Hate Eternal´s "The art of redemption"

Hate Eternal:"The art of redemption", (fra albummet "Phoenix amongst the ashes", 2011):

Conquer thy rebellion, destroy thy pristine
Bold, I must revel in the obliteration of the monotheist, so called mighty lord
Crush all man, burn down the temple of hope
Persecution of all your saint´s ideals
Behold, the end of days awaits
Whilst redemption now is at hand
The art of redemption
The final battle is at hand
Avenge me legions and hordes abandon
Triumphant in our stand
Confront me tyrant, absolve me messiah
Defy, I shall defy all those whom choose the path of lies
Lies, you cannot hide from nor deny
I cast thee out, out amongst slaves
Slaves amongst thieves, thieves amongst the fray
Amongst the fray may vengeance destroy you all
For victory now is within our grasp
The art of redemption
The final battle is at hand
Avenge me legions and hordes abandon
Triumphant in our stand
The art of redemption
With vengeance we shall command
In discipline we revolt against the tyranny
Defiant in our stand
Path of fury wrath of many
Insipid and insolent in our ways
Destroy all with pure ferocity
Vindication through annihilation
Redemption retaliate
Redemption obliterate
Redemption, annihilate
Redemption, we rule this world

(tekst: Erik Rutan)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p-ADV4u7fw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOKK5W4KxYc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smUcirPQ43Y

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

(Jeg har været fan af Florida´s Hate Eternal næsten lige fra det øjeblik, death metal-debuten "Conquering the throne" så dagens lys i 1999. Nu, 12 år senere, er bandet pladeaktuelle med 5. udspil "Phoenix amongst the ashes", som er brutal og kompleks død spillet i et forrygende tempo med mastermind og eneste originale medlem Erik Rutan i absolut storform. (Dyrk bare Rutan´s guitarspil på tracket "The art of redemption" :-)).

Musikken på "Phoenix...." er kompleks, endog særdeles kompleks, og det gør, at det er en skive, som man skal give tid til at vokse. Der er simpelthen så mange elementer i de enkelte numre, at man umuligt kan nå at få det hele med ved kun 2-3 gennemlytninger. Men væbner man sig med med tid og tålmodighed, er der utrolig meget guf at hente, og albummet bare vokser og vokser og vokser....Varmeste anbefaling!).

Napalm Death´s "Downbeat clique"

Napalm Death:"Downbeat clique", (fra albummet "Time waits for no slave", 2009):

For independence we alone define
Open-ended, not monopolised, it´s just as it is.

Does not need overstatement
Don´t broadcast it from the rooftops
It´s we alone that convene.

But radical actor there you are,
The radical statesman picking holes
But radical actor there you are,
The radical statesman´s checklist of faults

But radical actor there you are,
In radical terms this target´s soft
But radical actor there you are,
In radical terms it´s power to your lost soul

But radical actor there you are,
The radical heights alienating
To be a cut above - or below

Infighting starts to establish
A clearly marked distance because image is at stake

Mindlessly stifling downbeat clique
Down-at-heel tyranny downbeat clique

Infighting starts to establish
A clearly marked distance because image is at stake

Pitifully snipping downbeat clique
Re-branded morality downbeat clique

Exactly what are YOU achieving?

The faithful patron of one conclusion
With reflection, effects are null and void,
It´s just as it is

But racical actor there you are,
The radical statesmen picking holes
But radical actor there you are,
In radical terms it´s power to your lost soul

But radical actor there you are,
The radical slip into social structure
And your threatening alliance with the norm.

(tekst: Mark "Barney" Greenway)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogY28_5ayDI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbWEodGvh2M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DUKK_P-g7I

(Objektivt set er Napalm Death´s seneste fuldlængde "Time waits for no slave" en lille tilbagegang for Birmingham´s stolthed i forhold til forgængeren "Smear campaign" fra 2006. Meeeeeeen jeg har i dén grad dyrket "Time....", siden den landede i min samling i det tidlige 2009, for selv et Napalm i en 90%-udgave er stærkt medrivende selskab :-)

I næste måned får "Time...." så efter sigende en opfølger, og mens vi venter på den nye Napalm-skive, hvad er så mere nærliggende end at brøle lystigt med på det ultra-fede og herligt rytmiske "Time...."-track "Downbeat clique"? Okay, du kan måske godt finde en ting eller to, der er mere nærliggende....ha ha...., men forslaget er hermed givet :-)).

