Elend is a

dark ambient Dark ambient (referred to as ambient industrial especially in the 1980s) is a genre of post-industrial musicReed, Alexander: ''Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music'', Oxford University Press, 2013, , p. 190 that features an ominous, ...

/ neoclassical band formed in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1993 by composers and multi-instrumentalists Iskandar Hasnawi of France and Renaud Tschirner of Austria. The band's name is

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

for "misery." Their music can be described as a combination of

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is Western art music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st-century classical music, 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 Modernism (music), post-tonal music after the death of ...

and gothic.

Stylistic overview

Early Elend albums utilized samplers and synthesizers to create a dense and horrifying orchestral sound. In their last three albums for the ''Winds Cycle'', Elend's sound was broadened; they did now rely almost entirely on acoustic instruments and

chamber orchestra Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

s instead of synthesizers, giving them a more full and natural sound. They did also include

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

and industrial elements in some of their pieces. Elend's sound tended toward the aggressive, containing harsh dissonance,

screaming A scream is a loud/hard speech production, vocalization in which air is passed through the vocal cords with greater force than is used in regular or close-distance vocalisation. This can be performed by any creature possessing lungs, including h ...

and growled vocals in a manner associated with certain types of

. Vocalists, spoken-word passages and occasional rock-like song structures lend the music elements from

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ar ...

and

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

. Though Elend's music is not any form of

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

, Elend's members are associated with numerous metal acts and the metal record label

Holy Records Holy Records is a French metal label run by Misanthrope frontman Phillipe De L'Argilière. Aside from Misanthrope itself, the label has not signed many French bands, but also corresponds with several Greek bands. History Holy Records was founde ...

, and their harsh sound has led to Elend's music being embraced by a metal-listening audience. The ''Winds Cycle'' was originally intended to consist of five albums, however it was changed to a trilogy prior to the release of '' A World in Their Screams''. In an interview with a French magazine posted in June 2007 on their website, Iskander Hasnawi indicated that the costs and difficulties of recording the orchestral music associated with Elend have made it impossible to continue with the Elend project. Both composers will be continuing with personal projects, including L'Ensemble Orphique. In January 2019, a message was posted on the Elend Facebook page promising new music in 2019-2020.

Members

2007 : Final full member listing

*Alexandre Iskandar Hasnaoui: various instruments (1993—present) *Renaud Tschirner: various instruments (1993—present) *Sébastien Roland: keyboards, programming, engineering (1997—present) *David Kempf:

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

(2000—present) *Esteri Rémond: soprano vocals (2003—present) *Laura Angelmayer: soprano vocals *Shinji Chihara: violin, viola *Klaus Amann: trumpet, horn, trombone *Simon Eberl - industrial landscapes and noises

Past member listing

*Nathalie Barbary:

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

vocals (1995—2003) *Eve-Gabrielle Siskind: soprano vocals (1994—1995)

Discography

Albums

# Officium Tenebrarum ## ''

Leçons de Ténèbres Leçons de ténèbres ( 'lessons of darkness'; sometimes spelled Leçons des ténèbres) is a genre of French Baroque music which developed from the polyphonic lamentations settings for the tenebrae service of Renaissance composers such as Sermi ...

'' (

, 1994) ## '' Les Ténèbres du Dehors'' (

, 1996, reissued 2001 with a bonus track) ## '' The Umbersun'' (

Music for Nations Music for Nations (MFN) is a British independent record label focusing mainly on rock and metal. Originally a subsidiary of Zomba Records, which was a division of BMG, the label was closed in 2004 and later revived in 2015 by Sony Music Ente ...

, 1998) #Winds Cycle ## '' Winds Devouring Men'' (

Prophecy Productions Prophecy Productions is an international record label, founded in Germany by Martin Koller in 1996. It proclaims promoting "transcendental ..captivating music".

, 2003) ## '' Sunwar the Dead'' (

Prophecy Productions Prophecy Productions is an international record label, founded in Germany by Martin Koller in 1996. It proclaims promoting "transcendental ..captivating music".

, 2004) ## '' A World in Their Screams'' (April 23, 2007)

Other

# '' Weeping Nights'' (

, 1997)

References

External links

* *
Elend interview, avantgarde-metal.com 2008
{{Authority control Neoclassical dark wave musical groups Holy Records artists