Two years have passed since since the Austrian post-metal band ANDERWELT releasd their impressive concept album “2084“, but the impact of this atmospheric offering still resonates and it has clearly stood the test of time. Today, we’re pleased to take you on a quick, yet insightful journey, revealing some of its details, concept assumptions and hypotheses.
Inspired by George Orwell’s classic novel “1984”, “2084” explores the themes of government control and the loss of individuality in a dystopian society. Accompanied by a short film “Pax” (watch below) and experimental music video for the song song “True“, and featuring just four songs, which lets them stand out on its own, “2084” comes as a harrowing, unsettling, and carefully crafted work of art that resonates deeply and begs for repeat listens.
For fans of Dead To A Dying World, Harakiri For The Sky und Fall Of Efrafa.
“We always try to dedicate an album or music video to a certain topic and to align our music, lyrics and visual implementation with it.” – comments the band’s bassist Dominik.
“For our current album “2084” we chose George Orwell’s classic “1984”. This resulted in long and atmospheric songs, which are already typical for us, and the alternate between quieter and heavier parts. Our “special effect” the cello is even more present than in the predecessors (“Schattenlichter” and “Trinity of Decay-EP”) and gives our sound a new direction.”
Adds guitarist Simon: “We’re trying to take Orwell’s “1984” further and rewind it in four long songs. We deliberately stick very close to the original because the book seems perfect to us as it is, but we also address topics that could turn our society upside down in the future, keyword data protection(*). Some things apply to the present, some to the future. Instead of the Big Brother, we have a Big Sister who monitors everything. It may will be that in the distant future men and women will be treated equally… By the way, the eye is also integrated in our live stage design. (So please check out our extravagant live shows!;-)) We also changed some “bulky” Newspeak expressions. And the suppressed affection between the protagonists is not least expressed in 2084 by our guest singer (Nana Falkner).”
(*) Expounding more on the data protection issue, Simon admits that we often do not realize how valuable our personal data is.
“When you see how often databases are stolen or sold, we should think about this topic much more and at least not give away confidential data carelessly.” – he says. “In our latitudes, the misuse of data is still reasonably limited, but I have the feeling that there are some rumours in the underground. Currently, the data is mainly used for advertising purposes, but when it falls into the hands of corrupt governments, things can get really dangerous. But I’m anything but an expert in this field, that’s just my superficial assessment. Summarized: Not only since covid, nearly the whole live happens in the internet, so it is not foreseeable in which direction the development of society goes.”
Speaking more about each and every track from this adventurous album, Simon admits that the titles of the four songs correspond to the four ministries from “1984”.
Love (Luv), Peace (Pax), Abundance (Plenty), and Truth (Truth)
“The numbers themselves do not refer purely to these ministries in terms of text, but try to give a brief history.” – comments Simon.
“We have also included some of the original lines (e.g. “Under the spreading chestnut tree…”), but supplemented with our own observations from reality. For example, by no longer talking about parties, but about groups in general. Each of us feels we belong to some group, and we are all trapped in the information bubbles of our group(s). We tried to bridge the four songs both musically and lyrically so that you can listen to them in one go, as if it were an audio book with four chapters…”
With cello being an integral part of their music, Dominik touched on how this comparatively unusual addition to the line-up came about.
“We were looking for someone for recording and mixing for our first work “Schattenlichter“. I’ve known Andi since school and knew about his incredible musical abilities. He was there immediately and was enthusiastic about our music. After asking him, he let off steam and contributed a few cello tracks to the mix himself. When we heard the result we couldn’t help but hire him as a permanent band member.”
❞𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒔- 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆.❞ – 𝑮. 𝑨𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒓
“I think, a constant tone eventually becomes boring. Modulation makes music more beautiful and life more worth living.” – concludes Simon.
