Metal Monday CCLXX - PANTHEON MMXIX

9/2/2019

Not sure what's going on in Russia but the metal creeping into my collection this year has been astounding. I think I am dubbing this summer "The Siberian Summer" since I have spent a good portion of it listening to Grima, Path, and now... ULTAR! First off, big thanks to Maxim Sysoev (https://www.instagram.com/max_ultar/) for his like on my silly little Grima album clip I had posted. I checked out his bio on a whim and curiosity lead me to PANTHEON MMXIX. Without that single gesture, I may have been oblivious to an artist that has now left me in awe, reeling in my car with busted speakers and shattered ear drums from cranking this masterpiece as high as I could get it.
Now, the album name leaves you wondering what may lie within, well let me tell you: A blackened, thundering creation with looming Lovecraftian creations and mountainous shrieks. I have been saying this lately (and it is wholly true) that I can select any track on this album for a showcase piece and be utterly pleased. The first track I had listened to was Worms. Slow and simple to start, this track builds and builds into a monstrous, wailing monolith. Au Seuil is what I can only describe as an ominous horror creeping ever closer until it is upon. An atmospheric giant of a track. This leads into Beyond The Wall Of Sleep and keeps that haunting presence and weight as it winds and wanders with strength and sorrow. Laying at the end is Swarm. Equally powerful in pace and lyrics, this track flutters and then fires into a hellish ride. At 3:45 is one wild wail that bears a single screech that sets into the remaining track with a fury and leaves you awestruck.
No, I did not forget about the first three tracks, I'm just being weird in my appreciation. Father Dagon kicks off this album (epic video below) with lapping waves that harbor a mother and father within, seeking guidance and answers. The guitar work and vocals alone would hook and drown any willing to listen, dragging them into the watery deeps of ULTAR. And there it is, the showcase track selected due to its overall pace, intro, and for leaving me wanting after each listen for another. Shub-Niggurath. Right out the gate this track means business and does not let up until the very end, pulling you along with great vocal range and amazing guitar work. However, there still remains Yog-Sothoth, the track that almost was the showcase as well. It still is one of my top favorites yet it is a slower burn in the beginning, amassing into a ten minute long (one of my weaknesses is lenghty tracks) work with a sundering effect. About 5:45 it begins to build into another range, beckoning you for more as the vocals build and swell. But! 8 minute mark on, you better turn that dial up and prepare your bones to be turned to dust once it kicks into gear.
I cannot say enough about Ultar, this album, and even the lone band member that caused such a huge impact on me. Their work and love shows by how well designed this album turned out. If I had to pick an album of the year, I would give it ULTAR for PANTHEON MMXIX. Magnificient work! Now, let us listen to this album as we tackle this week with seven songs of immense power, one for every day of the week! /,,/
https://ultar.bandcamp.com/album/pantheon-mmxix

Shub-Niggurath

Stop this pain! I can't handle it!
With every step it's worse and worse
With every breath the darkness is closer
Penetrating deep, seizing and capturing you with every new day

Obey it! Without remorse give yourself over to the darkness
It has long swallowed your mind, with no human feelings left
Emotions, fears, pain and love - give them all as you're a slave
You do not need this

How many gods are enough to soothe the wrathful?
How much blood should be spilled for total peace?
How many questions have to be asked to get the answers?
How many?

Crucifixion is a way to frighten the weak but not to save the drowning
Thousands of years of slavery and filthy lies
We spit in the face of your masters

Остановите эту боль, нет сил больше терпеть!
С каждым шагом всё хуже и хуже,
С каждым вздохом тьма так близка.
Проникая всё глубже, захватывая и пленяя тебя с каждым новый днём...

Подчиняйся ей! Без зазрения отдавай себя полностью этой тьме,
Она давно поглотила твой разум, без остатка человеческих чувств.
Эмоции, страхи, боль и любовь, отдай им всё, ведь ты раб, тебе ни к чему.

Сколько божеств нужно для успокоения гневных,
Сколько крови должно пролиться для полного мира,
Сколько вопросов нужно задать чтобы добиться ответа,
Сколько?

Распятие - устрашение слабых, а не спасение утопающих,
Тысячи лет рабства и грязной лжи,
Мы плюем в лицо вашим господам.

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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)