Origen: E.E.U.U., New Hampshire
Formados: 2016
Estilo: Blackened death metal sinfónico
Temática: Experiencias etéricas, horror, muerte y proyecciones astrales
Enlaces: Bandcamp, facebook y youtube
Miembros:
- Aetheris Guitarra
- Essentia Bajo, orquestaciones y voces
Discografía:
- Aetheric Existence CD 2019
- These Fields Once Green Single 2020
- H o r r i f i c a CD 2021
- Dunwich EP 2022
HORRIRIFICA (2021)
Segundo larga duración para este combo estadounidense con un sonido que se mueve por terrenos black/death y algunos elementos sinfónicos, aunque le peso del black en sus composiciones es mucho mayor que le resto de los otros estilos. Estamos ante un álbum de casi setenta y cinco minutos de duración que se abre de forma acústica y orquestal para dar paso a un despliegue de riffs densos y oscuros de impecable factura. El álbum se sustenta principalmente en una temática de terror que se desgrana en cada uno de los temas y en las historias que contienen, si bien es cierto que Astheric Existence no teatralizan cada uno de sus temas si que es cierto que los elementos sinfónicos presentes en el álbum sirven para añadir un atmosfera que pone en situación al oyente sobre lo expuesto en las letras en forma de decorado siniestro y oscuro. La música ejerce una presencia fantasmal con riffs densos y pesados, echando mano de algunas influencias death para desplegar todo un potencial de oscuridad. Las voces si que ofrecen un registro más variado, con una predominancia de las directas y graves en lo podríamos denominar death melódico, pero también adentrándose por secciones más limpias y casi que operísticas cuando la situación lo requiere. El álbum también deja en su sonido un regusto a vanguardismo en su propuesta que no acaba de estar del todo presente, como si la faceta más sinfónica no dejara que explotara del todo. Un álbum extenso que muchas veces ofrece un patrón ciertamente continuista pero en donde cada tema es un ente con vida propia totalmente disfrutable. (8,4).
1. Aboreal Flesh 06:15
Deep within the forests of Transylvania
Venturing to far, I’ve clearly lost my bearings
Keep moving ahead
Trying to escape I stumble upon a clearing
Giant circular clearing
Surrounded by trees
Ground is dead
Nothing grows here
Continuing through the forest in another direction
Only to return to that same fucking spot
Noticing some of the trees
Surrounding me
What looks like dried blood
Running down the trunks
Again trying to find my way out of this cursed place
Night closing in as I return again
Now in the middle
A figure wearing a robe
Bearing a torch
Standing all alone
Facing away from me
I call out to the being
Asking for direction
And if they can help me
The figure turns (Towards me)
His face obscured (In shadow)
Uttering these words (His call)
“Our masters will devour all”
BLEED (YOUR FLESH SHALL REPLENISH US)
FEED (SACRIFICE YOUR ESSENSE TO US)
THE TREES (YOUR COMING WAS SO MISTAKE)
FORESEEN (YOU'RE DESTINED TO MAKE THIS YOUR GRAVE)
FEED
THE TREES
As if in a trance I stare into the blackness
Where the mysterious figures face should be
Distracted by his words, trying to make sense
I am struck from behind as everything goes from white to black
Dreams of weaving roots, dripping thick with blood
Pulsing like a heartbeat, with organs stitched within
Obtaining consciousness, bound to an altar
At the center of the clearing, naked and surrounded
By more robed figures, all chanting as one
Encircling me with incense what ritual has begun?
“Sân-gera! A Hrani! Co-pacii! Pre-vă-zută!”
The ritual subsiding
Untying my bonds
All restraining me
Taking me into the
Forest
Will they set me free?
No! They wont!
Binding me to
The trunk of a tree
“Please just set me free!”
Ritual concluded
As they strike me rendering me unconscious again!
