Lack of comprehension

Death:"Lack of comprehension", (fra albummet "Human", 1991):

A condemning fear strikes down
Things they cannot understand
An excuse to cover up weaknesses that lie within
Lies
Laying your guilt and pain
On people that had no part in the molding of a life
That creates its destruction
Lies
Right before your very eyes
A reflection of the mistakes
To the end you will deny
Your part in the demise of a life
     Lack of comprehension
Thriving on your cliché
     Compelled by self-resentment

Reaching into the minds of those that created
The depression in which they
In which they drowned their flesh and blood
Lies
So easy to blame the
Everlasting fear on a pathetic attempt
To justify the ending of life
Lies
Right before your very eyes
A reflection of the mistakes
To the end you will deny
Your part in the ending of a life
     Lack of comprehension
Thriving on your cliché
Compelled by self-resentment

(tekst: Chuck Schuldiner)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkKOfB_g5rk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KTK0MbOobQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ6MYB2-iYY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwxl6Z2Pa6Q

(Mit første møde med Death var albummet "Human", som jeg købte i en rigtigt god men desværre forlængst hedengangen pladebutik i det sydlige Danmark tilbage i 1990´erne. Jeg havde læst og hørt meget godt om Death og Chuck, og tænkte, at nu måtte jeg altså lige selv konstatere, om der var virkelig var tale om så fantastisk death metal, som rygtet sagde.....Rygtet talte, (surprise!), sandt, og i dag står "Human" som ét af mine allerbedste heavy metal-minder nogensinde, bl.a. takket være en vinder som "Lack of comprehension" :-)).

Liberty bell

The Gathering:"Liberty bell", (fra albummet "How to measure a planet?", 1999):

No brainwaves or activity
while the craft is in the air
It´s getting dark, it´s getting light
we are sitting in a chair

We have fastened every belt
we cannot float out of our seats
it´s so enormously frightening
when our tail reaches superheat

Another timezone
a change of season
it is turning dark again
We´re getting ready for yet
another orbit around our planet

It is time for the galactic cruise
To come to an end
One last view on the world
and the time that we have spend

(tekst: Anneke van Giersbergen)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB-5AFagZNc

(Tillykke med fødselsdagen, Anneke! / Happy birthday to you, Anneke!)

Crystal mountain

Death:"Crystal Mountain", (fra albummet "Symbolic", 1995):

Built from blind faith
Passed down from self-induced fantasy
Turn a page to justify
Conjuring power - it opens wide
On your seventh day,
is that how it´s done?
Twisting your eyes to perceive
all that you want
To assume from ignorance
Inflicting wounds with your
cross-turned dagger

Chorus:
Inside crystal mountain
Evil takes its form
Inside crystal mountain
Commandments are reborn

All the traps are set to confine
All who get in the way of the divine
In sight and in mind of the hypocrite
A slave to the curse forever confined

Shatter the myth
Don´t cut yourself
On your words against
dreams made of steel
Stronger than any faith
That inflicts pain and fear,
is that how it´s done?
Twisting your eyes to perceive
all that you want
To assume from ignorance
Inflicting wounds with your
cross-turned dagger

Repeat chorus

(tekst: Chuck Schuldiner)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zguCFjHyVeM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_bO_yKbW1I

(Mine 3 absolutte yndlings-tracks på "Symbolic" er "Sacred serenity", "Empty words" og...."Crystal mountain"!, og med dette VERDENSKLASSE-NUMMER runder jeg "Symbolic" af for denne gang, og ser frem imod Anneke van Giersbergen´s 38 års fødselsdag på tirsdag d. 8. marts :-)).

Empty words

Death:"Empty words", (fra albummet "Symbolic", 1995):

Ashes and promises share a bond
Through the winds of change
Words are blown away
When visions that should be
Are tattoed in your mind
The power to let go
Is sometimes hard to find

The answer cannot be found
In the writing of others
Or the words of a trained mind
In a precious world of memories
We find ourselves confined

Claws so razor sharp
Ripping at the spirit

Chorus:
Promises a potential to hurt
Is anything real?
When forever is to be until
Deep inside, in the world of empty words...
No escape from those haunting
Empty words...

