ALLERSEELEN
SANGRE CAVALLUM

"Barco Do Vinho"

Ahnstern - 2006

CD

The release of "Barco Do Vinho" for Gerhard's label Ahnstern comes as the result of a long-term friendship and collaboration between Allerseelen and mysterious Portuguese folk champions Sangre Cavallum, shortly after the release of their excellent second album "Pátria Granítica". The leading theme of this split CD is the ancestral tradition of wine, with all its cultural, ritual and historical connections, as particularly felt in two European nations like Portugal and Austria. The digipack is adorned with beautiful pictures from the beginning of last century that illustrate several moments of the grape harvest.

Each of the two groups has four songs at disposal to communicate its personal vision of the topic: Allerseelen shows here his more "danceable" side, with particularly enjoyable tunes like "Zu Später Stunde", a sort of electro-wave in the vein of D.A.F. with additional folk samples, "Zauberblut", an elegant rhythm built around the sounds of different acoustic instruments, and the darker, martial "In Vino Veritas". Sangre Cavallum stress again their mastery in evoking eerie atmospheres and filling the listener's imagination with blurry pictures of mysterious and ancient places. Gerhard takes part to "Wein, Blut Der Erde", that sounds like forgotten sacred wine rituals in the deepest corners of the woods of Callaecia, and to final "Weinwalzer", a very nice electronic and a bit drunk walzer. "Cântaros D'Euforia" is another beautiful example of the Portuguese group's delicate and personal approach to traditional folk sounds, while "Rabello" is made of two parts: the first is a sort of melancholic ambient music, that combines background noises produced by wine workers and barrels with strings, the second part is a thrashing masterpiece of epic ritual folk.

Either you are a wine drinker or not, "Barco Do Vinho" is a fascinating work that takes us back in time to the very roots of our Tradition, reminding us once again of its value and the necessity to fight for it. Moreover, the CD features some of the best songs composed by Sangre Cavallum to the present, and a different, intriguing side of Allerseelen's sound. Recommended!

- Simon V.

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