Uploaded September 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

---

Eighteenth studio album made by the italian Neofolk/Darkwave band Ataraxia and released together with a book and a letter in a limited edition version.

Tracklist:
00:00 Cobalt
05:22 Astimelusa (Key-Chimes Version)
10:51 Mirsilo
17:31 Fire In The Wood
22:32 Nossa Senhora Dos Anjos (Studio Version)
27:12 De Pourpre Et D'Argent (A Baroque Divertissement Version)
31:14 The Island Of Docteur Moreau

For some artists, a simple album may not be enough to tell about themselves and their art. Ataraxia with their latest effort perfectly exemplifies what I mean: despite having released in 2001 with a well-curated collection entitled "A Calliope", our champions of Music have given life to a complex project that manages to tell us about their artistic journey in an absolutely exhaustive manner. In fact, "Arcana Eco" – published by the italian Ark Records – is not a collection nor even the classic live anthology: "Arcana Eco" is a book with a CD of unreleased pieces, three current reinterpretations of old songs and four new pearls which will delight the listener, either for the beauty of the pieces themselves, or because reading such a well-crafted book with such a background is truly a sublime pleasure. More than a simple biography accompanied by photos, "Arcana Eco" is a real travel diary through which we find interviews, stories about the genesis of each single album, the musical/theatrical experiences of Ataraxia, their complete discography and the ways with which they studied their stage performances.
All extensively documented with a series of superbly refined photos, which will delight anyone who is passionate about photography. "Stone", "Water", "Passages", "Dream", "Contemplation" and "Light" are the elements that the emilian clerics encountered during their long wanderings in search of beauty and which give the title to the six main chapters of the tome, excellently written by Ferruccio Filippi, who proves to be an attentive chronicler of Ataraxia's life, providing us with a story from which it would be difficult to expect more. As for the CD, we can consider it to all intents and purposes a new release in light of the duration (approximately 37 minutes) and the excellent songs present: we are certainly not faced with complex concepts like those to which the band has accustomed us, especially in the recent years - I am referring in particular to sublime records of the caliber of "Sueños", "Lost Atlantis" and the latest "Saphir" - but who could ever remain indifferent to the poetry of "Cobalt" or the gothic suggestions of "Mirsilo" , rather than the flamenco rhythms of "Fire in the Wood" or the heavenly echoes of "The Island of Doctor Moreau"? This is just to mention the unreleased songs, the other three old ones have only the title, being new elaborations with a different sensitivity - to use the words of the band - of already proposed pieces, which acquire a renewed vitality. The packaging and printing quality of the book are, as usual, the result of attention to every detail.
"Arcana Eco" is ultimately a truly interesting and perfectly crafted release, which tells us something more about the history of this absolutely unique artistic partnership and gives us a glimpse of the future horizons of the art of Francesca Nicoli and her traveling companions. For those who follow Ataraxia it is certainly a fitting completion to their discography, for those who want to try to really get to know them "Arcana Eco" is without a doubt the best medium.

Lineup:
Francesca Nicoli: vocals
Vittorio Vandelli: guitars
Riccardo Spaggiari: percussions
Giovanni Pagliari: keyboards

Music by Ataraxia.

#Ataraxia#Neofolk#Darkwave#Italy