sToa: Urthona 1993 (Remastered 2006) + Silmand 2008

                                                 

sToa was founded in 1991 in Germany. Olaf Parusel (composition/arrangement) looked at this time for

a new way to connect his musical and philosophical thoughts. He found a voice in Conny Levrow. In the same year the first song "Stoa" was released on the compilation "From Hypnotic … to Hypersonic" (Hyperium). The album "Urthona" (Hyperium) followed in 1992, and sold ten thousand copies worldwide.
                                                                            

Both members worked a lot in other projects in the years before. Conny played the violin for more than

ten years and performed in many orchestras. She also sang in some classical choruses and as a soloist, and is familiar with baroque and romantic compositions like G.F. Handel, E. Grieg or Pergolesi.
Olaf was in his childhood a member of the "Stadtsingechor Halle", the oldest chorus of the world. Later, he played in many musical projects and bands, and also composed for TV. He studied musicology and philosophy.
                                                                                 

In 1994 the second album, "Porta VIII" (Hyperium), was released. It has a concept based on the fairy tale "Ariadne et Barbe Bleue" by Maurice Maeterlinck, but "Porta VIII" is a continuation of the original

fairy tale. This album too was selling more than 10 000 copies worldwide and climbed the Mexican charts.
Since 1997 there was a new line-up. Conny left sToa to follow her classical career, and the new singer was Antje Buchheiser. Buchheiser had been playing violin for more than eleven years, and had been singing in the classical chorus "Hallenser Madrigalisten". She performed a lot in classical music, in, among others, Germany, Japan and Cuba.
                                                            

Another new member since 1996 was Christiane Fischer. She plays cello and is singing the second voice at live concerts. sToa signed to the German publisher Alster Musikverlag. In 1997 the band left their old label Hyperium for various reasons.
                                                               

sToa performed sporadically at special places or events. They played for example at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen in a one hundred years old and eighty metres high monument in front of more than 1 000

people, at the “Zeche Carl” in Essen, in the Netherlands and several times in Mexico (inter alia with the Goethe-Institut). In 2001 they finished their album "Zal". It was released worldwide, but first in Mexico at "Samadhi Musik". sToa signed to the German label "Alice in …", where they released "Zal" for the rest of the world and re-released "Urthona" and "Porta VIII". The singer on "Zal" was Antje Buchheiser.
                                                                                 

In 2008 sToa returned with international line-up. The new album "Silmand" was released on September 26th. "Silmand" means soul month. With it the month September is titled in an almost forgotten

German dialect. The female voices on the album belong to sToa's new main-singer Mandy Bernhardt and the Australian multi-instrumentalist Louisa John-Krol. Furthermore, the Dutchman Pieter Nooten (Ex-Clan of Xymox) could be engaged as well as the Leipzig-based Ralf Jehnert (Love is Colder than Death). One of the songs on "Silmand" was already used as film score ("Tacitum"). The title of the song "Hanuz Nist" comes from the Persian lyrics written by Hassan Dehlawi at the 14th century.

Version 6, edited by Algorab on 20 September 2010, 2:28am · View version history
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HISTORY

The band was founded in 1991 by the musicology and philosophy student Olaf Parusel from Halle. In 1992 the first song called "sToa" appeared on the compilation "From Hypnotic to Hypersonic" released by Hyperium Records . The CDs "Urthona" (1993) and "Porta VIII" (1994) with Conny Levrow as singer were released on the same label. Then it became quiet about the project.
                                                     

At the beginning of 2002 the CD "Zal" was released on the Mexican label Samadhi Records , then also on Alice in ... in Germany. The singer Antje Buchheiser can be heard for the first time on this work. The album reached various chart placements in Mexico, Russia and Germany. The fourth album

“Silmand” was released in 2008. Mandy Bernhardt, Louisa John-Krol , Pieter Nooten and Ralf Jehnert sing on it. sToa is particularly successful in countries such as Mexico, Russia and China. The band played live several times at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen at the Völkerschlachtdenkmal in Leipzig and, through the Goethe-Institut, also in Mexico. The band's lyrics are often of a philosophical nature. Olaf Parusel also works as a film composer. According to Olaf Parusel, the different upper and lower case of the band name was adopted from the design of the first CDs.

Line-up
Olaf Parusel: All instruments
Mandy Bernhardt: Vocals
Christiane Fischer: Back Vocals, Cello

Past members
Conny Levrow: Vocals
Antje Buchheiser: Vocals

URTHONA  1993 (REMASTERED 2006)

 

TRACKS

01. Candide    3:27
02. Autumn  (Lyrics By – Kai-Uve Skerra)  3:28
03. Infant Joy  (Lyrics By – William Blake)  2:45
04. Spin    3:31
05. In Memoriam  (Lyrics By – Alfred Lord Tennyson)  5:04
06. Stoa  Lyrics By – Traditional  5:53
07. Captivity  (Lyrics By – Samuel Rogers)  3:16
08. Dust  (Lyrics By – Alfred Lord Tennyson)  3:44
09. (N)Ever  (Lyrics By – Kai-Uve Skerra)  3:57
10. Taumel  (Lyrics By – Kai-Uve Skerra)  5:00
11. Hommage    2:10

MP3 @ 320 Size: 99 MB
Flac  Size: 255 MB

ZILMAND 2008

After seven years away, STOA return with an international line-up. This new album from the music philosophers surprises in more than one way. In fact, the very release of Silmand is surprising in itself if you consider that there was NO news of STOA for the past 7 years! However, fans will be happy that the sToa mastermind has stayed true to himself with his fourth album.
                                                    

