Within the Realm of a Dying Sun

Infobox Album | Name = Within the Realm of a Dying Sun
Type = Album
Artist = Dead Can Dance


Released = July 27, 1987
Recorded = April 1987--May 1987
Genre = World music, Neoclassical
Length = 38:43
Label = 4AD Records
Producer = Brendan Perry, Lisa Gerrard
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:p9x8b5n4tsqj link]
Last album = "Spleen and Ideal" (1985)
This album = "Within the Realm of a Dying Sun" (1987)
Next album = "The Serpent's Egg" (1988) |

"Within the Realm of a Dying Sun" is the third album recorded by the Dead Can Dance duo, Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, in 1987.

The cover's photograph was taken in Paris, at the Père-Lachaise cemetery. It features the grave of the politician Raspail.

Lisa Gerrard's vocals feature prominently in the second half of the album, and her singing style often has wailing Arabic overtones, especially on the track titled Cantara. It is in contrast to the dreamlike first half, but builds powerfully as the album progresses.

Track listing

#"Anywhere Out of the World" – 5:08
#"Windfall" – 3:30
#"In the Wake of Adversity" – 4:14
#"Xavier" – 6:16
#"Dawn of the Iconoclast" – 2:06
#"Cantara" – 5:58
#"Summoning of the Muse" – 4:55
#"Persephone (the Gathering of Flowers)" – 6:36

Covers and samples

*Gerrard's vocals on "Dawn of the Iconoclast" were sampled on the electronica track Papua New Guinea by Future Sound Of London.
*The Black metal/Dark ambient band Procer Veneficus covered "Anywhere Out of the World" on the Lunar Transit album.
*Australian Death metal band Abramelin covered the song "Cantara" on their self-titled album.
*"Persephone (The Gathering Of Flowers)" was sampled on German techno group Scooter's 2001 album "We Bring the Noise!.
*British Gothic metal band Paradise Lost covered the song "Xavier" as a bonus track on their Symbol of Life album.