Celebrated neo-classical act Dark Sanctuary formed in February 1996 in Paris, France, with the initial line-up of Arkdae on keyboards & Marquise Ermia on vocals. Their official debut release followed soon after, in 1997, with the ‘Funeral Cry’ MCD. The band later added more members, including a violinist, at which point Dark Sanctuary recorded their debut opus, leading to a string of revered albums establishing the band as a leading light of the dark atmospheric genre into the new millennium.
Now marking 20 years since its original release, for this, their fifth album, Dark Sanctuary began work on a larger-scale project called ‘Exaudi Vocem Meam’; a conceptual album which was ultimately to be divided into 2 parts. The album was recorded over the summer of 2005 at E-Studio in Germany, with part one released later that same year.
As is consistent with the band’s past & subsequent catalogue of work, Dark Sanctuary creates dark & emotional ambient soundscapes in the vein of Dead Can Dance, with female vocals backed up by strings, piano & a broad array of instrumentation.
‘Exaudi Vocem Mean Part I’ also notably features a guest appearance from Theodor Schwadorf of The Vision Bleak on the track ‘Dein Kalter Stein’.
