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- Martyr Lucifer was (and is) the vocalist and founding member of Hortus Animae. With them he recorded 1 demo and 3 albums: “An Abode for Spirit and Flesh” (1998 demotape), “The Melting Idols” (2000, never officially released till 2012), “Waltzing Mephisto” (2003 Black Lotus Records) and “The Blow of Furious Winds” (2005 Sleaszy Rider Records). The band played during those years successful gigs in company of Napalm Death, Konkhra, Lacuna Coil, Ancient, Mortuary Drape and Necrodeath. In 2004 Martyr Lucifer contributed to Opposite Sides' demo “The Eclipse of Existence”.
- Hortus Animae slowly entered a lethargy for an unspecified period of time. An official statement was given by Martyr Lucifer on October 2, 2007.
- 10 years before, the band released their first demotape. Time for celebrations: Sleaszy Rider unleashed a special limited edition boxset, “Funeral Nation / 10 Years of Hortus Animae”. The box contained two CDs, “Waltzing Mephisto – The Demos” (with the “Abode” demo as bonus), and “The Blow...” (with related “making of” DVD as included in the first version) and different gadgets. The boxed-set was sold out in just a few months. 2008/2009 also was side-projects time: Martyr Lucifer started his cooperation with the international space rock act Space Mirrors, their first album featuring Martyr Lucifer, “Majestic-12: A Hidden Presence” was released by Sleaszy Rider in 2008; Martyr Lucifer was also part of Opposite Sides, whose album “Soul Mechanics” was released via Mondongo Canibale Records in 2009.
- Birth of the Martyr Lucifer solo project. Martyr Lucifer teamed up with some Hortus Animae members, the Ukrainian artist Leìt and international artists like Adrian Erlandsson (At the Gates, Paradise Lost) and Vrolok (ex-Nokturnal Mortum, Ygg) for the worldwide release of his first output as solo artist, “Farewell to Graveland”, via Buil2Kill Records. The same year a 7” split single by Space Mirrors / Acid FM was released exclusively on vinyl by Monster Fuzz Records.
- Considering the boxset's unavailability, the poor availability of old material and the great request from the fans, Hortus Animae released via Thrash Corner Records (USA) the 2CD compilation “Funeral Nation MMXII”, that included their discography: “The Blow...”, “Waltzing Mephisto” and the never officially released “The Melting Idols”. This had given rise to numerous rumors of a possible return of the band on the scene, yet unconfirmed. Martyr Lucifer released with Space Mirrors “In Darkness They Whisper” (Transubstans Records), the first in the “Cosmic Horror” trilogy conceived by Space Mirrors' mastermind Alisa Coral.
- Martyr Lucifer released his second solo effort, “Martyr Lucifer's Shards” (Outline Rekordz) a collection of three previously unreleased EP's which started showing a stronger presence of Leìt's role, and featured, among others, Simone Mularoni (DGM, empYrios) on guitars and bass, Antarktica (DarkEnd) on the strings' section, and Dario Ciccioni (empYrios) + Adrian Erlandsson (At the Gates, Paradise Lost) on drums; and, with Space Mirrors, “Cosmic Horror II: The Other Gods” (again on Transubstans and also featuring Bless of Hortus Animae on piano). At last, Hortus Animae officially announced their return on the scene after 7 years. Hortus Animae reunited with the “Waltzing Mephisto” line-up, Martyr Lucifer, Hypnos, Bless and Grom (and the help of Simone Mularoni as session bass player and sound engineer) and, to avoid to get overwhelmed by boredom, Martyr Lucifer entered Domination studio with Hortus Animae to record “Secular Music”, their long awaited and claimed comeback album.
- Hortus Animae signed a deal with the historical British label Flicknife Records (Hawkwind, anyone?), for the worldwide release of “Secular Music”, set to March 24. The same day Satanica Productions will release the 2CD compilation “Godless Years”, that contains rare & unreleased material from the vaults. Yes, the Hortus Animae cult is definitely back.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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