Band:	Garden Of Delight
Album:	ENKI's Temple
Style:	Gothic rock
Release date:	1991
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. Ancient God (dead but never gone)
02. Inanna
03. And The Wind bows Down The Clouds
04. The Watchtower
05. Behind The False God
06. Sumerian Haze
07. ENKI's Temple And The Gates Of Ur

"ENKI's Temple" is the promising debut album of this gothic rock band, which moved in dark ambient/gothic rock soundscapes from their very beginning. It was 1991 when "ENKI's Temple" came out, a time when the Sisters of Mercy fell in decomposition, the Fields of the Nephilim were about to disband at the peak of their artistic creativity and the Mission had already left behind their gothic rock background, exploring different soundscapes in order to attain stardom status. The gothic rock scene needed some bands to continue the legacy of the glorious 80s and Garden of Delight (along with Love Like Blood, Nosferatu, Rosetta Stone etc) was one of them!

Garden Of Delight is the solo project of Artaud Seth and it follows the Sisters of Mercy formation: Artaud Seth and the Watchtower (drum machine) are the full-time members of the band. The music is not that complex and it's based, mainly, on synth melodies, piano pieces, imposing bass lines and gothic rock guitar riffing, whenever it is needed. Artaud's deep descriptive voice, which is something in between Andrew Eldritch and Carl McCoy, accompanies the music with passion.

The overall atmosphere is intense, dark and mystic, surrounding the listener as the album keeps on flowing. Ancient melodies unfold their lost beauty in the serene or nightmarish air taking the listener on a journey in a time when only the stars could see. The album balances between ambient-oriented soundscapes and a groovy gothic rock aesthetic, not so heavy and powerful but expressed in a more atmospheric vein. The pulsating and nocturnal bass lines lend the ideal groove to the album while the drum machine adds an intense ritual-like feeling to the overall atmosphere of "ENKI's Temple". The piano melodies and keyboard passages evoke that contradictive tranquil/nightmarish mystic feeling and they accompany Artaud's vivid and dark interpretation in the most appropriate way.

The album is a well-composed debut album that can attract. And attract it did, as those that were expecting something good to come out from the 80s gothic rock bands that had "decided", one way or another, to leave the scene, were quite drawn to "ENKI's Temple". Compositions like the piano/synthesizer-oriented "And the Wind Blows Down the Clouds" with its intense nostalgic/lyrical approach, the intense atmospheric piece "Inanna" and the groovy gothic rock songs "The Watcher" and "Sumerian Haze" with Artaud's stunning, ecstatic interpretation stand out in a wonderful way as the beginning of Garden Of Delight's first chapter.

If you are searching for a good (but not complex) gothic rock release, but with a more ambient/atmospheric approach, check out this album by Garden Of Delight.