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 Сложно с полной уверенностью идентифицировать все жанровые наслоения, встречающиеся в музыке итальянцев Crown of Autumn. Тут и элементы melodic death, и готика есть, и авангардность присутствует. Но основу материала на данном альбоме составляет melodic dark/folk/black metal. Эта смесь сразу должна бы напомнить о первых альбомах легендарных Moonspell... Однако общего здесь на самом деле не так много - разве что использование чистого вокала, да и тот здесь подан не в "готичной", как у Рибейро, манере, а скорее в ключе классического heavy/power. Да и настроение гораздо более светлое, чем у работ португальского коллектива, что, в общем, довольно логично с учётом поэтичной лирики на этой работе, основанной в большой степени на философии христианского традиционализма, которой придерживается Эмануэль Растелли - автор всех текстов и музыки данного коллектива. Гораздо ближе итальянцы стоят к нашим соотечественникам Emerald Night, тем более, что фэнтезийные мотивы в лирике обоих коллективов имеются.
Что касается исполнения и записи, можно придраться только к скрим-вокалу. Сам по себе он вроде и выразителен, и все слова можно легко разобрать, но звучит это иногда так, как будто партии пытается исполнить школьник-девятиклассник, только что впервые услышавший, как звучит скрим, и несколько неумело пытающийся воспроизвести услышанное. К партиям всех остальных инструментов и чистого вокала претензий нет никаких. К слову, последнего стало несколько больше, чем на дебютнике, что, несомненно, является плюсом.
Лучшими композициями на альбоме являются, на мой взгляд, "Aegis", "In the Garden of the Wounded King" и "Triumphant". Впрочем, проходного материала здесь нет вообще. Красота и атмосферность в полной мере присутствуют на всех композициях, а названные выше просто наиболее удачны мелодически, благодаря чему лучше всего "зацепляются" в голове.
Иными словами, возвращение группы после 13 лет бездействия удалось. Даже и не замечаешь того, сколько времени разделяет две почти одинаково сильные работы группы. С учетом всего этого и итоговый балл будет достаточно высоким. |
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Sed nomini tuo da gloriam.
Rise brotherhood,
Rise in battle cries!
2. Aegis
To incarnate God's solar dart,
To bring out splendours from the dark,
This is the quest that noble men
Shall never leave nor forget.
Hail transfiguration
And drink to its dawn!
Glide over the oceans
Until an isle is shown,
Antediluvian.
Aegis;
The transmutation is made of lead into gold.
Aegis;
All darkness has been enslaved
By a force untold.
Let the foes be turned to stone
Now, by the glance
- statues standing still, perennially.
Let the key be turned
By centurion's lance,
Bleeding crimson
Righteously.
May all the pain melt in the rain,
Leaving us transparent and sane.
Emancipate from fear and hate,
The sacred king dominates.
Conquer resurrection
And sit on its throne!
Soar over the mountains until
You'll find the stone,
Antediluvian.
Aegis;
The transmutation is made of lead into gold.
Aegis;
All darkness has been enslaved
By a force untold.
Let the foes be turned to stone
Now, by the glance
- statues standing still, perennially.
Let the key be turned
By centurion's lance,
Bleeding crimson...
Let the foes be turned to stone
Now, by the glance
- statues standing still, perennially.
Let the key be turned
By centurion's lance,
Bleeding crimson
Righteously.
3. Noble Wolf
How pure is the air I breathe
On this early Winter night,
What a stainless landscape I contemplate.
Twinkling stars like myriads of ice drops
Held in the crystalline darkness,
They watch over my lonely path
Like guardian deities of old.
Noble,
Noble wolf.
Boldly alone,
Wild minstrel of the full moon am I!
The furtive owls are my companions,
They sing along with me:
"How can the vision of this snow-veiled realm
Bring such a warmth to the heart?"
Chief of the hunter tribes,
The grim mountain is my throne.
This lunar song of mine
Paves the way for the dawn to come.
4. Forest of Thoughts
You will find more knowledge
In rills and in mountains grand,
Rather than in your books.
Oh, sylvan ghost,
Whose whisper is heard
Beneath Autumn's crimson foliage:
Anoint my forehead with the gems of thy wisdom.
For thee our druids are calling,
To thee our bards are singing.
When every single thing vibrates,
One is the symphony;
Then every single moment fades
Into eternity.
Thunders, hammers of war,
Fury will come carried by mighty winds.
Trees kneel beneath the storm,
Our legions march onwards to victory!
You will find more knowledge
In rills and in mountains grand,
Rather than in your books.
