Seelenblut was formed in 1998 by Andreas D. Barekas, resident of Volos, Greece. It was his first serious attempt to create dark ambient and experimental music, a genre he was interested in as a listener for many years. A couple of demos have been recorded during that period of time, by utilizing only some basic and primitive equipment. These demos assisted the project in its effort to define its particular sound and mode of expression. Out of these sessions emerged the first completed musical attempt of Seelenblut, “Angel’s Suicide”, which was released in 2000 by the greek industrial/dark ambient label CAPP. It was heavily influenced by projects such as Raison d’ Être, Brighter Death Now, Archon Satani and the general CMI dark ambient/experimental noise scene.
After the release of his debut, Seelenblut started almost immediately to record the material that turned out to be his second release, “Phosphorus”, named after the Greek eponym for Lucifer, the Morning Star. The recordings took place in July/August 2000. This release toyed with the experimental to a much greater extent than the first one, oscillating between dark ambient soundscapes and harsh industrial electronics. Both “Angel’s Suicide” and “Phosphorus” received very good reviews in scene magazines, such as Side Line and The Black (7/10 & 9/10) respectively.
In the coming years Seelenblut has been performing some live concerts in Athens Greece between his other occupations with music, and recorded a bulk of new material, none of which however became available as a release. Due to growing unpleasant conditions and his increasing personal dissatisfaction with his previous label he ceased collaboration with them and focused on musical experimentation, the cultivation of his skills as a composer and pianist and the recording of new material. At the same time his longtime occupation with western mysticism and occult practices became a much more important influence for the direction his music was taking. In 2003 Andreas participated in various local projects such as Lisa Toulouse (side-project with members of Decadence). In 2004 he recorded a full album with Schadenfreunde, and began recordings for the third Seelenblut album. The recordings for this yet untitled and unreleased album lasted until early 2008, and became a mirror that depicts his painful and liberating personal course through a process of alchemical self-transformation. Everything recorded during that time was intended as a means for the definition of a new point of focus in his life, and only during the summer of 2007 did this new artistic incarnation of Seelenblut become coherent in his mind. The result is a new Seelenblut album, some spare tracks that are intended for a new EP , and various experimentations with piano music, harsh noise electronics and guitar doom. The outcome of these trials is currently being catalogued and decided upon, and will probably be the starting point of some Seelenblut side-projects.
Seelenblut has also participated with a track in two OEC collective releases (“The Appeal of Discarded Orthodoxy: Tribute to David E. Williams” and “VA - OEC 100”), and collaborated with Val Denham in the track “Nosferatu”, in Denham’s album “Halved Man”.
“Sulla Terra” full lenght album printed in 51 copies in Autumn 2008. Now also available REMASTERED for free download with courtesy of DNA-Production.org
I am recording again. Currently working on a multi-part epos called ‘Hymne’. Very meditative drone, based on Indian ragas. You can sample the first two parts on the myspace: simply click below image.
Furthermore, on March 15, Norss will be performing live together with the almighty Kristus Kut at the Betontegel Festival in Groningen, the Netherlands. Expect an hour of unreligious improvised drone/trance/noise!
