Quinta Icentia (Once Upon a Time on MiniDisc)
Fifth iCE KiNG album, released as Compact Disc in 2016, as well as digitally
All epics are being performed still, in a variety of ways
I. Battle of the Boyne
Guitar and vocals composed by Bas L.G. Verdin
Verses included from "The Battle of the Boyne" and "The Boyne Water" (traditionals)
II. Odyssey of Battle
Guitar and vocals composed by Bas L.G. Verdin
Verses included from "Youth and Love" by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)
(Later recording on TWiCE KiNG)
Um die Zwölfte Stunde:
Guitar and vocals composed by Bas L.G. Verdin
Verses included (in German) from "Wilhelm Tell" and "Die Nächtliche Heerschau" by Joseph Christian von Zedlitz (1790-1862)
III. Um die Zwölfte Stunde I - Fünf vor Zwölf
IV. Um die Zwölfte Stunde II - Die Zwölfte Stunde
(Alternate version on Gallus X as Elysäischer Held)
V. King of Ice
Guitar, vocals and all verses composed by Bas L.G. Verdin
(Later recording on TWiCE KiNG)
VI. Frozen Bogs
Guitar and vocals composed by Bas L.G. Verdin
Verses included from "Winter" and "The Stormy Evening" by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)
(Later recording on TWiCE KiNG)
(Alternate version on Gallus X as L'Âme du Poète)
Ode to Arthur:
Guitar and vocals composed by Bas L.G. Verdin
Verses included from "The Grave of King Arthur" by Thomas Warton (1728-1790)
VII. Ode to Arthur I - A Bard Advanc'd
VIII. Ode to Arthur II - Fair Vale of Avalon
IX. Ode to Arthur III - Magic-temper'd Metal
X. Sole Survivors
Guitar and vocals composed by Bas L.G. Verdin
Verses included from "Ode" by Arthur O'Shaughnessy (1844-1881)
(Also on the compilation album Solidarios Con El Ecuador, released by Editions du Renard Bleu [2016]!)
(Later recording on TWiCE KiNG)
XI. The Final Arrow
Guitar, vocals and all verses composed by Bas L.G. Verdin
Booklet painting: "Fingal's Cave" (Island of Staffa, Scotland) by Thomas Moran (1837-1926)
Simultaneous projections of paintings, live or online, respectively:
I. "De Slag aan de Boyne" by Jan van Huchtenburg (1647-1733)
II. "Die Toteninsel III" by Arnold Böcklin (1827-1901)
III."Zwei Männer in Betrachtung des Mondes" by Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840)
IV. "Reiterzug vor der Hütte eines Eremiten" by Carl Philipp Fohr (1795-1818)
V. "Das Eismeer" by Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840)
VI. Winter landscape by Alexei Kondratyevich Savrasov (1830-1897)
VII. "The Lady of the Lake" by Alfred Kappes (1850-1894)
VIII. "Arthur and Aegle in the Happy Valley" by John Martin (1789-1854)
IX. "The Death of King Arthur" by James Archer (1822-1904)
X. "Le Radeau de la Méduse" by Théodore Géricault (1791-1824)
XI. "Knight at the Crossroads" by Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov (1848-1926)
"In a world where computers obliterate reality severely, most do not seem to be able to play their own music anymore. This album however, the fifth in one decade, shows my music exactly as I have played it: recorded live, solely with one of the last of the MiniDisc Walkmans, each song performed straight from A till Z, strictly without any editing. And what is more: it sounds more like the way it does in my head still, than any of the four records before. Nonetheless, this is the album where distinct and representative features from all previous albums are being integrated and effectuated most. 'Excursions' have been carefully kept in my pocket for the next recordings though, so we might simply call this lengthy work (55m55) quintessential iCE KiNG..."
P.S. Note that the full title, and even artwork, has been censored by virtual distributors, not allowing for reference to 'physical products' - say the real world. In the light of this, my sleeve note appears quite prophetic
