APPALACHIAN WINTER

THE EPOCH THAT BUILT THE MOUNTAINS (2014)

Para su sexto larga duración Klyne se ha rodeado de un elenco de músicos por primera vez para poder desarrollar el álbum. "The Epochs That Built the Mountains" rompe un tanto con sus anteriores trabajos, hay un mejor sonido y una menor presencia de instrumentos acústicos para dejar sitio a una música mucho más épica, rozando lo operístico. Las composiciones han perdido ese componente metálico para cargar el peso de la misma en los sintetizadores y si bien esa sensación folk y de contacto con la naturaleza sigue estando presente se han perdido otras, sobre todo la de asistir a la audición de un álbum de black en todo regla. Las voces siguen siendo relativamente variadas con registro limpios y claros en contraposición a otros más agresivos y operísticos, todo muy grandilocuente. Estamos ante una obra mucho más elaborada que se adentra en terrenos sinfónicos, abandonando la crudeza y atmósferas de antaño para dejarse llevar por la vertiente más sinfónica del género. (7,8).

1. Laurentia 06:03

  Hear now, Great Mother of my land, 

Your ghost haunts all that is here, now, 

Here, that I call home. 

Here - now, Laurentia is upon 

The soul of a northern one 

Who wishes to know her. 

Secrets cast in stone 

And locked by the hands of time 

Are the only remnants 

Of a land lost to the ages. 

A stone image of a seafarer 

Cradled skyward upon a ridge 

Has spoken of my mountains 

With an incredible voice 

Passing ghosts from the rocks 

To my dreams. 

Hear now, Great Mother of my land 

That you are upon my dreams, 

You, great Laurentia!

2. Close the Ocean 06:01

Upon this world 

Even lands wander 

Upon journeys of thousands of miles. 

And in this epoch 

A great ocean dies 

Before the march of the lands' last embrace. 

The death of one Earth 

In genesis of another 

Brings lands closer to what our ages know. 

For behold, great forces below 

Upend the basin and the mountains now rise! 

Land comes upon land 

in an old, grand epoch of change. 

When all lands are in search of each other, 

The seas will yield before their advance, 

For behold, great forces below 

Upend the basin and the mountains now rise!

3. Rise to the Heavens 05:52

Rise to the heavens; Reach out through time. When lands collide, Let the mountains rise. Rise to the heavens as all lands gather, Riding the storms within the Earth. In this brief moment before it seems That all life will die, Something beautiful happened, And my Appalachians rose proudly into the sky! Long ago, my mountains were the tallest, Before wind and rain had their say. But even today, only ignorant eyes Can look upon these Appalachians And call them "humble." For they have borne skyward The fractured remains of a time That tell us about the forgotten age Of a once different Earth. Rise to the heavens and unite distant epochs, For all lands became one In the moments of your origin. And bear thee skyward the imprints of ancient times, For you are the mighty Appalachians, Old and beautiful; You are a testament of the Earth!  

4. The Last All-Land 05:17

 Span of the Earth; 

Many have become but one 

Ancient giant, 

For the lands came upon greatness and fused. 

And in the middle, 

Mountains like none before 

Kissed the heavens and stood against 

All that time could summon. 

Span of the Earth; 

Mother of my mountains! 

Fire below; 

The forge of all epochs! 

The Earth above; 

The face of eternal change! 

The mountains high; 

The dreams of the gods themselves! 

The greatest of lands 

Destined to be torn asunder; 

For giants that seem unmoveable 

Flow as rivers charging from the mountains. 

Span of the Earth; 

An old world's ghosts in a new age, 

Though the story of my mountains 

Is far from ending!

5. Clay Becomes Stone 04:51  instrumental

6. The Cycle of Sea and Mountain 05:41

 Rise to the knowledge of the Earth! 

Mountain and sea are eternally tied 

In their vortex - a swirl of re-creation - 

In an embrace as old as time. 

The epochs echo those that came before, 

As the sea and mountains sing the harmony of this world. 

Rise to this knowledge of the Earth, 

For the ground beneath our feet 

Changes as do the clouds above 

When the fearsome storms gather, 

And the eternal marble of the Earth 

Shall always persist, 

For the mountains flow into the sea 

Only to rise again. 

From the tallest mountains 

Are borne the ocean's depths. 

The beauty we call this Earth 

Flows as do the rivers, 

For in every rock 

Distant epochs sparkle

7. Watergap 05:08

 How can it be 

That the river is stronger than the mountain, 

The water can move the land, 

That the Rain can crumble to boulder? 

How can it be? 

How can it be 

The the river can stand it ground, 

And say, "The mountain shall not rise here, 

And my course to the sea shall remain, 

Unabated"? 

