A blast from the past: The Crüxshadows - "Winterborn"

If you're wondering what got me into this stuff, here's a song from near the beginning of my time being interested in the whole scene. I had been into industrial for about a year and a half or so, and I was starting to branch out into related genres. I got very much into The Crüxshadows in early-2003 with Wishfire, and that is probably my favorite album by CXS. But "Winterborn" from Ethernaut was and still is most definitely my favorite song by the band.

In my opinion, this song perfectly exemplifies what I think of when someone mentions The Crüxshadows to me. It was stuff like this that got me into them. Other songs that I think of when I think of them are "Tears", "Deception", and "Within". That's not to say their old stuff or their new stuff is not worth mentioning, but it was their kind of "middle era" music that really got me hooked and what holds a special place in my heart. It had that perfect balance between the broodiness and mystery of the older stuff and the high-tech, upbeat tunes they tend to make now.

My interest in The Crüxshadows was kind of a turning point in my musical interests, and in some ways, my life. Before I got into them, my becoming a fan of previous musicians was always a result of someone else within my social spheres telling me about them and instigating my interest. The Crüxshadows was the first band that I really got into because I took the extra step to find out about them after having seen them live during a weekly club night that I normally went to. I searched for as much information about them as I could, and I created my own interest from scratch. As a result, they will always be special to me. They will always be aligned with at least a small portion of my identity as a person, because my memories truly feel like mine and not like stuff I just borrowed from someone else.