BLEED (YOUR FLESH SHALL REPLENISH US)
FEED (SACRIFICE YOUR ESSENSE TO US)
THE TREES (YOUR COMING WAS SO MISTAKE)
FORESEEN (YOU'RE DESTINED TO MAKE THIS YOUR GRAVE)
FEED
THE TREES
Coming to my senses, the daylight has arrived
Exploring my surroundings , I witness horrible sites
Trees covered in blood and some protruding limbs
As if they’re slowly swallowing the humans from within
Right across from me
A woman barely alive
Coughing up blood
My fate unveiled before my eyes
Blood sacrifice
2. These Fields Once Green 05:57
Grim death is our horizon
Eternal grey skies enlightened
By machines or war
The likes of which have never
Been seen on the battlefield before …
Mud, blood, bodies
Litter these fields once green
The medic awakes
rain on his face
Last cigarette lit
Sergeant is shouting
Orders at him
Deliver this message
Across the frontline
Making his way across the trench like a maze
Towards this troubled platoon to relay
A message demanding a strategic retreat
From these black guns of death, fucking artillery
Running past screams
Death and pain
The morbidest sights
Orders were to
Stop for no man
No looking back
Artillery cracks
Misplacing his boots, slipping in mud
Falling face first into the gore and the blood
The shock causing him to forget where he was
But reality sinks in and he can only observe
MEN FIGHTING MEN
TO THE DEATH
THIS IS THE WAR
TO END ALL WARS
SOLDIERS ALL
HAUNTED BY
WATCHING THEIR
COMPANIONS DIE
He gets to his feet
Reaching the platoon he sees a man in need
Patching him up while the soldier frantically screams
“We will be here for all eternity!”
Then with a crack
All has gone black!
Mud, blood, bodies
Haunting these fields once green
Awakening, with the same orders as before
Rain on his face, last cigarette lit
As if in a dream the same events unfold
When reaching the platoon
A gorific nightmare is beheld
Soldiers fighting on and on
Yet never seem to die
Some are headless
Some are limbless
Some just torsos
Scratching and clawing
The medic attempts
To aid one of the men
But is stunned by what he sees
He can see right through
The soldiers body
A translucent, ethereal entity!
They all are dead!
Even he is dead!
DEAD FIGHTING DEAD
TO NO END
THIS IS THE NEVER
ENDING WAR
SPIRITS ALL
TRAPPED IN THIS
ABHORRENT PURGATORY
Trapped in this nightmare
For all eternity
In these fields once green
In these fields once green
3. Beneath The Wood & Lacquer 06:44
Husband and wife
Move into their new home
Happy to start
A new life of love
In the back of the house
There was a trapdoor
Under the lacquer of the
Wood floor
His wife started to
Complain about these startling dreams
Of the trapdoor, hearing
Banging and screaming
As she awakes
The sounds start to dissipate
They are just nightmares
Nothing to fear
This is not right
His wife being coarse and rash
“Leave me alone!
I just want to sleep!”
The next morning
His wife had gone missing
All her belongings
Still here within the house
Searching and searching
Calling out her name
He remembers her
Dream…
DOWN BENEATH THE TRAPDOOR
BODIES UPON THE FLOOR
A PUTRID PRISON TRAPPED FOREVER
DOWN BENEATH THE TRAPDOOR
SEALED WITH LACQUER
TO KEEP THIS SPIRIT TRAPPED FOREVER
He finds himself within a dream
Through misty eyes
He can see the door
He can hear
Banging and
Screams
That turn to cries
For help
Please!
Release me!
He awakens
Upon his bed
Covered in sweat
Rushes downstairs
To the door in the floor
He has to know…
Grabbing and axe
He hacks
Through the lacquer
(Destroying the door)
Descending
Into the dark
The scent of death…
He finds his wife
Upon the moldy floor
She stares lifelessly
Bloated and rotten
Hands chained against the wall
Next to scattered bones
He uses the axe
To dismember her limbs
With his wife free
He drags her oozing corpse upstairs
Feeling lightheaded
He lays down next to his love
DOWN BENEATH THE TRAPDOOR
BODIES UPON THE FLOOR
A PUTRID PRISON TRAPPED FOREVER
DOWN BENEATH THE TRAPDOOR
SEALED WITH LACQUER
TO KEEP BOTH OF THEM TRAPPED FOREVER
Startled awake
In pitch black
But he recognized
That smell of death
His hands are chained
Next to his wife
Beneath wood & lacquer ….
