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Rating: On my profile, there is a list of the 100 bands to send into space in case we want to demonstrate our level of civilization to potential life forms. Vintersorg is not on it. Obviously, they are not a well-known artist, mainly because they aren't heavily promoted.
However, if I had to choose 100 ALBUMS to send into space, I would have no doubts, Cosmic Genesis would be there. If I had to choose 50, it would still be there. If there were only 10, I would reluctantly have to leave it out: Ok Computer, The Dark Side Of The Moon, or Abbey Road would take precedence.
Now let's explain why. I certainly can't hide how my love story with this band began, of which in 2005 I accidentally downloaded a first, fateful, song and by 2008 I had all the original albums. That's it. Let's explain what makes Cosmic Genesis such a special album.
First of all, its evolution compared to its predecessors. It features an incredibly modern sound, in contrast with the previous folk Viking trend. There are sci-fi keyboards and electric guitars on the edge of prog, along with the drum machine and basic instruments that build an incredible sound wall. On the other hand, the growl has almost disappeared, reduced to the first four songs. In its place, an extremely structured singing (in English, no less), with multiple overlapping voices, is certainly no longer genuine but extremely mature and versatile, and still free from the future manneristic tendencies of Mr. V.
Change of themes, the praise of Swedish nature gives way to the wonders of the cosmos. There are more or less explicit references in the lyrics to philosophers, astronomers, and poets; like the Swede Karl Eric Forslund, the science fiction writer Carl Sagan, the metaphysical poet John Donne, and our Giordano Bruno.
Astral And Arcane alone is enough to understand (?) the vibe. Your ears are literally tossed from the heaviest modern black metal to light and effortless keyboard excursions, all with smoothness that many artists dream of. The same goes for songs like Cosmic Genesis or Naturens Galleri. Algol, A Dialogue With The Stars, or Ars Memorativa are decidedly more granite, striking for their violence yet easily memorable. Sweeter songs like Om Regnbågens Materialiserades or the wonderful The Enigmatic Spirit (the fateful track) take your breath away, given the apparent simplicity that hides a chiseled work and an incredible variety of instruments.
It's been said, prog, Viking, black, but also, the ever-present seventies hard rock, here presented directly from the cover of Rainbow Demon by Uriah Heep. Here, hard rock is the winning piece, the element that makes an album that isn't simple and immediate seem so, making a wonderfully structured and extremely complex work seem within earshot (any ear).
Just as cosmic chaos is harnessed by unintelligible laws, in the same way, Cosmic Genesis manages to encompass in its 50 minutes all the metal knowledge since metal is metal. How? We don't know. The fact remains that if Vintersorg had, in that distant 2000, enjoyed better promotional means, he could have rewritten the history of a genre.
10.0
1 Astral and arcane 6:56
2 Algol 6:08
3 A dialogue with the stars 5:47
4 Cosmic Genesis 7:06
5 Om Regnbågens materialiserades 5:01
6 Ars Memorativa 5:09
7 Rainbow Demon 4:01
8 Naturens Galleri 5:22
9 The Enigmatic Spirit 4:43
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Algol (06:10)
Algol, demon, capricious your brightness
shifts from day to day - rises, abates, intesifies
again, sometimes triumphant and sparkling,
sometimes pale and faint. For a long time
we've searched with wonder for the key
to this mystery, the right element to
your eager and changing, queer temperament.
Now we've dispearsed the haze of the riddle:
you've got a companion on your journey,
like a slave, a faithful shadow he
constantly follows you on the desolate
path, he circles and sneaks quiet around you, closely.
Never have we seen his guise, dark, parches,
stiff and cold, but still we know he exists;
like ashamed he hides behind you - free
and merry you shine - until he once
again crawls out of the darkness and
covers you. And your glare becomes
pallid and dull, and your mind cloudy.
Now we've dispearsed the haze of the riddle:
you've got a companion on your journey,
like a slave, a faithful shadow he
constantly follows you on the desolate
path, he circles and sneaks quiet around you, closely.
And similars there are - many Algols
wanders in the space - maybe even
more among us on earth. Sunlight spirits
darkened by a shadow, young princes
concealed by old slaves, doublesouls,
divided creatures - a blissful son of the
light indissolubely linked with a bitter dark demon.
Now we've dispearsed the haze of the riddle:
you've got a companion on your journey,
like a slave, a faithful shadow he
constantly follows you on the desolate
path, he circles and sneaks quiet around you, closely.
03 A Dialogue With the Stars (05:49)
Ardent starshine upon my face,
the monumental nightsky reveal its torches.
