Live album for darkwave act Ariel Maniki and the Black Halos: ‘Communion’
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Costa Rica’s goth / darkwave outfit Ariel Maniki and the Black Halos today announce vinyl LP pre-orders for their new live album: “Communion”. The live album will be released through Tumbas Eternas Records. The release comes ten years after their formation.
The vinyl LP comes in a limited edition of 300 copies: 150 copies are on black vinyl, and 150 on translucid blue vinyl. All are packaged in a gatefold sleeve, featuring a photo album from the concert, inner sleeve with lyrics, and a poster included.
Bandleader Ariel Maniki explains: “We’ve known for some time that we were unable to do a vinyl release with our previous label. On the side, however, we’ve been good friends with Peruvian label Tumbas Eternas for many years, and they have always manifested their intention to do a vinyl record with us, if the project is the right one. They originated the idea of doing a “best of” album, and we introduced the “live” aspect to it. The idea of the “live” format is just much more appealing to me than a regular “singles” collection. We all agreed this release had to be something that’s truly special and worthy of people’s vinyl collection.”
Communion was recorded live on 15 July 2023, at El Nico Baker, a small theatre in the trio’s hometown of San José.
Ariel adds: “The show took place just 5 minutes away from where we live near downtown San José. We booked this little theatre with capacity for 100 people: way over the expected attendance for local underground acts here in Costa Rica. We thought 40 to 50 people coming to see us would be just good enough to build up the right energy exchange between the audience and the band, and pull out a good live recording. When we climbed the stairs from backstage, we found the theatre cheering at us at full capacity. For us, it was a very emotional and magical evening. We are just so happy that we preserved it on this recording.”
The Communion LP can be preordered now from Tumbas Eternas Records via Bandcamp. Note that this is a physical vinyl release only. The band and their label have no intention of selling digital presales right now, but are obliged to provide this option for Bandcamp, so they added the digital download at a intentionally prohibitive price.
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