Communic´s "At dewy prime"

Communic:"At dewy prime", (fra albummet "Waves of visual decay", 2006):

The vision was a test of deprived physical strength
Dipped in the ocean to be born again
My soul was naked without a surface
Then fingers folded around me and gave me a shell
This ship on its travel carried meaningful thoughts
Travelled over me and left their minds
Then a shadow unbound me and stretched me with skin
And adorned my soul with the memories of them

Sailor, sailor burning bright
On the stormy sea at night
Golden heart and undying pride
Their heart lies buried in a bay of Noeway

Bring back the memories bring me back in time
Bring back the colors and the scent of meadow lands
Bring back the memories bring me back in time
Bring back the colors and the scent of meadow lands

At dewy prime
Bring back the souls of the dead
At dewy prime - Bring back the souls
At dewy prime
Bring back the souls of the dead
At dewy prime - Bring back the souls

Bring me back in time to their homeland
Bring back their souls together with me
Bring back their souls to their homeland
Bring me back in time together forevermore...

In remembrance of this kind
That once came to round our land
What immortal hand of time
Made a frame and locked the symmetry

Our eyes contemplate
A transmission to the soul
Spectacle of this universe
The night veils its sadness in bloom

And one day will come
Suppress all the dark thoughts
Spirits of our destructive time
Even into plains of ether

Bring back the memories bring me back in time
Bring back the colors and the scent of meadow lands
Bring back the memories bring me back in time
bring back the colors and the scent of meadow lands

At dewy prime
Bring back the souls of the dead
At dewy prime - Bring back the souls
At dewy prime
Bring back the souls of the dead
At dewy prime - Bring back the souls

Bring me back in time to their homeland
Bring back their souls together with me
Bring back their souls to their homeland
Bring me back in time together forevermore...

The vision was a test of deprived physical strength
Dipped in the ocean to be born again
My soul was naked without a surface
Then fingers folded around me and gave me a shell
This ship on its travel carried meaningful thoughts
Travelled over me and left their minds
Then a shadow unbound me and stretched me with skin
And adorned my soul with the memories of them...

(tekst: Oddleif Stensland)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5_MOEt0_so

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYX44-81FcA

(Jeg er ikke meget for at indrømme det, men jeg havde lidt svært ved at se det fantastiske i norsk/danske Communic´s 2. fuldlængde "Waves of visual decay", da den udkom i 2006....Jeg syntes, at det var en noget skuffende opfølger til debut-braget "Conspiracy in mind", men som tiden er gået er jeg heldigvis blevet klogere :-) "Waves...." holder 100 %, hvis bare man giver sig selv lov til at lytte koncentreret til de 7 lange labyrintiske, gennemarbejdede, intelligente tracks. Det er power/progressive metal så englene synger, og især closeren "At dewy prime" har jeg lært at se/høre som et af Communic´s allerbedste tracks til dato.

I disse måneder er Oddleif Stensland & Co. pladeaktuelle med bandets 4. fuldlængde "The bottom deep", og er blevet et etableret band på den internationale metal-scene og i HEAVY-SKOV´s univers....:-)).

Triptykon´s "Shatter"

Triptykon:"Shatter", (fra EP´en "Shatter", 2010):

I don´t want to feel
I don´t want to see
I don´t want to love
I don´t want to live
I don´t wish to drown in the beauty of your eyes
I don´t wish to remember the warmth of your embrace
I don´t wish to bleed on your altar of demise
I don´t wish to wither among the petals of disgrace
why did you cast me into a bottomless pit of pain
my love a sacrifice in your temple of disdain
why did you cast me into a bottomless pit of pain
to feel is suffering
to feel is rejection
to feel is despair
to feel is to die
the air liquefies as it enters my shattered lungs
darkness enwraps my mind as my blood stains your skin
my heart pierced by thorns of words that now seem wrong
I yield to the darkness of the angry deep within

(tekst: Tom Gabriel Warrior)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrRi25jZRFY

(Det lykkedes mig endelig her i torsdags d. 25. august at få fingre i denne lille udgivelse fra Triptykon takket være FONA 2000 på Strøget i København. Jeg havde været til tandlæge, (0 huller :-)), og da....øh....kampen var overstået, skulle det på en eller anden måde fejres, så hvad var mere nærliggende end at aflægge nærliggende FONA 2000 et visit...., og dér dukkede "Shatter"-EP´en omsider op, efter flere måneders eftersøgning :-)