4. The Bell 06:15
Tragedy struck
A town in New England
A story of despair and sorrow has arisen
A bellmaker’s warehouse erupted in flames
With him trapped inside
And no chance to survive
The rescue crew found his body (Amongst the flames)
Not burned or charred but crushed by debris
Unresponsive, no breath from his lips
The bellmaker was declared dead at the scene
Funeral rites and remembrance proceed
For the best known bellmaker in the northeast
The tone of his craft so tranquil and serene
His unforeseen death cast a shadow of melancholy
Placed inside his coffin
With a string attached to a bell
One of his own craft
But no chance in hell his soul still dwells
GRIEVING THE BELLMAKER’S DEATH
IN THIS GRAVEYARD OF BONES
BUT THEY NEVER EVEN KNEW HES
BURIED WITH THE FAINTEST PULSE
Alive!
Swimming in this
Dream between worlds
Descending towards and abyss and he cannot tell
If he’s alive, or if he’s dead
Dark visions of smoke and flames encircle him
Awakened in darkness
Darker than the void
Feelings of pain both in body and mind
“Where have I come from? Where could I be?
Where is my dear wife? Is she searching for me?”
Unable to move
But a few inches
Cold, dark walls trapping and impeding his vision
Realization spawned fear in him
“I’m in a coffin and they buried me alive!”
Screaming, scratching, clawing
Hoping someone will hear
Fingers gnawed to the bone
Ringing the coffins bell
Despite the thunderstorm
The gravedigger heard a bell
And searched for the source of the sound
But it was fading …
GRIEVING THE BELLMAKER’S DEATH
IN THIS GRAVEYARD SO COLD
FRANTICALLY UNEARTHING HIS GRAVE
BUT WITH ALL HIS OXYGEN GONE IT WAS NOW TOO LATE ...
5. Igni 05:30
I am a cave explorer, a spelunker
Searching in the mountains for something to discover
With my trusty canine by my side
We came across an entrance with a warning sign
“Abandoned Mine!
Dangerous!
Enter here
At your own risk!”
I've seen signs like this before
Unphased we enter the dark to explore
Nothing but a headlamp to find our way
Through this dank, dark maze
Marking the walls with chalk
To successfully find our way...
Back!
Passages getting narrower
As we make our descent
Into the darkness
Discovering strange cave markings
Upon the walls
Strange beings I've never seen
DEEP WITHIN THE EARTH UNSEEN
ARCHAIC ATROCITY WAITING TO BE SET FREE
BURIED BENEATH FOR CENTURIES
RITUALS BEGUN SOON THE MORAL REALM SHALL FINALLY SEE
My dog running ahead of me
As if hes found something
I catch up to find him
Digging through human bones
Adorned with an amulet
Bearing a strange sigil
Pulling him away
We go deeper into the cave
And come across a gargantuan circular room
300 yards across
With an altar at the center
Surrounded by sigils
Emitting a golden glow
Men filter in
From the other side of the room
Bearing torches, wearing robes
They form a circle at the center now
Placing a basin of blood
Upon the glowing alter
As they all chant as one
“Ciere Nomen Sactum Tuum Sumus”
[We summon you by your unholy name]
The altar glows brighter
As they chant louder
The room increases in temperature
Unnatural ignition
Right before my eyes the floor begins to melt
Starting at the center absorbing this vile ritual
Floor turning into magma as I look on in shock
Everything now quiet as I process what I just saw
Bursting from the magma
A being from the bowels of hell
At least 40 stories high
Projecting a thunderous howl
DEEP WITHIN THE EARTH UNSEEN
ARCHAIC ATROCITY FINALLY IS SET FREE
BURIED BENEATH FOR CENTURIES
RITUALS IS DONE NOW THE MORAL REALM SHALL FINALLY SEE
Locking eyes with the being
It sensed me, it sees me
My dog and I run up the passage
From whence we came
Running and running , up
Following the chalk
Tripping on the rocks
But the marks don't do
Any good in the dark
For my headlamp is fading
Finally making it out just in time
Greeted with an illuminated stat ridden sky
I drive straight to inform the local police
Hysterically telling them what I've seen
Skeptical at first
But then they noticed my blistering
Second degree burns
They promised to investigate
And inform me in the morning
The next day they tell me there's nothing there
Just a bottomless crater that has always been
No mine, no cave ...
