Within the Realm of a Dying Sun

Gerrard sings on tracks 5 to 8 and Perry on 1, 3 and 4, with Peter Ulrich on timpani and military snare and a string and brass ensemble including Ruth Watson on oboe, the cellists Gus Ferguson and Tony Gamage and the violist Piero Gasparini. John A. Rivers and Francisco Cabeza engineered, and Bernard Oudin photographed the cover at the Raspail family grave in Père-Lachaise, Paris. Perry said they had been limiting their musical visions by relying on guitar, bass and drums, and described the record as more of a romantic classicism after the new baroque of Spleen and Ideal, after a year and a half of listening to classical records borrowed from a music library. Watts-Russell said the partnership with Rivers was at its peak. AllMusic gave 4 of 5, Trouser Press found it often tedious but said it comes close and faulted putting Perry's songs on one side, and Fact included it among the 20 best goth records. Future Sound of London sampled "Dawn of the Iconoclast" and Paradise Lost covered "Xavier". The US release came on February 8, 1994.