"Shatter"-EP´en kan måske godt opfattes som værende en bagatel, men jeg ser den snarere som et væsentligt supplement til kongeskiven "Eparistera daimones". Udover det skønne titelnummer bydes der på det ærketypiske Triptykon-track "I am the twilight" og den instrumentale closer "Cruxificus" inden det er tid til Triptykon-live-versioner af gamle Celtic Frost-vindere som "Circle of the tyrants" og "Dethroned emperor"!

Celtic Frost er definitivt lagt i graven, men Triptykon lever i allerbedste velgående :-)).

Arch Enemy´s "No gods, no masters"

Arch Enemy:"No gods, no masters", (fra albummet "Khaos legions", 2011):

Here I am, back to the wall
I pick the fight against the tide
Free at last, I go my own way
I will resist them ´til the day I die

I am who I am - my time has come!

I am who I am
Take it or leave it
A rebel at heart!
No gods, no masters
My time has come

No gods, no masters!

There is no sacred place
No perfect world
Your head is home
Freedom in your heart
Be strong
Take this chance
Make your way
A better future calls

What doesn´t kill us
Makes us stronger
Locked and loaded
Ready to strike
Here we stand
Loud and proud
United as one

(tekst: Angela Gossow)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR3kwe-mbB0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q8GYtkIax8

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74fCMq2fOjI

(Okay....indrømmet....jeg havde ikke ligefrem de store forventninger til svensk/tyske Arch Enemy´s nyeste udspil "Khaos legions", som blev udgivet her i sommerens begyndelse. For efter de, i mine ører, halvtamme fuldlængder "Doomsday machine" (2005) og "Rise of the tyrant" (2007) var det svært at forestille sig, at de melodiske dødsmetallere kunne smide en svinesej skive på gaden...., men det er så ikke desto mindre, hvad der er sket :-) "Khaos legions" indeholder ganske vist lidt fyld hist og her, men generelt er de enkelte tracks gennemarbejdede og herligt fængende! Her er mildest ikke sjusket med sangskrivningen.....

....så selvom jeg er en af dem, (hvis der da overhovedet findes andre....:-)), som normalt savner Arch Enemy´s originale forsanger Johan Liiva ved mikrofonen, så gør "Khaos...."-albummets høje niveau og en Angela Gossow på toppen af sin growler-karriére, at jeg i tankerne sagtens kan abstrahere fra Liiva´s manglende tilstedeværelse :-)).

Napalm Death´s "In deference"

Napalm Death:"In deference", (fra albummet "Smear campaign", 2006):

Ethically aligned to the cause -
Or so I thought
A cause that decried the exploits
Where masses are coerced

Often, social justice is a cynical smokescreen
Only at their bidding

Close-circuit reach - don´t overstep my boundaries
Such boundaries that crumble under order

Sincerely you serve your own ends -
Do as I do
I can´t tell my left from my right -
Corruption blurs

Face the wrong direction
And we risk containment
Whilst they sanction murder

Close-circuit reach quickly erases all travesties
Such travesties waved away with feeble ease

It´s adjudged to be uncivil
You should be at lower reach
Bound over
Because open thinking is an act of complicity

Leaders are leading by example
"Rights" and "wrongs" on a sliding scale
Sit atop the order of importance
You too can reap the power harvest

The "deviant" young get in the way
We become suitably distraught
Whilst their judges take lives near and afar
And reap the power harvest

(tekst: Mark "Barney" Greenway)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw6ZFq0BVtE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hppI2oGTCq0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xos98Y_NGhg

(Det engelske grind metal-band Napalm Death fra England´s næststørste by Birmingham er forlængst blevet en institution inden for heavy metal-verdenen, og dette ikke mindst takket være energibundtet Mark Greenway, i daglig tale kaldet "Barney". Med sin nærmest amok-agtige sceneoptræden og sine samfundskritiske tekster er denne bulderbasse af en forsanger på en måde synonym med Napalm Death....Der var en periode i 1990´erne, (1996-97), hvor Barney var blevet "sparket" ud af Napalm, men blev taget til nåde igen af bassist Shane Embury og Co., simpelthen fordi de øvrige bandmedlemmer indså, at der ikke fandtes noget Napalm Death uden Barney ved mikrofonen :-)

