domingo, 20 de junio de 2021

AETHERIC EXISTENCE

 


Origen: E.E.U.U., New Hampshire

Formados: 2016

Estilo: Blackened death metal sinfónico

Temática: Experiencias etéricas, horror, muerte y proyecciones astrales

Enlaces: Bandcampfacebook 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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