Better than the american version by far!
Kyle Boyd | Corvallis, Oregon United States | 03/05/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I'm a New Age DJ on a student radio station, and we got the american release of this album as a promo, and I immediately loved it. I played a song from it on my weekly show once a week for the whole term. I decided I wanted a copy of my own, but I happened to notice the "extra tracks" version from germany, and I went through the extra hassle and effort to get a hold of it. Imagine my surprise when the four "bonus" tracks turned out to be 4 of my favorite 6 songs on the album! The Chroral version of "Liberta" is better than the standard version in my opinion (I didn't care for the female vocals in english in the original) and the other three new tracks are all great as well, though "Fundamentum" is still my favorite.I'm not certain if the copy they're selling has it, but the import copy I got actually had a cover booklet with the lyrics in it. It also had descriptions of the songs in German, which while for most of us it isn't very helpful, it's at least easier to translate then latin at times. I've managed to figure out that "Fundamentum"'s lyrics refer to the myth of the brothers Romulus and Remus (the "founders" of Rome) and the killing of Remus by Romulus.If you've heard Lesiem and like it, it's definately worth it to get this album instead of the american release. There is another Germany-only release called "Chapter 2" which is also pretty good, but pretty hard to get in the States."
Out of this world!
Brianna Neal | USA | 10/01/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is the best chant fusion group to come along since Enigma! Gothic chant mingles with modern grooves, soundtrack-like orchestrations and occasional world music elements to produce a truly cinematic soundscape. It's easy to just slap a mindless beat down beneath some medieval sound-alike singing, and unfortunately it's been done a lot. But not by Lesiem. These compositions by Alex "'89" Wende are real music, with tradition in their structure, purpose to their variations, and power in their delivery. And the presentation is a true production, featuring eleven vocal soloists, a twelve-voice mail choir lead by Andreas Wiedernabb, and an assortment of electronic and acoustic instrumentalists including composer Alex Wende on keyboards. Dark, mysterious, sometimes soaring and sometimes solemn, this is not really music for dancing or meditation. It's music to exercise or work to, and to pay attention to, letting the vibes resonate within your body and the images play through your mind for one cool trip. Compare to the work of Enigma, which brought mainstream popularity to this sort of music in the 1990s. Each of the two groups has their own style--Lesiem's chorals are fuller, powerful, and more rhythmically matched to the instrumentals, while Enigma's chants float freely above the beat. But both are appealing, and the variety within the genre is welcome.
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Track Listings (16) - Disc #1