I have always loved the Heavenly Voices musical movement. It emerged in the first half of the 1990s, inspired by the albums released by 4AD, which had bands such as Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, and This Mortal Coil in its stable. The celestial singing, especially female, contained in those albums has strongly influenced the entire ethereal darkwave school that has come down to the present day with The Silver Sea.
The Heavenly Voices Movement and The Silver Sea by REMINA
This tradition or legacy has been taken up by the duo formed by Heike Langhans and Mike Lamb with their cosmic doom project called REMINA. The band made its debut in November 2022 with the album Strata, followed by the EP Erebus released in 2024. Now, on the occasion of this second full-length album, evocatively titled The Silver Sea, drummer Shayne Roos has officially joined the duo. Indeed, whose dynamic and powerful rhythm section has allowed for a further leap in quality.
The guests in The Silver Sea
Making this work even more appealing are two guest singers, namely Mick Moss of Antimatter and Tony Dunn of Sgàile. Describing Remina‘s music is no easy task. Given the many influences at play, but it is certainly worth mentioning Heike‘s (then) involvement in the Swedish Gothic Doom metal band Draconian. And Mile Lamb‘s involvement in the atmospheric Black Metal band Sojourner.
The opener for The Silver Sea
The album opens with Trust No One, introduced by a sidereal ambient sound. And our journey beyond the stars begins, in search of new dimensions. Heike‘s voice reaches us like a caress from another world amid expansive sounds, piano notes filtered through delay, and precise, surprising rhythms. A dream that soon ends up being replaced by the slow, almost martial and powerful rhythm of the second track, Algol. A dark track that features Heike‘s voice in a duet with Mick Moss.
One has the feeling of being slowly swallowed up in a vortex of nothingness. The synthesizer sounds are cold and sharp. We find ourselves on an unknown moon at the edge of the universe. And we have lost hope of receiving signals from any human form. The crescendoing final rhythm is like a blade, severing all ties with the past.
Crossing paths with darkwave
I find it hard to resist the third track, especially for those like me who grew up listening to dark music from the early 80. Because the song Vanta Ray is definitely a dark wave track covered with a blanket of black stars. The duet with Tony Dunn is the most engaging I’ve heard in several years. And Roos’ drums are absolutely perfect, not to mention the fabric of guitars and keyboards. We are literally in another universe. Actually, we have entered it with our thoughts and emotions, and we will never forget the power of music and singing again.
The collision of Theia
In Theia, Heike‘s velvety voice rises like a distant whisper as she sings of the inevitable. Then, Theia, the hypothetical planet that collided with Earth to create the moon, is also the goddess of Greek mythology from whom Helios, the god of the Sun, and Selene, the goddess of the Moon, were born. A cosmic event narrated through mythology that reaches us thanks to the magic of this song.
The Cure meets Lisa Gerrard
The solemnity of some of The Cure‘s songs meets the more ethereal Lisa Gerrard to narrate wars that took place in ancient times in the Andromeda galaxy in House of Suns. An ancestral memory seems to resurface in Heike‘s lyrics, while the dark wall of sound created by Mike Lamb and Shayne Roos envelops our instruments of perception.
Travelling on Jupiter
With Io we find ourselves on one of Jupiter’s moons, which perhaps reflects part of the cosmic aura surrounding the energy field. Because the microcosm always finds its counterpart in the macrocosm, and the entire universe is synthesized within us. And once again, the sounds of the most demanding darkwave return in an expanded and liquid form to ferry us towards the final chapter: Silence and the Silver Sea.
The chapter on The Silver Sea
In the final chapter, where we seem to hear Clan of Xymox‘s Medusa in slow motion. Here we have arrived on Argo, Jason’s mythical ship, to sail through outer space in search of ourselves, and finally reach the silver sea where silence reigns. Listening to The Silver Sea, this immense work by REMINA, you may find yourself crying with emotion, and glimpsing the reflection of distant stars in your tears…
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Track List
- Trust No One
- Algol
- Vanta Rey
- Theia
- House of Suns
- Io
- Silence and the Silver Sea
Line Up
- Mike Lamb – Guitars, Bass, Drums, Keyboards
- Heike Langhans – Vocals, Keyboards
- Shayne Roos – Drums