AXON NEURON / VAGWA - :Documents 1995 - 2005: - 2xCD - 25 tracks - Eternal Soul - 2005

Released last December on Eternal Soul, the double cd ':Documents 1995 - 2005:' celebrates the ten years of activity of the German solo project Axon Neuron / Vagwa. This document pays tribute to the talent of Enrico Eisert (first active under the name Thorn, then Axon Neuron and later Axon Neuron / Vagwa) and to an extensive discography, mostly on (limited) tapes and cd-rs but that didn't stop to grow over the years... So, this collection of rarities is above all good news for those who would have discovered the Rostock 'formation' only with the Eternal Soul 10" 'Lohe' out in 2004.
Those who never heard of AN/V should also pay attention to this document... if only to realise that discrete and a bit overlooked formations in the 'ambient industrial scene' offer most of the time much more interesting, valuable and serious works than the hyped bands...

The music of Axon Neuron / Vagwa, that expresses its best through long and captivating pieces, is a tense but pleasant combination of dark ambient, post-industrial, atmospheric and neo-classical sonorities, with occasional classical music or speech samples.

Cd1 mainly gathers live tracks from 2002 to 2004 played in Berlin (Kato), Heldrungen (Flammenzauber IV), Rostock (Fields of Sunset I) as well as the two AN/V tracks that originally featured on the 'Tonwerk Flammenzauber 2' compilation. New material is also included on this cd with 'Equinoxe' (recorded during the 'Lohe' sessions) and a successful collaboration with Kirlian Camera 'Aurora' where Elena Fossi singing marries beautifully with an industrial and metallic rhythmical background.
A really impressive first part with tracks that sound powerful played live (in particular 'Radio Message 1970', 'Lohe II - In Memoriam' and the Kirlian Camera cover 'U-Bahn V.2 "Heiligenstadt") and aided by a very good sound quality.

Cd2 reveals the more 'documentary' facet of this project and contains material a bit more difficult to apprehend with more ritual, obscure and industrial old-school content... but it's worth the exploration, of course. This second cd presents a collection of older (and re-mastered) tracks taken from the very first work 'Durch Licht zur Nacht' (1995), 'Elbentrötsch' (1997), 'The Wolf Age' (1997), 'Thorned Message' (2000) that are all tape releases, together with material from the 'Irreversible Neural Damage' cd-r boxset (2001) and the original contribution track 'Eternal Light' to the 'Immortal Legends' compilation (2000).

The normal edition of ':Documents 1995 - 2005:' is limited to 400 copies and comes in a jewel-case including a 8-page booklet with all information regarding the origin of each track. There is also a boxset edition, limited to 100 copies and that includes inserts and optional subscription to an exclusive Axon Neuron / Vagwa 7".

Definitely recommended!

Nathalie F.
Winter 2006

Contacts:
Axon Neuron / Vagwa: www.axon-neuron-vagwa.de
Eternal Soul: www.eternal-soul.de