Diary of Dreams

Few German darkwave acts have stayed as self-sufficient as Diary of Dreams, a project shaped largely by one man. Adrian Hates, a classically trained guitarist and pianist, began as guitarist for Garden of Delight before launching his own project in the late 1980s. Hates produces most of the records himself or with minimal outside help, and he rarely assembles a full band except when touring, which keeps the sound personal and tightly focused.

The debut Cholymelan appeared in 1994 on the Dion Fortune label, and Hates then founded Accession Records to release a run of albums that built a loyal following. End of Flowers in 1996 extended the darkwave sound of the debut, while Psychoma? in 1998 leaned towards experimentation. The 1999 compilation Moments of Bloom offered reworked tracks, and One of 18 Angels and Freak Perfume brought electronic rhythms that drew wider club play. Nigredo in 2004 returned to sparser concepts, Nekrolog 43 arrived in 2007, and (if) followed in 2009. Elegies in Darkness came out in March 2014, and the band announced a brief US tour, Hell in Eden, for May 2019.