Libitina (band)

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For the Roman goddess, see Libitina.

Libitina is a gothic band originally from Sheffield, England.

Libitina, the UK gothic darkwave band, was formed in 1994 when the founder members were students at the University of Sheffield. The 2003-2006 line-up is Darren (guitar, programming), Jamie (bass guitar, programming, vocals), and Phill (vocals, programming, guitar, bass guitar). Libitina's sound mixes gothic guitars with modern electronics to create a distinctively romantic, emotionally intense, and anthemic sound. The band takes its name from an ancient Roman goddess, associated mainly with darkness and the shades, but also often being confused by the Romans with two other goddesses, Proserpina (presiding over funeral rites) and Venus (the goddess of love and marriage). The lyrical themes of Libitina are influenced strongly by this trinity of love, darkness, and death.

The band has released five albums on the Libation Records label: A Closer Communion (1997), Weltanschauung (2001), The Shadowline (2003), the remix album Reflections & Refractions (2004), and Parhelion (2006). The first two CDs were produced by Stephen Singleton (of 80s band ABC). Reza Udhin (Inertia and Killing Joke) took over the engineering and production role for Libitina's last three albums. Libitina's original material has received much airplay internationally, complemented by the worldwide Goth club hit Gothic People, an adaptation of the Pulp song Common People. The original line-up briefly reformed in 2005 to play Gothic People for a BBC television programme documenting the history of Pulp's hit. Libitina has also appeared on a number of compilations, including releases by Nightbreed, Nova Tekk, and PHD. Recently, Libitina has remixed songs for Audio War (appearing on Under Enemy Control on MOMT Records) and The Voices of Masada (appearing on Strobelight's New Dark Age IV). The band has also become involved in music for film, contributing songs to several independent film releases.

Particular highlights for Libitina have been appearances at The Whitby Gothic Weekend (Whitby, UK, 1997, 2004), The Sacrosanct Festival (LA2, London, UK, 1997), Infest (Bradford, UK, 2000), Euro-Rock Indoor Festival (Antwerp, Belgium, 2002), and LeFantastique.Night VI (Brussels, Belgium, 2003). The band has played shows throughout the UK, together with headline gigs in Italy, Germany, and Ireland, and has appeared with many leading artists in the Goth scene, including The Mission, Rosetta Stone, The Crüxshadows, The Last Dance, (Children On) Stun, The Marionettes, and James Ray Gangwar.