1600 (compilation + bonus tracks) 2007

The album 1600 was built around five songs that were recorded for Witchcraze and not entered in the final CD, because they had not found the right place in relation to other pieces. These are two compositions by John Dowland, one of Fabritio Caroso and two dances composed by anonymous authors. Besides these, on 1600 have entered a previously recorded suite by Robert Johnson in 1998 for the concert album From the Castle to Another and then in the same year in the studio for D'Un Chateau L'Autre (eventually published in Shakespeare & Friends), and seven studio tracks appeared on previous albums, plus a live piece. The album is unified, despite the fact that the material belongs to several recording sessions and are conducted over time in different studios. The compositions are from year 1600, as shown by the elliptical title chosen for the album. The material, gathered under one name, aims to integrate in a consistent CD some parts already completed, but also to mark the collaboration with several musicians who had passed through the band without having appeared on any album.

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Stella Splendens 2005

Stella Splendens is another album already out in conditions typical of Nomen Est Omen, namely a project carried out within five days, between two tours. The Ensemble performed some concerts extremely well received by the public in the Hunyad Castle from Hunedoara, many people asking, later inquiring about albums. Being the first contract in that city, for a first edition of the festival, stage appearance was not accompanied by the usual media campaign or stand for compact discs. Public interest has led to the idea of multiplying a new batch of albums Witchcraze for next weekend's festival, where Nomen Est Omen was to perform several concerts. Returned to Bucharest in a Monday just to leave next Thursday (evening) to Mures, Nomen Est Omen members have decided to remain in the studio and started to record another album, with songs from the tours repertoire because three years had elapsed from the previous one, anyway into circulation from some time ago in Targu Mures and Sighisoara. For the new project was contacted old friend and collaborator, George Pătrănoiu, that did the postprocessing of the first Nomen Est Omen nine years before. Recordings were made over three days and nights in July 2005, a period of hot weather with temperatures above 40 degrees in the shade. A fourth day was intended for mastering, making the covers and multiplication of the first few hundred copies. The album was put on circulation the following days, at the famous medieval art festival in Sighisoara, again freely distributed. The contracts signed in the near future, some indirect result of the album Stella Splendens, have covered the costs of production. A notable event of this discographic step was that just before recording the first seconds of music, the lamp of a microphone burned, without any logical explanation to be found then or later. Microphone, a Brauner VM 1S, perfectly in function when tested before, could not be repaired anymore.

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Nobilis Humilis (studio concert) 2001

In 2001, Nomen Est Omen signed a contract for six concerts in the Medieval Art Festival of Sighisoara - an ideal opportunity to launch a new album. Membership of the band's previous album was partially different from that of the time, recordings were made in principle under the expectations and, if appropriate processed materials, copyrights were pending. In these circumstances, Nomen Est Omen opted for fast recording of a studio album made entirely in four hours, a few days before the festival, until the beginning which were multiplied five hundred copies (tapes). Underground aspect that characterized the band so far, has been preserved this time too: order for the studio being insignificant, the project materialized courtesy of sound engineer (friend and former colleague at the Conservatory "Ciprian Porumbescu" with one of the Nomen Est Omen members) without money, receipt and owner's knowledge, after hours, ie at night. The album, without taxes payed (and legal rights to sell it) was distributed free, the expenses being covered by donations.

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From a Castle to Another (concert) 1998

If Pilgrim's Song and Tornada brought nothing by itself, however, the chapter had important consequences for Nomen Est Omen. On this occasion, Mihai Plămădeală and Laurenţiu Fratoştiţeanu (guitarist of the band between 1996 and 2009) went to Centre Culturel Français and Studio Voices from Iaşi, where they made offers for concerts/recordings. Both proposals were to materialize next year. In 1998, Nomen Est Omen Ensemble was invited to sing in Fête de la Musique, a concert which was recorded in their desire to replace the loss of the previous year. For this new moment the proffesional responsible for the waste of the original material from ’97 was avoided and a no name sound engineer was chosen. He made big commitments and asked for a modest price, but offered the matched quality. The band was left with a stereo sound captured from a mixer and passed through filter effects that distroyed the dynamics and harmonics and through a calibration that almost lost the guitar. Although successful, this concert has not had a decent final version either. The album was not edited and was at that time distributed only as a demo. In 2011, Nomen Est Omen has reviewed the situation and considered that the material can be (re)introduced into the discography entries as lo fi & unrealised / unknown album. From a Castle to Another did not have until today an artistic cover, the demo beeing distributed on audio tape with a technical cover.

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Pilgrim's Song and Tornada (concert) 1997

This album is based upon a sponsorship offered by a local company for a concert in Iaşi, at the Students Cultural Centre, in March 1997. For this event as sound engineer was employed Jănică Afloarei, with references as an ex-member of the famous band  Progresiv TM  and an owner of a technical equipement for amplification and recording (on channels), partly digitaly. The concert, intensely publicized in the media of the city, has received a large audience and atmosphere to match, otherwise anticipated (the reason actually for recording the album in the first place). A power outage a few seconds during the final applause led to the loss of all the material that had not been saved during the concert and was not protected by any Uninterruptible Power Supply System. The obligations of the parties, including producing the album and solving the possible problems by mutual consent, along with the (negociated) payment for a special offer of sound + recording, leaded to an unusual solution: the repetition of the concert. This was held a night later in a (completely) unconventional place: the food warehouse of the sponsoring company. At that time, this significant detail was to remain secret, but lost its importance over time. The remaining elements are the regrets of the band that the spirit of that concert (lost by means of force majeure & neglect) did not undergo editing desired. “The warehouse version” is more than okay, but the album, fully committed, was treated coldly by insiders. This lead to the limited distribution of the tape, the end of all relations with the sound engineer and the stop of the sponsorship. The ensemble did not like the cover that the graphic designer proposed either, but accepted it as it was, considering it ideal for the way in which the whole project developed.

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