Elend is a band formed in France in 1993 by composers and multi-instrumentalists Iskandar Hasnawi of France and Renaud Tschirner of Austria. The band's name is German language|German for "misery." Their music can be described as Gothic rock|gothic and orchestral music, or simply neoclassical (Dark Wave)|neoclassical.
Stylistic overview
Early Elend albums utilized samplers and synths to create a dense and horrifying orchestral sound. In recent albums for the ''Winds Cycle'', Elend's sound has broadened; they have incorporated Industrial music|industrial elements and now rely almost entirely on acoustic instruments and chamber orchestras instead of synths, giving them a more full and natural sound.
Elend is often classified as a heavy metal music|metal act due to the fact that in their earlier days, they were signed to Holy Records, which released metal music almost exclusively, as well as due to them having members formerly in metal bands. Elend's sound has sometimes been very violent, containing harsh atonal dissonance and screaming, tormented vocals, but they have never been metal of any form.
The ''Winds Cycle'' was originally intended to consist of five albums, however it was changed to a trilogy prior to the release of ''A World in Their Screams'' for unknown reasons.
In an interview with a French magazine posted in June 2007 on their website... read all