E Nomine
E Nomine (Latin for "Out of the Name", from the In Nomine, "In the Name [of]") is a German musical project formed in 1999 by producers Christian Weller and Friedrich "Fritz" Graner. Their music, which they call monumental vocal style, is a combination of trance, techno, and vocals which closely resemble Gregorian singing and chanting. Other vocals are performed by German voice actors such as long-time collaborators Christian Brückner and Rolf Schult. The primary languages in the songs are German and Latin.[1]
E Nomine | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Germany |
| Genres | Monumental dance Gregorian vocals Techno / trance New-age |
| Years active | 1999–2008 |
| Labels | PolyGram, Polydor, Universal |
| Website | enomine-germany.de (archived) |
| Members | Christian "Chris Tentum" Weller Senad Fuerzkelper Giccic |
| Past members | Friedrich "Fritz" Graner |
The project released its first album, Das Testament, in 1999. It was followed by Finsternis in 2002, Die Prophezeiung in 2003 and a compilation in 2004 (Das Beste aus... Gottes Beitrag und Teufels Werk), which also included new songs. No further official releases followed, but the project never officially ended. Two unreleased songs, Heilig and Excalibur, became public under various circumstances.
In 2008, the founders of E Nomine Weller and Graner started a new project, Schlafes Bruder.[2] Their first album includes both of the unreleased songs that originated from the E Nomine project.
E Nomine's Christian-themed song "Vater Unser" (Our Father) and album Das Testament were very popular among the German public.[3]
History
E Nomine was founded by German producers Christian Weller ("Chris Tentum") and Friedrich Graner ("Sir Fritz") in 1999 after the huge success of the song "Vater Unser" (Our Father), which was included on their first album released that same year (Das Testament) and their most famous work as well. The project combines electronic sounds with recitations by guest voice actors, operatic chants and choirs, all performed by the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the same from the also German musical project Lesiëm.[1][4]
Their first album was followed by Finsternis in 2002, which drew influences from horror films and occult themes,[5] and Die Prophezeiung in 2003, which was especially inspired by stories of prophecies about the end of the world, the struggle between light and darkness, death and the afterlife.[6] A special edition of Die Prophezeiung, with a classical rearrangement, was released under the title Die Prophezeiung: Klassik Edition.[7]
In 2004, the project released their final work together, a compilation entitled Das Beste aus... Gottes Beitrag und Teufels Werk, which also presented new songs.[8]
A long period of silence followed. The project’s official website stopped receiving updates in early 2005. Eventually, Friedrich "Fritz" Graner left the project. After a few years with no news of the project, e-mail correspondence between a fan and Chris Tentum (Weller) revealed that the group was in the process of producing new material, due for release some time in the near future.
A year after this came to light, a new single entitled Heilig appeared on Amazon.de,[9] due for release on December 28, 2007.[10] The release date was pushed to mid-February 2008. Due to problems with the record company, hard copies were never shipped, and the song was only made available for download.
Sometime in mid 2008, various videos of an E Nomine performance emerged on several video sharing websites which contained a live music and acrobatic performance to select previously released work. It contained an introduction of "Das Beste aus... Gottes Beitrag und Teufels Werk", as well as the new "Heilig" and an unannounced new song "Excalibur" (whose actual name is "Erdenblut (Stahl von Avalon)"). This performance was dated to late 2007.[11]
Fans were left speculating,[1] until the former founders of E Nomine eventually emerged with a new project in 2008, Schlafes Bruder,[2] a Hardrock band which uses Latin chorus. Their first album, released on March 13, 2013, includes both of the unreleased E Nomine songs, Heilig and Excalibur.
Speakers
The project had the collaboration of several actors in the narration of their songs.
- Christian Brückner in the songs: "Vater Unser", "E Nomine (Denn sie wissen nicht was sie tun)", "Das Abendmahl", "Vater Unser Part II (Psalm 23)", "Mitternacht", "Dracul's Bluthochzeit", "Deine Welt", "Das Omen (Im Kreis des Bösen)", "Mysteria", "Das Tier in mir".
- Martin Keßler in the songs: "Himmel & Hölle", "Ave Maria", "Aus dem Jenseits", "Carpe Noctem", "Opus Magnum".
- Frank Glaubrecht in the songs: "Der Fürst der Finsternis", "Hallelujah", "Der Exorzist", "Das Rad des Schicksals", "Die Posaunen von Jericho".
- Joachim Kerzel in the songs: "Die 10 Gebote", "Die Sintflut", "Per l'Eternita", "Das Tier in mir (Wolfen)".
- Michael Chevalier in the songs: "Zorn - Die 12 Verbotenen Töne", "Herr der Schatten", "Spiegelbilder".
- Thomas Danneberg in the songs: "Bibelworte des Allmächtigen", "Im Zeichen des Zodiak", "Nebelpfade".
- Eckart Dux in the songs: "Angst", "Die Nachtwache", "Wiegenlied".
- Rolf Schult in the songs: "Die Schwarzen Reiter", "Hexenjagd".