For when the mountain tried to give the river 

To the heavens, the river cut back down, 

Saying, "None shall move me from this Earth!" 

But these things are to be this world, 

That the river can carve the land, 

That this Earth - forever changed - 

Changes forever!

8. Withstand the Ages 05:51

A miracle are these mountains; they have withstood. 

And cruelties many they have defied. 

A miracle are these mountains, for they still stand. 

The ages spared no hardship upon this tortured land. 

Withstand the ages that would see your end. 

These mountains withstood; these mountains survived. 

These mountains still stand; these mountains still live. 

Through endless time, from old Earth to new, 

These mountains have stood; these mountains still live. 

Ages of sun and atmosphere 

Wrought destruction upon these mountains. 

Buried and uncovered, with once proud peaks 

Rended and cast into the sea, my mountains stand, still. 

And when all lands are again one, 

My Appalachians will reach the heavens once more.

9. Hymn to the Ancient Mountains 06:06

 When these mountains rose, 

the Earth gained a new beauty. 

And when these mountains rose, 

A new soul was brought upon this land. 

For the mountains sing the tales of the ages, 

And they bring the heavens closer to the Earth. 

My mountains stand, so eternal and glorious 

As the genesis of endless wonder. 

See now what remains of ages ancient 

-To this land 

-To this world. 

For the mountains sing the tales of the ages, 

And they bring the heavens closer to my heart, 

As my soul calls out to the ancient epochs, 

That echo still from peak to shaded valley.

  50:50

Anti / Mosaic - Landscapes 4,99 €

Illustration by Pascal Hauer (worked for Lantlôs, Vargnatt and others). Concept and Post-Execution by Inkantator Koura.

MOSAIC is the solo-project of Inkantator Koura (Alchemyst, Seremoni).

He is supported by Wiedergaenger (Total Negation, Nachts, Auvandril) on Session-Drums and Stephan Löscher (mastermind behind FJOERGYN) who creates the interlude for the split track.

ANTI is a project of Anti (Ex-Darkestrah) on strings, A.Krieg (Eternity, Darkmoon Warriors) on vocals and Zahgurim (Ex-Bethlehem) on Drums - creating dismal black metal at its best.

Tracklist:

Mosaic - Stellar Landscape 7.58min

Anti - Landscape in Minor (Re-Recorded 2012 with real drummer!) 6.24min 

- 300g gatefold cover

- uncoated (matte) paper

- limited to 500 copies

BLACK METAL SPIRIT STORE

APPALACHIAN WINTER

Origen: E.E.U.U., Schellsburg, Pennsylvania.

Formados: 2008

Estilo: Black sinfónico

Temática: Invierno

Enlaces:Bandcamp, facebook, lastfm y mediafire.

Miembros:

• D. G. Klyne  Todos los instrumentos y voces
• Mike O'Brian Coros
• Randy Smith Guitarra

Discogafía:

•  Silence Before the Great Mountain Wind Full-length 2008   
• Winter Eternal Full-length 2009   
• I Become the Frozen Land Full-length 2010   
• Appalachian Winter Full-length 2011   
• Ghosts of the Mountains Full-length 2013   
• Berglieder Split 2013 
• Ravenforest EP EP 2013  
• The Epochs That Built the Mountains CD 2014
• Selected Orchestrations Recopilatorio 2014 Miri It Is Single 2015
• From the Cosmos to the Mountains Single 2016  
• The Lake and the Mountain EP 2016
• The Lake and the Mountain: A Memoir 2017 CD
• From the Cosmos to the Mountains CD 2017
• Winter Always Returns CD 2019
• Winterhewn CD 2020
• Wintermountains Rise EP 2023

GHOST OF THE MOUNTAINS (2013)

El último trabajo de Appalachian Winter hasta la fecha es un trabajo de black sinfónico pero también ambientalista con fuertes connotaciones folk, pero sobre todo es el proyecto de un música D.G. Klyne que tiene muy claras sus ideas y hace y deshace a su gusto en una banda, la suya, que poco a poco va situando en el panorama del black. Disco a disco va puliendo su sonido, mejorando aspectos como la producción y logrando transmitir a su audiencia su propósito, que creo no es otro, que la sensaciones de un frio invierno en los Apalaches. Su música es rica en matices y bastante elaborada, gran trabajo en todos los aspectos desde la voz muy trabajada y cuya presencia sube el tono de las composición, así como todos los aspectos sinfónicos y ambientales que si bien en un principio se les pueden atribuir tintes preciosistas, llegada la hora de la verdad lo que transmiten es una sensación más bien de inseguridad y de salvajismo dentro de la naturaleza. Bien es cierto también que por momentos se puede dejar de lado un poco el aspecto más black y coquetear con algunas partes heavys, esas voces en Pennsylvanian Fire, o incluso aspectos orquestales tal vez un poco sobrecargados, pero esta claro que esto es el proyecto de Klyne y él y sólo él manda  sobre el mismo. El mensaje está más que claro, un ser humano ávido de riqueza al cual no le importa destruir una y otra vez la naturaleza y pocos trabajos logran transmitir ese clamor de: paren ya de una manera tan clara y precisa. (8,3).

