Onward into battle

Katatonia:"Onward into battle", (fra albummet "Night is the new day", 2009):

in the still eclipse

every light is a heartbeat

in the spring

where i watch

the sudden change

i find this so hard

onward into battle

time is growing so dark around me

i, shallow one

i burn us out

day by idle day

days at the sea

my words are incomplete

in the blind spot

where i saw you
on the 4th at night

(tekst: Jonas Renkse)

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1jDRxUe0qE

(Der kommer rigtig meget godt heavy metal fra vores svenske naboer, og et af de allerbedste bands er mørke melankolske Katatonia fra Stockholm. Deres seneste album "Night is the new day", som udkom i november måned sidste år, er en vidunderlig samling af stille "ørehængere", som man bare kan blive ved med at fordybe sig i, igen og igen. Selvom jeg elsker alle numrene på pladen, har jeg dog ikke svært ved at udpege yndlingsnummeret....det er "Onward into battle" :-)).

The truth hurts

Pro-pain:"The truth hurts", (fra albummet "The truth hurts", 1994):

I.

Put on your hat and coat and take A walk down the street I think you´re bound to be surprised By all the bodies you meet The bowels of the melting pot Wreeks of shit While a guy does your windows With a sponge and his spit The whores on the highway try to forget That they jeopardized the Lives of the guys they met Some will shoot you up and stuff You down a drain pipe hole Cause they wouldn´t touch your body With a ten foot pole

II.

Stick em up, stick em up, empty the drawer Said the banger to the owner Of the liquor store I was purchasing some wine When I heard the pops And a patron started screaming "Someone call the cops" The cops were called, and we were Told to wait But the death toll rose because The cops were late The banger ran out, and he was Gone in a flash He got away with the murder And out with the cash But the truth hurts, the truth hurts And fairy tales are written like a book The truth hurts, the truth hurts Just open your eyes and take a look, son

III.

Let´s take a little trip to the lower side There´s a junkie in a place where the freaks reside He shoots the shit, and gets the rent paid free With government checks and lots of AZT He sees his kids about once a week And his wife´s on her death bed as we speak She prays for the little ones everyday But the boy is infected and the girl´s O.K. Jackin´ in the city while the city sleeps You play for fun and they play for keeps There´s a chief in the hood just waitin´ to pop And a kid in a Cadillac tryin´ to cop Herb and couple of vials of coke And he don´t sweat it out cause the fine´s a joke In a matter of time it was a real done deal It´s back to the burbs because the shit ain´t real But the truth hurts, the truth hurts And fairy tales are written like a book The truth hurts, the truth hurts Just open your eyes and take a look, son

(Tekst: Gary Meskil)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUF-2z-gZ1w

(Amerikanske Pro-pain fra New York er et af den slags heavy metal-bands, som mange kender og mange elsker, men som alligevel altid lige har manglet det sidste for at blive rigtigt populære. Personligt er jeg stor fan af Pro-pain og deres tunge, ærlige metalliske hardcore. Det var deres andet album, "The truth hurts", fra 1994, som i dén grad gjorde mig bevidst om deres eksistens, og albummets titelnummer kan til enhver tid bevæge mit hjerte).

Evacuation code deciphered

Arcturus:"Evacuation code deciphered", (fra albummet "Sideshow symphonies", 2005):

change channel i am bored again

take five and restart the game

i suggest a different approach

remake the world with a devilish touch

evolution is a too slow ghost

relax and sit back i am your new host

fantastic elastic all things can be spastic

no room for bore press enter and store

we live in small shells put that on a shelf

e.s.p. for all big and small

saga-lore mature splendor

ragamuffin saga-puffin all you can snort

elctric eyes for sparkling flies

will be much more fun for the rejects and dumb

so what do you change

in your realms of decadence

king or queen or something snorty between

worlds shatter to darkness without matter

no matter no matter we stole

too far from home

rid your shoulders of this stone

which direction is up

what way to the top

it seems we are lost

this is no place to linger

let your throat embrace your finger

evacuate this tomb

there is always an exit

for aliens infected

our race

seems we crashed on the way

two dried up bugs trapped in the same web

slimy slugs on a busy rainy highway

you and i are not lost without words

we can live again without rebirth

two old drunks sharing the same cup

a pair of fools sailing where no wind blows

a band of burglars stealing traces from their lost shoes

(Tekst: Simen Hestnæs)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuOf25MojYo

(Vil man gerne have sin heavy metal intellektuelt udfordrende, ligger det norske avantgarde metal-band Arcturus lige til højrebenet....om jeg så må sige. :-) Jeg blev interesseret i Arcturus i slutningen af 1990´erne primært af den årsag, at én af mine helte, Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg (Ulver), var forsanger i bandet, men hans afløser Simen Hestnæs´ præstation på albummet "Sideshow symphonies" kunne "Garm" næppe have gjort ham efter....Den egentlige grund til, at jeg har valgt at præsentere nummeret "Evacuation code deciphered", er dog, at det er Silje Wergeland´s smukke vokal, som man kan høre henimod slutningen....:-) Hun optræder nemlig som gæste-vokalist på "Sideshow symphonies", på to af numrene).

Lifelines of depths

Octavia Sperati:"Lifelines of depths", (fra albummet "Winter enclosure", 2005):

Inside a hole of nothingness
Fawn on its soul or nothing less
Transformed on to its soft condition
Overwhelming with kind intuition

There it is carrying the spoken word
Throughout lifelines of depths
Hoping for one silent hour

Intense and clear
Further or near
Besides eternal frames

Independently
Searching pains
Why was it composed so sadly?

Besides it all eyes of awareness
They can call for emptiness
Injected for penetration through lies
Ever formed for no mans eyes

Unrestrictedly
And we let go
To open fields of sorrow
Indiscernible
The strain is easy
Enlightening day of new impressions

We slowly let go
For what is there to loose now
The shadows are returning

This gap so endless falling but no ground
There is nothing less but me and you
Unless they cling to us

Besides it all eyes of awareness
They can call for emptiness
Injected for penetration through lies
Ever formed for no mans eyes

There it is carrying the spoken word
Throughout lifelines of depths
Imperceptible implementation of life
The day is breaking

(Tekst: Silje Wergeland)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT-iGNLXLZ8

(Før Silje Wergeland kom med i The Gathering, var hun forsanger i det norske....øh....feminist-band(!) Octavia Sperati. Deres debut "Winter enclosure" er en dejlig og lidt stille plade, som besidder den originalitet, der er så nødvendig for, at heavy metal-genren ikke skal ende med at blive en parodi på sig selv....:-)).