NAPRA Review (07-08/02, p.68) - "...Ancient Gregorian chants sung by a highly skilled, trained, and disciplined male chorus...A soulful, mystic pop that soars across the heavens..."
Lesiem includes: Felix Lauschus, Diana Pabst, Ramesh Weeratunga, Lawrence Sihlabeni (vocals); Ferenc Snetberger (acoustic guitar); Jochen Gleichmann (flugelhorn); Alex "89" Wende (keyboards); Mac Pollak (bass).
The 2001 debut of German electronic outfit Lesiem is much more dark and ominous than fans of Enigma and Deep Forest may expect, which only means that teenage goths and their moms may finally have something to agree on when it comes to picking music for long car rides. The Latin-singing male chorus can sound as frightening as Rammstein on an OMEN soundtrack one moment, and as transcendent as Handel's MESSIAH in the next, while Ferenc Snetberger wails on electric guitar in WALL-era Pink Floyd mode, and Alex "89" Wende provides the dance loops and orchestral thunder with his keyboard work.
One of the highlights of MYSTIC SPIRIT VOICES is "Fundamentum" with its crashing tympanis, strings, and chanting at its most ominous and dark. Electric guitar circles over the voices on the impassioned "Vivere," while "Ave Fortuna" ends the record with a more straightforward Gregorian chant. Moments of rock burble forth from the ceremonial reverence and fiery ancient imaginings; "Occultum" features a singer belting out English lyrics in 1980s hard-rock style; "Floreat" has a British voice narrating a tale of a time when "the world was shadows" over a heavy beat. This surprisingly dynamic recording proves that "spirit voices" come in all varieties.