Do you ever feel it?
A craving that is so strong
To by thought rewind in order to find

Expectations that shined through the doubt
That soon would turn into the price
Of what a word will be worth
When tomorrow comes
To be and we are left
Standing on our own
And seeing what is real...

The answer cannot be found
In the writing of others
Or the words of a trained mind
In a precious world of memories
We find ourselves confined

Claws so razor sharp
Ripping at the spirit

Repeat chorus

(tekst: Chuck Schuldiner)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OZqmUS6uGA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIUEkZ0jU5E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=474qf-frcG8

(Det er egentlig lidt underligt at tænke på, at en så tilsyneladende fredsomlig fyr som Chuck Schuldiner havde denne snerrende småuhyggelige kraftfulde vokal, som virkelig formidler frustration/desperation....Men man skal jo ikke altid skue hunden på hårene :-) Jeg sad i går aftes i køkkenet og lyttede til "Symbolic" for gud-ved-hvilken-gang, og som sædvanlig, da jeg nåede til track nr. 3 "Empty words", blev min opmærksomhed ekstra skærpet....Chuck´s vokal-arbejde på "Empty words" er Chuck, når han var på sit højeste :-)).

Sacred serenity

Death:"Sacred serenity", (fra albummet "Symbolic", 1995):

Whereever we go, whatever we do
Your shadow is not far behind our steps
And our breath
Protecting and watching all...
Observing spirits on the wall
What are they telling you?

Following all instincts that are pure
Oblivious to time that they may be the cure

Chorus:
Sacred is the gift that they
have without knowing
Serenity is knowing it´s safe
from destruction of time

Maybe we could take a step back
And discover what leads us to attack
Time that is short - distance unknown
For them, each day life has just begun
Observing spirits on the wall
What are they telling you?

Following all instincts that are pure
Oblivious to time that they may be the cure

Repeat chorus

(tekst: Chuck Schuldiner)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-as4LausEok

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1qEUxxnAuo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvSJp_oWN7A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrMzbQp25E0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8yvTJU-ADc

(Ét af de absolut mest suveræne death metal-albums, der nogensinde er blevet udgivet er helt klart Death´s klassiker fra 1995 "Symbolic". Når mit humør ikke er så højt, plejer det at hjælpe at tage "Symbolic" frem fra pladesamlingen og lytte til albummet :-) "Symbolic" blev desværre Florida-bandets næstsidste studie-album, inden frontmant Chuck Schuldiner ulykkeligvis døde af kræft i hjernen i december 2001, i en alder af blot 34 år. Jeg elsker rigtig mange af numrene på "Symbolic", og specielt en sang som "Sacred serenity" bliver jeg næppe nogensinde træt af. Især når Chuck på "Sacred serenity" synger "Maybe we could take a step back and discover what leads us to attack"....DET ER RENT BUDDHISME-GUF!).

Double the pain

Heaven & hell:"Double the pain", (fra albummet "The devil you know", 2009):

A STAR IN THE BACK
IS WORTH WAITING FOR
TONIGHT
HE´S SEEN ENOUGH JOY
FOR TODAY

A sudden attack
Would just start the
evening right
And maybe a penance to pay

Thunder and lightning
Electric machines
These are the devils
That shout in his dreams

Games of the heart
Not fair and you can´t win
But torture and anger
can play
You´ve never said no
To just another spin
And losing is one step away

Friendly confusion
Like nothing you´ve seen
These are the demons
That shout in his dreams

A slap in the face
To bring him back around
It´s a touch-like cool
morning rain

He´s fallen from grace
And slammed to the ground
And begs for some more of
the same

Thunder and lightning
Eccentric machines
These are the devils
That shout in his dreams

Double the pain
I´m sure I saw him smile
Double the pain
Let´s kick him for a while
Double the pain

(tekst: Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi & Geezer Butler)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zx1Y6wbqyM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5fi_gjlB38

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZeQyJS6N0U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47CjshSuWHY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMqmjQXZdEg

