Elend is a dark ambient/ neoclassical band formed in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

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 (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

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

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...

and

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

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 instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numbe ...

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 semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

and

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

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

screaming A scream is a loud 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 human ...

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 art ...

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 a ...

. Though Elend's music is not any form of

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

, 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. Current and former artists Source ...

, 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 Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, programming, engineering (1997—present) *David Kempf:

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 ...

(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 female 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 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

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 Serm ...

'' (

, 1994) ## ''

Les Ténèbres du Dehors ''Les Ténèbres du Dehors'' is an album by neoclassical band Elend. It is the second in the ''Officium Tenebrarum'' trilogy. The album was remastered and re-released in April 2001 with a bonus track called ''Birds of Dawn'' (originally on a ...

'' (

, 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. It was a subsidiary of the larger label distributor Zomba Records, which was a division of BMG and later Sony Music Entertainment. Launched in 1 ...

, 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 ''Sunwar the Dead'' is an album by neoclassical band Elend. It is the second album in the ''Winds Cycle''. Track listing #"Chaomphalos" — 4:24 #"Ardour" — 5:10 #"Sunwar the Dead" — 4:31 #"Ares in Their Eyes" — 6:02 #"The Hemlock Sea" � ...

'' (

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