As the Dark Against My Halo
| As the Dark Against My Halo | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 7, 2012 | |||
| Recorded | 2012 | |||
| Genre | Synthpop, electronic rock | |||
| Length | 77:47 | |||
| Label | Wishfire Records | |||
| Producer | Rogue | |||
| The Crüxshadows chronology | ||||
| ||||
As the Dark Against My Halo is a 2012 studio album by The Crüxshadows, released by Wishfire Records.[1] It was also available at the last concerts of their tour.
Style and concept[edit]
The album features a mix of Dark Wave, synthpop, and alternative rock.
The album has been inspired by mythology[2] and literature. According to singer Rogue, the song "Matchstick Girl" refers to Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Little Match Girl.[3]
Reception[edit]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Terrorizer | 4/5[2] |
| Sonic Seducer | positive[4] |
As the Dark Against My Halo received mixed reviews from the musical press.
Terrorizer marked the quality of the production and specifically lauded the string arrangements.[2] The Sonic Seducer was equally positive about the songwriting and instrumentation, and noted a more complex sound compared to earlier works of the band. The reviewer criticised however that the album lacked bass tones and had been produced too high-pitched.[4]
Online music magazines and blogs were often less kind. Reflections of Darkness offered "Call it as you wish but I prefer to call it imagery of Prussian bureaucrats suffering from insomnia."[5]
Brutal Resonance added that "Beats are weak farts, synths sound have no power and depth, and the violins sound like they are recorded through bad microphones in a shed."[6]
Charts[edit]
The album is the first of the band's albums to reach the #1 position on The German Alternative Charts (DAC).[7] The single Quicksilver, a featured song on the album, reached the #1 position on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales Chart and the #2 position on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales Chart in the USA[8]
Track listing[edit]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "And I Believe" | 2:38 |
| 2. | "Valkyrie" | 6:03 |
| 3. | "Halo" | 6:09 |
| 4. | "Burning" | 6:27 |
| 5. | "Sleepless" | 5:16 |
| 6. | "Quicksilver" | 5:26 |
| 7. | "The Infinite Tear" | 4:18 |
| 8. | "Indivisible" | 6:23 |
| 9. | "Porcelain" | 5:27 |
| 10. | "Angelus Everlasting" | 5:37 |
| 11. | "Sentinel" | 6:11 |
| 12. | "Matchstick Girl" | 6:54 |
| 13. | "Dark Matter" | 6:06 |
| 14. | "Africanus" | 4:52 |
References[edit]
- ^ "The Darkness before the… Halo". The Crüxshadows official website. August 6, 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
- ^ a b c Morris, Kevin (August 22, 2012). "Review : The Cruxshadows – As the Dark Against My Halo". Terrorizer. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
- ^ Pannwitz, Tanja (2012). "The Crüxshadows". Orkus (in German). No. 10. pp. 80–81.
- ^ a b Froghy, Jasmin. "The Crüxshadows – As the Dark Against My Halo". Sonic Seducer (in German). Archived from the original on 2013-02-11. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
- ^ Dunkle, Ray. "CD Review: Crüxshadows, The - As the Dark Against my Halo". Retrieved 2017-08-30.
- ^ "Review: The Crüxshadows - As the Dark Against My Halo | Brutal Resonance". www.brutalresonance.com. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
- ^ "The Crüxshadows". cruxshadows.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-01. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
- ^ "The Crüxshadows: Quicksilver". cruxshadows.com.