6. The Outsider 05:31
Consciousness wakes me
No memory
Examining my surroundings
I can see
Dark castle walls
Reflecting the shimmering moonlight
Encroaching darkness
Envelops me
No light save the torches
Upon the walls
Grabbing one to light my path
Through these decaying halls
ENDLESSLY WANDERING
THESE CASTLE HALLS FOR WHAT SEEMS AN ETERNITY
SEARCHING FOR
SIGNS OF LIFE TO NEGATE THIS STONE COLD LONELINESS
HOW DID I GET HERE?
I HAVE NO MEMORY
OF WHO I AM
OR WHAT I AM!
Concluding my search
I found a spiral stair
Which must lead to this castles
Pinnacle
I climb and I climb
In hopes to see outside
As I reach the pinnacle
There lies a door
And slowly it opens
And I am
Greeted with
A sunless, moonless, lifeless graveyard
ENDLESSLY WANDERING
THIS SOMBER, MEDIEVAL COUNTRYSIDE
PRAYING FOR
A SIGN OF LIFE PLEASE! ANY SIGN OF LIFE!
HOW DID I GET HERE?
I HAVE NO MEMORY
OF WHO I AM
OR WHAT I AM!
After what seemed like decades
I've found a light, found a light
A castle just like the one I awoke in
Sounds of laughter voices and life
I approach to find the door locked
So I break through a stained glass window!
My arrival causes panic
People screaming at me
Monster! Demon!
They flee in terror!
Why do you run!?
Please! I need help!
Alone once more
In another empty castle
I finally see
the horrific being
Undead rotten flesh
I reach out
Only touch a shimmering mirror!
7. The Seventh Barn 06:05
This tale tells of a farmer and his wife
Once living in peace and harmony without strife
With each child born he constructed a barn
In honor of that child and growth of the farm
With 6 children born and 7 barns raised
Expecting the 7th one the day has come
When all will change
Complicated labor leads to
The death of the farmers wife
Brining the unborn down with her
Neither made it out alive
The farmer has begun
To lose his mind
With sadness and grief
Lost all his will
To continue on
Within this life
His heart is like ice
Psyche melting
(Familicide)
CREAKING BOARDS
HANGING ROPES
SPIRITS SEEN SWINGING BY THE THROAT
THE 7TH BARN
CURSED AND SMOTE
CHILDISH LAUGHS
PIERCING SCREAMS
SAID TO BE WITNESSED AT THE SCENE
THE 7TH BARN
POSSESSED BY SORROW AND GREIF
THE 7TH BARN
The farm now struggling to stay afloat
Livestock being picked apart by wolves
Indifferent to the suffering of the farm and his family
The children scream “PLEASE DADDY! WE ARE HUNGRY!”
Mental twitches and voices is his head
Rocking back and forth in his empty bed
Now fully mad, rounding up his sons and daughters
Bringing them to the 7th barn like cattle to the slaughter…
He binds 3 against the walls
Hanging the other 3 over the rafters by the neck
Loading his shotgun, one by one
He dismembers the rest
Screams and gurgles resonate throughout the barn
Now it’s his turn, tying the final noose
And from the rafters he jumps
Decades after a ghost hunter and his son
Seek out the farm in hopes to capture
Paranormal Activity
They find more than they bargained for
Days and nights gone by, father and son
Reported missing, search parties sent
What they discover is a macabre scene
Within the barn, How could this be?
The boy, bound against the wall , limbless, headless, a puddle of blood
The father, hung by a noose, from the rafters, neck snapped
Both cold and dead…
CREAKING BOARDS
HANGING ROPES
SPIRITS SEEN SWINGING BY THE THROAT
THE 7TH BARN
CURSED AND SMOTE
CHILDISH LAUGHS
PIERCING SCREAMS
SAID TO BE WITNESSED AT THE SCENE
THE 7TH BARN
POSSESSED BY THE UNSEEN
THE 7TH BARN
8. Wendigo Psychosis 06:37
Hunting in Algonquin lands my rifle by my side
The forest still no wind no sound
As if it has been petrified
Out of the silence comes the snap of a twig
I raise my rifles scope
In my sights a pale gaunt creature crawling on all fours
Startled and my footing lost
I slipped and set my rifle off
Readjusting my sights on the being
We lock eyes and my consciousness fades from me
Visions of harsh winter
Mountains, pines and evergreens
Algonquin tribe forced into shelter
Within a cave to escape this harsh winter
Not long after they got settled in this place
An avalanche blocks in the entrance of the cave
Limited food and depleting water caused
The tribe to panic and descend into disorder
Fruitless are the efforts to break through where they came in
Trapped inside forever and the madness slowly starts within
Hunger sets in
By primal desire they eat the children first
Screaming! Thrashing!
