Runes Order is a dark ambient project founded by Claudio Dondo in Genoa, Italy. The project started in 1988 under the name Order 1968. Early compositions were inspired by ritualistic and industrial atmospheres and were composed using synthesizers, pre-recorded tapes and self-made metallic percussion instruments. In 1992, with the tape "The Dream Door", the project changed name to Runes Order, taking a cue from the Indo-European magical symbols. The music shifted towards cosmic sounds, similar to the so-called krautrock school of Tangerine Dream, Faust and Klaus Schulze. Nearly all the compositions were improvised and recorded with no overdubs. Daniele Magarelli and his wife Paola, who formed N.O.M., joined Runes Order in 1994, respectively as keyboarder and vocalist. With this new line-up they recorded three CDs: "The Land of Silence", "Odisseum" and "Waiting Forever", that featured as vocalist Diego Merletto from The Frozen Autumn. In 1997 Claudio Dondo produced the tape "The Revival" by Wolf, featuring the remix of the song "Endless" released with Paola Magarelli. In 1997 he also produced and played the keyboards in the tape "The Interrupted Journey" by Tangram (Massimo De Maria) that in 1998 recorded the cover of "Tears in the Snow" by Runes Order, included in the tape "Times". Daniele and Paola Magarelli left the band in 1999. In 2000 started a new era for Runes Order as a one-man-band. Claudio Dondo recorded the CD "Il sonno del sogno" in collaboration with Massimo De Maria; subsequently he recorded "The Art of Scare and Sorrow" in collaboration with Argento, the vocalist of Antropofagus and Spite Extreme Wings, and with Tony Tears, the guitarist of the Helden Rune (in which are involved Claudio Dondo and Mercy of Malombra too). The cd is a trip into gothic atmospheres with a '70s sound similar to the horror films sountracks (as Goblin, Frizzi, J. Carpenter). 2002 is the year of the collaboration with Trevor (Northgate and Camerata Mediolanense) for the realization of the CD "The Hopeless Days" released by the independent label Beyond Prod. In 2010, finally, Claudio Dondo is back with a new psychedelic killer soundtrack. More acid and closer to the early Simonetti’s work with new guitar and aggressive keyboard, "Disco Nero" is a film noir movie with an unhappy ending. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.