Kirlian Camera

Electronic musician and vocalist Angelo Bergamini has steered Italy’s Kirlian Camera through numerous stylistic shifts since the project’s formation in the early 1980s, moving among EBM, synth pop, ethereal darkwave, and goth while also touching on Italo-disco, neofolk, and modern classical forms. Although the band briefly pursued broader commercial appeal and even joined Virgin’s roster for a short time in the mid-1980s, Kirlian Camera has mainly occupied a solitary, experimental domain, crafting stark, introspective pieces centered on longing and solitude that carry occasional erotic undertones. Bergamini has served as the sole continuous member from the outset, while a rotating cast of contributors has included experimental composer Gianluca Becuzzi, East Wall’s Fabrizio Chiari and Simona Buja, and Euro-dance producer Paul Sears.

Bergamini assembled the Parma-based group Suicide Commando in 1979 with keyboardist Fabrizio Chiari and bassist Mauro Montacchini; the name changed to Kirlian Camera the following year once vocalist and keyboard player Simona Buja entered the lineup. After the demo tape Dawn… and the first live performances, Italian Records signed the band and issued its self-titled debut 12-inch EP in 1981, which featured bassist Giorgio Vecchi, Montacchini’s replacement. Subsequent personnel shifts saw Chiari depart to form East Wall alongside Buja, with Paul Sears taking his place; Vecchi yielded to Bruno Bizzarri; and Buja exited before returning. Bergamini also appeared on Buja’s solo single “Passing Masks”/“Still Close” and contributed to the successful Italo-disco act Hipnosis, yet he ultimately chose to concentrate on the more experimental Kirlian Camera. The first full-length album, It Doesn’t Matter, Now, arrived in 1983, accompanied by extended disco mixes of the singles “Communicate” and “Edges.” The 1985 single “Blue Room” coincided with East Wall’s debut “Eyes of Glass,” on which Bergamini performed; ZYX later licensed the track, which became an Italo-disco staple.

Sears soon exited, Charlie Mallozzi joined, and the band became the first Italian act signed to Virgin Records. “Ocean” emerged in 1986; the group’s most radio-friendly track to date, it even appeared on a jukebox 45 as the B-side to the Human League’s “Human.” Virgin declined to issue less commercial material, however, and after the darker “Helden Platz” in 1987 Kirlian Camera parted ways with the label. Collaboration with This Mortal Coil’s John Fryer produced the 1988 album Eclipse (Das Schwarze Denkmal), widely regarded as the band’s most atmospheric and somber statement. Following Buja’s second departure, temporary vocalists Bianca Hoffmann-Santos and Suzanne Reddington-Gardner joined before Emilia Lo Jacono became a long-term singer, remaining into the twenty-first century. The more industrial-leaning third album Todesengel. The Fall of Life surfaced in 1991 and contained covers of Ultravox’s “Vienna” and Queen’s “We Will Rock You.” Experimental musician Simon Balestrazzi entered the fold; after the 1992 EP Schmerz—later expanded on reissues—Kirlian Camera signed with Germany’s Discordia imprint in 1993. Despite stylistic variation between abrasive industrial club tracks and atmospheric modern classical compositions, the band was frequently associated with the neofolk scene. Several albums and singles appeared on the label, including a collaboration with Dive, while live activity increased through European tours alongside Mephisto Walz and Die Form. Balestrazzi departed in 1997; keyboardist Ivano Bizzi and vocalist Barbara Boffelli arrived, and the double-CD compilation The Ice Curtain followed in 1998.

Vocalist, musician, and songwriter Elena Alice Fossi featured on 1999’s Unidentified Light, joined Kirlian Camera full-time in 2000, and also participated in Bergamini’s side project Stalingrad. Radio Luxor released the 2000 album Still Air (Aria Immobile), the 2001 remix-and-covers set Kälte Container, and 2002’s Uno, which gathered the early demo and debut EP. The band moved to Trisol in 2003 and debuted on the label with Invisible Front 2005 in 2004. Coroner’s Sun appeared in 2006, after which multi-instrumentalists Falk Pitschk and Sarah Crespi joined. Following a move to Out of Line, the group issued the full-length Shadow Mission HELD V and the compilation Odyssey Europa in 2009. Trisol released the three-CD box set Not of This World in 2010. Nightglory (2011) and Black Summer Choirs (2013) came out on Out of Line, while Dark Entries and Norton North handled several reissues of earlier recordings. Italian Records issued an EP of “21st Century Versions” of the vintage single “Edges” in 2015, and Norton North simultaneously released the compilation Radio Music A and the EP The Three Shadows. Dependent Records put out the Sky Collapse EP in 2017, featuring a collaboration with the iconic Swedish EBM act Covenant.