Ligeså fandenivoldsk Barney er under diverse koncert-optrædener og studie-indspilninger, ligeså venlig, hyggelig og velafbalanceret virker han under diverse interviews, og det er måske i bund og grund den væsentligste årsag til Napalm´s succés....At der bag det voldsomme lydbillede gemmer sig en regulær menneskelighed og en lyst til fredelige forbedringer af samfundsmæssige skævheder :-)

Med disse ord er det her på Heavy-Skov blevet tid til den absolut største overraskelse i Napalm Death´s lange fornemme karriére....nemlig nummeret "In deference", hvor Anneke van Giersbergen, om jeg så må sige, lægger vejen forbi :-)).

Abscess´ "Dead haze"

Abscess:"Dead haze", (fra albummet "Dawn of inhumanity", 2010):

I screamed at the sun
While it tore at my flesh
An offering obscure
More absurd with each breath
Mind blown in a dead haze
Can´t look back or I´ll waste away
I talked to the night
With my brain set on fire
I drank from the moon
As it filled my desire
Reason torn in a black wind
I´ll live to suffer while the end begins

I followed the dawn
As it´s tongue flickered red
It told me it´s tale
As it squirmed in my head
Cyclone void in a deep daze
Can´t think ´cause it´s much too late
I fell into dusk
With my bones in a vice
It sucked at my soul
As my veins turned to ice
Goin´ home though it´s nowhere sane
Can´t help but melt away
Inside out of a dead haze
Inside out in a dead haze

(tekst: Chris Reifert)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzYg90FuRLM

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

(Det tog mig nogle gennemlytninger af amerikanske Abscess´ seneste og sidste fuldlængde "Dawn of inhumanity", før jeg så småt kunne begynde at tage pladen alvorligt....:-) Der hviler nemlig en ret så afslappet stemning over de 10 punkede gore-agtige death-tracks, som man liiige skal vænne sig til. Men når først man er kommet ind i universet, er det tydeligt, at der en mening med....øh....galskaben! "Dawn of...." er undergrunds-død spillet direkte fra hjertet, og et spændende alternativ til de "normale" death metal-udgivelser.

Desværre er Abscess nu opløst som følge af sanger og guitarist Clint Bower´s frivillige exit fra bandet, men det har banet vej for et seriøst og vellykket comeback til legendariske Autopsy, som er Abscess´ Chris Reifert og Danny Coralles´ oprindelige band. Autopsy er pladeaktuelle med fuldlængden "Macabre eternal").

The Gathering´s "A life all mine"

The Gathering:"A life all mine", (fra albummet "Souvenirs", 2003):

Razor sharp I cut
The bull from my life
Too blunt your knife
To slay this dreamer

We might be dogs astray
No running line will hold us
So rather kick and kill me
I´ll be buthered all the same

No words are spoken
But the world is broken

´Cause I want something
Something all wrong done
A life instead of mere living
Folding crumbling withering oh hell
What difference when working the way

The crown of my work
Is what I shall gain
At the end of my days

Daylight awake to a puppet world
No strings attach to this body of mine
Folding crumbling withering oh well
The punished pushed along the line
All my actions, all my moves
A life all mine to lose

The crown of my work
A life all mine to lose
A life all mine
Is what I choose
At the end of my days

(tekst: Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg a.k.a. Trickster G. & Anneke van Giersbergen)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT2-XRsLEOU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ7bmYsNurA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FtxhEvYIl4

(Hvis nogen havde sagt til mig i midten af 1990´erne, at Anneke van Giersbergen og Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg (Ulver) en dag ville synge duet på en The Gathering-plade, var jeg sikkert død af grin....:-) For dengang var doomede/gotiske Anneke og black metalliske "Garm" MEGET langt fra hinanden i sangstil! Men tiderne skifter, mennesker ændrer sig, og de dygtige kunstnere udvikler sig. Så da de to sangtalenter "fandt hinanden" på "Souvenirs"-closeren "A life all mine", kom det ikke rigtigt som nogen overraskelse for mig....Både Anneke, (med The Gathering), og "Garm", (med Ulver), havde i 2003 forlængst bevæget sig i en retning, hvor alt tilsyneladende kunne ske :-)).