"Ghosts of grace" by Nachtmystium

Nachtmystium:"Ghosts of grace", (from the album "Assassins: black meddle part 1, 2008):

The alleys of hell where we wonder
What´s eternal, now it begins
The fate of the earth, where we were born
No last echo, pull the plug

And the storm left nothing
And the storm left all
And the storm took nothing
And the storm took all

The winds of disease burn your fields
So unhallowed, so unclean
The face of extinction raw and pestilent
White with terror, tainted eyes

And the storm left nothing
And the storm left all
And the storm took nothing
And the storm took all

The ghosts of grace want your bones
Your spirit left for dead
The course of the mourning, lay in grace
Like nations raped with praise

And the storm left nothing
And the storm left all
And the storm took nothing
And the storm took all

(lyrics: Chris Black)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odPToK35mNE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SuZZLNVmDU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1X9gQKOzEc

(Nachtmystium....well....the very first time I saw this awesome bandname was on the front cover of the UK-heavy metal-magazine Terrorizer, and I remember clearly thinking to myself: "Carsten, this definitely is a joke!". But it wasn´t :-), just like Nachtmystium´s music....

It´s been a while since, I´ve been listening to "Assassins....", which turned out to be kind of a breakthrough-album for the Chicago-guys, but a couple of weeks ago it found its way back to my ears, and it´s really that relaxing listening to such experimental black metal with a Pink Floyd-touch to it :-)

And the ultimate Assassins-track??????? It definitely has to be "Ghosts of grace"....RIFFS :-)

Kind regards
Carsten

"Careful what you wish for" by Testament

Testament:"Careful what you wish for", (from the album "The gathering", 1999):

Grace - in a perfect world
On shines the light
Praise - an angelic song
But there´s another side you´ll see
Now
Hide
Salvation easily denied

Reigns - down with misery
Life´s not always what it seems
False
Hope
Written in the testament of old
Take
Heed
Stop believing every word
You read
Truth
Inconsistencies
Distorts the lie
False
Imprisonment
Forever lost inside your mind
Fates
Door
Just be careful what you wish for
Deaths
Door
Just be careful what you wish for

Peace of mind
I can´t find
Don´t be blind
Take the ride

Hey...we live in a fucked up world
Walking on through the demise
We step into the unknown
You better save yourself...

Hey...we live in a fucked up world
Hiding behind the disguise
Never let your feelings show
Why can´t you be yourself...
We live in a fucked up world
Walking on through the demise
We step into the unknown
You better save yourself...

(lyrics: Chuck Billy)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oraI4Whwj8A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Uarjwxkza0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCl3U875D8c

(Actually I got this Testament-album as a birthday-present from my parents, when I turned 30! (It´s always great to have parents, who really appreciate their children....ha ha....). My cd-collection includes two Testament-albums, this one and "The formation of damnation" (2008), and both are, if I can say so, thrashing good quality :-)

In fact I could have posted any of "The gathering"´s eleven tracks and still be satisfied with myself, but track number seven "Careful what you wish for" is to say the least quite irresistable: Party-thrash as we all, (I suppose :-)), like it....

....and by the way, there´s a new Testament-album, "The dark roots of earth", set for an release this year!

Kind regards
Carsten

"The heart collector" by Nevermore

Nevermore:"The heart collector", (from the album "Dead heart in a dead world", 2000):

To see the actor without tears
Dark rivers carve the years between the lines of self control
In my psychotic karmic fear, I own your tears anyway
And I am you and we are not afraid

And we won´t be here for long
The heart collector
Sings his song that´s slowly boiling over

Nevermore to feel the pain
The heart collector sang
And I won´t be feeling hollow for so long
Nevermore to feel the pain
The words fall out like fire
Just believe when you can´t believe anymore

The stage is empty now
I hope we hold and cannot allow
The corrupt eclectic takes his fatal bow

And we won´t be here for long
The heart collector sings his song again

Nevermore to feel the pain
The heart collector sang
And I won´t be feeling hollow for so long
Nevermore to feel the pain
The words fall out like fire
Just believe when you can´t believe anymore

(lyrics: Warrel Dane)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cqaXTek_-U

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2kljro_k3A

(One more beautiful song :-), and I can tell you, it was definitely love at first listen! I´ve mentioned Seattle´s Nevermore a couple of times before here on HEAVY-SKOV, but as we say here in Denmark: "something good can´t be done too often"....(Well, not all of us apparently....ha ha....).