Starving! Gnashing!
Fueled by desire they rip through the flesh!
Devouring and giving in to this unholy sin!
Awakening back in the woods
Upon the forest floor
I get to my feet but notice
Its still as silent as before
I run!
In the direction I think I came
With the night closing in
A rustle of leaves upon a cliff
Distracts me from my sprint
Reluctantly I raise my head
And see a familiar silhouette
Frozen! Body goes limp
We lock eyes once again
As I start to slip
Cold, Dark, Abyss
Fresh blood, Tearing flesh
Wretched visions appear once again
Months have gone past
In this anarchic den
One man, the strongest warrior of the tribe
Hunts down the others
But is never satisfied
Slowly his body deforms
Protruding bones and horns start to form
Tightening skin, extending of limbs
Cursed by greed and the hunger within
Wendigo
Summer has come!
Melting the snow and making a hole
For it to escape
From!
This creature set free, silence in the trees
In search of its next victim
Hunting! Stalking!
Goring! Cracking!
Fueled by desire it rips through the flesh
Not before letting the psychosis set in!
I awaken again in these woods
Now, pitch black but still silent
Disoriented, as I rise to my feet
I hear the sound of a twig
Snapping directly behind me ...
9. A Drowning Reflection 08:01
1893
A ship upon the waves
Brought down by a storm
To the inky ocean floor
Divers sent to salvage
Recover a venetian mirror
Only one diver survives
And claims a blackness from the depths
Swallowed the ship
I came across a vintage mirror
The seller claimed it is haunted
No I am not afraid
I welcome the paranormal and the occult
All seems normal
No signs of ghosts
But there is one thing
That is strange
Small puddles of water upon my floor
Each day I awake
Sleep ….
Dream…..
I’M IN A DREAM
SUBMERGED BENEATH THE SEA
WITHIN THE RUINS OF A
SHIP, SO COLD SO DARK
SURROUNDED BY FLOATING
CADAVERS
I TRY TO FIND A WAY
OUT OF THIS WRECKAGE
AS I GAZE INTO THE
ABYSS, I FEEL A RUMBLE
ALL AROUND ME AS A BLACK SHAPE
EMERGES
Startled out of a dream
Face first in salt water
Upon my bedroom floor
Right underneath the mirror
Back within the sunken ship
Looking for any way out
Feeling like I'm being watched
I find the same mirror I bought
I start to feel a rumbling
Looking through a hull window, I see ….
A black shape approaching
Larger than the ship itself
Drowning in fear
I'm unable to ... move
Coming to my senses I turn
Myself around to the mirror
I see my bedroom through the glass
Terrified, I jump right through
I fall again upon my floor
Salt water rushing over me
I think I might be going mad
This mirror really is
Haunted!
Or cursed!
I must dispose
Of this relic
Before I return
To that ship
Sleep…
Dream....
BACK IN THAT DREAM
SUBMERGED BENEATH THE SEA
WITHIN THE RUINS OF A
SHIP, SO COLD SO DARK
SURROUNDED BY FLOATING
CADAVERS
I TRY TO FIND THE MIRROR
TO ESCAPE BACK TO MY
BEDROOM
BUT WHAT I FIND WITHIN
THE MIRROR IS MY OWN
REFLECTION
I CAN FEEL THE RUMBLING
AGAIN AS I TURN
AND WITNESS
ANCIENT EYES
LOCKED ON MINE
MY PSYCHE BREAKS
AS I AM ENGULFED
10. Castle Houska 04:45
13th Century
Medieval Bohemia
Legend tells of a gate to hell
Villages in fear, they refuse to venture
Near this accursed ground
In fear of their lives
They claim to hear screaming coming from the pit
And daemons flying in and out of it
Daemons terrorize the countryside
People tired of living in fear
BUILD THE CASTLE
KEEP THE DARKNESS TRAPPED BENEATH
BUILD THE CASTLE
FILL THIS VOID FROM WHICH IT LEAKS
BUILD THE CASTLE
KEEP THE DARKNESS TRAPPED BENEATH
BUILD THE CASTLE
FILL THIS VOID FROM WHICH IT BREEDS
Prisoners were used
For the construction of the castle
Ones that would rebel against
Were beaten and thrown into the pit to their
Deaths! Some complained of being haunted
During the night they are taunted
Some by a headless bleeding horse
And an old hag screeching
Hell and Sin!