- Helmut Krauss in the songs: "Das Böse", "Schwarze Sonne".
- Otto Mellies in the songs: "Wer den Wind sät...", "Der Ring der Nibelungen".
- Joachim Tennstedt in the songs: "Exitus", "Friedenshymne".
- Jürgen Thormann in the songs: "Seit Anbeginn der Zeit", "Der Prophet".
- Manfred Lehmann in the song: "Séance".
- Wolfgang Pampel in the song: "Anderwelt (Laterna Magica)".
- Elmar Wepper in the song: "Die Runen von Asgard".
- Gerrit Schmidt-Foß in the song: "Laetitia".
- Elisabeth Günther in the song: "Morgane Le Fay".
- Tobias Meister in the song: "Mondengel".
Discography
Albums
- Das Testament ("The Testament") (1999) — PolyGram Records
- Finsternis ("Darkness" ) (2002) — PolyGram Records
- Die Prophezeiung ("The Prophecy" ) (2003) — Polydor Records
- Das Beste aus... Gottes Beitrag und Teufels Werk ("The Best of... God's Contribution and the Work of the Devil") (2004) — Universal Records
| Year | Title | Chart-Positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | Austria | Switzerland | |||
| 1999 | Das Testament | 23 | 17 | 85 | |
| 2002 | Finsternis | 3 | 6 | 61 | |
| 2003 | Die Prophezeiung | 12 | 18 | 76 | |
| 2004 | Das Beste aus… Gottes Beitrag und Teufels Werk ("The best of ... God's contribution and work of Satan") | 30 | 37 | - | |
An album called Das Dunkle Element ("The Dark Element") has appeared on some P2P sites. This is a fake album created with various remixes, interludes, the contents of Das Böse, Heilig, and some of the tracks on Die Prophezeiung Re-release and Klassik edition, as well as some of the Das Testament Digital remastering.[12]
Re-issues and re-releases
- Finsternis (Limited Edition) (2002)
- Das Testament (Digitally remastered version) (2002)
- Das Testament (Gold Edition) (2003)
- Die Prophezeiung (Klassik Edition) (2003)
- Die Prophezeiung (Re-release) (2003)
- Das Beste aus... Gottes Beitrag und Teufels Werk (Limited Edition) (2004)
Singles
| 1999 | "Vater Unser" | Das Testament |
| 2000 | "E Nomine (Denn sie wissen nicht was sie tun)" | Das Testament |
| 2001 | "Mitternacht" | Finsternis |
| 2002 | "Das Tier in mir (Wolfen)" | Finsternis |
| 2003 | "Deine Welt" | Die Prophezeiung |
| 2003 | "Das Omen im Kreis des Bösen" | Die Prophezeiung |
| 2003 | "Schwarze Sonne" | Die Prophezeiung |
| 2004 | "Vater Unser Part II (Psalm 23)" | Gottes Beitrag und Teufels Werk |
| 2005 | "Das Böse" | Finsternis |
| 2008 | "Heilig" | Single |
| Year | Title | Chart-Positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | Austria | Switzerland | ||
| 1999 | Vater Unser | 4 | 1 | 10 |
| 2000 | E Nomine (Denn Sie Wissen Nicht Was Sie Tun) | 29 | 27 | 90 |
| 2001 | Mitternacht | 13 | 12 | 47 |
| 2002 | Das Tier in mir (Wolfen) & Die Schwarzen Reiter | 29 | 26 | 92 |
| 2002 | Deine Welt | 24 | 29 | - |
| 2003 | Das Omen (Im Kreis des Bösen) | 24 | 36 | - |
| 2003 | Schwarze Sonne (feat. Ralf Moeller) | 36 | 41 | - |
| 2004 | Vater Unser Part II – Psalm 23 | 53 | 42 | - |
| 2005 | Das Böse - EP | 44 | 56 | - |
| 2007 | Heilig | - | - | - |
References
- "E Nomine biography on Last.FM". Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- "Schlafes Bruder on Discogs". Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- Polydor Germany Taps Into Teenage Zeitgeist. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 12 August 2000. p. 53.
Among Scharnweber's labelmates are ambient/electronic outfit E Nomine, whose religious-themed top five single "Vater Unser" (Our Father),the chorus is a cover of O Fortuna from Carl Orff, and album "Das Testament" (The Testament)--both released in November 1999--clearly struck a collective chord with the German public, thanks in part to its use of the sampled voices of leading U.S. movie starts including Rober De Niro, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, Nicolas Cage, and John Travolta.
- "Lesiëm on Last.FM.". Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- "Finsternis review on Laut.de (in German)". Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- "Die Prophezeiung review on Sa-CD.net". Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- "Die Prophezeiung: Klassik Edition on Last.FM". Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- "Das Beste aus... Gottes Beitrag und Teufels Werk on Discogs". Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- "Heilig on Amazon.de". Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- "Heilig on Discogs". Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- "Heilig and Excalibur live at AFA 2007 on VK.com". Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- "E Nomine biography on MusicMe". Retrieved 10 September 2016.
