Metal Monday CCLVIII - The Folklore of Man

6/10/2019

This week we have The Folklore of Man by Vale. This is a release I have been waiting to showcase since I stumbled upon it. Rich in atmosphere and creativity, Vale astounds with this black metal release, beginning with a killer, lengthy track called Shatter. A fourteen minute ride that lulls, looms, and lumbers its way like a winding river through mountains and down waterfalls. The buildup and return reminds me if you were to play Fall of Rauros' Ancestors of Shadow & Smoke back to back, just astounding work. Plus, yhou know me, I'm a sucker for lenghty tracks and this one is a definite in my list.
After a rest from the power of Shatter we find ourselves facing A Wind That Passes Through The Branches. This song reminds me of the creep up from Wolvserpent's In Mirrors of Water, though not as long or dark but just as riveting. When the vocals and guitars explode together a few minutes it grabs hold of you and doesn't let go, wraith and rhythm sundering your body.
Now, from this point on the album begins to slow a bit, less on the vocals, more focused on the atmospheric portion, Marigold and A Bridge To Nowhere carrying us to the epic ending track Flutter. And yet, not a single piece of this entire album is without merit and I only yearn to hear more from Vale as we weather the years together.
Here's to Vale, though released in 2018, this album will hold relevance and reverance for a vast time. /,,/

https://valeband.bandcamp.com/album/the-folklore-of-man

Shatter

Next to an idol of carved out stone.
The trees, collapsing.
The eyes of man look only towards the heavens.

Sound the trumpets! Rise to the gates!
With streets made of gold,
And fountains pouring forth silver.
Create your heaven of worthless riches.
My heaven is solace, to be unforgiven.

Run to the lake to be baptized, then destroy the surface.
Gaze not at stars but at satellites, dreaming to one day leave here.
If this place you just pass by, why surrender beauty to build your pride?
Why carve a rock into a fading monument?
Why drain the rivers to flood your neighbor's tombstone?
Blessing of the divine anoints your spirit with radiance,
Yet somehow you bury it away and hide it for six days.
And in my current awareness, I see that I too have dwelled in these things.
And when I wake tomorrow, I'll be just the same as you.

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THE MAD BARRON

QUOTES I ADMIRE
"A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." - from the Wilderness Act, 1964

"I owe my solitude to other people." - ALAN WATTS

“I think I could turn and live with the animals, they are so placid and self contained;
I stand and look at them long and long.
They do not sweat and whine about their condition;
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins;
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God;
Not one is dissatisfied-not one is demented with the mania of owning things;
Not one kneels to another, nor his kind that lived thousands of years ago;
Not one is responsible or industrious over the whole earth.”
― Walt Whitman

"In the ancient world, people placed heavy stones on the graves of the dead so their souls would not wander and inflict the living. I always thought this was simply the practice of superstitious and primitive people. But I was about to learn that the dead can hover on the edge of our vision with the density and luminosity of mist, and their claim on the earth can be as legitimate and tenacious as our own."

- Dave Robicheaux (In The Electric Mist With Confederate Dead)