"Låt oss ta allt från varandra" by Shining

Shining:"Låt oss ta allt från varandra", (from the album "V: Halmstad", 2007):

låt oss ta allt från varandra,
låt oss ta allt från oss själva
låt polerna verka och avge kall smuts
bestjäl mig den gudomliga gnistan
sparka det lyckliga flinet ur mitt vidriga anlete
och låt stålat begravas i det böljande kött
som på denna jord vandra i uselt intet
med en steril blick på livet och allt däruti
väntar vi andaktigt på den heliga bödeln
han som obönhörligen annalkas att utföra sitt signade värv
min dom föll tidigt och utan pardon
och domen skall även falla på dig som är forutan tro
(än mer obarmhärtig och vredgad)
i detta finner mitt skuggjag tröst och sadistisk glädje
att vi alla skall smekas av flammornas ömma kärlek
i evighet, amen
låt honom ta allt ifrån dig

(lyrics: Niklas Kvarforth)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH6R_7xfj0w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Iumj_lfW48

(I have to admit, that I find it a little too exhausting reading a Niklas Kvarforth-interview....The swede creates such great metal, but some of his comments are....what can I say without offending anyone....well....BULLSHIT....ha ha....But at the end of the day it´s the music, that really matters, and when it comes to the music, Kvarforth is one of the champions :-) Listen for instance to a great track like "Låt oss ta allt från varandra", (in english "Let´s take everything from each other"), and it´s quite clear, that the guy knows exactly, what he´s doing....

Kind regards
Carsten

"Life eraser" by Konkhra

Konkhra:"Life eraser", (from the album "Spit or swallow, 1995):

With the power of mind
I travel between worlds
The spice of life
New ways to joy my senses

Jump through space
On certain places
Gateways to spheres
And time erases

Traveller through time
Seeing the future
Disappear through blasts
Of unknown power release

Life eraser
Life eraser

I can´t tell you
How small we are
As one thousand images of life
In one instant comes to me

And I see the elder races
Putrid forms of man
See him rise and claim the earth
His downfall is at hand

(lyrics: Anders Lundemark)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29z8SXnBRKw

(Konkhra....the absolute pride of Denmark? Well, not exactly....ha ha...., but back in the nineties Denmark had a very cool and healthy death metal-scene with, among others, great bands such as Detest, Exmortem and....Konkhra :-) Back then my absolute favourite-band chosen from this scene was with no doubt Detest, but the great qualities of Konkhra could hardly be ignored....Anders Lundemark & Co. were awesome! Especially on their second full-length "Spit or swallow", which turned out to be kind of a breakthrough for the guys :-)

I haven´t really been listening to Konkhra for....well....some years, but a few days ago I found "Spit or swallow" in my collection, and despite the almost 17 years since its release, the album still sounds great. And the riffs on track 3 "Life eraser" are nothing but....FIRST CLASS :-)

Kind regards
Carsten

"Do you dream of me?" by Tiamat

Tiamat:"Do you dream of me?", (from the album "Wildhoney", 1994):

Come down, slowly
I´m waiting by your side
Come down, carefully
I´m waiting by your side

I´ll grab you when you fall
Down to the waking hours
Silent sweeps as golden corn
Down to the waking hours

How I wish that I could
Break into your dreams
Do I have the force I need
To break into your dreams

I hold you in my arms
Dimmed by scarlet morning red
I whisper in your ear
"Do you dream of me?"

(lyrics: Johan Edlund)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ERD8JW4JTw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcNNAO9Dd_o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK9IdHBNR5Q

(In my opinion Johan Edlund is one of the greatest songwriters in heavy metal, and almost every Tiamat-song seems to me more or less incredible :-) But that said, some songs of course are more incredible than others....Take for an example "Do you dream of me?" from the Tiamat-breakthrough "Wildhoney": Totally incredible....ha ha....I simply love the song!

