IMPERIAL GRAND STRATEGY (2005)
El salto de calidad con respecto a pasadas ediciones de la banda canadiense está fuera de toda duda en su primer larga duración. Estamos hablando de una producción más elaborada que enfatiza los puntos fuertes de sus propuesta, es decir los magníficos riffs de los que hacen gala, así como las voces. No vamos a descubrir ni desentrañar los entresijos del estilo del cual son participes, el war metal en mayor o menor medida acaba por estar presente en las composiciones. Si embargo una virtud de Operation Winter Mist, por lo meno bajo mi punto de vista, es la no saturación de su sonido, logran sonar directos e impregnan sus música de violencia y ambiente bélico, pero en su propuesta los medios tiempos tienen cabida, desprendiendo todo ello una aire a la segunda ola del black. Temas como "Imperial" o "The Cold Front" son buena muestra de lo expuesto, contundencia, violencia y cierta brutalidad, pero al mismo tiempo podemos encontrar interesantes cambios de ritmo, variedad de riffs y aproximaciones al thrash, con una ambientación bélica que no se ve mermada. La batería no ha solapado el resto de instrumentos de la música de la banda y es de agradecer que el protagonismo se lo lleve la guitarra y las voces, esta últimas son capaces de transmitir rabia y dolor, sonando bastante sucias. La propuesta de Operation Winter Mist resulta mus interesante, se adentran el mundo del war metal, logran una buena ambientación, sin embargo no lo hacen de la manera esperada, sino que lo logran a través de una forma diferente, dinámica y sin caer en clichés. (7,6).
1. Arctic Wolves 04:07
Followed by a predatory beast
Wolf tracks in the snow
I know that the wolves are near
Wolf fangs stained with blood
Saliva drips a crimson tear
Carnivores of the North
Soon it will be time to feed
Follow your predator instinct
Wolf fang stained with blood
Our enemies be food for the wolf
Guardians of the North
Protect the clans purity
Preserve the pack territory
All intruders are the prey to feed
The howls in the moonlight
The sound that scared the night
Bring up the alpha males
Let them lead the charge
Sum up their racks
Ravage like a platoon of tanks
For arctic wolves fear no human being
Come forth for the North
All for the arctic legions
Go for the throat
Let blood drip onto the snow
Scent of blood draws the others near
Wolf bone chills the North wind
Traditional songs after the feast
Their howls inspire Vinlandic pride
And the wolf became part of me
Come forward alpha females
Whelp for the pack and breed
Disperse to the south
And spread the arctic seed
Multiply for race and species
For arctic wolves fear no human being
Come forth for the North
All for the arctic legion
Go for the throat
Let blood drip onto the snow
Scent of a kill draws the others near
2. Imperial 05:06
At the dawn of a new era
At the end of the third great war
Rising from the ashes of humanity
The empire of storms
The empire shall rise
To feed the ambitions of the people
As the emperor stands tall
On a throne of skulls
Of all those who have opposed him
And met their fate at the end of the sword
The empire shall rise
As all the old kingdoms fall
It''s the rise of the northern empire
The time has come as others before
Break the peace and the treaties
Let your voice be heard
With bone and steel, sword and shield
We raise our flags
Legions of the storm
Gather your armies to the south
The southern borders lay open
We must first crush the Christian empire
Grasp the reigns of power
Form the axis by which the world turns
Expand the sphere of influence
Finalize the Imperial Grand Strategy
Mighty northern empire
A mountain unto itself
Stoke the fires of conquest
Cleanse the world in it''s purifying flames
Command the reins of power
Be the axis by which the world turns
One spake to ignite the fire
Let the world bend to our will
3. Death and Honour 03:59
Europe was burning
Germany was at the height of its power
A raiding force challenge the raging seas
To execute Operation Jubilee
Trained to assault in the light of day
For one chance to face the enemy
Naval squirmish fade hope for surprise
On the beaches of Dieppe
The enemy was waiting
Landing at dawns first light
Under intense Nazi fire
Battalions stormed the flashing inferno of defence
To fight the blazing bloody battle of Dieppe
Send in the first wave of Canadians
Your all going to die
Death and Honour
Strength and Pride
They sacrificed their lives
We salute you
When shall their glory fade
When face down floating in the waves
The channel and the sands of Dieppe
Have been honoured by the blood of Canadians
For all the men that hit the beach
On that fateful day
Died in a blaze of glory
Or surrendered with honour
Truimph was not to be
And would wait for us another day
