As the Dark Against My Halo

As the Dark Against My Halo
Studio album by The Crüxshadows
Released	August 7, 2012
Recorded	2012
Genre	Synthpop, electronic rock
Length	77:47
Label	Wishfire Records
Producer	Rogue
The Crüxshadows chronology
Valkyrie (2011) As the Dark Against My Halo (2012) Helios (2016)

As the Dark Against My Halo is a 2012 studio album by The Crüxshadows, released by Wishfire Records.[1] It was also available at the last concerts of their tour.

Style and concept

The album features a mix of Dark Wave, synthpop, and alternative rock.

The album has been inspired by mythology[2] and literature. According to singer Rogue, the song "Matchstick Girl" refers to Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Little Match Girl.[3]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Terrorizer	4/5[2]
Sonic Seducer	positive[4]

As the Dark Against My Halo received mixed reviews from the musical press.

Terrorizer marked the quality of the production and specifically lauded the string arrangements.[2] The Sonic Seducer was equally positive about the songwriting and instrumentation, and noted a more complex sound compared to earlier works of the band. The reviewer criticised however that the album lacked bass tones and had been produced too high-pitched.[4]

Online music magazines and blogs were often less kind. Reflections of Darkness offered "Call it as you wish but I prefer to call it imagery of Prussian bureaucrats suffering from insomnia."[5]

Brutal Resonance added that "Beats are weak farts, synths sound have no power and depth, and the violins sound like they are recorded through bad microphones in a shed."[6]

Charts

The album is the first of the band's albums to reach the #1 position on The German Alternative Charts (DAC).[7] The single Quicksilver, a featured song on the album, reached the #1 position on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales Chart and the #2 position on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales Chart in the USA[8]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"And I Believe"	2:38
2.	"Valkyrie"	6:03
3.	"Halo"	6:09
4.	"Burning"	6:27
5.	"Sleepless"	5:16
6.	"Quicksilver"	5:26
7.	"The Infinite Tear"	4:18
8.	"Indivisible"	6:23
9.	"Porcelain"	5:27
10.	"Angelus Everlasting"	5:37
11.	"Sentinel"	6:11
12.	"Matchstick Girl"	6:54
13.	"Dark Matter"	6:06
14.	"Africanus"	4:52

References

1. "The Darkness before the… Halo". The Crüxshadows official website. August 6, 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
2. Morris, Kevin (August 22, 2012). "Review : The Cruxshadows – As the Dark Against My Halo". Terrorizer. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
3. Pannwitz, Tanja (2012). "The Crüxshadows". Orkus (in German). No. 10. pp. 80–81.
4. Froghy, Jasmin. "The Crüxshadows – As the Dark Against My Halo". Sonic Seducer (in German). Archived from the original on 2013-02-11. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
5. Dunkle, Ray. "CD Review: Crüxshadows, The - As the Dark Against my Halo". Retrieved 2017-08-30.
6. "Review: The Crüxshadows - As the Dark Against My Halo | Brutal Resonance". www.brutalresonance.com. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
7. "The Crüxshadows". cruxshadows.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-01. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
8. "The Crüxshadows: Quicksilver". cruxshadows.com.