Samsas Traum
Encyclopedia
Samsas Traum is a band
from Germany
fronted by Alexander Kaschte now based in Austria
. Their music consists of elements of Symphonic metal
, Neue Deutsche Härte
and Cantastoria
. The name is derived from the 1915 novel The Metamorphosis
's character Gregor Samsa by Franz Kafka
.
when Kaschte released his first solo tape. Three years later the solo project became a group of three, and their official debut Die Liebe Gottes - Eine märchenhafte Black Metal Operette (The Love of God - A fairy tale
-like black metal
Operetta
) divided the scene:
Some people said that ST was the best newcomer of the year, other people rather started to hate them, at least also because of some provocative statements by Alexander Kaschte. The follow-up appeared in 2000 with Oh Luna mein (O, Luna mine); a musically matured and varied album of more polished arrangements, balanced instrumentation and beautiful choir
-parts. In this time Alexander went on to create his darker alter-ego Weena Morloch
, which was more noise music based, and included samples from horror movies
. Many more Samsas Traum albums have been released each year, with more Industrial
/Classical
arrangements. The two new albums which have been released in November 2007 were also heading new and old ways: While the first Album Heiliges Herz - Das Schwert Deiner Sonne was most likely a Black Metal-Epos, Wenn schwarzer Regen was an acoustic
and very personal one.
The limited first edition of Heiliges Herz came in a special book format and a slipcase with silver foil embossing. The 44 booklet pages were bound in linen and made of a special paper with a lacquer print and contained lyrics, liner notes, many photos illustrations exclusively done for the album. Additionally there was a bonus CD which contained remixes by In Strict Confidence
, L'Âme Immortelle
, Pain, P·A·L
, Wumpscut and unreleased songs and material from Alexander Kaschte's archives.
many songs including:
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
fronted by Alexander Kaschte now based in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. Their music consists of elements of Symphonic metal
Symphonic metal
Symphonic metal is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that are either borrowed from classical music or, as with progressive rock music, create a style reminiscent of it, e.g...
, Neue Deutsche Härte
Neue Deutsche Härte
Neue Deutsche Härte is a genre of industrial metal. The term was invented by the German music press after the release of the debut album Herzeleid by Rammstein....
and Cantastoria
Cantastoria
Cantastoria comes from Italian for "sung story" or "singing history" and is known by many other names around the world. It is a theatrical form where a performer tells or sings a story while gesturing to a series of images...
. The name is derived from the 1915 novel The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis is a novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915. It is often cited as one of the seminal works of short fiction of the 20th century and is widely studied in colleges and universities across the western world...
's character Gregor Samsa by Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
.
Biography
Samsas Traum started in 19961996 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1996.-January:* January – At the trial of two American teenagers, Nicholaus McDonald and Brian Bassett, for the murder of Bassett's parents and young brother, defense lawyers attempt to lay the blame for the murders on the fact...
when Kaschte released his first solo tape. Three years later the solo project became a group of three, and their official debut Die Liebe Gottes - Eine märchenhafte Black Metal Operette (The Love of God - A fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
-like 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....
Operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
) divided the scene:
Some people said that ST was the best newcomer of the year, other people rather started to hate them, at least also because of some provocative statements by Alexander Kaschte. The follow-up appeared in 2000 with Oh Luna mein (O, Luna mine); a musically matured and varied album of more polished arrangements, balanced instrumentation and beautiful choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
-parts. In this time Alexander went on to create his darker alter-ego Weena Morloch
Weena Morloch
Weena Morloch is an electronic music band fronted by Samsas Traum frontman Alexander Kaschte. The name Weena Morloch came from the H.G. Wells book The Time Machine Weena Morloch is an electronic music band fronted by Samsas Traum frontman Alexander Kaschte. The name Weena Morloch came from the H.G....
, which was more noise music based, and included samples from horror movies
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
. Many more Samsas Traum albums have been released each year, with more Industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
/Classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
arrangements. The two new albums which have been released in November 2007 were also heading new and old ways: While the first Album Heiliges Herz - Das Schwert Deiner Sonne was most likely a Black Metal-Epos, Wenn schwarzer Regen was an acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
and very personal one.