Some escaped the beach
Many would never leave
As a testimony to ferocity
The sacrifice before glory
And gallantry of Canadians
4. The Cold Front 05:00
Fortified defensive position
On the cold front, holding the line
Tranquility interrupted
By an artillery barrage
Winter blitz bombs fall from the sky
They rocked, trembled, tremored and turned
The earth
Exhuming the bodies of the fallen
And took the lives our comrades
Shockwave scorched flesh falls from the bone
Unearth, the rotten horrors of war
The scourge set free
Spreading plague and disease
Corpse rats grow fat off dead flesh
Trench rats stripped the flesh from the bone
Cold steel and concrete
Hedge hogs and dragons teeth
Barbwire with trip wires
Carbines and mixed landmines
Caught within the crossfire
Few survived the cold front
High velocity 88 salvos
Cold front equals ground zero
Rocket volley arches through the sky
Crashing down with rolling thunder
As the enemy advanced on all fronts
We stopped them cold in their tracks
With fanatical resistance
Resist them
No retreat, no surrender
Not one step back
5. Divine Wind 04:06
A typhoon brewed in the east
As zeros take to the sky
Formations come in waves
Of men willing to die
On a one way mission
For the Emperor Showa
Unleash the Suicide squads
Ritual suicide, crash and burn, final strike
Divine Wind
Hordes gathered on the horizon
With the rising sun to their backs
Carried by the Winds of God
Unwavering devotion
Transcending life and death
Unyielding allegiance
Unleash the Suicide squards
At high speed crash into the deck of a warship
Spirit of dead comrades watch intently
Ignite the fuel to detonate the bombs
A final death roll will increase the death toll
A strategy of must is master
To pave the road to victory
In order to eradicate the enemy
Trade one life for many
Hordes gathered on the horizon
With the rising sun to their backs
Carried by the Wind of God
Never to return
Vanguard of an avenging force
Martyrs that accept the oath
Samurai die by the code
Thunder God crash and burn
6. Frontal Assault 02:57
Concealed in the forest, in the year 1944
Panzer divisions are deployed ready to attack
Mechanized formations committed to a great offensive
Answer the fatherland''s call
Engage in a frontal assault
In a shroud of December''s fury
Under cover of the Winters mist
Forging men and machine to strike with an iron fist
Infantry and war machines, smash through the enemy lines
Into a steel storm of total war
Engage in a frontal assault
Surround them, destroy them, drive them back across the sea
Tigers spearhead a blitzkrieg, infantry follow in their tracks
Leveled cities and atrocities will bring the invaders to their knees
Sound now a truimphant trumpet blast
Choke on the bitter taste of defeat
Victory is within our grasp
Engage in a frontal assault
7. A Call to Arms 04:55
Like a raging wind
We scorched the earth
With a fist of steel
We swept armies aside
With hammers of fire
Set the world ablaze
In mighty bursts of flame
Bombs fell from the sky
By the Declaration of war
We answered the call to arms
For the glory of the Empire
A dream that one day will be real
The city streets in jubilee
Parading for victory
Hysteria the people cheer
A deafening roar is all you hear
Trumpet and fife
Marching band lead the way with pipe
Marching to the beat of the drum
Chin up, eyes straight, with shouldered gun
Fathers take their sons by the hand
Marching off together into foreign lands
Follow the beat of the drum
There''s a job to be done
Embrace the call
To hell with the cowards
They run and hide
Remembered are those who''ve fought and died
Honoured ones who gave their lives
Their names shall be written in stone
Preserved for eternity
The price of victory pays a heavy toll
Freedom doesn''t come cheap
8. Northern Aggression 04:04
Barricade the gates
For the true northmen come
Buckle under the weight
By the coming of the storm
When you realize
You''re the cause of these troubled times
You''ll get your just deserves
For your treachery you pay ten fold
When you realize
You still the cause of these troubled times
What choice were we given?
Capitulate or be destroyed
Bow down before the aggressor
Brought to your knees, now beg
Show not mercy but violence
Succumb to the coming storm
Five times invaded
Five times you failed
To pluck that jewel from the northern crown
You, so many in number
We, so many in few
Now we march to the gates of your capital
White flags are waving
A city incinerated
The wrath brought down by the aggressor
Women and children are screaming
You brought this war to us
Throw up your hands and surrender
1812, I still remember
That burning image in my mind
As we set your capital to the torch
9. Between the Pincers 03:12 instrumental
37:26
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