Unaltered for aeons, yet zestful they're flaming
like ornamental diamonds.
In my telescopes focus, a striding light
conjure me fixedly.
Oh, what a colourful drama,
what a theatrical performance.
These myriads of stars
enchants me with their oddity.
At cosmos entrance hall,
where time and space units in a charade.
Under crimson flares I watch
the tempest of the universe.
In dark artistry,
I lionize the splendorous glare.
An unearthly voice of euphony
express itself in an ancient tongue.
Its elocution is based on silence,
so it pulsates through the five senses.
It's like a poem of wisdom and wizardry
navigating through the world.
A legacy from nebulas,
an endless mystic conversation.
These myriads of stars
enchants me with their oddity.
At cosmos entrance hall,
where time and space units in a charade.
Under crimson flares I watch
the tempest of the universe.
In dark artistry,
I lionize the splendorous glare.
Now clouds gather at a distant skyline
to cover the firmament.
Rays are fading in a metamorphosis
of the blazing weave above.
These myriads of stars
enchants me with their oddity.
At cosmos entrance hall,
where time and space units in a charade.
Under crimson flares I watch
the tempest of the universe.
In dark artistry,
I lionize the splendorous glare.
26 years have past since it first
called my name.
And when I'm dead, this piece of
jewellery will still remain.
05 Om regnbågen materialiserades (05:03)
En daggvuren gryningshimmels disiga bud
tjänar som arlaregnets segel.
Till soleld begnistrar dess mantelskrud,
och var droppe bildar en spegel.
Som länkas mot en rymd i bågad ström,
ett draperi som i bjärta kulörer sprakar.
Skänkt ifrån molnkaravaners purpurdröm,
lika mystisk som modermörkrets drakar.
Vad skedde om skapnaden blevo solid,
en bro över svindeldjupa avgrunder?
Förgrenad vid galaxens gömda lid
och stjärnhimlens brinnande lunder?
Skulle vi gå längs bågen tunn
som vattenreflexerna fogar? (mot jordens grund)
Ösa vår visdom ur sagans brunn,
försjunkna i kosmiska skogar? (i en euforisk blund)
Prålande grann
den tunna materian, genomstrålas.
I solskensljus den funnit sin själ,
i vattenrök sitt kärl.
Väsenfylld,
av vädrets makt förgylld, nyanser målas.
Diffusa konturer mitt hjärta när
och fyller ett fjärilslätt begär.
Jag välkomnar dig, sjufärgade dynasti.
Som lindrar min ångest, min inre elegi.
Prålande grann
den tunna materian, genomstrålas.
I solskensljus den funnit sin själ,
i vattenrök sitt kärl.
Väsenfylld,
av vädrets makt förgylld, nyanser målas.
Diffusa konturer mitt hjärta när
och fyller ett fjärilslätt begär.
06 Ars memorativa (05:11)
You built all memories on a framework
Of the zodiac and other known structures
Every thought was linked to a special picture
You stigmatized their keenness and location
On a deep and shrouded level, remembering, controling
Was the way to higher knowledge
In the nature you saw the outlines of an universal intelligence
Every process a reflecting mirror, symbols meant to trigger
The shadow of the ideas in the maze of recollection
A vortex of information reigned inside
And found its way
Through the labyrinth of the mind
With self-hypnosis you put it in
A dynamic pattern
In the labyrinth of the mind
No physical laws were rooted in your system
Everything was forces of thoughts and sensations
Which is streaming through man
Mist and rain just a condition of unawareness
And volcanos a state of rage
A prophet in cosmology, like Copernicus
You saw the stars as suns
And a warrior who fought with intellctual swords
With arrow-sharp words
In the nature you saw the outlines of an universal intelligence
Every process a reflecting mirror, symbols meant to trigger
The shadow of the ideas in the maze of recollection
A vortex of information reigned inside
And found its way
Through the labyrinth of the mind
With self-hypnosis you put it in
A dynamic pattern
In the labyrinth of the mind
07 Rainbow Demon (04:03)
There rides the Rainbow Demon
On his horse of crimson fire
Black shadows are following closely
On the heels of his desire
Riding on in the mist of morning
No one dared to stand in his way
Possessed by some distant calling
Riding on through night and day
[chorus]
Rainbow Demon...
Pick up your heart and run
Rainbow Demon...
Lives for his sword and his gun
Riding on in the mist of morning
No one dared to stand in his way
Possessed by some distant calling
Riding on through night and day
[chorus]
Rainbow Demon...
Pick up your heart and run
Rainbow Demon...
Lives for his sword and his gun
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