Romanian artist and musician COSTIN CHIOREANU is set to debut “Midnight Cemetery”, a guided Virtual Reality tour, at 2020’s Inferno Metal Festival in Oslo, Norway, which this year takes place from the 9th to the 12th April.
Taking place at the Rockefeller venue, “Midnight Cemetery” is a visual rendition of “Afterlife Romance”, the recent album by CHIOREANU and Greek singer SOFIA SARRI, which was released on Dark Essence Records at the end of last year. CHIOREANU, who joined forces with fellow artist and musician ADRIAN TABACARU to make this vision a reality, tells us something about the event:
“Midnight Cemetery” is a guided Virtual Reality tour that encompasses the complete story of the album “Afterlife Romance” and takes it to the maximum level of insanity. In what will be the worldwide premiere of “Midnight Cemetery” , you will literally be able to enter my personal visual world through the medium of Virtual Reality. And there you will be able to interact with elements of this dark and strange realm thanks to the alien-skilled ADRIAN TABACARU.
We suggest you might like to visit our stand, which you will find at the Rockefeller artist area, before your first beer -otherwise you will might remain trapped in the Midnight Cemetery…forever.
Through his art and video productions, COSTIN CHIOREANU has a long history of collaboration with many of the Dark Essence Records bands, as well as bands and artists like Rune Eriksen of MAYHEM, AURA NOIR and EARTH ELECTRIC, AT THE GATES, GHOST, SIGH and VULTURE INDUSTRIES. But many fans may not have been aware, until recently, that this devotee of avant-garde is also a talented musician who uses a wide range of effects to create never-before heard sounds with his guitar.
ADRIAN TABACARU is the other creative half of the “Midnight Cemetery” Virtual Reality experience, building the whole structure and giving life to CHIOREANU’s illustrations. After graduating from the Music University, TABACARU gained a huge amount of advanced knowledge in the field of interactive music composition and performing arts, receiving a master’s degree for his professional practices. His musical inspiration comes from Classical music, Jazz Fusion, Electronic music and Progressive Rock. Today, TABACARU is a much-respected drummer, musician, composer and multimedia artist, playing together with Costin Chioreanu and Sofia Sarri in the band ARAC. He has a wide range of activities including live performances, music composition, video production and multimedia art installations, and has recently concentrated his focus on Virtual Reality experiences.
Also a fan of metal and avant-garde, SOFIA SARRI is a vocalist with a breadth of artistic vision and talent that frees her from any kind of genre-imposed shackles. Having recorded with artists associated with free jazz, improvisation and polyphonic choirs, her 2017 solo album “Euphoria” allowed her to fully utilise her wide-ranging, unearthly, vocals that move with ease from graceful fragility, to wild, and powerful abandon.
A video by CHIOREANU for the track “Thanatoguards” from “Afterlife Romance” , his album with SOFIA SARRI’s album can be seen at https://youtu.be/xT6dwkIyScc
At the end of last year HELHEIM announced the completion of their new album and teased fans with the statement that this was “by far the most intriguing album we’ve done thus far. Expect the unexpected!”. And today the unexpected has arrived, with Dark Essence Records revealing not just the details of HELHEIM’s tenth full-length album, but also the title track “Rignir”, as well details of the band’s first full European tour in several years.
The single is unmistakably HELHEIM, and yet it’s quite different. Intrigued? You can listen for yourself as it is available to download or stream at https://darkessencerecords.lnk.to/Rignir
For well over two decades HELHEIM have represented their Norse heritage through their music and their lyrics, with an authenticity and an integrity that is frequently diluted within the so-called “Viking” genres. With “Rignir”, the band again turned to their heritage when writing the poems that form the lyrics for the album, drawing inspiration from the ljóðaháttr, an Old Norse alliterative verse form used largely in the Eddas.
As to the actual subject matter of “Rignir”, which translated means Rain, HELHEIM explain:
This time around we have been very inspired by the local weather of Bergen. The autumn and winter seasons can summon the darkest of feelings within oneself, and this backdrop served as the fertilizer that would germinate the seeds of our lyrical ideas. Exploring the darkness of nature as something that can be seen, as well as sensed, it became a canvas where the pen drew words that rose from the depths of solemnity and alienation. Although each track depicts an ever growing intensity of suffering and loss, there’s still a dialogue on how to maintain some sort of sanity or inner peace.
Let the rain fall heavily upon you.
Once again HELHEIM have recorded the album at the Conclave & Earshot Studios in Bergen, calling on the services of Bjornar E. Nilsen (VULTURE INDUSTRIES, BLACK HOLE GENERATOR) to mix and produce “Rignir” alongside the band, and Herbrand Larsen (ENSLAVED) to handle the mastering.
With a guest appearance by Ole André Farstad playing Lap Steel Guitar on the track “Ísuð”, and with artwork by H’grimnir, tracklisting for “Rignir” is as follows:
“Rignir” is due to hit the streets on the 26 April, and will be available in CD, Blue Vinyl (limited to 500 copies), and Digital formats, and can now be pre-ordered from:
HELHEIM are set to appear at the Dark Easter Metal meeting in Munich on the 24th April, and will join VULTURE INDUSTRIES and Dark Essence Records label-mates MADDER MORTEM for the nine-date “Strange Rain” European tour. Tour routing and other confirmed shows as follows:
Apr 12 Kvarteret , Bergen, NO Apr 24 Dark Easter Metal Meeting , Münich, DE (Helheim only) Apr 25 Quantic Club , Bucharest, RO Apr 26 Flying Circus , Cluj Napoca, RO APR 27 TBC, Budapest, HU APR 28 Nova Chmelnice , Prague, CZ APR 29 Backstage, Paris, FR MAY 01 The Underworld , London, UK MAY 03 Konfus, Esbjerg, DK MAY 04 Skullcrusher, Dresden, DE
The official video of the track “Dualitet og Ulver” from HELHEIM’s ”Heiðindómr ok mótgangr” album, which features a guest appearance from TAAKE’s Hoest, can be seen at http://youtu.be/P_fw_nsSHeA
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