Various Artists: Excelsis ~ a dark noel (2021 remaster) (CD/LP)

Product Description

Purchase in Europe for fast, inexpensive shipping: Information in English here. Click to order CD & LPs.

Available in two color variations:

LP on 140-gram Orchid w/Purple & Grey Splatter vinyl, includes credit insert. Limited edition of 300.
LP on 140-gram Aqua w/White Splatter vinyl, includes credit insert. Limited edition of 300.
*Note: the LP is 12-tracks long. “What Child Is This?” is CD & digital-only.
• 1995 compilation’s first vinyl release
• Remastered by Martin Bowes of Attrition in The Cage, Coventry UK.

Blog Post & short interview with Sam about Excelsis in UK’s The Independent

Spend the season right with dark holiday classics of untraditional fare. Turn down the lights… it’s a dark noel!

Projekt’s 1995 Holiday compilation is the one that started it all! It’s a dark holiday classic! Spend the holidays in style this year. No more barking dogs or Perry Como for you, uh-uh! While away the frigid hours until the important day with strains of Black Tape For A Blue Girl’s crusade “Chanukkah, Oh Chanukkah,” Lycia’s darkly sensual “We Three Kings,” Love Spirals Downwards’ “Welcome Christmas” (from How the Grinch Stole Christmas), or Faith and the Muse’s pagan madrigal “A Winter Wassail.” All graced by our lovely Dark Angel prepared to brighten many a dark holiday night.

The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, 1995: The Projekt label’s coven of gothic artists does emphasize the night in “Silent Night” and other seasonal songs on this intriguing set. Eerie, trance-like reworkings of “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Carol of the Bells” seem to urge deep, Druid thought, not dread. Consider this a good time to go commune with the gargoyle statuary at your local cathedral.

The Boston Phoenix 1995: Various luminaries of goth, including Lycia, and This Ascension, cover traditional holiday fare. Love Spirals Downward applies a Cocteau Twins-like sound to “Welcome Christmas.” Faith & the Muse lend their Renaissance rendition of “A Winter Wassail.” BlackTape’s “Chanukkah O Chanukkah” brims with dark gothic overtones. For balance, there are a few more-traditional renditions. This is the perfect Xmas album to play for friends and family to make the holiday just a wee bit weird.

HUH #16: More the work of monks than moshers, the emphasis on spacey, ethereal vocals makes this seem like This Mortal Coil on an eggnog bender, and that’s not a bad thing. The prettiest of the lot, this is a beautiful collection of tracks for trimming the tree or burning your own yule log.

Release History