Dead Can Dance Formed 1981 in Australia Corrections to this Entry? Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Vladimir Bogdanov Dead Can Dance combine elements of European folk music — particularly music from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance — with ambient pop and worldbeat flourishes. Their songs are of lost beauty, regret and sorrow, inspiration and nobility, and of the everlasting human goal of attaining a meaningful existence. Over the course of their career, Dead Can Dance has featured a multitude of members, but two musicians have remained at the core of the band — guitarist Brendan Perry and vocalist Lisa Gerrard. Perry had previously been the lead vocalist and bassist for the Australian-based punk band the Scavengers, a group who were never able to land a recording contract. In 1979, the band changed their name to the Marching Girls, but they still weren't able to sign a contract. The following year, Perry left the group and began experimenting with electronic music, particularly tape loops and rhythms. In 1981, Perry formed Dead Can Dance with Lisa Gerrard, Paul Erikson, and Simon Monroe. By 1982, Perry and Gerrard decided to relocate to London; Erikson and Monroe decided to stay in Australia. Within a year, Dead Can Dance had signed a record deal with 4AD. In the spring of 1984, they released their eponymous debut album, comprised of songs the pair had written in the previous four years. By the end of the year, the group had contributed two tracks to It'll End in Tears, the first album by This Mortal Coil, and had released an EP called Garden of the Arcane Delights. In 1985, Dead Can Dance released their second album, Spleen and Ideal. The album helped build their European cult following, peaking at number two on the U.K. indie charts. For the next two years, Dead Can Dance were relatively quiet, releasing only two new songs in 1986, both which appeared on the 4AD compilation Lonely Is an Eyesore. Within the Realm of a Dying Sun, the group's third album, appeared in 1986. In 1988, the band released their fourth album, The Serpent's Egg, and wrote the score for the Agustin Villarongas film El Nino de la Luna, which also featured Lisa Gerrard in her acting debut. Aion, Dead Can Dance's fifth album, was released in 1990. Also in 1990, the group toured America for the first time, earning rave reviews. The following year, the group was involved in various festivals and theatrical productions. In 1991, the compilation A Passage in Time was released on Rykodisc, making it the first American release of Dead Can Dance music. Early in 1993, the group provided the score to Baraka and contributed songs to Sahara Blue. In the fall of 1993, the group released Into the Labyrinth, which became their first proper studio album to receive an American release. Into the Labyrinth was a cult success throughout the U.S. and Europe. It was followed by another American and European tour, which was documented on the 1994 album and film, Toward the Within. In 1995, Lisa Gerrard released her debut solo album, The Mirror Pool. In the summer of 1996, Dead Can Dance released Spiritchaser and embarked on an international tour. Dead Can Dance Dead Can Dance Release Date 1984 Time 51:08 Corrections to this Entry? Review by Ned Raggett Early punk backgrounds and the like behind them, Perry and Gerrard created a striking, dour landmark in early-'80s atmospherics on their first, self-titled effort. Bearing much more resemblance to the similarly gripping, dark early work of bands like the Cocteau Twins and the Cure than to the later fusions of music that would come to characterize the duo's sound, Dead Can Dance is as goth as it gets in many places. Perry and Gerrard's wonderful vocal work — his rich, warm tones and her unearthly, multi-octave exaltations — are already fairly well established, but serve different purposes here. Thick, shimmering guitar and rumbling bass/drum/drum machine patterns practically scream their sonic connections to the likes of Robin Guthrie and Robert Smith, but they still sound pretty darn good for all that. When they stretch that sound to try for