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Dargaard
Origin	Austria
Years active	1997–present
Genres	Darkwave
Labels	Napalm Records
Members	Tharen Elisabeth Toriser

Dargaard is a neo-classical darkwave band from Austria formed in 1997. The genre is often heavily debated, but is entirely made on keyboards. Some refer to it as Innovative Darkwave, though the Darkwave genre is not clearly defined in itself. Typically in dark and somber moods, the music of Dargaard presents folk-like melodies, often orchestrated through the use of various instrument patches from a keyboard. The band is still active and have four releases at this time.

Contents 1 History 2 Current line-up 3 Discography 4 External links

Dargaard was founded by Tharen (Alexander Opitz) in 1997. Tharen had already played a prominent role in several underground bands by this time, including Abigor and Amestigon, both black metal bands and Dominion III, an industrial music act. Tharen was the keyboard player in Abigor, but Amestigon, Dominion III (also known as Dominion³ but this name is no longer used) and Dargaard are entirely his projects. Dargaard was born out of Tharen's desire to move away from black metal and express himself through more ambient and classical music.

Also joining the band was Elisabeth Toriser as vocalist. Elisabeth was also the vocalist in Dominion III and was also involved in the band Antichrisis. She claimed in an interview to have split with this band because it interrupted her studies, and she felt their musical conception was different. Tharen has also commented that Elisabeth is working on another project based around acoustic guitars, but as of writing this no recordings or releases have been made.

With Tharen composing the music and Elisabeth writing the vocal melodies, the band recorded their debut album Eternity Rites in October 1998 in the Hoernix Studios. It was released through Napalm Records, who Tharen was already involved with due to his previous bands. This is the reason the band released no demo as the record deal was already signed with Tharen. The release was highly acclaimed by fans of metal and darkwave alike. As one reviewer put it - "Dargaard's 'Eternity rites' is a climactic fairytale full of medieval/folk themes beautifully composed and perfectly performed. Majestic, frequently aggressively dark, but more often melancholic atmosphere makes for a though-provoking listening experience." The band would return to the studio in August to create their second album.

In Nomine Aeternitatis was the band's next record. Continuing the Dargaard formula, the band created another work of dark melody, the release was considered by fans to be a true milestone of innovate darkwave music. Released on the 3rd of June 2000 through Napalm Records, it again received great praise. The band continued on their musical journey, releasing Dissolution of Eternity in June 2001, and their latest work Rise and Fall in March 2004.

Tharen himself describes the music as "songs [that] radiate a kind of beauty, but on the other side we always tried to make our music dark and mighty, the same goes to the lyrics. It's about my very own realm, and this realm consists of dark forces, magic and mysticism and even darkness itself that has its own kind of beauty." Tharen names his influences as many, mainly from feelings gathered from reading. Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth is a named influence along with the Mysterious Realms series of books.

Dargaard remain active in the musical scene, though there has been no news about future releases yet. Tharen has said personally that the band will never tour or play live, due to his own personal commitments. The band has a solid fanbase that often join Tharen for chats on their official forum.

• Tharen, 1997 - (Keyboards, Vocals)
• Elisabeth Toriser, 1997 - (Vocals)

• Eternity Rites - 1998
• In Nomine Aeternitatis - 2000
• Dissolution of Eternity - 2001
• Rise And Fall - 2004

• Official website
• Dargaard at Napalm Records