We bring upon you
Hell and Sin!
We bring upon you
BUILD THE CASTLE
KEEP THE DARKNESS TRAPPED BENEATH
BUILD THE CASTLE
FILL THIS VOID FROM WHICH IT LEAKS
BUILD THE CASTLE
KEEP THE DARKNESS TRAPPED BENEATH
BUILD THE CASTLE
FILL THIS VOID FROM WHICH IT BREEDS
Overcome with wonder
Of this haunted ground
Their curiosities agree to send a man down
They offer his freedom
If he tells them what he saw
A young man volunteers
Eager to be free of his chains
Down into the pit
The man starts screaming
They pull him back up
His hair has gone white
His skin now wrinkled
Hes aged 40 years
They ask him what he saw
Clearly blind and deaf
He screaming incoherently ...
11. Within These Walls 06:31
London, England 1887
Two sailors
One old and one young
New to the port
From the West Indies they come
Dead broke and food to last a day
In search of a vacant house
In which they can stay
Whipping winds and the rain
Clash upon their faces
Lightning strikes
Cracking the skyless haze
Searching for any house
To illegally seek
refuge just for one night
They reach an old house
No candles lit
The doors are locked
But a window is open
Stay out of my house
Breaking in, silently
No sign of anyone living here
Vacant
They get settled upstairs
Underneath a glass
Window
The room alit
By the gloom
INTRUDERS
GET OUT OF MY HOUSE
DEFILERS
I DIED HERE AND SO WILL YOU
I DIED WITHIN THESE WALLS
THE KNIFE CUTS MY THROAT
Discussing matters of the next day
Where to find food? How will they pay?
“We can just steal it like we did this house!
This port seems to be every man for himself!”
Suddenly they hear
A noise from the staircase
Quiet but deliberate
Like someone's pacing back and forth
Alerted, on the edge
Someone might be near
They silently investigate
And venture down the stairs
Nothing to be seen
The noise they heard has stopped
Blaming the thrashing rain
They check the doors are locked
Returning back upstairs
Beneath the window
The lightning shining bright
As they drift into the dark of sleep
Thrust awake
By loud footsteps from the stairs
Jolting up
The old man unsheathes his knife
Both struck with fear
Wondering if they’ll survive the night
Footsteps getting much closer now
To the door
Shaking the floor and the men's hearts
Bursting open
The door, a black mass
Engulfing the room
The young sailor
Runs for the door
The old man is
Slashing at the black
Then turns
And crashes through the window
INTRUDERS
GET OUT OF MY HOUSE
DEFILERS
I DIED HERE AND SO WILL YOU
I DIED WITHIN THESE WALLS
THE KNIFE CUTS MY THROAT
Escaping the house, Running out
Screaming for help
The young sailor
Looks back to witness the door
Slamming itself, what the hell?
Fuck! This house is cursed
Going out back to discover
The old sailor’s fate
Impaled through the chest
Lifeless
On a fence
12. Naaldlooshii 06:22
Naaldlooshii
Desert sky, the stars alight
The darkness calling me
Within its grasp I find peace
Others warn me of the desert at night
Legends and demons and walkers of the burial sites
No fear grows within me
The night brings solitude and tranquility
Campfire lit, the stars are bright
I hear a noise behind me and I reach for my Bowie Knife
An old man emerging from the night
Wearing traditional Navajo Robes
Asking for food and acting strange
Claiming hes a medicine man whos lost his way
The old man says “Its dangerous out here at night,
Have you heard of the Skinwalker?”