a more distinct, unique result, the results are astonishing. Gerrard is the major beneficiary here — "Frontier" explicitly experiments with tribal percussion, resulting in an excellent combination of her singing and the rushed music. Then there's the astonishing "Ocean," where guitar and chiming bells and other rhythmic sounds provide the bed for one of her trademark — and quite, quite lovely — vocal excursions into the realm of glossolalia. Perry in contrast tends to be matched with the more straightforward numbers of digital processing and thick, moody guitar surge. The album ends on a fantastic high note — "Musica Eternal," featuring a slowly increasing-in-volume combination of hammered dulcimer, low bass tones, and Gerrard's soaring vocals. As an indicator of where the band was going, it's perfect. 1 The Fatal Impact Dead Can Dance 3:21 2 The Trial Dead Can Dance 3:42 3 Frontier Dead Can Dance 3:13 4 Fortune Dead Can Dance 3:47 5 Ocean Dead Can Dance 3:21 6 East of Eden Dead Can Dance 3:23 7 Threshold Dead Can Dance 3:34 8 A Passage in Time Dead Can Dance 4:03 9 Wild in the Woods Dead Can Dance 3:46 10 Musica Eternal Dead Can Dance 3:51 11 Garden of the Arcane Delights: Carnival of Light Dead Can Dance 3:31 12 Garden of the Arcane Delights: In Power We Entrust the Love Advocated Dead Can Dance 4:11 13 Garden of the Arcane Delights: The Arcane Dead Can Dance 3:49 14 Garden of the Arcane Delights: Flowers of the Sea Dead Can Dance 3:28 Spleen and Ideal Dead Can Dance Release Date 1985 Recording Date Sep 1985-Nov 1985 Time 38:09 Review by Ned Raggett With this amazing album, Dead Can Dance fully took the plunge into the heady mix of musical traditions that would come to define its sound and style for the remainder of its career. The straightforward goth affectations are exchanged for a sonic palette and range of imagination. Calling it "haunting" and "atmospheric" barely scratches even the initial surface of the album's power. The common identification of the duo with a consciously medieval European sound starts here — quite understandable, when one considers the mystic titles of songs, references to Latin, choirs, and other touches that make the album sound like it was recorded in an immense cathedral. Opening number "De Profundis" sets this mood so thoroughly, with bells and drones and more supporting another bravura performance from Gerrard, while the immediately following "Ascension" builds on this initial effort with further style and grace. It's limiting to think of either album or band strictly in terms of simple revivalism of old music. While the elements being drawn on are certainly of an older range, the results owe as much to the technologies of arrangement and production and a consciously cinematic feeling as much as they do antique pasts. Similarly, the feeling is not simply European but worldwide, with Gerrard's glossolalia intentionally reaching beyond easy understanding. Perry's vocal efforts are no less compelling, his own high point occurring with the vast-sounding "Enigma of the Absolute," as a steady, massive drum pound echoes behind a similarly treated guitar/harpsichord combination, tinged with a striking string arrangement. The overall feeling is of an ancient religious service suddenly brought to life in a truly modern way, with stunning results. 1 De Profundis [Out of the Depths of Sorrow] Dead Can Dance 4:00 2 Ascension Dead Can Dance 3:05 3 Circumradiant Dawn Dead Can Dance 3:17 4 The Cardinal Sin Dead Can Dance 5:29 5 Mesmerism Dead Can Dance 3:53 6 Enigma of the Absolute Dead Can Dance 4:13 7 Advent Dead Can Dance 5:19 8 Avatar Dead Can Dance 4:35 9 Indoctrination (A Design for Living) Dead Can Dance 4:13 Within the Realm of a Dying Sun Dead Can Dance Release Date 1987 Recording Date Apr 1987-May 1987 Time 38:43 Review by Ned Raggett With its two sides split between Perry and Gerrard's vocal efforts, Within the Realm of a Dying Sun serves as both a display for the ever more ambitious band and a chance for the two to individually demonstrate their awesome talents. Beginning with the portentous "Anywhere Out of the World," a piece that takes the deep