Picture Palace music – Symphony for vampires

3 reviews for Picture Palace music – Symphony for vampires

1. 

   Sylvain Lupari / Guts of Darkness – 2022-11-22

   For its 2nd opus, Picture Palace Music (TDs Thorsten Quaeschning band), pursues his musical exploration of the underground world of German expressionism cinema. After the work of Robert Wiene (Das Cabinet of Dr. Caligari), Thorsten Quaeschning is now inspired by the vampiric work of Friedrich Wilhelm; Nosferatu the Vampire (Nosferatu, eine Symphony of Grauens). Electronic symphony or electronic opera, PPM offers 66 minutes of well structured music where breaths of the blood suckers hoot in a musical fauna which combine as well contemporary EM, Techno and symphonic rock on melodious structures where nostalgia flatters an eclectic strength.

   Soft felted percussions open Array of Fadin Flowers. The rhythm is light. A soft and sensual Techno which swirls delicately, becoming much heavier with fine hatched riffs and a romantic guitar which spreads its notes in loops on strata of a synth filled of eerie vocalizes. After a sparkling intro, Knock Knock bursts on good percussions, freeing a heavy atmosphere on a throbbing tempo with a good pulsating bass which opens the path to an aggressive guitar. A melodiously heavy track where the memotron combines vocal orchestrations and harmonies. Alucard looks like a dialogue between mythical presences on a tempo fractured by several rolls of drums and a guitar harmoniously celestial that makes the charm all along this PPM 2nd opus. Mental Undead, just like Celebrating fears Part IV, follows a dark hysterico-psychedelic corridor which leads to the very beautiful and melancholic Waving Goodbye, Waving Waving. A superb track of an apocalyptic softness which really points out vampiric odes, as well as on Sleep well, Elisabeth and Yersenia Sea; ambient titles which seem to get out from Nosferatus hypnotic mists and where the guitars howl distress to feel ones blood run cold. Liliths Cradlesong is a symphony for piano filled of chthonian atmosphere. It is a little long, without rhythm and life a bit as if Nosferatu doze of its last meal. From astral ambient that haunts our ears, Demeter-Morph and Scholomance Trance light fires of rhythms with good percussions, good guitars and hatched twists which embers in a superb orchestration. Heavy tracks which are inserted between mephistophelic nebulositys and lighter tracks like Vlad, Anton, Ruediger, Ligeias Wake thus The End of the End of Everything which sails between synth pop and techno, whereas Lucy and the Shy Diabolos is a good heavy Techno.

   Thorsten Quaeschning continues to amaze. He has a very poetic musical vision which fills its imaginations as well as we perceive it. Symphony For Vampires is a superb album of a contemporary music which flees the stereotypes to charm, astonish and touch.

   2010. Sylvain Lupari / Guts of Darkness

2. 

   Phil Derby / Electroambient Space – 2022-11-22

   Known for his recent participation with Tangerine Dream, Thorsten Quaeschning is carving out his own unique niche in EM with his music inspired by silent films, this being his second such outing, this time based on Nosferatu”.

   Quaeschning presents a fully developed thematic work with an ensemble cast

3. 

   Cyaron – 2022-11-22

   I still think Symphony for Vampires is really great. Array of Fadin’ Flowers and Sleep Well, Elisabeth are really smooth and very beautiful, Alucard and Demeter are really good at what they do, Scholomance Trance rocks, Yersenia Sea is really dark and atmospheric (which I love), and the last track is a great rock song on its own.

   Vampires may be my favorite release of 2008.

   2010. Cyaron