On The Brink Of Infinity -- Various Artists -- Chthonic Streams 1999

Various Artists

On The Brink Of Infinity

"Behold, we arise with the dawn of time
From the grey and misty sea,
And with the dust we sink in the western ocean
From sleep we arise refurbished;
From death we arise reborn,
Herein do we bathe in sleep,
Sinking back into the primordial depths,
Returning to things forgotten before time was,
and the soul is renewed.
- Dion Fortune
[CD cover]

1. "Death's Head"
Howden/Wakeford
2. "Die Schwane Im Schilf"
Empyrium
3. "Illumination"
Arcane Art
4. "Come Diore Reciso"
Anima In Fiamme
5. "On Locust Winds"
Funerary Call
6. "Un Sablier De Cendres [T.T.Y.A.O.]"
Nothus Filius Mortis
7. "Death of 1978 Suit Armors: Dark and Impure"
Kerovnian
8. "Age Of The Homunculus"
Gruntsplatter
9. "Final Document"
15 Delights Of Dionysius
10. "Curse You And Your Domain Suite"
4th Sign Of The Apocalypse
11. "Out Of Chaos Stars Are Born"
Dream Into Dust
12. "This Tree Born Of Man's Affiction"
Backworld

    A moving and oddly beautiful compilation, The Brink Of Infinity is mainly in the darker sounds of neo-classical 'edge of the wedge' with a dash of modern midieval folk-ish styles. The bands use a range of organic instruments, piano, organ, strings, horns, guitars, and vocals/spoken word that could raise the hair on the back of your neck or give the youngsters nightmares. However, the music is not without electronic treatments to vocals and [probably] some synth work. The release is peaceful in the overall sense, yet takes on a brooding and spooky melodic flow with each band having its own separate directions of creativity.
    The releasing entities included on this release are Cold Spring [Kerovnian], Tursa [Howden/Wakeford], Prophecy Productions [Empyrium], Crowd Control Activities [Gruntsplatter], Order Of The Suffering Clown [4th Sign Of The Apocalypse], and releasing label Chthonic Streams [Dream Into Dust]. All other tracks I assume are either self-released or previously released/unreleased.
    The bands are about a 50-50 split from Europe, England [Howden/Wakeford, Kerovnian], Germany [Empyrium], Norway [Arcane Art], Italy [Anima In Fiame], Spain [Nothus Filius Mortis], and North America, [Funerary Call/Canada, Gruntsplatter, Dream Into Dust, 15 Delights Of Dionysius, 4th Sign Of The Apocalypse and Backworld/USA.] The names alone bring to mind a more esoteric, mysterious and dark nature, and such is the music!
    This release is an excellent means to get to know the dark neo-classical area in the current sub-cultural music scene. Highly recommended for the novice with this type of music, or the long term fan.