| Mexican Import |Two years after their sensational debut album "Home", PERSEPHONE (fronted by female vocalist Sonja Kraushofer of L'ÂME IMMORTELLE) returned with some changes to their formation. Tobias Hahn and Rig left the band to dedicate themselves completely to JANUS, and at the same time Matt Howden (SIEBEN, ex-SOL INVICTUS) and Martin Höfert (SOPOR AETERNUS) joined the project, building on the extended dark ambient rumbles and neo-classical soundscapes of previous work and emerging into a more goth-ethereal, dark folk and sacral type of music. PERSEPHONE cover a densely contoured terrain, both bound and endless, sad and hauntingly beautiful.

To listen to PERSEPHONE is to imagine what the product of a collaboration between DEAD CAN DANCE and SOPOR AETERNUS would have sounded like. Heavenly voices blend eloquently with mysterious string patterns and doom-laden rhythms. Alongside many classical musicians (violin, cello, bassoon, oboe, clarinet and much more) this album once again features Wim, ex-guitar player of CHRISTIAN DEATH. And once again the artwork has been done by JOACHIM LUETKE, who is responsible for the album layouts of MARILYN MANSON and SOPOR AETERNUS amongst others. With Atma Gyan the band provide music for inspiration, contemplation and relaxation - a delicate spiritual experience.

A review from Goth.net
Atma Gyan - in translation "Eternal Light" - is the second Persephone studio album, after their sensational debut, "Home", in 2002. There are no major differences from "Home"; the chamber music, 100% acoustic, still remains a strong atu for Martin Hofert and Sonja Kraushofer. Adding to the already known violin, viola, cellos (two in number), doublebass and acoustic guitar and bass, new instruments like sitar, tambour, didgeridoo and different other percussions have been introduced. The vocal part belongs exclusively to Sonja Kraushofer, whom you probably know from L'Ame Imprtelle. The voice is warm, extremely melodic and full of tenderness and sensibility. The lyrics have as a main theme the man and his feelings, the Persephone poetry revolves around love and the scars that remain after losing it. The album begins with an exceptional song - "My Music Is Gone" - a song with a minimal instrumentation, relying especially on percussion, and, in the front, a whispered, suffering voice, like of an exhausted and broken-hearted man, in which the leitmotif that gives the title of the song is repeated obsessively, paralysing. The next song, "Facing The Ruins" remembers me of the "Home" hit "The Man Who Swallowed My Soul". From song to song, the audition of "Atma Gyan" continuosly captivates, the music, the voice and the lyrics act complementarily and simultaneously, keeping the listener ecstatic, their breath held by the desire of not disturbing anything that is heard. The disc ends with the song that gives the name of the album, which seems to end where the first one begins, giving the impression of a permanent pain, like this album was just a tour of the amputated soul of a human that lost his love, but his suffering is permanent, remaining there even after the listener has pressed "stop" and got the CD out of the player. As a bonus, on top of the great music, the CD is packed in a beautiful digipack, Joachim Luetke being responsible of the artwork. As I have said before, if you liked their debut album, "Home" or if you listen to music like Sopor Aeternus, Chamber, Dead Can Dance, Antony And The Johnsons or Current 93, you will surely love "Atma Gyan". Mark: 9.5/10