Sweet Ermengarde
Sacrifice
Digipack CD. 2024.

Deep in the west of Germany, where the sun gathers dust... Sweet Ermengarde was founded in 2011. I came across this band by chance and had the impression that Sacrifice was a kind of gothic rock concept album, so I asked about it. A short email interview with Lars Kappeler, the head and bassist of the whole thing.

TheProgThief (TPT): Who is Sweet Ermengarde?

Lars: "Very pragmatically, Sweet Ermengarde from the Ruhr area. I leave everything else up to the listener, including genre assignments. Well, I would describe our music as Gothic -+69*5Rock, but definitely with cross-genre influences, such as Dark Ambient or Psychedelic Rock."

TPT: Where did your penchant for “dark” music come from?

Lars: "It's always been there for me and it doesn't just apply to music. Even as a child, I was always fascinated by scary stories and to this day I love horror films and novels. So it's not surprising that this has also influenced my taste in music. I've now been part of the gothic scene for most of my life."

TPT: Is Sacrifice dedicated to a theme? It almost feels like a concept album.

Lars: "Actually, it's not. I actually wanted to go back to the roots and make a more song-oriented album. But I can't quite shake off my preference for long, atmospheric songs, which you can clearly hear in the opener, which is split into three tracks."

I have to admit that Sacrifice really appeals to me as a prog-head. It's not a concept album, but I still listen to it like one. Unpack the CD, put it in the player, put on headphones and leave the remote control on the player. That takes time, but for me music is not a byproduct. So let's concentrate on the music.

Drew Freeman is the new singer and his voice fits the very dark mood. Even the "Sisters of Mercy", who I love, sound almost cheerful next to this. In addition to gothic rock, I also hear heavier styles here.

For me, the first three songs are a long track of just over nine minutes and the first highlight. For me, “Fragments” has something churchy about it, especially at the beginning. “Faith Healer” does too, but it is also more urgent. “Fragment Reprise” closes this block. “Asylum Visitor” comes alive not only with the guitars but also with the dark vocals in the background. Sounds good. “Sweet Sacrifice” then picks up speed and pulls us along. Highlight two for me. I particularly like the bass lines here. “All that I am, all that I was, sweet sacrifice”. The song “5th Horizon” is a catchy song with a good tempo. Alongside the first three songs, “Soul Surrender” and “Soul Surrender Part II” are the next highlight and are one song for me. “Viscera” pulls us out of our “light lethargy” and we are back in the swing of things. A great song to bob along to. "Genesee" quickly calms us down again and does so in a dark and atmospheric way. "Silent we Mourn" is just as good and with "Embers Fall" we come to the heart of this album. At 07:23 long, it has alternating moods and music. From ballad to dark metal, gothic and back. Strongly lyrical. The way the words fall, matching the drive of the music. As a prog head, this is great cinema for me. The instrumental last song, however, is more difficult to rate. "Of Her Heart's Ocean" is the longest song at 11:07. It also seems churchly to me. I interpret the squeaking noises either as long, closed paths in her heart (cheesy and romantic of me) or as the doors of a prison. We will probably never find out what images the band had in their heads, but that's the beauty of music: my interpretation is tied to my emotions.

My CD came with a card from the band. It's not difficult to come to a conclusion. This CD ends up in the player almost every day. The music is atmospherically well thought out, lyrics and structure form a mutually supportive unit. If you like Gothic, you'll be perfectly served, and so will progs with a penchant for Gothic. Thumbs up.

Sweet Ermengarde is:

Drew Freeman – Vocals
Jaques Moch – Guitar
Robin Böhm – Guitar
Mischa Kliege – Drums
Lars Kappeler – Bass

The photos are all from my CD. The rights to all motifs, logos, texts and fonts that can be seen in the photos are of course owned by the copyright holder.