Risen (album)

Infobox Album
Name = Risen
Type = Album
Artist = The Awakening


Released = April 1997
Recorded = 1996 Mega Music Studios, Johannesburg, South Africa
Genre = Gothic rock
Length =
Label = Intervention Music Youngside (USA)
Producer = Leon Erasmus
Reviews =
Last album =
This album = "Risen"
(1997)
Next album = "Request"
(1998)

"Risen" is the debut album by the South African gothic rock band The Awakening released during April 1997. With this album, The Awakening introduced old-school gothic rock to South Africa, and as the dark music style was previously unheard of in the local music mainstream, the band was somewhat notorious for a while. The record contains the single "The Sounds of Silence" which is a gothic rock adaptation of the song by Simon and Garfunkel. The single achieved popularity on local radio stations.

Recording history

The self-financed work for "Risen" started in In March 1996. They began recording at Mega Music Studios with producer Leon Erasmus. More concerts followed, and the recording went slowly due to financial limits. Hazell played bass on the album, Philip played guitar on a few songs and a vocalist called Cheryl Staples added some ethereal female vocals to two of the songs. "Risen", however, was not finished yet, and in 1997 the vocalist Ashton Nyte went to studio to record a cover of the song "The Sounds of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel.

Musically, the album emphasizes on traditional, minimalistic, and groovy gothic rock style reminiscent of the 1980s British bands such as The Damned, The Cult, The Sisters of Mercy etc. The output focuses on bass and guitar driven sound, and Nyte sings mostly in deep, gloomy baritone voice. The track "Intervention" is an instrumental that incorporates elements of African music, and samples of voices in the jungle. The production values on the record are average, giving it a somewhat thin sound.

The album's reception was mostly positive, and it was said that alternative radio stations became "hysterical" when they first heard "The Sounds of Silence" during the release of "Risen" in April 1997. Gothic rock was said to be an unheard style of music in South Africa at the time, and The Awakening became notorious for a while. [cite web |url= http://www.awakening.co.za/ |title= The Awakening |accessdate= 2007-09-23 |author= Nyte, Ashton |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date=2006|work= Awakening.co.za |publisher= |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]

The album was later re-released on Nyte's own label Intervention Music and lisenced to US via Youngside.

Track listing

#"Nightfall" – 0:34
#"Past Idol" – 4:00
#"Change" – 4:05
#"Focus" – 3:30
#"The Sounds of Silence" – 3:53
#"Difference" – 4:28
#"Intervention" – 3:55
#"Holocaust" – 5:09
#"Standing" – 4:14
#"Turn Away" – 3:20
#"Jezzebel" – 4:30
#"Sacrificial" – 4:33
#"Child of the Moon" – 2:16 Bonus tracks on United States re-release:
#"Standing (acoustic version)" - 3:42
#"No Reason" - 4:21

Personnel

* Ashton Nyte: Vocals and instruments
* Jenni Hazell: Bass guitar on Tracks 1-4,6,8-12
* Philip Booysens: Guitar solo on track 3, lead guitar on track 12
* Leon Erasmus: Keyboards on tracks 3,4,7,9
* Cheryl Staples: Backing vocals on tracks 9,11

References