Heimdallr webzine / Switzerland, Oct. 2002 (Nathalie F.)

"Leaving aside the majestic landscapes of Northern Europe explored in their first album "Nordland", Apoptose come back with an album built around the ritual of the Calenda festivities. Calenda, a small village of the Spanish province of Teuel, sees every year, during the "Holy Week" of Easter, its streets invaded by the villagers dressed in long dark robes, who will pound their drums night and day. The instruments then resound for hours and the village only beats to the more and more hypnotic rhythm of these drums... This ritual then becomes a real trial for the players who show through their suffering their devotion. From bruised hands, blood flows over their instruments, to mingle with the dried blood of the past years...

Witness of this ritual in 1998 and touched in their senses by this experience, Apoptose came back with hours of sound recordings. Adding an orchestration in perfect symbiosis with the ritual atmosphere, Apoptose offer with "Blutopfer" ("Blood Sacrifice"), a record of great quality.

The album begins with a quiet ritual sounding melody before leaving room to a sonic wave lead high and strong by the drums.
From the start, the bet is won by the omnipresent attractive power of the melody and the authentic drum sounds… The rhythm, that quickly becomes hypnotic, let's foresee the state of trance into which the players - and the listeners - will be plunged. At no moment does the album loose this primary intensity. The listener is transported, compelled to follow the rhythm imposed by the drums. And if the rhythm slows down, allowing one to perceive the distant voices of children, it is only to let the drums explode again and resume their march...
A unique experience for the listener...

As for the superb artwork, the work of Ingo Lindmeier, respectful of the purple colour of the Calenda ritual in its slightest details (including the colour of the CD), it soberly magnifies the whole project.

The tribute that Apoptose wanted to pay to this impressive event is an overall success. The sound content, magnificently dominated by the authenticity of the recording source, is reinforced by long ambient passages. The constant concern to serve the ancestral rhythm of these drums is clearly perceptible and is probably what gives its strength to this work.

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