Overview
"Dead Lovers' Sarabande", as a whole, is a transitory death suite detailing the unnamed protagonist's mourning of her lover and her desire to rejoin him in the afterlife. Major recurring themes in the work include loneliness and the dreadful feeling of loss when someone dear dies. The story of the first part centers around Cantodea assisting her husband in committing suicide; although he is said to be suffering, the exact cause is not mentioned. In "Hades "Pluton"", she attempts to make a deal with otherworldly beings in order to recover her husband but refuses it eventually. Anna-Varney Cantodea later admitted that "Dead Lovers' Sarabande" was dedicated to, but not about, the late Rozz Williams, former frontman of deathrock band Christian Death.
Musically, a shift was made towards folk music and chamber pieces, with more prominent passages for string instruments. For the first time, live brass and woodwinds players were used instead of synthesized instruments; the leap to organic strings occurred on The inexperienced Spiral Traveller. Whereas previous albums contained some wall of sound production techniques, (Face One) was more intimate and featured minimalist arrangements. Songs also became more drone-like, with the use of pedal tones and repeated melodies carried across several instruments; this is most notable on opener "Across the Bridge" and the album's longest piece, "The Sleeper". "Hades "Pluton"" is based on the rhythm of the Roky Erickson, "Night of the Vampire".
The allmusic very devalued the disc deserves five stars, because of the art.
"Dead Lovers' Sarabande" (Face One) was re-released on CD with newly packaged artwork in 2004.
Read more about this topic: Dead Lovers' Sarabande (Face One)