42 minutes, 31 seconds

Khvarena
The Spirit Rises

Can you apply the term "supergroup" to a collaboration of goth-ethno artists? And if you can, can you call it "gothno"? Why not? Let's call Khvarena, then, a gothno supergroup composed of members of Rajna and GOR. And the music is very similar to Rajna's, with GOR's Francesco Banchini taking over lead vocals on a few of the tracks. It's a soothing, pretty mix of Middle Eastern melodies and rhythms underpinning ethereal singing.

This wouldn't be the first time members of Rajna have gone off to join a side project that sounds...very much like Rajna. Am'Ganesha'n, a collaboration between an ex-Rajna musician and Les Secrets de Morphée, also traffics in a similar Middle East-by-way-of-Western-Europe sound.

It's a nice release for Projekt, especially given that it's an American label, which makes The Spirit Rises more easily available to the domestic market. And cheaper too, for which I'm always grateful. Because the weakness of the dollar, coupled with my weakness for European underground music, has produced weakness in my bank account.

Also today:

42:30 Cerebral Apoplexy, Cold Heart
42:29 Toroidh, The Final Testament
42:27 Ah Cama-Sotz, Murder Themes
42:27 Lycia, Empty Space
42:26 The Glimmer Room, Grey Mirrors
42:26 Hedningarna, Hedningarna
42:25 Clan of Xymox, Medusa
42:25 Various artists, Lonely Is an Eyesore