The limited first edition of Heiliges Herz came in a special book format and a slipcase with silver foil embossing. The 44 booklet pages were bound in linen and made of a special paper with a lacquer print and contained lyrics, liner notes, many photos illustrations exclusively done for the album. Additionally there was a bonus CD which contained remixes by In Strict Confidence
In Strict Confidence
In Strict Confidence is a German electro-industrial band. Formed in 1989/1990, they were known as Seal of Secrecy until 1992. In Strict Confidence has been signed to several record labels, including Metropolis Records and WTII Records.-History:...
, L'Âme Immortelle
L'Âme Immortelle
L' Âme Immortelle is an Austrian band. Many of L'Âme Immortelle's songs feature melancholy or lovelorn lyrics in German or English, and juxtaposed harsh male and emotional female vocals...
, Pain, P·A·L
P·A·L
P·A·L is a German musical project whose style ranges from power noise to ambient. It is a long-time act on Germany’s Hymen Records and Ant-Zen record labels.-Members and history:...
, Wumpscut and unreleased songs and material from Alexander Kaschte's archives.
Demos
- 1996: Kazanian "Die Drei Mütter" / Samsas Traum "Nostalgische Atavismen" (Demo tape)
- 1996: Homerecordings (Second Demo)
- 1998: Elite (Third Demo)
- 1998: Einblick in ein elitäres Debüt-Album (Fourth Demo)
- 1999: Wiederveröffentlichung von Kazanian "Die Drei Mütter" / Samsas Traum "Nostalgische Atavismen" (Re-release)
Albums
- 1999: Die Liebe Gottes - Eine märchenhafte Black Metal Operette (Trinity)
- 2000: Oh Luna Mein (Trisol)
- 2001: Utopia (Trisol)
- 2003: Tineoidea oder: Die Folgen einer Nacht - Eine Gothic-Oper in Blut-Moll (Trisol; includes Bonus-CD)
- 2004: a.Ura und das Schnecken.Haus (Trisol; DoCD)
- 2005: re-releases of "Die Liebe Gottes", "Oh Luna Mein", "Utopia" and "Tineoidea" (DoCDs)
- 2007: Heiliges Herz - Das Schwert Deiner Sonne (Trisol; DoCD)
- 2007: Wenn schwarzer Regen (Trisol; DoCD)
- 2009: 13 Jahre lang dagegen - Anti bis zum Tod (Trisol)
- 2010: Vernunft ist nichts - Gefühl ist alles (Trisol; 3CD+DVD)
- 2011: Anleitung zum Totsein (Trisol; DoCD)
Singles
- 2005: Einer gegen Alle (Trisol; Promo-Single)
- 2007: Heiliges Herz (Trisol, Promo-Single)
Compilations
- 2001: Nostalgia (Trisol; old Album with Demo Material)
- 2003: Arachnoidea oder: Von Babalon, Scheiterhaufen und Zerstörungswut - Eine Apokalypse in 23 Tagen (Trisol; Remix Album of "Tineoidea" with Bonus CD)
Cover versions
The band has coveredCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
many songs including:
- Alice by The Sisters of MercyThe Sisters of MercyThe Sisters of Mercy are an English rock band that formed in 1980. After achieving early underground fame in UK, the band had their commercial breakthrough in mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasing new recorded output in protest against their record company...
- Gefallen by L'Âme ImmortelleL'Âme ImmortelleL' Âme Immortelle is an Austrian band. Many of L'Âme Immortelle's songs feature melancholy or lovelorn lyrics in German or English, and juxtaposed harsh male and emotional female vocals...
- Hier kommt AlexHier kommt Alex"Hier kommt Alex" is a song by German punk band Die Toten Hosen. It is the first single and the first track from the album Ein kleines bisschen Horrorschau. The song in concept introduces Alex, who is the central character on the concept album...
by Die Toten HosenDie Toten HosenDie Toten Hosen is a German punk band from Düsseldorf. They have enjoyed decades-long mass appeal in Germany.The band's name literally means "The Dead Pants" in English, although the phrase "tote Hose" is a German expression meaning "nothing going on" or "boring"... - Schwarz by ASPASP (band)ASP is a German rock band from Frankfurt am Main formed in 1999. The name is basically identical with the pseudonym of the Band's leader Asp and to be pronounced as one word.-Biography:...
- Terra Titanic by Peter SchillingPeter SchillingPeter Schilling is a German synthpop musician whose songs often feature science-fiction themes...