U Totem | en

Comprising two electronic music pioneers, Bernd Madl and Mathias Knopp, Individual Totem began making music in the early 90s and released their home-made album, Aspects Of Theories And Reality in 1994. Following this, the band was signed to Off Beat in Europe and Pendragon in the United States and released two now-classic CDs: S.E.T.I. in 1996 and Mind Sculptures Flesh in 1997. Following a nearly ten year hiatus, Individual Totem released the WWW EP digitally on Artoffact Records in late 2007, followed shortly thereafter by a new CD, Mothfly. In 2009 their original demo Mumia Vera was re-released on Artoffact...

... the sound of atavistic journeying to the depths of the Worldsoul. Fires burn, drums are beaten, barbarous names of evokation are intoned. Layer upon layer of psychedelic blackness rise from their burial mounds. Shadows of ancient rituals are perceived through the haze; blood flows, the last owl calls before the dawn. The cycle is begun anew. "SACRIFICIAL TOTEM is a potent purveyor of True Northwest Black Ambient and intense shamanic performance inspired by ancient spiritual traditions..." (-from Heathen Harvest review) Members: Exile (Alethes) .

U Totem was the avant-rock supergroup that combined personnel from Los Angeles' 5uu's and the Motor Totemist Guild. They existed from 1989-1994 and released two albums, U Totem in 1990 and Strange Attractors in 1994. The original lineup was Emily Hay (voice, flute, piccolo); Sanjay Kumar (piano, electric keyboards, sitar) Eric Johnson (bassoon, contrabassoon, soprano sax) James Grigsby (guitar, bass, vibraphone, tapes) and David Kerman (drums, percussion, tapes). .

This band is connected to their compatriots Runaway Totem not only by their name, but also by the fact that drummer Uto Giorgio Golin and bassist Dauno Giuseppe Buttiglione, here joined by vocalist Ana Torres Fraile, keyboardist Marco Zanfei and a large group of guest musicians, used to be the rhythm section for Runaway Totem. Like Runaway Totem, Universal Totem Orchestra have their roots in a rather guitar-heavy version of zeuhl, but on Rituale Alieno (Black Widow Records BWRCD 022-2) they mix this with a gamut influences ranging from symphonic rock to world music and beyond. For example, "Il viaggio...

Totem Skin were a sludge-influenced dark hardcore band from the Falun/Borlänge region of Sweden. Their self-recorded, self-titled debut album was released in August 2012. It is available, name your price, at http://totemskin.bandcamp.com/. For more information, visit:http://www.facebook.com/totemskin .