JOZEF VAN WISSEM 'Ex Mortis'

The title of the album is inscribed in the neck of the lute used on this recording and depicted on the cover. 'Ex Mortis' - meaning from death - refers to the Renaissance of the Baroque Lute which disappeared for 200 years and first made a comeback during the German Wandervogel movement in the 1920s. VAN WISSEM has fully emancipated the Lute in a non-classical setting and used it in film soundtracks, video games, contemporary dance, etc. The record is inspired by “The Booke of Gostlye Grace” by the German nun Mechthild of Hackeborn and her sisters, written at the convent of Helfta in the 1290s. The book consists of her visions and the dialogue between Mechtild and God, an intensely religious but also erotic relation. On "Vox Populi, Vox Dei" Jarboe (of Swans) sings with VAN WISSEM. "Cold Corpse" includes vocals by Nikolaj Komiagin (of Shortparis). In "Consume the Sacrifice" Thor (of Swans) plays percussion.