(Det var en sorgens dag d. 16. maj sidste år, da den legendariske heavy metal-sanger Ronnie James Dio døde af mave-kræft i en alder af 67 år. Jeg tror, at uanset hvor meget man kigger tilbage i fortiden, vil man aldrig nogensinde finde en forsanger inden for heavy metal-genren, som bare tilnærmelsesvis besidder Dio´s kvaliteter....HAN VAR GANSKE ENKELT UNIK! I 2009 udgav han og Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler og Vinny Appice albummet "The devil you know" under banneret Heaven & hell, men i virkeligheden var der tale om endnu en fantastisk Black Sabbath-udgivelse...."The devil you know" er et meget flot punktum på Dio´s flotte karriere inden for heavy metal, og "Double the pain" er en vidunderlig sang, som jeg næppe nogensinde glemmer :-)).

Nightfall

Nachtmystium:"Nightfall", (fra albummet "Addicts: Black meddle PT II, 2010):

This is the exit*
I´m always lost below
Unwashed and callous
Between unholy waves
Eyes never close
Hands are black and cracked
I choose my poison
May not see me again

This is the answer
I´m living lost again
Rewind electric terror
Indulge our dying end
Drown down in ice
Just to keep my stomach full
Cursed to levitate
My spell is chemical

Nightfall
I´m cursed again
Nightfall
May it never end

Nightfall
I´m cursed again
Nightfall
May it never end

I´m the wizard
I live in hell you know
You will never see me
But I exist below

(tekst: Chris Black)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6Mf8onaUbw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSGue9ZEk-o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbgnQ_-2MFs

(Det er ikke ligefrem black metal-genren, de amerikanske metal-musikere dyrker allermest...., men der findes nogle enkelte rigtigt gode amerikanske black metal-bands såsom Absu, Wolves in the Throne Room og Nachtmystium. Sidste år udgav Nachtmystium, (fra Chicago), "Addicts: Black meddle PT II", som er opfølgeren til bandets gennembrudsplade fra 2008 "Assassins: Black meddle PT 1". Jeg elsker, som så mange andre, "Assassins....", men der gik noget tid fra "Addicts...." udkom, til jeg fik mig taget sammen til at lytte til den nye plade! Jeg læste nemlig i kølvandet på udgivelsen af "Addicts..." et par lidt lunkne anmeldelser af pladen, men nu er det jo heldigvis ikke alt, hvad man læser, som man skal tro på....For faktum er, at "Addicts..." udmærket matcher det høje niveau på "Assassins....". Vi har at gøre med en herlig omgang småsyret black metal i gennemgående mid-tempo, hvor de enkelte sange sidder rimelig klart i hukommelsen efter ganske få gennemlytninger, specielt det nærmest radio-venlige track "Nightfall" :-)).

Rival the eminent

Immolation:"Rival the eminent", (fra albummet "Unholy cult", 2002):

Not all of us choose to believe
Some of us choose to live
Not all of us follow so blindly
And accept all that we hear

Maybe you´re no so smart
To look outside yourself
Maybe you´ve chosen unwisely
In the God you´ve made your own

I´ll be my own leader
I´ll be my own saviour
I´ll be the strenght that carries
I´ll be the light that guides...me
I will make you see
Your devotion is in vain
I´ll be the one left standing
When all of you are kneeling
And smiling, so content
I´ll wipe the smiles off your faces

Don´t you dare pity me
I´ve made my choice and I´ll prove you wrong

My voice will thunder through the heavens
And my flames of hatred burn
I believe in me and only me
And I bow to no sovereign

(tekst: Ross Dolan, Bill Taylor, Robert Vigna, Alex Hernandez)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbgIUv9kcTM

(Det amerikanske band Immolation, (fra New York), plade-debuterede i 1991, og hører dermed til blandt veteranerne på death metal-scenen, men det var først i 2002, da Immolation udgav deres 6. fuldlængde-album "Unholy cult", at jeg stiftede bekendtskab med bandet. "Unholy cult" er en god death metal-skive, som dog bør nydes i mindre doser, da der generelt er noget underlig depressivt over de enkelte numre....Men holder man lidt igen med gennemlytningerne, er der meget fedt at komme efter, især på et catchy track som "Rival the eminent").