Well...Atat eu si die_mon_amour suntem fane, de ce nu, lol? xD





Background information
Origin Flag of Germany Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany
Years active 1987 or 1989 (disputed) – Present
Label(s) Apocalyptic Vision / Associated acts / White
Onyx Elephants / Nenia C'alladhan
Website soporaeternus.de



Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows (usually referred to as the simplified, "Sopor Aeternus,") is a gothic, dark folk, or darkwave musical project consisting solely of the German musician, Anna-Varney Cantodea. It was formed in 1987 or 1989.



Sopor Aeternus was born in either 1987 or 1989 as, it is a disputed topic at the moment. It was created by Anna-Varney Cantodea, and an elusive figure known only as, 'Holger'. The two had met at that time, in a goth club called, 'Negativ', which is located in Frankfurt, Germany. At that point in time, it is described in an interview with Anna, that she was experiencing a sort of sporadic outing with the 'human world, and that Holger became a sort of link for Anna-Varney to use to regain her ability to have connections with society (she was quite isolated at the time. . For unknown reasons, Holger decided to join Anna in materialising a sort of 'dream music', muses that Anna-Varney later referes to as, The Ensemble of Shadows. -reference-

Anna and Holger worked together with what little money they had, to purchase musical instruments and create Blut der schwarzen roze, or The Undead Trilogy; a triad of demo cassettes under the titles: Es reiten die Toten so schnell... (first demo), Rufus (second demo), and Till Time and Times Are Done (third and last demo). Other than the 50 copies of Es reiten die Toten so schnell..., these were never released to the public; and shortly after their creation, Holger (for once again, unknown reasons) left Sopor. -reference-

In 1994, Anna-Varney produced her first album, Ich tote mich…. Much mystery hangs around the creation of this album, as sources and interviews are scarce in knowledge as to where Anna was at this point in her life, or how she gathered the financial needs for such a work of art. One poorly translated interview (one which should be noted was taken from a fansite forum), though, states that Anna-Varney was living off of rat meat in a darkened room. This information is not verified, is not cited as being stated by Anna-Varney, and is quite unlikely, therefore its accuracy is debateable. The quote from the article in which this is mentioned is as follows:

When in 1994 the cd-debut “Ich tote mich…” (see the discography for the complete title) appears, an immense air of mystery hangs around this at that time new project. Varney would’ve separated himself from the rest of the world for years, and would’ve spent years alone in a dark room. His primary food was rat meat. It therefore was a near thing that the world would never be able to meet the genius Varney.

- May, 2003. Dark Entries Magazine


Despite years of good (though not well-known) media attention, not much is known about Cantodea. She tends not to talk about her personal life; a life which seems to have been filled with great grief and depression. From what little is known, Anna-Varney could be described as being transgender, or more specifically a non-operative Male-to-female. Cantodea prefers to be referred as, "she," instead of, "he," and states that she does not seek to surgically alter her body due to reasons of, as Cantodea referes to it, "spiritual conflict". She took the name Anna-Varney Cantodea to reflect this, Anna being a typically feminine name, Varney possibly stemming from the horror story, "Varney the Vampire, or The Feast Of Blood," and Cantodea being a form of the Latin word for female singer.


She has said in several interviews that she spent nearly three decades in extreme states of depression, despair and loneliness, all of which resulted in her discovery of the "Ensemble Of Shadows": otherworldly presences and/or voices who stirred her musical senses and guided her to share the works in her head with the public. She does not speak much on the subject of the Ensemble, nor does she perform live, "in front of humans." Anna-Varney does have a sense of humour however, such as admitting she loves Darth Vader and changing the Fruit of the Loom logo to, "Fruit of the Tomb," which incorporates her face into the design (as seen in her 2002 work, Nenia C'alladhan).

Her mediaeval-influenced music is emotional and melancholic, using a variety of brass, woodwinds (in particular, flutes), string quartets and various guitars. In some instances, synthesizers and drum machines or real percussion are used. Anna-Varney has clearly stated that she creates her music about herself, solely for herself. Various themes include death, suicide, unrequited love, karmatic pain, loneliness and sadness. A very important recurring theme is Cantodea's apparent Transsexualism and the idea of becoming or being a woman, including removal of the typically male genitalia in favour of attaining the female variant (in later album artwork, Anna-Varney is usually shown nude with a vagina which has been edited in with photo-manipulation techniques.) There are also several musical themes that reappear in her works; the most notable example is the song "Birth - Fiendish Figuration" which has appeared in at least four forms on separate releases. Other songs contain similar melodic lines or lyrics from an earlier release.

La inceput mi s-a parut doar interesant, acum chiar imi place
instrumental mishto, voce mishto iar versurile... (semantura curenta a lui uBC e din melodia mea pref "some men are like chocolate", de pe ultimul album, "le fleurs du mal"...
"Alas, some men are like chocolate
But most of them are like SHIT
And if you don't have the experience
To spot that subtle difference
You're likely to fall
For only the promise of a kiss."
--in caz ca o sa o schimbe curand--)
si inca o poza:

E un geniu, ce mai
Versurile lui sunt superbe