When you´re used to, like I am, the more extreme vocals the heavy metal-genre has to offer, it can be really refreshing from time to time just lay back and listen to Warrel Dane´s clean vocals. He´s definitely one of the most talented guys, I´ve "met" since I discovered this unique genre many years ago :-)

Kind regards
Carsten

"The deepest of all hearts" by My Dying Bride

My Dying Bride:"The deepest of all hearts", (from the album "The dreadful hours", 2001):

Your soul is my desire
Desire I can´t control
Be still my beating heart
Each beat you have stole
Your mind calls to me
Calls me closer to you
Be calm my aching heart
The ache drives me to you
Your eyes
The depth I see
So deep
The tears you cry will devour me

A flower to behold
Don´t run
Don´t blow away
Breathless to my eyes
So bright
Never to fade
Calmness and mystery
Entwines and captures me
Delicate to the touch
From what I could see

I only wanted to get you close to me
To feel the love inside of me
You turned away from me
You looked the other way
You didn´t see my tears for you
I only wanted to take you in my arms,
And lay you down here with me
You tried to turn and flee from my side
You tore out the heart of me
If only you had stayed
What may have been?
We could have been beautiful
Could have walked the earth,
Flown into the skies,
Swam the deepest of the seas
But you couldn´t see anything in me
You strayed too far from my path
Maybe now you´ll see anything in me
I´m sorry it had to be this way

Your eyes
Your smile
No more laughter again
We were something
No more
Nothing to me

Now I walk alone
Naked to the bone
My heart has fled far from me
Until another day
I find the one, who looks beyond the eyes in me

(lyrics: Aaron Stainthorpe)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUen4cbwkHE

(I´ve been listening a lot to My Dying Bride since we went into 2012....Well, they´re always on my....what can I say....top 100 :-), but especially in this new year they mean a lot to me, (don´t ask me why :-)). "The dreadful hours" was released about eleven years ago, and I´m not quite aware how important the album seems to the fans, but for me the whole thing is....well....quite interesting, from the opener "The dreadful hours" to the closer "The deepest of all hearts". Actually I was going to post the titel-song here on HEAVY-SKOV, but the last couple of days "The deepest of all hearts" has very often found its way to my ears. (Don´t ask me why....ha ha....). So here it is, this beautiful song :-)

Kind regards
Carsten

"This is the end" by Machine Head

Machine Head:"This is the end", (from the album "Unto the locust", 2011):

This ends now

This ends now
And I don´t care about last year
Won´t be afraid of what the future holds can´t fear
Want not the past and the safety it brings
It doesn´t mean anything
We´ve come too far
There´s no going back now
Bring on the future with an open embrace
Memories I will erase
Memories I will erase

This is the end
This is the end of chasing dreams gone by
Ever-long is this goodbye and this
This is the end
This is the end of our respect denied
Stand with us or stand aside

Only now do you pretend to care about this
You suffocated everything that came between us
Took every condescending barb and sting
I don´t owe you anything
So here we stand
Farewell is forever
And if you think that it´s a joke or a lie
Look me in theese blackened eyes
Look me in theese blackened eyes

This is the end
This is the end of chasing dreams gone by
Ever-long is this goodbye and this
This is the end
This is the end of our respect denied
Stand with us or stand aside

Bastards, you bastards,
May you suffer oh so long
Bastards, you bastards, so long

Brothers, my brothers
Why have you forsaken thee
Brothers, my brothers
So be

Deny those that will never accept
Empty words are just regrets
Let go the bile that your soul has amassed
With this let die be cast

This is the end
This is the end of chasing dreams gone by
Ever-long is this goodbye and this
This is the end
This is the end of our respect denied
Stand with us or stand aside

(lyrics: Robb Flynn)

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

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi70iZurTA4

(Last month I was on a little trip to the southern part of Denmark, and during the trip one day I was taking a walk through some woods, a distance about 4 kilometres, and from the very beginning to the end of this walk, I had this new Machine Head-song "This is the end" running in my head without the music actually playing....A weird but somehow enjoyable experience :-) I really love the new Machine Head-album "Unto the locust", it´s even better than its predecessor "The blackening", and I´m definitely about to become a big Machine Head-fan! Perhaps a little too late, but I suppose, I must be forgiven....ha ha....

Kind regards
Carsten

"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