Having previously announced details of their new album Dionysus, Australian duo Dead Can Dance today share new recording ACT II – The Mountain which premieres via Pitchfork.
The follow-up to 2012’s Anastasis and taking its lead from the myth of Dionysus, the new work consists of two acts across seven movements representing the various facets of the legend – conveyed via an array of folk instrumentation, field recordings and chants. Its inspiration drawn from across the world, Dead Can Dance continue to harvest an intriguing trajectory both in spiritual and creative terms.
ACT II – The Mountain is the first new recording from Dionysus and the first movement of the album’s second Act where, explains Brendan Perry; ‘listeners will find themselves visiting Mount Nysa. This mountain was Dionysus’ place of birth, where he was raised by the centaur Chiron, from whom he learned chants and dances together with Bacchic rites and initiations. ‘
Driven by Perry’s exploration of religious rites and rituals, Dionysus nevertheless sees ally-in-arms Lisa Gerrard convey the feminine aspect of Dionysus’s dual nature through song in both solo and mantric choral forms and ultimately to play the role of Psychopomp, signifying Dionysus’s role as an agrarian deity returning to winter’s underworld to reassume the role of guide to dead souls.
TOUR DATES:
May 02: Le Liberte, Rennes, France
May 04 / 05: Hammersmith Apollo, London, UK
May 07 / 08: Cirque Royale, Brussels, Belgium
May 10 / 11: Grand Rex, Paris, France
May 13 / 14: Tivoli Vredenburg, Utrecht, Netherlands
May 16 / 17: Tempodrom, Berlin, Germany
May 20 / 21: Barts, Barcelona, Spain
May 23 / 24: Aula Magna, Lisbon, Portugal
May 26 / 27: Teatro Degli Arcimboldi, Milan, Italy
June 16: Alte Oper, Frankfurt, Germany
June 18 / 19: Ruhrcongress, Bochum, Germany
June 21 / 22: Torwar Hall, Warsaw, Poland
June 24: Kongresove Centrum Praha, Prague, Czech Republic
June 26: Papp Laszlo Budapest Sportarena, Budapest, Hungary
June 28: Sava Centar, Belgrade, Serbia
June 30: Roman Theatre Of Philippopolis, Plovdiv, Bulgaria