Besides the usual melancholy, unusual pop rhythms have found their way onto the album, but the typical STOA sound is still distinct. Olaf Parusel, the mastermind behind the classic darkwave band sToa, said about his band’s new album “Silmand”, stoic philosophy, and working with famed “faerie” musician Louisa John-Krol.”Louisa and I know each other from the old times on [the] Hyperium-Label.
                                                 

The vocal lines harbour some surprises as well. There is the angelic voice of singer Mandy Bernhardts, known from her live performances of the band; however, the voices of three guest singers also feature on Silmand. The first voice belongs to the Australian multi-instrumentalist Louisa John Krol. The Dutchman Peter Nooten (ex-CLAN OF XYMOX) is also present, as well as the Leipzig-based Ralf Jehnert (LOVE IS COLDER THAN DEATH).
                                                          

With Silmand, STOA has created an album for the calmer moments in life, for cuddling, for getting lost

in ones thoughts, for philosophizing. The sound of STOA invites the listener to seek their inner sadness and to fly away with it on angel wings. The dark side of the human soul is unveiled, but without falling into clichés. The melancholy is touched and the soul is musically caressed. Silmand means 'Soul Month'. This is the name for the month of September in an almost forgotten German dialect.
                                                

Olaf Parusel says "Besides the strength and spirit of the summer, September harbours a shimmer of the autumn's melancholy. A glimpse of winter's implacability that all life will retreat to."

LOUISA JOHN KROL

Early influences include the usual suspects, such as Joni Mitchell, Judy Durham & Stevie Nicks. I wrote songs with my sisters Catherine & Rebecca and friends Jenni & Mandy, with titles such as ‘Mystical Stream’ & ‘Tropical Rainforest’, perched in trees with sprinklers, which did wonders for the instruments. My first original studio recording at age 10 was an ode to an island paradise. We read fantasy chronicles: Narnia, The Wizard of Earthsea, The Lord of the Rings, etc, also Faeries by Brian Froud / Alan Lee. When I met Brian over 30 years later, we discussed universality of Faeries.
                                                         

He questioned why my folklore was not indigenous to Australia. Complex question, beyond the scope of this page, except to mention that some Aborigines deplore our appropriation of their culture as extension of conquest. Yet what we transplant (as in my Welsh father Michael’s storytelling or choir

LPs) need not be a sealed bubble. Who are the tree-ghosts? Respect and receptivity may be symbiotic. Moving to Melbourne for boarding school, I wrote songs in basements or forbidden balconies tangled in ivy. Later at university, listening to Kate Bush and medieval cassettes run off vinyl LP’s from libraries, I thrived on philosophy, literature, fine arts and classics, while continuing to write songs about elves, gnomes, tree spirits and other fey creatures. During the 1980’s I sang at The Green Man and other folk hubs with college friends such as Zara Guthrie, prior to widespread venue closures in Melbourne’s 80’s recession.
                                                          

She describes her music as 'Romantic Pop-Ethereal Faerie' music. So far, she released five albums, originally on the German label Hyperium Records, but last on the French label Prikosnovenie aka The Fairy World label. She has also been involved in a number of other projects by other artists, including two soundtracks. Louisa John-Krol is often compared to the artists Loreena McKennitt and Kate Bush . The texts of her pieces come from fairy stories and generally from literature . She worked as a storyteller for years and also gives classes in music and literature. Louisa performed in 2009 in Mons ( Belgium ) at the "Trolls et Légende" concert.

PIETER NOOTEN

Pieter Nooten (born 22 January 1961 in Oss) is a Dutch musician and composer best known for his work with Clan of Xymox.
Nooten's musical career began in the late 1970s. Starting out as the drummer in a local symphonic rock band, he quickly changed to bass guitar and later keyboards, playing in different bands. At the height of house squatting culture and new wave, Nooten met Anka Wolbert and Ronny Moorings who had just formed Clan of Xymox together. During the mid-eighties Clan of Xymox recorded two highly acclaimed albums on 4AD.
                                                      

In 2008, Nooten re-entered the music industry and started writing and composing again. He sang on sToa's album Silmand and released a compilation on the Twilight label.

Label: Alice In... – AIW 155
Format: CD, Album
Country: Germany
Released: Sep 26, 2008
Genre: Classical
Style: Modern Classical, Datk Wave, Gothik

TRACKS

01. Sakrileg    2:57
02. Broken Glass    3:22
03. La Lune Blanche    3:52
04. Daar    3:24
05. Iter Devium    3:32
06. My Last Way    3:49
07. Palladium [Night]    2:48
08. Ways    3:28
09. Modesty    3:28
10. Hanuz Nist    4:32
11. A Drinking Song    3:40
12. So Many Clouds    3:51
13. Tacitum    3:29

MP3 @ 320 Size: 108 MB
Flac  Size: 238 MB

Song number 7 "Palladium [Night]" is misspelled on the tracklist (Back cover; "Palldium [Night]"), but in the booklet it is written right.

Benny Mausolf: Viola
Christine Fischer: Cello
Olaf Parusel: Additional Voice
Louisa John Krol: Vocals
Mandy Bernhardt: Vocals
Ralf Jehnert: Vocals
Beate Siewert: Vocal Coach
Pieter Nooten: Vocals

All music composed and arranged by Olaf Parusel

 

Lyrics By – Hassan Dehlawi (tracks: 9), Louisa John-Krol (tracks: 2, 7), Paul Parusel (tracks: 6, 12), Paul Verlaine (tracks: 3), Sursum Corda (tracks: 5), William Butler Yeats (tracks: 11)
Music By – Olaf Parusel
Recorded By – Olaf Parusel
Vocals – Louisa John-Krol (tracks: 2, 7), Mandy Bernhardt (tracks: 3, 5, 9, 12), Olaf Parusel (tracks: 1), Pieter Nooten (tracks: 11), Ralf Jehnert (tracks: 6)

sToa: Porta VIII - Find it HERE: