Hyperium Records was a German

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

specializing in darkwave, neoclassical,

ethereal Ethereal may refer to: * Ethereal (horse), a horse that won Australia's Caulfield Cup as well as Melbourne Cup in 2001 *Ethereal wave, or simply ethereal, a subgenre of dark wave music *Wireshark, formerly named Ethereal, a free and open-source pac ...

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 ...

, and ambient music, founded by Oliver Roesch (also known as "Oli" Roesch) and Oliver van Essenberg in 1991. Roesch died on August 1, 2002 in a motorcycle accident.

Releases

''Heavenly Voices'' compilations

Hyperium released a series of ''Heavenly Voices'' compilation series, which featured prominent use of female vocals in a neo-classical,

neofolk Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrumenta ...

, world music,

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop ...

style. "Heavenly Voices" has often been used as a genre term, particularly during the mid to late 1990s. Love Is Colder Than Death claim that the series was inspired by their music. The first few compilations featured music by many of the label's own artists, as well as guest appearance by other notable bands of the ethereal/gothic/darkwave scene including

Bel Canto Bel canto (Italian for "beautiful singing" or "beautiful song", )—with several similar constructions (''bellezze del canto'', ''bell'arte del canto'')—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing. The phrase was not associat ...

Faith & the Muse Faith and the Muse is an American rock band composed of Monica Richards and William Faith. Their music encompasses many genres, from folk music to dark wave, drawing on many sources and influences, notably Dead Can Dance. Richards is the primar ...

, Gitane Demone,

In The Nursery In the Nursery are an English neoclassical dark wave and martial industrial band, characterized by their cinematic sound. The duo has provided soundtracks to a variety of TV programmes and films, and is known for its rescoring of silent film ...

Miranda Sex Garden Miranda Sex Garden are an English music group from London. They were originally active from 1990 to 2000, reforming in 2022. Biography Formed in 1990, Katharine Blake (singer), Katharine Blake, Kelly McCusker and Jocelyn West were originally ...

Ordo Equitum Solis Ordo Equitum Solis (abbreviated OES) are an alternative music band consisting of French Leithana, pseudonym of Nathalie Herrera (vocals, keyboards, zither, percussions) and Italian Deraclamo, pseudonym of Paolo De Marco (vocals, guitar). The duo ...

and The Moon Seven Times. In 1997, American independent label

Cleopatra Records Cleopatra Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1992 by Brian Perera. The record label has since grown into a family of labels, including Hypnotic Records, Purple Pyramid Records, Dea ...

released a Hyperium licensed compilation called ''Heavenly Voices'' subtitled, "A collection of the finest female vocals in ethereal, darkwave & gothic".

Artists

The following are artists with releases on Hyperium Records: * !Bang Elektronika *

Attrition Attrition may refer to *Attrition warfare, the military strategy of wearing down the enemy by continual losses in personnel and material **War of Attrition, fought between Egypt and Israel from 1968 to 1970 **War of attrition (game), a model of agg ...

Autopsia Autopsia is a European art project dealing with music and visual production. Autopsia gathers authors of different professions in the realization of multimedia projects. Its art practice began in London in the late 1970s and continued during ...

* Calva y Nada *

Chandeen Chandeen ( ) is a musical project from Frankfurt am Main, founded in 1990 and popular in the darkwave scene in the first half of the 1990s. The band refers to its own style as "Electronic poetry".Manuela Orth · ''New Life'' Music magazine · Is ...

* Claire Voyant *

Clock DVA Clock DVA are a musical group from Sheffield, England, whose style has touched on industrial, post-punk, and EBM. They formed in 1978 by Adolphus "Adi" Newton and Steven "Judd" Turner. Along with contemporaries Heaven 17, Clock DVA's name wa ...

* Dark Orange *

Die Form Die Form is a French post-industrial and electronic band formed in 1977-78. The name 'Die Form' means '(the) form/shape' in German, like the Bauhaus diary, and is a play on the English homonym 'deform' and on the French homonym 'difforme' (defor ...

* Digital Factor *

Digital Poodle Digital Poodle was an electronic music, electro-industrial music, industrial/electronic body music, EBM band, based in Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was formed in 1986 and remained active until about 1995. Background Formed in 1986 by vo ...

* Eleven Shadows * Forthcoming Fire *

Jarboe Jarboe Devereaux, known mononymously as Jarboe (), is an American singer and musician who came to prominence as a member of the New York City experimental rock band Swans in 1985. Jarboe and Michael Gira, the founder of Swans, were the two consta ...

* The Wake *

Louisa John-Krol Louisa John-Krol is a Melbourne-based Australian artist of the romantic folk/ pop genre - described as 'romantic pop-ethereal faerie' music by the artist herself and others. She has released six albums to date, originally on the German label, Hyp ...

* Love Is Colder Than Death * Mellonta Tauta * Mynox Layh *

Regenerator Regenerator may refer to: * Regenerative heat exchanger, a type of heat exchanger * Regenerator (band), an independent record label set up in 2001 * Regenerator (''Resident Evil''), an enemy creature in the 2005 video game ''Resident Evil 4'' * ' ...

* Sleeping Dogs Wake * Still Patient? *

Stoa A stoa (; plural, stoas,"stoa", ''Oxford English Dictionary'', 2nd Ed., 1989 stoai, or stoae ), in ancient Greek architecture, is a covered walkway or portico, commonly for public use. Early stoas were open at the entrance with columns, usually ...

* Sweet William * The Tors of Dartmoor * Rise And fall of a Decade * Speaking Silence The following artists were co-released by Hyperium Records and

Projekt Records Projekt is a Portland, Oregon-based independent record label started by Sam Rosenthal in 1983. Projekt releases music in the styles of darkwave, ambient, shoegaze, gothic rock, ethereal, dream-pop, and dark cabaret. Projekt artists include S ...

: *

Black Tape for a Blue Girl Black Tape for a Blue Girl (often stylized as black tape for a blue girl) is an American dark wave band formed in 1986 by keyboardist/songwriter Sam Rosenthal, the founder of Projekt Records. Their music takes on elements of dark wave, ether ...

* Bleak * Eden *

Human Drama Human Drama is an American alternative rock band led by singer/songwriter Johnny Indovina, formed in 1985.Raggett, Ned "Human Drama Biography, Allmusic. Retrieved March 24, 2016 The band released six studio albums before splitting in 2005. They re ...

Love Spirals Downwards Love Spirals Downwards was an American, California-based band, that incorporated ethereal wave, dream pop, drum and bass and electronica. History Love Spirals Downwards was begun by multi-instrumentalist Ryan Lum and then-girlfriend Suzann ...

* Soul Whirling Somewhere

References

External links

Discogs page for Hyperium
{{Authority control German record labels Record labels established in 1991 Record labels disestablished in 2002 German independent record labels Electronic music record labels Goth record labels Ambient music record labels 1991 establishments in Germany