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Rating: This is a special album that intrigued me a lot ever since its release, given the enthusiastic reviews in every industry magazine and every metal webzine! The desire to own this album was immense, an object of desire to absolutely possess! It often happens that our most coveted goals and our most desired objects (or people), once achieved, fail to meet our expectations, perhaps because the satisfaction once having the desired object isn't as great and enjoyable as the search for the object itself. Is desiring more exciting than the satisfaction of the desire? Who knows, the fact remains that as soon as I listened to this album, the huge expectations I had were disappointed, maybe because I had read in a magazine that this album was the gothic revelation, the album that lovers of these sounds had been waiting for years. However, once I listened to the album free from prejudices and a thousand expectations, I was able to appreciate it more and notice the many interesting things it contains.
For those who don't know or have never heard of this group, how can we define it? Imagine a Peter Steele (or the singer of the Sisters of Mercy) deciding to sing on riffs that seem to have come out of Metallica's black album (like "Metropolis"), add a theatrical atmosphere, music box sounds, a dark imagery reminiscent of 1930s horror films, and you'll have a clearer picture of the sound this band offers. A sound that is not original, but certainly personal and intriguing. So already from the second track (excluding the first which functions more as an intro) "The Night of the Living Dead", we can grasp the "climax" that permeates the album! The sparing use of keyboards tends to create horrific atmospheres, and the heavy use of guitars in which a well-executed baritone singing is inserted! The following "Wolfmoon" has a more marching pace with the use of female choirs in the background, and the same setting is followed by the engaging "Metropolis." "Elizabeth Dane" is an instrumental track perfectly placed in the album's context and is an instrumental cover of the main theme from Carpenter's film "The Fog." "Horror of Antarctica" is one of my favorite tracks, very solemn and decadent. The conclusion is entrusted to "The Deathship Symphony," symphonic, theatrical, with a very fitting use of female choirs closing a very intriguing album! Final information: the two members of the group "Schwadorf and Konstanz" come from Empyrium!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 A Shadow Arose (02:52)
Since the beginning of time there was darkness - and with darkness came fear.
Through the slumber of aeons it could never be undone.
The dark, the wicked and sinister dwells in all of our minds and now the stars are right to welcome the grand representatives of horror in this time and age.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the portals of darkness are open and the dead hunt over the Earth... Here comes... The Vision Bleak
His breath fills the night,
the shadow arose!
No one by my side
No place to hide,
No road to flee,
the seed of the night,
sent from the sea...
03 Wolfmoon (05:29)
Deep, deep shadows cast down on earth
by the cold moon's light.
In the moorland the mists rise up,
this is the Werewolf's night.
Twelve o'clock - the churchbells strike,
I hear the Wolfman's call.
His eyes are burning deamon-like,
this night he get's you all.
Wolfmoon, Wolfmoon burning bright,
through the forests of the night,
Wolfmoon, Wolfmoon set him free,
from thy gruesome tyranny!
Oh, young fair maid, did you not see,
the moon is full tonight?
Run -don't walk- from the moorland, flee!
Before he is in sight...
To feast upon thy maiden flesh,
to eat thy heart and soul.
Wolfmoon, Wolfmoon burning bright,
through the forests of the night,
Wolfmoon, Wolfmoon set him free,
from thy gruesome tyranny!
05 Elizabeth Dane (05:07)
11:55
Almost midnight.
Enough time for one more story.
A small clipper ship drew toward land.
Suddenly, out of the night,
the fog rolled in.
They could see nothing,
not a foot ahead of them.
And then they saw a light.
My God, it was a fire burning on the shore.
Strong enough to penetrate the swirling mist.
They steered a course toward the light.
But it was a campfire, like this one.
The ship crashed against the rocks.
The hull sheared in two.
The mast snapped like a twig.
And the wreckage sank with all men aboard.
At the bottom of the sea
lay Elizabeth Dane with her crew,
their eyes open and staring into the darkness.
... lay Elizabeth Dane with her crew.
But it is told by fishermen
and their fathers and grandfathers
that when the fog return to Antonio Bay,
the men at the bottom of the sea,
out in the water by Spivey Point,
will rise up
and search for the campfire
that led them to their dark, icy death.
And above, as suddenly as it had come,
the fog lifted, receded back across the ocean
and never came again.
Twelve o'clock.
the 21st of April.
(c) "The Fog" by John Carpenter
06 Horror of Antarctica (03:31)
Within the shadow of the arctic mounts of ice,
night had veiled the pole and darkness filled the sky.
The air was so cold - cutting our skin,
Freezing voices called us and the
winter winds did sing:
"Tekeli-li, Tekeli-li" through the night...
What ghoulish creatures brought 'em forth?
What sphere had opened wide?
"Tekeli-li, Tekeli-li" sounding through the air...
Where it did lead us to, no mortal
man should dare.
Right before our eyes of monolithic size,
one labyrinth of cities - draped in moonlight - did arise
"Tekeli-li, Tekeli-li" through the night...
leading to the icy ruins
a long forbidden site...
"Tekeli-li, Tekeli-li" through the night...
Build by horror creatures
from beyond our spheres of light...
07 The Lone Night Rider (05:04)
When night has fallen dark and cold,
and mists rise up from ground of old.
When fullmoon lights the earth in fright,
the lone grim rider chills the night...
Here come's the lone night rider,
this is his melody...
His victims might not know it yet,
their head is what he's out to get!
Here come's the lone night rider,
this is his melody...
He takes away your pleasure,
this is your vision bleak!
08 The Grand Devilry (04:46)
He is the wolf
that haunts the night
and the full moon's
blasphemous light.
He is the apple
that brought us sin
and he is evil
on the murderers grin...
If you feel fear it is the devil,
the old comrade of the dark
and if you hide you will fail to see,
the grand devilry!
So if you hate it is his stage,
he plays the wicked and the wretched
and if you hide you will fail to see
the grand devilry!
He is the poison
in our heart.
The flaming word
in each poets art.
He is the weapon
that leads through war
and he is the light
of the morningstar...
If you feel fear it is the devil,
the old comrade of the dark
and if you hide you will fail to see,
the grand devilry!
So if you hate it is his stage,
he plays the wicked and the wretched
and if you hide you will fail to see
the grand devilry!
09 Deathship Symphony (05:54)
Through moorland mist and fullmoon light -
we claimed the devil-tongues!
We sailed the sea in ghoulish night,
salt water filled our lounges...
We made our way through frost and snow,
under arctic skies.
Through monuments of steel - below! -
A shadow did arise...
With fear you will stumble,
before the deamons you will see.
From the grottos of hell to the dark
skies above -
The Deathship Symphony!
Once darkness has fallen,
there is no return!
Cursed to sail the sea of the damned
- The Deathship Symphony!
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