''Like a Corpse Standing in Desperation'' is the title of a career-spanning rarities

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

darkwave Dark wave (also typeset as darkwave) is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as be ...

band

Sopor Aeternus & the Ensemble of Shadows Sopor Aeternus & the Ensemble of Shadows (Latin: ''sopor aeternus'' "eternal slumber"; also referred to or stylized as Sopor Aeternus or Sopor) is a darkwave musical project based in Frankfurt, founded in 1989 by a multidiciplinary artist who us ...

that was released in 2005. The recordings span fifteen years of "original demos, rarities & documented failures." Re-issued for the first time are the out-of-print EP ''

Ehjeh Ascher Ehjeh ''Ehjeh Ascher Ehjeh'' (Hebrew: אהיה אשר אהיה; "I am that I am") is the first EP by Sopor Aeternus & the Ensemble of Shadows, and was released in 1995 as a companion to the album '' Todeswunsch - Sous le soleil de Saturne''. Only 3,000 ...

'' and remix album ''

Voyager - The Jugglers of Jusa Voyager may refer to: Computing and communications * LG Voyager, a mobile phone model manufactured by LG Electronics * NCR Voyager, a computer platform produced by NCR Corporation * Voyager (computer worm), a computer worm affecting Oracle da ...

'', along with the never before heard demo tape '' Es reiten die Toten so schnell...'' and the extensively bootlegged ''

Flowers in Formaldehyde ''Flowers in Formaldehyde'' is the second EP by darkwave band Sopor Aeternus & the Ensemble of Shadows, and was released in 2004 as a companion to the album '' La Chambre D'Echo - Where the Dead Birds sing''. Only 2,000 CDs and 700 LPs were pres ...

''.

Overview

''Like a Corpse...'' was created in response to the high prices fans would have to pay on

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...

for bootlegged copies of out of print

EPs EPS, EPs or Eps may refer to: Commerce and finance * Earnings per share * Electronic Payment Services, in Hong Kong, Macau, and Shenzhen, China * Express Payment System, in the Philippines Education * Edmonton Public Schools, in Edmonton, Al ...

and albums. John A. Rivers, who personally oversaw the remastering of the first six Sopor Aeternus albums, as well as the two to follow (2003's '' "Es reiten die Toten so schnell" (or: the Vampyre sucking at his own Vein)'' and 2004's '' "La Chambre D'Echo" - Where the dead Birds sing'') supervised and remastered the contents of this box set. The set also included the concurrently released single, '' "The Goat" / "The Bells have stopped ringing"''. Barring the aforementioned single and demo tape, four previously unreleased songs were included: "White Body", "Watch your Step", "As Fire kissed the Echo Twins" and "The Widow's Dream"; the last of which is based on the

Rozz Williams Rozz Williams (born Roger Alan Painter; November 6, 1963 – April 1, 1998) was an American singer and songwriter known for his work with the bands Christian Death, Shadow Project (with musician Eva O), and the industrial project Premature Ejac ...

song "A Widow's Dream". "White Body" is sourced from one of the two still-unreleased demo tapes by Sopor Aeternus. The box set contains three CDs, packaged in their own hardcover booklet; the book also includes liner notes by

Anna-Varney Cantodea Sopor Aeternus & the Ensemble of Shadows (Latin: ''sopor aeternus'' "eternal slumber"; also referred to or stylized as Sopor Aeternus or Sopor) is a darkwave musical project based in Frankfurt, founded in 1989 by a multidiciplinary artist who us ...

herself, as well as "the only interview/publication that I have kept over the years." Also included is a working facsimile of the original

cassette tape The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens ...

for '' Es reiten die Toten so schnell...'', complete with both original and re-packaged artwork (on both sides); two

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

s (one in

NTSC The first American standard for analog television broadcast was developed by National Television System Committee (NTSC)National Television System Committee (1951–1953), Report and Reports of Panel No. 11, 11-A, 12–19, with Some supplement ...

format, the other in PAL) containing five Sopor videos; a T-shirt, a poster, a sticker, patches, buttons, a decorative attachment for a funeral wreath and a signed and numbered certificate of authenticity. Of interest to some listeners are the two different mixes of the demo tape material. The demo appears on the first disc of the collection in a remastered format, removing tape hiss but adding heavy reverb effects; the cassette included in the set contains the songs as originally mixed. The songs from ''Jekura - Deep the Eternal Forest'' and ''Ehjeh Ascher Ehjeh'' were also remastered in a similar fashion. Also of note are the two versions of the video for "Deep the eternal Forest"; one, with

in black robes, is found on the NTSC DVD; while the other, with Cantodea in white robes, is found on the PAL DVD. The menus of each disc are different as well.

Track listing

Tracks 1-8 comprise the demo cassette '' Es reiten die Toten so schnell...''. Tracks 10-12 and 14 are taken from the compilation '' Jekura - Deep the Eternal Forest''. Tracks 15-20 form the complete ''

'' EP. Tracks 1-12 form the ''Voyager'' album proper. Tracks 13-15 are bonus tracks, with the latter two forming the '' Goat / The Bells have stopped ringing'' single.

Additional material

Personnel

''Es reiten die Toten so schnell...'' * Varney: vocals and instruments * Holger: instruments ''Ehjeh Ascher Ehjeh, Jekura - Deep the Eternal Forest'' and all outtakes * Varney: All vocals, instruments and programming ''"Voyager - The Jugglers of Jusa"'' * Una Fallada:

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

* Matthias Eder:

Cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

* Gerrit Fischer:

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

* Constanze Spengler:

Lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

: Vocals, all other instruments and programming ''Flowers in Formaldehyde'' * Susannah Simmons:

* Elizabeth Tollington:

* Miriam Hughes:

Flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

* Tonia Price:

Clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

* Andrew Pettitt:

Oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

* Doreena Gor:

Bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

* Tim Barber: Trumpet * Julian Turner:

Trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

* Anthony Bartley: Tuba * Paul Brook:

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

: Vocals, all other instruments and programming {{DEFAULTSORT:Like A Corpse Standing In Desperation Sopor Aeternus and The Ensemble of Shadows albums 2005 compilation albums