Talamasca

1. Talamasca (cedric dassulle, also known as DJ Lestat) is a psychedelic trance project based in Paris, France. Dassulle played piano for over 13 years before starting his career as DJ in 1992. Talamasca in Latin means "animal mask". Dassulle got the name from the secret society of psychic detectives in author Anne Rice's famous Vampire Chronicles. The same goes for his DJ moniker, Lestat, which was the name of the main character in the series. Lestat aso drew inspiration from the books when he created his record label, which he named Mind Control Records.

Talamasca in Latin means "animal mask". Dassulle got the name from the secret society of psychic detectives in author Anne Rice's famous Vampire Chronicles. The same goes for his DJ moniker, Lestat, which was the name of the main character in the series. Lestat aso drew inspiration from the books when he created his record label, which he named Mind Control Records.

Lestat has colaborated with many prominent psychedelic trance producers, including Nomad, Oforia, Space Cat, Xerox, GMS, and 1200 Micrograms, among others. He also participated in founding of the psychedelic trance Label 3D VISION together with Christof Drouillet, DJ Mael and Javier Galloy. Recently DJ Lestat started up his own label, Mind control records.

One of Talamasca's most notable albums, Zodiac, was released in 2003 and gained great praise and popularity in the psychedelic trance scene. The album consists of 12 tracks, each of them named after a different Zodiac sign. His 4th album, "Made In Trance", is a collaboration with other French artists.

2. A USA based progressive metal band. Talamasca began in Appleton, WI (U.S.A.) in the Spring of 1994 with Andy Paredes (guitar), Brad Schuler (bass), and Matthew Lee Belanger (percussion) and was completed with the addition of vocalist Steve Gentz in the Spring of 1997. The band took their name from Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, and began writing music in the vein of their influences, including Fates Warning, King Diamond, and Queensryche. Talamasca's debut album Projection (1998) was followed by positive reviews from magazines and fanzines around the World. Other appearances included Rock Hard Magazine's "Unerhort! Volume III" CD compilation, appearances on the Powermad 98 and 99 Sound Samplers, and a recording of "The Whisper" for the "Warning: Minds of Raging Empires" Queensryche tribute album on Siegen Records.