Hortus Animae
Encyclopedia
Hortus Animae was a progressive
black metal
band from Northern and Central Italy. They formed in 1997 in the town of Rimini (Romagna). After the release of their self produced debut The Melting Idols, they began an active live streak with bands like Lacuna Coil
, Ancient (band)
and Napalm Death
. Upon opening for the cult Norwegian black metal band Ancient in Padova (Italy), the band developed a friendship with Ancient drummer Grom, who soon after joined the band out of admiration for their work and made it his primary side-project. At this point the band began the recording process of their 2nd album and 1st official release 'Waltzing Mephisto' which had been years in the writing. The album was recorded at the well known Italian metal studios 'Fear'. Following the recording, the band signed deal with Greek label Black Lotus Records in October 2002 and subsequently with Sleaszy Rider Records (EMI) for their 3rd and most evolved concept-album 'The Blow Of Furious Winds' in May 2005.
Immediately following their now almost unfindable 1998 demo cassette 'An Abode For Spirit And Flesh', they quickly developed a wide and strong following in the underground and gained vast attention from the specialized press with almost no reviews hitting lower than the 'excellence' mark.
The band has since achieved a cult status within the extreme metal underground, partly due to their secretive live appearances and mainly due to their very unique and eclectic blend of styles & cover songs. Their music drew from 70s progressive rock, gothic, classical and ambient... All blended with their original form of death/black metal. They incorporated instruments such as piano, viola, violin, mandolin, synth and very diverse vocal styles into their music. This was rare and uncommon during those years. Drummer GROM's following with his other notable acts (Doomsword, Ancient...) is most likely another reason.
Hortus Animae is well known within the genre for their very unique and eclectic cover songs. The official debut 'Waltzing Mephisto' contained a cover of the black metal anthem 'Freezing Moon' (Mayhem) blended with Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells (The Exorcist)' and Italian 70's prog band Il Balletto Di Bronzo's 'Terzo Incontro', highlighting the band's inspiration with 70's dark progressive rock music. This song is still considered to this day as one of the most appreciated covers in the extreme metal underground.
Their following epic album 'The Blow Of Furious Winds' contained yet another 70's prog rock cover. A diverse and original mold of Queen's 'The Fairy Feller's Masterstroke' & 'Nevermore'.
Inbetween the 2 albums, the band appeared with another 'now cult' cover song on the Black Lotus Records' release 'The Lotus Eaters: Tribute to Dead Can Dance'. Hortus Animae recorded their metalized epic interpretation of 'Windfall' & 'Summoning Of The Muse' featuring a joint effort with gothic singer Liv Kristine (Theatre Of Tragedy, Leave's Eyes, Atrocity) on lead vocals.
Hortus Animae have been proclaimed 'best emerging band' and 'best Italian album of the year' in the polls of the top Italian magazine Metal Maniac in 2005.
The group disbanded on January 18, 2006.
They posted this message on their homepage of their website:
"Due to different motivations the band decided to split-up or, at least, to stay on-hold for some time.There are technical and personal reasons involved (the music business, hardships... life itself) which led us to take this decision. We faced many difficulties in the music industry, but we wish to thank and hail all the fans and people who bought our albums, visited our websites, came to our shows, wrote to us, believed in what we did or just listened to our music. We also want to thank the worldwide metal press for their support. We may return in the future, but for now we just don't know."
Years after their split they released a 10th anniversary commemorative boxset (sold out) called 'Funeral Nation: 10 years of Hortus Animae' through Sleaszy Rider Records (EMI distribution). The boxset contained various gadgets (t-shirt, mug, pin, etc.) as well as their 1st 2 official albums 'Waltzing Mephisto' (in an unreleased demo version) & 'The Blow Of Furious Winds' and a 'Making of...' DVD.
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
band from Northern and Central Italy. They formed in 1997 in the town of Rimini (Romagna). After the release of their self produced debut The Melting Idols, they began an active live streak with bands like Lacuna Coil
Lacuna Coil
Lacuna Coil is an Italian gothic metal band from Milan. Formed in 1994, the group has had two name changes since being previously known as Sleep of Right and Ethereal and was inspired by the combination of gothic imagery and music...
, Ancient (band)
Ancient (band)
Ancient is a Norwegian black metal band from Eidsvåg, Nesset, formed in 1992. The band has released six full-length albums released by Metal Blade Records and a variety of mini-albums, EPs and special releases. Ancient used to have the classic raw black metal sound, similar to Darkthrone's works...
and Napalm Death
Napalm Death
Napalm Death are a death metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent for most of the band's ...
