Shadow mission – Held V

https://www.discogs.com/release/1621251-Kirlian-Camera-Shadow-Mission-HELD-V

Kirlian Camera is an Italian band started in 1979 by Angelo Bergamini, the only original member now. The style has shifted since then from a dark existential kind of synth pop to something a bit more cheerful. Personally I think around 2000 was the big change: before that is rubbish, after that I really like. That happened to be the moment that singer Elena Fossi joined the band. It is also the time of the great controversy.

Publicist and social scientist Alfred Schobert wrote an article in Der Spiegel and mentioned the band as a side note. On a few albums the band had used imagery from the infamous concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau and from the Third Reich. There was also a rumour that they were performing a Roman Salute on stage.

The band has always denied the allegations, and said that the imagery was used to underline the morbid character of the music. It is not about either the aesthetics or the ideology. The issue continued to hound the band over the next few years though, leading to concert boycotts and cancellations.

I do admit that it doesn’t help that Bergamini and some other members wear a baclava on stage. I have seen them live a couple of times, and I think it is not needed. I think it is relic of the past, when they had the more darker albums.

Add a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *