WARLOCKS GRIM & WITHERED HAGS (2023)
Tercer larga duración para este proyecto escoces, capaz de traernos un sonido de black metal con influencias diversas dentro de sonidos como el thrash, el speed o el NWOBHM. Desde el inicio del álbum con el tema "The Nuckelavee" sabemos a que atenernos, con un sonido directo y agresivo, no exento de cierta melodía y recogiendo diversas influencias de estilos como el thrash sobre todo. Sin embargo llama la atención que estamos ante un tema extenso, cercano a los seis minutos, que no se centra tanto en al inmediatez de ofrecer un estribillo facilón y un alto ritmo, no, aquí James McBain se ha ocupado en ser capaz de elaborar una atmósfera oscura, densa, a veces misteriosa que envuelve todo el conjunto, al mismo tiempo que sin olvidarse de alguna manera de ofrecer un sonido con un fuerte componente melódico, en una vertiente de sonido black melódico clásico. No podemos pasar por alto los interesantes cambios de ritmo y tono que presentan todos los temas, permitiendo al oyente no sufrir una y otra vez el mismo riff repetitivo que sirve de hilo conductor, sino que los temas ofrecen un nutrido número de elaborados riffs, todos ellos conservando un sabor añejo y un carácter melódico. Las voces se centran en un tono agresivo y directo, sin embargo se ha trabajado secciones en donde aparece cierta dualidad en las mismas, sonando unas más oscuras y profundas en contraste con otras más crudas. El trabajo de batería, aun siendo programada, se muestra ciertamente dinámico, en temas como "Goat Vomit Nightmare" con un ritmo bastante alto pero que también sabe amoldarse a otras facetas de la propuesta logrando un sonido con mucho más dinamismo, al tiempo que podemos descubrir un buen trabajo de un instrumento como el bajo que muchas veces se acaba perdiendo en las mezclas y que en este caso sirve para dotar al sonido de ese carácter más clásico, sin olvidarnos por supuesto de las presencia de un instrumento como la gaita en una faceta dignificadora del sonido del álbum. Un álbum que se mueve con soltura tanto en terrenos directo y rápidos como en otros más lentos, intercalando ritmos explosivos con otros con más groove y que nos muestra a un proyecto que ha sabido evolucionar su sonido desde la demos iniciales hasta este nuevo trabajo, que aún conservando la base, sabe abrirse camino hacia nuevas metas. (7,6).
1. The Nuckelavee 05:47
Traversing through pathways on perilous shores
The bogles converge under a moonless sky
The fire in the distance from the eye of the beast bewitches
As it emerges from the womb of night
Hungry, like the bleeding dark
I will speak not of its name
Carving a pestilent trail of the dead
Dripping with poison, a vision of dread
Rattling the heavens, let evil be known
Rising from abyssal waters below
Beware the monster - Devil o’ the sea
The Nuckelavee
Plaguewielder, deathbringer, Protect me Lord, o’ mither!
I mean no harm, I mean no harm!
Woe-stricken, yet unyielding, I march into the flame
The vicious chasm of the gaping maw
Hungry, like the bleeding dark
I will speak not of its name
Carving a pestilent trail of the dead
Dripping with poison, a vision of dread
Rattling the heavens, let evil be known
Rising from abyssal waters below
Beware the monster - Devil o’ the sea
The Nuckelavee
Prayers roam skyward, my cross held high
Claws swing violently like bloody scythes
Black blood courses through yellow veins
Unforgiving is the curse of fate
I have stared into the void, but luck is on my side
Praise be to God for I’m alive
The storm grants me salvation
Rain falls on rotten flesh
A great roar infects the air
With its venomous breath
The crushing din of hooves
Fades into the velvet black
Return to the depths from whence you came
The tale is mine to tell
Defeated, but the Devil will be back…
Carving a pestilent trail of the dead
Dripping with poison, a vision of dread
Rattling the heavens, let evil be known
Rising from abyssal waters below
Beware the monster - Devil o’ the sea
The Nuckelavee
2. I, The Deceiver 04:55
Speak, o’ witches three
Why dost thou linger ‘pon this heath?
Force thine knowledge and secrets arcane ‘pon me
Fork-tongued symphonies, wicked prophecies
Let not light reveal my clandestinity
Dark forces move and command with insidious hands unseen
I, the deceiver
I am the serpent ‘neath the flowers that bloom
I, the believer
Forfeit the treasure of mine eternal jewel
Mind the voice inside
Let them crawl, and let fate be my guide
Pluck mine eyes from the skull and let blood reign o’er me
Venture silently, but curse inwardly
Doth the blade in my smile crush divinity?
False faces hide what desire may lurk in the heart beneath
I, the deceiver
I am the serpent ‘neath the flowers that bloom
I, the believer
Forfeit the treasure of mine eternal jewel
Let the dagger lead the way
Let the wine of life be spilled
Let the night infect the day
For the Devil I’ve become
With blessings left unsaid
To the darkness, I succumb
Bring the storm ‘pon my head
I, the deceiver
I am the serpent ‘neath the flowers that bloom
I, the believer
Forfeit the treasure of mine eternal jewel
3. Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags 07:14
O’ Prince of Hell, I bow to thee before thine blackened throne
Your servants dwell in blasphemy wherever they may roam
I vow to live in lechery, and may you walk behind
Temptation plants its wicked seed within thine willing mind
May the hangman take their souls
From church to flaming hollow
May the hangman drag their souls down
Warlocks - one with the fire
Withered hags - sink your claws into me
Warlocks - in kirkyards conspire with death
Tales of your iniquity, they travel through the night
While Eden’s sweet serenity is raped with much delight
Upon the tempest’s rugged wings, you ride o’er battered graves
A reign of torment may you bring until the end o’ days
Turn down the crucifix
For the rabid scythe-wielding triple-six
Turn down your crucifix now
Warlocks - one with the fire
Withered hags - sink your claws into me
Warlocks - in kirkyards conspire with death
Let kelpies wander the fjords
And lanterns float in the mires
The Queen of Winter, with hair white as snow
Brings the fog where they hide
Bewitched lands where the old gods still lurk
Wild-hanging woods, the revered Devil’s church
Treacherous mountains will take you
And send you below
Wraiths in the gloaming, they roam while you sleep
The wind cuts through bones where grieving mothers weep
Fare-you-well, straight to hell
Into the abyss you drift
Warlocks - one with the fire
Withered hags - sink your claws into me
Warlocks - in kirkyards conspire with death
Warlocks - bound to His power
Withered hags - cursing the Trinity
Warlocks - the witching hour is here
Now, onwards we go
4. Goat Vomit Nightmare 03:15
Lost in the heart of the highlands, we roam
Seeking another world
A bestial portal into the unknown
Crushing the will of God
Eyes on the brae, sin guides the way
Veiled in the fuzz of the night
Secrets that crawl from the black womb beyond
Unlocked with clairvoyant might
I am beast
Take mine eyes
Necromancy
Let me be divinized
I am beast
Sacrifice
Hear my cursed prayer
Goat vomit nightmare
Hallucinations out of control
Dancing upon the fire
Horned tormentors, frothing and foul
March through the dismal fog
A clatter of hooves, shadows that move
Forever haunted by death
Unleash the hellstorm upon my soul
Trapped in body possessed
I am beast
Take mine eyes
Necromancy
Let me be divinized
I am beast
Sacrifice
Hear my cursed prayer
Goat vomit nightmare
Convulsions great and manic
Entranced by Devil magic
5. The Cursed Carrion Crown 05:47
In flooded labyrinthine trenches
Where the clan of Sawney dwells
The blood of evil flows like a river
To the blackest pits of hell
Join the hunt, reap the night
In the kingdom deserted by light
Hail and kill, screams so shrill
Echo violently…
Caves where mangled children hang
Pendulous, they lurk amongst the gloom
Their bodies flayed
Slain in the lair of the cannibal king
Crucified in rows amongst the rot
All lifeblood drained
In the name of…
The cursed carrion Crown
Worship in sin
Rapture within
The cursed carrion Crown
Wrath of the wild
Lucifer’s child must die
The wretched prey lie dead and graveless
A cruel passage below
Trapped in perdition and butchered in ecstasy
Before the pestilent throne
Caves where mangled children hang
Pendulous, they lurk amongst the gloom
Their bodies flayed
Slain in the lair of the cannibal king
Crucified in rows amongst the rot
All lifeblood drained
In the name of …
The cursed carrion Crown
Worship in sin
Rapture within
The cursed carrion Crown
Wrath of the wild
Lucifer’s child must die
With the hounds at their back
The flesh cult are trapped
No more in mystery
This is the end
To the gallows condemned
They shan’t repent for thee
Hang, bastards hang
The hellspawn torn asunder
Burn, devils burn
Live on in infamy
Hang, bastards hang
Restless in flaming slumber now
Sink into the dark
6. The Hissing Marshes 03:51
Seductress infernal, she twists into form
From slumber awakened
Aflame in the twilight, in league with the storm
To poison salvation
The thunderous echoes and the cries of the damned
Haunting the waters
Lost souls, they wander upon burning paths
Ripe for slaughter
The madness, the terror, the sin
Drink from the chalice of death
The bewitching force of the cloven hoof
Syphons the breath and soul
Dragged through the hissing marshes
And into the deep
Dragged through the marshes
Spellbound and willing, the grotesque divine
The grip of the Devil
The abyssal gateway betwixt life and death
Beckons the vessel
The hand’s feeble grasp - in ecstasy ravaged
Coiled in serpents
The pale kiss enchanting, the spirit adrift
The Water’s lament
The madness, the terror, the sin
Drink from the chalice of death
The bewitching force of the cloven hoof
Syphons the breath and soul
Dragged through the hissing marshes
And into the deep
Dragged through the marshes
Dragged through the hissing marshes
And into the deep
Dragged through the marshes
Into the water you go
7. Poison Womb (The Curse of the Witch) 03:43
Lament the dearly departed, bleed for the gods
The shadow of damnation’s horns
Threatens the madness behind the veil
Lick the life from the wounds one by one
Light the flame, for the rite has begun
A theatre of phantoms where devilry shall be revealed
Speak O’ Goddess of demise
Of secrets untold
Vomit the soul
Oh, bless us tonight
Poison womb, blasphemous bitch
Raging doom, the curse of the witch
666 serpents rise from the cunt of the beast
Dreaming of worlds torn asunder
This night is damned, this night is fucked
The crooked left hand, held to the sky it ruptures the seal
Speak O’ Goddess of demise
Of secrets untold
Vomit the soul
Oh, bless us tonight
Draped In malevolent splendour, worship the dark
The black majesty matriarch
Behold, the glorious hellscape wakes
Nocturnal force cracks the great flaming whip
Convulsions are fueled by the weight of their sins
Fathomless nightmares and torturous visions prevail
Lost in the realms of demise
A dance with the dead
For this journey ends
With us tonight
Poison womb, blasphemous bitch
Raging doom, the curse of the witch
666 serpents rise
Poison womb, blasphemous bitch
Raging doom, the curse of the witch
666 serpents rise from the cunt of the beast
8. Mester Stoor Worm 08:31
These waters primaeval, they harbour this curse
Of the world-coiling dragon - a wretched plague on this earth
Hunger burning like the blaze within its eyes
A cataclysmic yearning to rip and destroy the purity from their lives
Here be terror, here be death
On the seventh day, at the beast’s behest
It calls with nine great barks that split the blackened skies
Greet its foul presence with the sacrifice
In dream and death
Your daughters be damned
The endless cycle of this cursed land
In dream and death
The world crumbles before thine eyes
Swallowed by darkness
We face the stoor worm’s wrath
The offerings devoured lie on a bed of broken ships
Cities now but catacombs rot in the belly of the serpent
Woe unrelenting like a million lashing whips
Forced into madness lamenting all the poor souls that fall into its unyielding grip
Here be terror, here be death
For the seven virgins, let the beast be fed
Now you must lay the girls upon the sanguine shores
Hear their screams eclipsed by its savage roars
In dream and death
Your daughters be damned
The endless cycle of this cursed land
In dream and death
The world crumbles before thine eyes
Swallowed by darkness
We face the stoor worm’s wrath
Call upon the seventh son
Face the challenge to spare the kingborn
Claim the prize of Odin's sword
And reap the glory of the imperilled kingdom
Avenge the fallen of the past
Perishing amongst the ruins of dreams vast
Wield the power of the gods
And reap the glory of the imperilled kingdom
Now stand and fight
Gather your courage and rid humankind of its plight
The time has come
Follow your destiny, march on into the unknown
Ride the waves into its cavernous mouth
Braced With dagger in hand, with the prayers of the silent crowd
Wrench the blade in to the hilt
Set the liver on fire for the kill
Spewed back onto land
Through smoke and fire, he’s spiralling
Assipattle crawls upon bloody sand
Let the heavens cry
The masses watch on in disbelief
Bile falls like rain from the melting sky
And with forked tongue it grasps at the moon
In its death throes, it bellows
And crashes back down to the ground
And now the battle is won
Free for the first time, they welcome the sun
From its cessation comes the islands’ creation
And the tale of the stoor worm lives on
43:03
Vinyl, 12", Mini-Album, Limited Edition,