. Upon opening for the cult Norwegian black metal band Ancient in Padova (Italy), the band developed a friendship with Ancient drummer Grom, who soon after joined the band out of admiration for their work and made it his primary side-project. At this point the band began the recording process of their 2nd album and 1st official release 'Waltzing Mephisto' which had been years in the writing. The album was recorded at the well known Italian metal studios 'Fear'. Following the recording, the band signed deal with Greek label Black Lotus Records in October 2002 and subsequently with Sleaszy Rider Records (EMI) for their 3rd and most evolved concept-album 'The Blow Of Furious Winds' in May 2005.
Immediately following their now almost unfindable 1998 demo cassette 'An Abode For Spirit And Flesh', they quickly developed a wide and strong following in the underground and gained vast attention from the specialized press with almost no reviews hitting lower than the 'excellence' mark.
The band has since achieved a cult status within the extreme metal underground, partly due to their secretive live appearances and mainly due to their very unique and eclectic blend of styles & cover songs. Their music drew from 70s progressive rock, gothic, classical and ambient... All blended with their original form of death/black metal. They incorporated instruments such as piano, viola, violin, mandolin, synth and very diverse vocal styles into their music. This was rare and uncommon during those years. Drummer GROM's following with his other notable acts (Doomsword, Ancient...) is most likely another reason.
Hortus Animae is well known within the genre for their very unique and eclectic cover songs. The official debut 'Waltzing Mephisto' contained a cover of the black metal anthem 'Freezing Moon' (Mayhem) blended with Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells (The Exorcist)' and Italian 70's prog band Il Balletto Di Bronzo's 'Terzo Incontro', highlighting the band's inspiration with 70's dark progressive rock music. This song is still considered to this day as one of the most appreciated covers in the extreme metal underground.
Their following epic album 'The Blow Of Furious Winds' contained yet another 70's prog rock cover. A diverse and original mold of Queen's 'The Fairy Feller's Masterstroke' & 'Nevermore'.
Inbetween the 2 albums, the band appeared with another 'now cult' cover song on the Black Lotus Records' release 'The Lotus Eaters: Tribute to Dead Can Dance'. Hortus Animae recorded their metalized epic interpretation of 'Windfall' & 'Summoning Of The Muse' featuring a joint effort with gothic singer Liv Kristine (Theatre Of Tragedy, Leave's Eyes, Atrocity) on lead vocals.
Hortus Animae have been proclaimed 'best emerging band' and 'best Italian album of the year' in the polls of the top Italian magazine Metal Maniac in 2005.
The group disbanded on January 18, 2006.
They posted this message on their homepage of their website:
"Due to different motivations the band decided to split-up or, at least, to stay on-hold for some time.There are technical and personal reasons involved (the music business, hardships... life itself) which led us to take this decision. We faced many difficulties in the music industry, but we wish to thank and hail all the fans and people who bought our albums, visited our websites, came to our shows, wrote to us, believed in what we did or just listened to our music. We also want to thank the worldwide metal press for their support. We may return in the future, but for now we just don't know."
Years after their split they released a 10th anniversary commemorative boxset (sold out) called 'Funeral Nation: 10 years of Hortus Animae' through Sleaszy Rider Records (EMI distribution). The boxset contained various gadgets (t-shirt, mug, pin, etc.) as well as their 1st 2 official albums 'Waltzing Mephisto' (in an unreleased demo version) & 'The Blow Of Furious Winds' and a 'Making of...' DVD.
Last lineup
- Martyr Lucifer - vocals (Space Mirrors, Opposite Sides)
- Hypnos - guitars
- Bless - keyboards
- GroM (Diego Meraviglia) - drums (ex-Ancient (Nor), ex-Doomsword, ex-Psychofagist, The K, Hate Profile)
- Amon 418 - guitars, synth (Hate Profile, Opposite Sides, ex-Baratro)
- Karnal - bass guitar (Carnality)
Former members
- Lorenzo Bartolini (1996–1999)
- Thomas Ghirardelli (1996–2001)
- Karnal (2000)
- Iarsa (2001)
- Vallo (2002)
- Arke (2002)
Discography
- An Abode for Spirit and Flesh (demo tape 1998)
- The Melting Idols (self produced CD, 2000)
- Waltzing Mephisto (Black Lotus RecordsBlack Lotus RecordsBlack Lotus Records was an independent record label based in Greece that specialized in metal. After licensing an amount of new artists, Black Lotus Records surprised the scene by suddenly filing for bankruptcy and all announced titles are on hold indefinitely....
CD, 2003) - Windfall Introducing Summoning of the Muse (CDs Promo 2004)
- The Blow of Furious Winds (Sleaszy Rider RecordsSleaszy Rider recordsSleaszy Rider Records is an independent record label which was founded in 1999 by Tolis G. Palantzas. The head office of the label is located in Greece. The label is mainly distributed in Europe by Sony Music/EMI...
/ EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, 2005) - Funeral Nation / 10 Years Of Hortus Animae (Sleaszy Rider Records, 2008)