Released on the new label Nielozilla just a few months after the very promising 'Abyss' mini-CD, here is the new full-length Dies Natalis album 'Tristan'. 'Abyss' was a bit surprising due to the overall folkish sound and 'Tristan' comes to confirm the new musical horizons of Dies Natalis... The time of martial melodies seems to be definitely behind them... A page seems to be turned and, listening to 'Tristan', I will not complain about it as passion, sincerity, authenticity remain the best words to describe Dies Natalis music... Everybody should find something about himself (a feeling, a memory) in the lyrics, influenced by pagan inspirations, the natural cycle of life, nature, past, love, death, memories...

The record opens with a 'Prologue (Tristans Abyss)' in the same vein as the first title present on 'Abyss'... a very quiet and romantic introduction with a piano melody mixed with the delicate sounds of breaking waves and Tobias spoken words... One can only be under the charm of this first piece...
The same feeling floats over the whole album... Most songs are classical neofolk ballads with acoustic guitar, soft percussions, sung in English or based on German spoken words. A new member, Susanne, has joined the band since the last release and though her voice can't be compared to those of Cecilia (Argine) or Eufrosyne (Decadence), its fragility, its indie-pop intonations fit perfectly the whole atmosphere of the album...
'Time goes on' is a new version of the same title present on 'Abyss' aided this time by Susanne's fragile voice... just beautiful... And what else to say about 'Anabell returns'? This is a beautiful intimist song with lyrics dealing with Love, Nature, Loss... Tobias and Susanne vocals marrying with true beauty...
'Angels of Babylon', finally, is the track that comes to ruffle the calm feeling of the album... Acoustic guitars are a bit more 'aggressive' and the presence of a strong choir gives a lot of energy to the song.
I could carry on detailing each song but I will just end here by mentioning the overall harmony emanating from this album... As for the Johnny Cash CD present on the picture of the back cover of the CD, I think the listeners can take it as a hint about the way Dies Natalis tried to compose this new work... Just simple music without any superfluous elements.

Dies Natalis is definitely a band that know how to evolve and improve over the years and who will no doubt carry on...

A 'Tristan' book is also available. It features 12 frameable prints of drawings (exclusively made for the themes on the CD 'Tristan') by artists and friends of the band, all the lyrics of the songs and the story of Tristan (in German, French, English) as well.