On July 27th, 1987, Dead Can Dance released their third studio album Within the Realm of a Dying Sun, a record which pared down the band to be predominantly the core duo of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, and percussionist Peter Ulrich, after the departure of Scott Rodger and James Pinker in 1987.
The album’s iconic cover photograph was taken in Paris at the family grave of François-Vincent Raspail at the world-famous Père-Lachaise cemetery where artists such as Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde were laid to rest.
The first half on the record features primarily Perry on vocals, closing out with the dreamlike chiming of “In the Wake of Adversity” fan favourite “Xavier”.
The second half of Within the Realm of a Dying Sun, led primarily by Gerrard, begins with the short “Dawn of the Iconoclast”, which then leads into the spellbinding eastern mystique of “Cantara”. This is unrelentingly followed by both the cathedral-like litany of “Summoning Of The Muse”, and the stark and otherworldly ritualism of “Persephone (The Gathering Of Flowers)”.
TRACK LISTING:
A1. Anywhere Out Of The World
A2. Windfall
A3. In The Wake Of Adversity
A4. Xavier
B1. Dawn Of The Iconoclast
B2. Cantara
B3. Summoning Of The Muse
B4. Persephone (The Gathering Of Flowers)