Dargaard all music name. With Tharen composing the music and Elisabeth writing the vocal melodies, the band recorded their debut album Eternity Rites in October 1998 in the Hoernix Studios. It was released through Napalm Records, who Tharen was already involved with due to his previous bands. This is the reason the band released no demo as the record deal was already signed with Tharen. The release was highly acclaimed by fans of metal and darkwave alike. As one reviewer put it - "Dargaard's 'Eternity rites' is a climactic fairytale full of medieval/folk themes beautifully composed and perfectly performed. Majestic, frequently aggressively dark, but more often melancholic atmosphere makes for a thought-provoking listening experience." The band would return to the studio in August to create their second album.
In Nomine Aeternitatis was the band's next record. Continuing the Dargaard formula, the band created another work of dark melody, the release was considered by fans to be a true milestone of innovate darkwave music. Released on the 3rd of June 2000 through Napalm Records, it again received great praise. The band continued on their musical journey, releasing Dissolution of Eternity in June 2001, and their latest work Rise and Fall in March 2004. Tharen himself describes the music as "songs [that] radiate a kind of beauty, but on the other side we always tried to make our music dark and mighty, the same goes to the lyrics. It's about my very own realm, and this realm consists of dark forces, magic and mysticism and even darkness itself that has its own kind of beauty." Tharen names his influences as many, mainly from feelings gathered from reading. Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth is a named influence along with the Mysterious Realms series of books. Tharen also said that his music wasn't directly influenced by any other darkwave bands. The lyrics, a mixture of ancient cultures, myths and mysticism and an important part in Dargaard style, are generally inspired from Tharen's "dreams and "visions" of other realms and dimensions".
Dargaard remain active in the musical scene, though there has been no news about future releases yet. Tharen has said personally that the band will never tour or play live, due to his own personal commitments. The band has a solid fanbase that often join Tharen for chats on their official forum.
Maybe it was worth writing about this group in the post in the "Gothic", however, I would have attributed this band to a completely independent genre, although the masses is certainly not the case. When I first tried to describe them - it was really hard. Even within a single song album seemed noticeably different, even in the atmosphere, but that they were united, still wonder - what it is. If it happened, that someone of you familiar with the work of this group, please unsubscribe, very interested in your opinion, I am waiting.)Dark Angel