SHAPESHIFTER
MALEVOLENT VENGEFUL SHAMAN
A SPELL UNITING
ESSENSE OF BOTH BEAST AND MAN
TRANSFORMATION
FUR AND TEETH AND CLAWS
THE STRENGTH OF A BEAST
THE MIND OF A MAN
Naaldlooshii
The hair on the back of my neck
Sticks straight up as I worry that
This old man may be the very
Beast that he describes
Lighting a cigarette
Illuminating his face
A look of determination
And focus in his gaze
Awaiting my reply
He fails to look away
I tell him “I have heard your story
And you will not scare me this way!”
“Of course you have!
For you’re the one I seek
The hunter, the changer
The druid of darkness
I have tracked you
For years
And I am the one
To banish you …”
Spark of anger
My blood boils
Growing fur
Teeth and claws
Gaining height
Shredding clothes
Changing skin
Hunter exposed
Thrust back by the old man’s staff
Falling upon the sand
I arise on all fours, closing the gap
I pounce upon him
Tearing at his flesh so deep
Debowling him, organ by organ
His screams heard only by me
“Damn you! Curse you! Skinwalker!”
SHAPESHIFTER
MALEVOLENT VENGEFUL SHAMAN
A SPELL UNITING
ESSENSE OF BOTH BEAST AND MAN
TRANSFORMATION
FUR AND TEETH AND CLAWS
THE STRENGTH OF A BEAST
THE MIND OF A MAN
01:14:33
- full colored jacket
- full colored, heavy inner sleeve with lyrics, info and impressions
- two sides printed A2 poster
- two stickers
- 180g blue vinyl, lim. edition
- playing time over 40 minutes
-description below:
‘Heljarkviða’ is meant to depict the Old Norse kingdom of Helheimr; a place for the slain who suffer a ‘helsótt’, a fatal illness. They are the ones who are not chosen to travel to the joyful and venerated halls of Óðinn and Freyja, but are instead taken to the kingdom of death, to Hel. It was in early 2014 when Árni (Carpe Noctem, Wöljager), Stefán (Kerbenok, Wöljager) and Marsél (Helrunar, Wöljager) initially started to compose music with the intention to set this gloomy mythological realm into music. Caught by the dismal atmosphere that surrounds this interesting place, Stefán wrote the lyrics by mainly focussing on two different poetic sources from the Old Norse corpus: the Eddic poems, of which first and foremost the grand late tenth century Old Norse poem Vǫluspá served as the most important reference, followed closely by poems of contemporary medieval Icelandic warrior skalds such as Egill Skallagrímsson or Gunnlaugr ormstunga and their mythological battle descriptions.
Hel and her same-named kingdom is ambiguously displayed in the primary sources, which is most likely due to the fact that descriptions of the place itself are much older than the ones about the goddess. It is because of this that neither Skaldic and Eddic poetry, nor the impressive corpus of medieval Icelandic saga literature, provide a coherent picture of the place and the potentially numinous figure. The lyrics for this record, therefore, are a combination of what is known about both aforementioned aspects of Hel, set into a mythological telling of a warrior’s death and afterlife.
The text describes a journey of a doomed warrior who fights with his band of Vikings and dies in a blood-driven ecstasy on the battlefield. After his painful death, his body sinks into the blood-covered soil and travels through the chthonic wastelands below, only to arrive to a place where all other slain bodies rot together under the reign of Hel in and around the bleak hall of Éljúðnir, a monstrous building made from the spines of poison-dripping snakes; a place beyond the spheres of time. Through the treacherous shot guided by Loki, Baldr, the brightest of all gods, is sent to Hel and the worlds begin to collapse. Now, at the beginning of Ragnarǫk, the undead people start to wander back to the surface of life to fight at the final battle at Vígríðr. The grand depiction of Ragnarǫk in Vǫluspá gives the most detailed description of this event and its disastrous conclusion in fire when Surtr cleanses the earth with his flaming sword Surtalogi. The slain bodies appear, however, again after all life has been extinguished. Carried by the wings of Níðhǫggr, they fall down to the revitalizing earth to bring back their very own mythological phaenomenon of death.
It is our hope that some of this apocalyptic atmosphere is transmitted through the music, lyrics and visual arts of this very special release.
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