1. Rebellion Within the Young Nation 06:47

  If freedom was to to fall from the heavens 

As brilliant orbs of light, 

The people of the mountains would catch them first 

And hold them closely to their hearts. 

If you hold close to your heart 

A treasure greater than life, 

You will know death before separation, 

And so you will hold it for your eternity. 

You who think you rule over men 

May put to paper any words you wish, 

But they who live in the mountains 

Will always be free, 

And owe you, who know not 

Of life's great struggle, 

Nothing.

2. Patriarchs 05:34

  Old wisdom shines like light 

Across the void of time. 

Old words fight decay 

From foolish minds. 

Ages die like fire 

From the falling rain, 

As our patriarchs 

Smile and become the Earth. 

Fire and rain - 

Strip me to my bones, 

As I know my name 

And claim my forefather's heart. 

Fire and rain - 

Wash the Earth anew, 

As my forefathers and I 

Rise from ashes.

3. Ancestors of the Lake 05:23

  This lake; these lands I stand upon, 

Have and age - an epoch that can't be known. 

They bear ancient names; 

The only remnants of those here before. 

I like to think that the ravens who come, 

Bear their wayward souls back to this land they called home. 

But likely these are only ravens, 

And nothing more. 

I like to think that every raindrop that falls here, 

Are their tears returning home - that they may weep no more. 

But likely they are only raindrops, 

And nothing more. 

I like to think after I yield forth my last breath, 

That my spirit will join those ancient ones, 

In song to our beloved mountains. 

But likely that day, 

We shall all be dust, 

And nothing more.

4. The Town Old Man Schell Built 05:26

Many pass here, but few are to know. Few live here. They inherit a corner of this world Sweetened by the absence of eyes upon it. A microcosm can reflect a universe. So we live; tiny lives in our forgotten town. Let it be nothing to those who pass by, For it is everything to me.

5. Keystone 04:52  instrumental

6. The Great Battle 06:25

  Over three days time, 

My mountains, my beautiful mountains 

Beheld immeasurable horror! 

When men came to slaughter men- 

My mountains beheld this- 

When souls come to ashes, 

And Death's roar loudens, 

Life reduces to the value of lead. 

When men came 

The world beheld the slaughter 

In my beautiful mountains. 

When men came upon these fields, 

Humanity darkened. 

Old eventualities bore old mountains 

In their witness. 

When Death's roar loudens, 

The last moments of men 

Are borne in wrath, fear and shock. 

Better of ten thousand 

Spilled all their blood, 

And my beautiful mountains 

Became a place of horror.

7. Pennsylvanian Fire 05:37

Colossal things rose in my mountains; 

Born of rocks and men. 

They found within themselves a thirst for fire. 

So followed many lands to take of my mountains 

As monstrous works changed my land forever. 

It was my land first 

Where fire was found; 

The essence of life long since gone. 

The souls of a forgotten time 

Were torn from the Earth, 

And made to live again 

As fire in the heart of a new age. 

It was my land first, 

Where cold eyes fell upon the mountains, 

And monsters rose among them 

-Nailed to the land- 

To take of the mountains 

While others were carved away, 

And left to rot by monstrous men. 

It was my land first . . .

8. The Great Flood of 1889 06:18

  Stands there a smaller city upon rivers. 

In the mountains there, men forged steel under a ghastly shadow. 

When the rains came, 

Tragedy was forewritten, 

For men had declared the river a lake, 

And when the rains came, the river reclaimed itself. 

No barrier built knows the truth of Earth, Water and Sun. 

When eyes closed and Life laid down en masse, 

The city, scarred and horrified, became a dire warning - 

Remembered still by my people. 

When the rains come again, 

Will the next river break free?

9. The Cemetery Where Slaves Lie Buried 04:39

Here is a place haunted, 

Where shadow and soul are one, 

And the land hides the horror 

Of those who ran - ran for the dignity of men. 

All that remains are stones 

And whispered memories 

For hope also fled, 

And so they died - they died for the dignity of men. 

These are the unmarked graves 

Of those our history has left behind.

  51:01