atmospherics of "Enigma of the Absolute" to a higher level with mysterious, chiming bells, simple but effective keyboard bass and a sense of vast space, the album finds Dead Can Dance on a steady roll. Once again a range of assistant musicians provide even more elegance and power to the band's work, with a chamber string quartet plus various performers on horns, woodwind, and percussion. Impressive though the remainder of the first side is, Gerrard's showcase on the second half is even more enveloping and arguably more successful. The martial combination of drums and horns that start "Dawn of the Iconoclast" call to mind everything from Wagner to Laibach, but Gerrard's unearthly alto, at its most compelling here, elevates it even higher. "Cantara" is no less impressive, a swirling, drum-heavy song that sounds equally inspired by gypsy dancing, classical orchestras and any number of Arab musical traditions. "Summoning of the Muse" is perhaps too formal in comparison, though still quite impressive, but "Persephone" is the finer effort and a good way to close. 1 Anywhere Out of the World Dead Can Dance 5:08 2 Windfall Dead Can Dance 3:30 3 In the Wake of Adversity Dead Can Dance 4:14 4 Xavier Dead Can Dance 6:16 5 Dawn of the Iconoclast Dead Can Dance 2:06 6 Cantara Dead Can Dance 5:58 7 Summoning of the Music Dead Can Dance 4:55 8 Persephone Dead Can Dance 6:36 Serpent's Egg Dead Can Dance Release Date 1988 Time 36:15 Review by Ned Raggett Perry and Gerrard continued to experiment and improve with The Serpent's Egg, as much a leap forward as Spleen and Ideal was some years previously. As with that album, The Serpent's Egg was heralded by an astounding first track, "The Host of Seraphim." Its use in films some years later was no surprise in the slightest — one can imagine the potential range of epic images the song could call up — but on its own it's so jaw-droppingly good that almost the only reaction is sheer awe. Beginning with a soft organ drone and buried, echoed percussion, Gerrard then takes flight with a seemingly wordless invocation of power and worship — her vocal control and multi-octave range, especially towards the end, has to be heard to be believed. Nothing else achieves such heights, but everything gets pretty darn close, a deserved testament to the band's conceptual reach and abilities. Slow plainsong chants such as "Orbis De Ignis" mix with the harpischord and overlaid vocals of "The Writing on My Father's Hand" and the slow build and sweep of "In the Kingdom of the Blind the One-Eyed Are Kings." Two of Perry's finest vocal moments occur here. The first, "Severance," is a slow, organ/keyboard led number that showcases his rich, warm vocals exquisitely — it's no wonder that Bauhaus chose to cover it some years later on its reunion tour. "Ullyses," the album's closing track, makes for a fine ending as much as "The Host of Seraphim" did an opening, Perry's delivery almost like a reading from a holy book, the arrangement of strings and percussion rhythmic, addictive and lovely. 1 The Host of Seraphim Dead Can Dance 6:18 2 Orbis de Ignis Dead Can Dance 1:35 3 Severance Dead Can Dance 3:22 4 The Writing on My Father's Hand Dead Can Dance 3:50 5 In the Kingdom of the Blind the One-Eyed Are Kings Dead Can Dance 4:12 6 Chant of the Paladin Dead Can Dance 3:48 7 Song of Sophia Dead Can Dance 1:24 8 Echolalia Dead Can Dance 1:17 9 Mother Tongue Dead Can Dance 5:16 10 Ullyses Dead Can Dance 5:09 Aion Dead Can Dance Release Date Sep 1990 Time 36:11 Review by Ned Raggett Their reputation growing by leaps and bounds, including a huge underground following in the U.S. — they were able to tour there even without one domestic release available, while at one point Dead Can Dance was the biggest selling band in 4AD's history — Perry and Gerrard once again did the business with Aion. Its cover taken from Bosch, Aion's medievalism was worn more openly than ever before, with songs adapted from centuries-old material. The beautiful, entrancing "Saltarello," with lead performance by what sounds like an old wind instrument, comes from an Italian dance of the 14th century, while the mysterious