ShadoWhispers have published a new video on their official YouTube channel: a metal re-arrangement of “Suite gothique, Op. 25”, the organ suite that French composer Léon Boëllmann wrote in 1895. The Luxembourg band worked on the arrangement together with organist Paul Kayser, and the track is taken from the album “Metal & Pipes”, which the band says is available on all the known streaming platforms.
A 19th-century suite on the pipe organ
The choice of piece is unusual even by symphonic metal standards. Boëllmann’s suite was written for solo organ, and ShadoWhispers and Paul Kayser have reworked it for a full metal line-up while keeping the pipe organ at the centre of the arrangement. Kayser plays the instrument on the recording itself, alongside the band’s regular instrumentation.
The line-up on the track is Diane Frisch on vocals, Jean-Claude Sonnen on guitars, Laurent Schleck on keyboards, Piquet Jung on bass, Tom Speller on drums and Paul Kayser on the pipe organ.
Diane Frisch, voice of the band since 2014
Diane Frisch has been the vocalist of ShadoWhispers since 2014. She fronts a band that also includes Piquet on bass, Motti Speller on drums, Laurent on keyboards and Sonni on guitars. Outside ShadoWhispers she is also known from the project Krepuskule.
From “Poe” to “Metal & Pipes”
ShadoWhispers come from Steinfort in the canton of Capellen, Luxembourg, and were formed in 2009. Their style sits between symphonic and gothic metal, with lyrics about feelings, inner struggles and stories. The band’s earlier releases include the EP “A Tincture of Gothic Fiction” (2017), the album “Mara” (2019) and the album “Poe” (2023), which came out together with the single “Däischter Gedanken” in the same year. Their releases have appeared on House Master Records.
“Metal & Pipes” follows that run of releases, and the Boëllmann re-arrangement shows the direction of the record: classical organ repertoire played on the pipe organ and translated into the band’s metal sound. The video for “Suite gothique, Op. 25” can be watched on the band’s YouTube channel.
