Re-issue of the debut album by Madrigal

Madrigal is one of the most intriguing modern gothic metal bands. Their style brilliantly captures the collaboration of heavy, powerful music with dark, atmospheric and even progressive sounds. The group’s debut album – “I Die, You Soar” – brings eight tracks of masterfully crafted melodies, filled with a variety of strong, intensive emotions…

The album, officially released on September 24th, 2001, delivered a heavy dose of down-tempo gothic metal with hints of power metal, as well as progressive and alternative rock. This was backed by a mixture of harsh and melodic vocals, perfectly capturing the unique atmosphere of Madrigal’s music. One of the group’s most characteristic features was the extensive use of keyboard arrangements, which brought their sound closer to such acts as Katatonia and Amorphis. The highlight of the album included such songs as “Taint of Shame”, “Enticed” and “Moulded Pain” (featuring a guest vocal performance by Tobias Martinsson of The Provenance). The album proved to be very successful – critics praised the group’s rich style and often compared their music to the likes of In Flames, Dark Tranquility and Lacuna Coil.

Metal Mind Productions will re-issue “I Die, You Soar” on 5th October in Europe and 1st December in USA (via MVD). New digipak edition is limited to 2000 copies. Digitally remastered using 24-Bit process on a golden disc.

Madrigal
“I die, you soar!” (remastered)
Label: Metal Mind Records
Cat. No.: MASS CD 1332 DG
Barcode: 5907785035508
Format: CD Digipak (limited edition of 2000 numbered copies)
Genre: gothic metal
Release date: 01.12.2009 USA

Tracklist:

1. Same Face
2. Languish
3. Taint Of Shame
4. Mind In Disguise
5. In Debris
6. Ashen Eyes
7. Enticed
8. Moulded Pain

Bio
The group was formed in 1998 in Gothenburg, Sweden, by five young, talented musicians – Martin Karlsson (vocals/guitar), Kristoffer Sundberg (lead guitar), Linda Emanuelsson (piano/keyboards), Lukas Gren (bass) and Markus Bergman (drums). All of them previously played in numerous other bands, but in Madrigal they united their abilities to create deep, atmospheric music. In an interview for Metalmessage webzine, the group explained why they have called themselves Madrigal: “The name is a musical term from the middle ages, a Madrigal involves a lot of harmonies. We felt that name could be applied to our music.” In 1999 the five-piece entered a local band competition and won first prize, which was the recording of a demo in a professional studio. The 2-track demo was sent to mp3.com, where it became a big success, scoring third position in the Gothic charts (and outrunning such acts as Moonspell and Lacuna Coil). In early 2000, Madrigal had an opportunity to support the mighty In Flames in their hometown Gothenburg. They had a wonderful reception and In Flames’ vocalist – Anders Friden – was so impressed with the band that he offered to record Madrigal’s debut album in his own recording studio – Studio Fredman. As the band recalls: “This resulted in 11 days of hard but pleasant work. After this we mixed it at the same studio with Fredrik Nordström for 4 days. Both Anders and Fredrik added their musical senses to the production. We are very happy with the result and the both did a great job.” Anders Friden took the finished material to Nuclear Blast’s A&R people and soon Madrigal celebrated the signing of their first professional record deal.
“I Die, You Soar” was officially released on September 24th, 2001. The title of the LP was later explained by the band as follows: “The title basically means I die and you just fly away, hovering above, unhurt. And in our concept this takes place in a relationship or more correctly in a dying one.” The album delivered a heavy dose of down-tempo Gothic metal with hints of power metal, as well as progressive and alternative rock. This was backed by a mixture of harsh and melodic vocals, perfectly capturing the unique atmosphere of Madrigal’s music. One of the group’s most characteristic features was the extensive use of keyboard arrangements, which brought their sound closer to such acts as Katatonia and Amorphis. The highlight of the album included such songs as “Taint of Shame”, “Enticed” (the longest track on the LP) and “Moulded Pain” (featuring a guest vocal performance by Tobias Martinsson of The Provenance). As for the lyrics, they strongly follow the album’s title: “The lyrics often refer to human relations in different shapes and forms. It is a subject that is constant and gives a lot of inspiration both to lyrics and music.”
The album proved to be very successful – critics praised the group’s rich style and often compared their music to the likes of In Flames, Dark Tranquility and Lacuna Coil. Unfortunately, after the release of their first (and, as it turned out, last) album, Madrigal disbanded. Nevertheless, their talent can still be heard on “I Die, You Soar” – a truly remarkable Gothic metal masterpiece…