moods of "The Song of the Sibyl" derive from 16th-century Catalonia. The group's command of not merely recording possibilities — witness the exquisite layering of vocals on the opening "The Arrival and the Reunion" — but of musical traditions, instruments, and more from around the world was arguably never stronger. Gerrard's vocals in particular have an even stronger, richer feeling than before, not merely able to command with its power but softly calm and seduce. Perry, meanwhile, is no less compelling, his ever-strong, wonderful voice perfectly suited to his choice of material. The standout track is "Fortune Presents Gifts Not According to the Book" with lyrics from a Spanish poet. The musical combination of softly plucked guitar and buried organ drone is striking enough, swathed in reverb, but when Perry steps in with his vocals, matched by more sparkling keyboards, the result is yet another high point for a band laden with them. Guest performers once again assist throughout, including Perry's brother Robert on haunting, quite non-clichιd bagpipes for "As the Bell Rings the Maypole Spins" and singer David Navarro Sust, returning again to contribute some fine backing work. 1 The Arrival and the Reunion Dead Can Dance 1:38 2 Saltarello Traditional 2:33 3 Mephisto Dead Can Dance :54 4 The Song of the Sibyl Traditional 3:45 5 Fortune Presents Gifts Not According to the Book Gσngora 6:03 6 As the Bell Rings the Maypole Spins Dead Can Dance 5:16 7 The End of Words Dead Can Dance 2:05 8 Black Sun Dead Can Dance 4:56 9 Wilderness Dead Can Dance 1:24 10 The Promised Womb Dead Can Dance 3:22 11 The Garden of Zephirus Dead Can Dance 1:20 12 Radharc Dead Can Dance 2:48 Into the Labyrinth Dead Can Dance Release Date Sep 14, 1993 Time 55:26 Review by Ned Raggett With a regular American deal in place for the first time ever, thanks to 4AD's linkup with the WEA conglomerate, Dead Can Dance made a splash on commercial alternative radio with "The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove," the first single from Into the Labyrinth. Raga drones, a strange clattering beat, a haunting wind instrument, orchestral shading, and Perry's ever-grand voice make it one of the more unlikely things to be heard on the airwaves in a while. It all begins with yet another jaw-dropper from Gerrard, "Yulunga (Spirit Dance)," with keyboards and her octave-defying voice at such a deep, rich level that it sweeps all before it. Wordless as always but never without emotional heft, the song slowly slides into a slow but heavy percussion piece that sounds a bit like "Bird" from A Passage in Time, but with greater impact and memorability. As the album slowly unwinds over an hour's length, the two again create a series of often astounding numbers that sound like they should be millennia old, mixing and matching styles to create new fusions. Perhaps even more impressive is that everything was performed solely by Perry and Gerrard — no outside guests here, and yet everything is as detailed, lush, and multifaceted as many of their past albums. New classics from the band appear almost track for track: Gerrard's a cappella work on "The Wind That Shakes the Barley," the gentle beauty of "Ariadne," the rhythmic drive and chants of the title song. The conclusion is a slightly surprising but quite successful cover — "How Fortunate the Man With None," an adaptation of a classic Bertolt Brecht tune about the turn of fortune's wheel. Given a restrained arrangement and Perry's singing, it brings Labyrinth to a satisfying end. 1 Yulunga [Spirit Dance] Gerrard, Perry 6:56 2 The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove Gerrard, Perry 6:17 3 The Wind That Shakes the Barley Traditional 2:49 4 The Carnival Is Over Gerrard, Perry 5:28 5 Ariadne 1:54 6 Saldek 1:07 7 Towards the Within Gerrard, Perry 7:06 8 Tell Me About the Forest (You Once Called Home) 5:42 9 The Spider's Stratagem Gerrard, Perry 6:42 10 Emmeleia 2:04 11 How Fortunate the Man With None Brecht, Gerrard, Perry 9:15 Toward the Within Dead Can Dance Release Date Oct 25, 1994 Review by Ned Raggett A large reason that Dead Can Dance tours and performances