"Wildhoney", the follow-up to "Clouds", has sold oceans of copies and is a great goth/doom metal-album, although I don´t consider it their best release. But every time I´m listening to "Do you dream of me?", I´m feeling in a way....well....happy :-)

Kind regards
Carsten

"Undressed" by Tiamat

Tiamat:"Undressed", (from the album "Clouds", 1992):

Not aware of what you´ve buried
You feel comfortable that way
You´re living in a smaller world
That is sometimes far too small
Then you´ll come to me
Asking to share my world with you
And maybe something I do
But never again for my own sake

The girl opened her mouth
I opened my veins
The girl opened her heart
I opened a door to another world

I opened a door to another world
I opened a door to the entirety
I opened a door to the entirety

Lonely in a cell
I still hear the voices of the wind
And rule at times great areas
Greater than you´ll ever know
This moment leaves no time to think
The past is always limited
But in my dreams dwells everything
And never again shall I let you in

The girl opened her mouth
I opened my veins
The girl opened her heart
I opened a door to another world

I opened a door to another world
I opened a door to the entirety
I opened a door to the entirety

(lyrics: Johan Edlund)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldLwA6sQ2b0

(I have a kind of....erm....weird memory connected to this incredible song "Undressed" by Tiamat....One afternoon during springtime 2002, I came home from work with a headache, and felt quite miserable, and I remember playing the "Clouds"-album at a very low volumen, while I was sitting in the livingroom in an armchair with closed eyes....About halfway through the album, I fell asleep, and when I woke up, the very last track on "Clouds", "Undressed", was going on, and I was like "Well, Carsten, you´ve got this damn headache and you definitely don´t feel alright, but does it really matter as long as Tiamat exist?" :-)

"Clouds", (released ten years before I got this memorable headache....:-)), was so to speak the calm before the storm for Tiamat, because a couple of years after its release, their ultimate breakthrough-album "Wildhoney" (1994) entered the heavy metal-world and left nothing but....GREAT SUCCES :-)

Kind regards
Carsten

"Dry bone valley" by Mastodon

Mastodon:"Dry bone valley", (from the album "The hunter", 2011):

Head down running from the beast
Breakneck speed taking all my breath
Black feet scraped and scarred and dripping blood
Rain come down take me with your flood

I came to and I was running from you
Feel your breath on the back of my neck

Where have I come to be
Is this all that´s left for me

I wish that I was still there
I want to keep on breathing

Bulls roar loud
Snakes move past my feet
No teeth no hands set me free
Bones start rattling ´round inside my head
I don´t know if I´m alive or dead

I came to and I was running from you
Feel your breath on the back of my neck

Where have I come to be
Is this all that´s left for me

I wish that I was still there
I want to keep on breathing

Dig deep kicking up rock and dirt and sand
Out of this lifeless valley bones in hand
Over these mountains to the seas of life
Leave this desert for the sick and damned

(lyrics: Mastodon)

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

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDpf2Ei2PFY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FXBw-UP-Ss

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKLxUDQc6JA

(It has to say the least been quite a problem for me picking out the absolutely best song from the new, (and great as always!), Mastodon-full-length "The hunter", which saw the light of day last year. But NOTHING is impossible from HEAVY-SKOV´s point of view :-) The winner is...."Dry bone valley", and the choice has something to do with drummer Brann Dailor....Not only is Dailor, in my opinion, one of the most talented metal-drummers in the world but a great vocalist too, and his singing on "Dry bone valley" gives the track a....dare I say....magic touch :-)

"The hunter" is definitely great news from the Atlanta-guys: very accessible all the way with a fine catchy songwriting, which leaves a lot of memorable songs in your head :-) I will not claim the album being Troy, Brann, Brent and Bill´s best album this far, because the competition from their former albums is quite tough, but "The hunter" is absolutely recommendable!

Kind regards
Carsten

"In your dark pavilion" by My Dying Bride

My Dying Bride:"In your dark pavilion", (from the album "Evinta", 2011):

All great children
Build altars
I have no love
To give you

In the fire that rages between our sleep
I thought I saw you amid the ruins.
And I can witness you have nothing left.
I´ll give you my heart through this biblical tome

I dream of being beside her
As I move through this water
Step over here you Devil
Her earth looks like
My dying skin

(lyrics: Aaron Stainthorpe)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36AtSCm01UA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzG03Axl5Po

(I´ve been a big fan of England´s My Dying Bride since the good old days with the masterpieces "Turn loose the swans" (1993) and "The angel and the dark river" (1995), but to be honest, the doom metal-legends haven´t really suprised me musically since we entered the new century some years ago....Well, that was until "Evinta" came out last year, because this new full-length really SURPRISES me :-) On the new album My Dying Bride have stripped down the heavy metal-aspect and instead filled the music with classical themes, and it just sounds so great, heavenly beautiful and relaxing....:-)

If you are not familiar with My Dying Bride, I´ll recommend "Turn loose the swans" or "The angel and the dark river" or maybe "Like gods of the sun" (1996) as a start, but if you know the band well, give "Evinta" a chance....The album definitely deserves it, metal or not metal!

"In your dark pavilion" is the very first awesome track, that will meet you, when you press the play-button :-)

Kind regards
Carsten

"The fields of reckoning" by Winterfylleth

Winterfylleth:"The fields of reckoning", (from the album "The mercian sphere", 2010):

Learned we in former-days,
Of glory-blessed heroes,
The thegns of the Lord,
Their force did not fail,
In the war,
When banners clashed together.

Illustrious men upon the earth,
Bold folk-leaders on fields of reckoning,
Doughty Warriors, Battle-Brave!
When shield and hand defended their crown.
When all man´s land was found in murder,
The enemy´s deceit was rife in the kingdom.

On the dwelling-place of mighty men,
Homeland of heroes. They of true spirit!
Neither bread nor water for men,
Consumed they, blood and skin throughout the nation,
The flesh-homes of foreign-coming men,
Such was the peace-less token

The violence of the wretched,
That the  enemy, sword-grim and sad-minded,
Destroyed the sight of the eyes,
with the point of spears.

Then they strove against incursion,
Swiftly under shield,
Bristling with spears,
Enraged ash-bearers,
Towards the fight´s flame!
One and all, together, for home!

(lyrics: Winterfylleth)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usvi45xje6w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slpBVBH1I34

(The black metal-band Winterfylleth are english, but they really sound that norwegian it´s hard to believe, that they´re NOT from Norway! "The mercian sphere"-album, which came out in the year of 2010, is the Manchester based-band´s second full-length, and is a great black metal-album with some folk influences. A word which really describes the music is....FRESH! Actually "The mercian sphere" sounds more fresh to me than most of the black metal, I´ve been listening to for the last couple of years....Big words, yes, but in fact true :-)

We´re in the beginning of 2012, and may 2012 be the year, where we´ll get a third release from these talented guys!

....and "The fields of reckoning"? Well, it´s absolutely my favorite song from this brilliant album :-)

Kind regards
Carsten

"Children of the underworld" by Tiamat

Tiamat:"Children of the underworld", (from the single "Brighter than the sun", 1999):

We are the children of the underworld
We are the children of the long lost dream
We lie in wait for our time to come
Floating on a neverending stream

Make no stay
Meet us all by break of day

We are the masters of decadence
We are the rulers of the deep
We aim for the final lucidity
The pristine, twentyfour carat sleep

Make no stay
Meet us all by break of day

(lyrics: I´m not sure, but I suppose the lyrics are written by Johan Edlund)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4oj1nvhaDQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qepNdXud5WQ

FROM HEAVY-SKOV TO ALL OF YOU : HAPPY NEW YEAR :-) :-) :-)