The Dragon is everywhere,
Its glistening flakes are there;
Reflections on water rings,
A bloodline of chosen kings.
5. Ultima Thule
To thee shall serve
The regions beyond the north;
The globe entire
Enlightened by thy supreme fire!
An augury of triumph and harmony;
Our dignity
Springs out of this natural hierarchy.
Evanescent
The vision of crystal cliffs
And silver waters;
Our palace I saw in a dream.
Those waves are quenching,
The storms I have left behind
As I dock at the shores,
White shores and beyond them
A peaceful dawn...
6. At the Crystal Stairs of Winter
Thy glory awakens!
Imperatrix, clear star forsaken.
The Solstice we celebrate,
Thy bridegroom's rise we contemplate.
At the crystal stairs of winter
We await for happiness to come.
Hail justice, hail sacrifice,
Hail beauty as pure as ice!
...and the Lamb will welcome us back,
It will run towards us and dress us with love.
We are long lost prodigal sons;
The Father has sent into our cave his dove.
Thy glory awakens!
Imperatrix, clear star forsaken.
The Solstice we celebrate,
Let us be one with our own fate.
At the crystal stairs of winter
We await for happiness to come.
7. To Wield the Tempest's Hilt
Grand arbiter of time and space,
And father of the primal race.
The middle cross upon the hill
- his hands to wield the tempest's hilt.
Show us the way
To achieve greatness and sacred peace,
Beyond the storms of war,
For a younger dawn to be released.
The emperor is faithful
And true to the sacred vow.
The furious sea,
The oncoming hordes: they shall bow!
Brandish the holy Libra's law
For men to reap just what they sow.
From Paradise, five scarlet rills
- his hands to wield the tempest's hilt.
Show us the way
To reach dryness and transparency,
Beyond our dripping sins,
For this weary sorrow to be ceased.
The emperor is faithful
And true to the sacred vow.
The furious sea,
The oncoming hordes: they shall bow!
Born to wield,
To wield the tempest's hilt!
Skulls erode in hollow helms,
Spread like stones across the land.
Desolation through the mounds
- no memory, no sound.
8. In the Garden of the Wounded King
Thus redemption bloomed in a five petal rose,
When he arose
From a silent tomb, as our world fell asleep
In a dream deep.
Spill five crimson streams along the fields,
Until thou will break the last of thy seals.
Humanity kneels!
Thorns like laurel,
Blood as a sovereign's cloak
- untrembling oak.
Great and patient will be thine ire upon them!
Jerusalem...
Spill five crimson streams along the fields,
Until thou will break the last of thy seals.
King of the cosmos, our star of the north;
Lion eternal, thou art light coming forth!
Son of the Divine and Divine thyself,
One with the Spirit, witness heaven sent.
Spina, clavi, lancea, mite corpus perforarunt;
Unda manat et cruor; Terra,
Pontus, astra, mundus quo lavantur flumine.
Spill five crimson streams along the fields,
Until thou will break the last of thy seals.
Humanity kneels!
Thus redemption bloomed in a five petal rose,
When he arose
From a silent tomb, as our world fell asleep
In a dream deep.
In the garden of the wounded king.
9. Triumphant
Fountain of precious blood,
A heritage forlorn.
Aeons before the flood
Did an angel soar...
Be patient until dawn
Oh, splendid hyperborean swan!
He comes victorious to win again
- and I beheld a rider white -
Bringer of sacred order and reign;
Way of the north.
Cosmic integrity,
A lighthouse for sailors;
Mystical legacy's navigators.
Remind us our vows
Lest we forget thy knowledge and drowse.
He comes victorious to win again
- and I beheld a rider white -
Bringer of sacred order and reign;
Way of the north.
Still time and spaces vast,
The first art thou and so the last.
He comes victorious to win again
- and I beheld a rider white -
Bringer of sacred order and reign;
Way of the north,
Way of the northerns knight.
10. Ye Cloude of Unknowing
Now finally we dive,
Naked we dive like a leaf from the tree,
Into the purest sky
- moths in ecstasy, straight in the flame.
We hail this golden day,
Has never a day been so bright, so glorious!
Our breath has left the clay,
As our bodies lay.
A desert silence is growing
Within the cloud of unknowing.
Annihilate the fears, annihilate the tears,
Abandon whatever that binds!
Ignore the desire by quenching its fire,
Untie thyself from the ground
Then rise!
...and the dark night of the soul,
Still in a blessed forgetfulness.
Don't be afraid to fall
- the world is no more, God is no more,
Thyself is no more!
Leave everything behind
And enter the halls of oblivion.
This emptiness divine
Is for us to find.