were so praised by hardcore fans lay in the band's welcome preference for unknown and otherwise unheard material, rather than simply rehashing expected numbers. Bootlegging of these tracks and performances was understandable and widespread, so involved and passionate was the band's following. Recorded at a Los Angeles performance from the Into the Labyrinth tour, the astounding Toward the Within shows that the band's magic was clearly not simply something created in studio. Both lead performers are simply in excelsis, their vocal abilities hardly diminished by the rigors of the road — if anything, they sound even more inspired as a result. The range of instruments tackled is testimony to the group's breadth, from the yang ch'in, a Chinese equivalent to hammered dulcimer, to a wide range of drums. As for the songs, only four of the fifteen had been officially released before, including fine takes on "Cantara," "Song of the Sibyl" and "Yulunga (Spirit Dance)." As for the numerous new delights, Perry has a number of solo or near-solo tracks he performs with acoustic guitar. These include the lovely "American Dreaming" and the mystical set-closing "Don't Fade Away," calling to mind Tim Buckley's sense of scope and vision. Gerrard's unquestioned highlight is the combination of "Tristan" and "Sanvean," the latter of which is an awesome, widescreen number that became an undisputed highlight on her solo debut The Mirror Pool. Perhaps the most astonishing numbers are "Rakim," featuring a striking intertwining of Perry and Gerrard's singing, and a version of Sinead O'Connor's "I Am Stretched on Your Grave" that redefines passionate drama. 1 Rakim 6:25 2 Persian Love Song 2:56 3 Desert Song 4:20 4 Yulunga [Spirit Dance] 7:12 5 Piece for Solo Flute 3:34 6 The Wind That Shakes the Barley 3:12 7 I Am Stretched on Your Grave 4:38 8 I Can See Now 2:56 9 American Dreaming 4:55 10 Cantara 5:15 11 Oman 5:49 12 Song of the Sibyl 4:31 13 Tristan 1:48 14 Sanvean 4:05 15 Don't Fade Away 6:12 Spiritchaser Dead Can Dance Release Date Jun 25, 1996 Review by Ned Raggett Dead Can Dance's final album Spiritchaser was something of an unusual release - it's not as much of an anomaly as the first album, but one can hear the duo wanting to stretch a bit more, however subtly. Perry and Gerrard's personal and creative tensions didn't stop them from creating another fine album, though there's a strong sense the group had finally reached a logical end. Essentially, Spiritchaser is a summing up rather than a push forward; it features all the usual elements of a Dead Can Dance album instead of further explorations to see what else could be done. Toward the Within contributors Ronan O'Snodaigh and Lance Hogan, as well as previous collaborator Peter Ulrich, appear on some tracks here, most specifically on the opening "Nierika" and "Dedicace Outro." Both are laden with lots of percussion — unsurprising when one realizes that five performers are creating the drumming! Outside of Turkish clarinet by Renaud Pion on the Beatles-sampling "Indus," it's nothing but Perry and Gerrard throughout the album, with another combination and arrangement of multiple influences coming to bear. Both Perry and Gerrard are in fine voice throughout, their strong singing still the centerpiece of their work, but there's almost an air of predictability to their approaches at this point (perhaps explaining Perry's greater experimentation on his solo debut years later). Interestingly, overtly rock elements like Morricone-styled electric guitar appear at points amid the usual melange of various percussion instruments and arrangements. It works surprisingly well, indicating where the duo might have gone had they continued on. Spiritchaser ends on a strong note, the gentle, mysterious "Devorzhum," a Gerrard-sung number that makes for a grand conclusion. 1 Nierika Dead Can Dance 5:44 2 Song of the Stars Dead Can Dance 10:13 3 Indus Dead Can Dance 9:23 4 Song of the Dispossessed Dead Can Dance 4:55 5 Dedicace Outo Dead Can Dance 1:14 6 The Snake and the Moon Dead Can Dance 6:11 7 Song of the Nile Dead Can Dance 8:00 8 Devorzhum Dead Can Dance 6:13