Sun Of The Sleepless / Cavernous Gate

The men behind Sun Of The Sleepless and Cavernous Gate are no strangers to split releases; in fact, they were united before on the split EP of Helrunar and Nachtmahr in 2005. Schwadorf singing and playing on the Nachtmahr contribution, S.K. being multi-instrumentalist for Helrunar. For Sun Of The Sleepless, teaming up with a long-time friend, who also plays guitar at the group's shows, suggested itself. "We make a good match," explains Schwadorf. "Each of us is a multi-instrumentalist with deep roots in the 1990s but also open to fresh inspiration." His contribution, a song cycle titled "The Lure Of Nyght," deepens the concept of "Poetic Black Metal Dirges," the group's raison d'être since it's foundation in 1998. While the lyrics are, in part, literal translations from German Expressionist and Romantic works, the band leader even sees the tracks as a continuation of Empyrium's classic "Songs Of Moors And Misty Fields," being equally impetuous and evocative - a valid description of Cavernous Gate's doom death as well. "I wanted to create otherworldly, ghostly, soundtrack-like music without clinging to just one style," says S.K. about his solo project. "It came together intuitively from different areas, also what's called dungeon synth these days." Regarding the lyrical content, S.K. keeps his cards close to his chest, but the name Cavernous Gate is telling enough, meaning "a gate into unknown realms, dark and forlorn." Similar to Schwadorf, he audibly draws from the likes of early Ulver, Emperor or Katatonia - and within this triangle, their split album might be the most vintage Prophecy Productions release of late... "Sun Of The Sleepless/Cavernous Gate" is available as Digipak CD and on vinyl.