Near Earth Orbit - Trans Neptunian Objects

Near Earth Orbit - Trans Neptunian Objects
(2015) Solar Lodge

Album number two from Near Earth Orbit, already? I guess it's time for a hiatus for Artaud's main band Merciful Nuns, now that they've released their seventh album? I don't know if he plans album cycles of seven, but he sure did in his earlier band - The Garden Of Delight. I'm very pleased to report that this album is really good, especially since I didn't care much for the first Near Earth Orbit album. But there's still room for improvements. Nice!

Near Earth Orbit - End Of All Existence

Near Earth Orbit - End Of All Existence
(2015) Solar Lodge

Near Earth Orbit, or NEO, is a brand new collaboration between Artaud from Merciful Nuns and Ashley from Whispers In The Shadow. I don't think this first NEO CD is anywhere near the musical quality of Merciful Nuns nor Aeon Sable, but it's an interesting project! The background story is something about radio-transmissions from the year 2034, warning us about the end of all existence. I think the album is supposed to be a (fake?) soundtrack to a movie. We'll have to see about that. Atmospheric goth rock with a strange theme and uninspired musical ideas. At least I got a t-shirt!

Merciful Nuns - Occvltation

Merciful Nuns - Occvltation (2015)
Solar Lodge

Hell, yeah! Another quality Solar Lodge release. This time it's the first Merciful Nuns compilation album. Sadly, I find the updated song versions on this release to be quite boring. The original versions are better in almost every case. The "Karma Inn" version is kinda fun. It's almost like an 80'ies extended disco mix - without the disco, of course. I don't ever want to hear the intro to "Speed Of Light" ever again. One time was enough! As a whole, these are great songs. But I strongly suggest buying all the available Merciful Nuns albums before getting this one. This isn't the best introduction to the Merciful Nuns sound.

Aeon Sable - Visionaers

Aeon Sable - Visionaers (2014)
Solar Lodge

This has been my go to album when testing my new Bluesound Node music streamer. I quickly throw away my previous streamer, the Sonos Connect, because of the superior sound quality of the Bluesound Node. Anyway, I've been listening a lot to this album and I like it very much. It's some kind of modern goth rock, but that's what you'd expect when released on Artaud Seth's Solar Lodge label, right? The album is just seven songs long. But it's seven moody, mid tempo gothic rock songs of stellar quality!

Merciful Nuns ‎– Lib. I

Merciful Nuns ‎– Lib. I (2010)
Solar Lodge

The first Merciful Nuns album. When listening to this album it's easy to understand why Artaud wanted another name, different than The Garden Of delight, for this new project. It's still dark gothic rock music, but the songs are really different. Merciful Nuns are easily my favourite new goth band. Buy, buy, buy!

Merciful Nuns ‎– Meteora VII

Merciful Nuns ‎– Meteora VII
(2014) Solar Lodge

More Merciful Nuns? Yes, and this album is even better than

"Xialba III". I like Merciful Nuns' take on gothic rock, and this album is also a really rock oriented one. I like the atmospheric side of Merciful Nuns, too, but generally I want uptempo songs. There's also a couple of cool videos made for some of the songs. Check them out on youtube!

Merciful Nuns - Xialba III

Merciful Nuns - Xialba III (2011)
Solar Lodge

I'm a bit late on discovering the greatness of Merciful Nuns. I lost interest in Artaud Seth's previous band Garden Of Delight back in the early 2000's, and I haven't really checked what he has been up since then. A big mistake it seems, Merciful Nuns are quickly becoming one of my favourite goth bands! "Xialba III" is a very good album, with a minimum of atmospheric songs, focusing on the rock in gothic rock. With excellent and unique drums and a bass-sound all doom metal bands should be aiming for, this is the gothic rock album I've been waiting for since the mid 90's!