevertheless an uncovering of the band's interesting, often eerie roots. The first two albums are disquietingly spare, often relying on minimal percussion and echoing soundscapes to get their point across. Standouts include "Fragments of Fear," and the comparably upbeat, light industrial thud of "Sword." 1991's Syrophenikan vacillates between spooky navel-gazing (the Coil-ish "Shroud"), and synth-heavy, mid-tempo experimentation ("Of the Tribe"), while Archives, Vol. 1 closes with the cathedrals-collapsing-in-slow-motion dirges of Stone Tower. Highly recommended for Delerium completists.

Although they didn't fare nearly as well as fellow Teutonic thrashers like Kreator and Sodom in terms of career longevity or commercial success, Würzburg, Germany's Paradox certainly seemed, on the surface, to have a better shot at the big time with their more melodic and accessible style. Formed in February of 1986 by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Charly Steinhauer, lead guitarist Markus Spyth, bassist Roland Stahl, and drummer Axel Blaha, the group was heavily influenced by the biggest of all thrash bands – Metallica – and quickly parlayed a few impressive demos into a deal with Roadrunner Records and a very impressive debut album, Product of Imagination, the following year…