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 В восьмидесятые годы эти швейцарцы были одними из наиболее видных деятелей протоблэка. Спустя четыре года после выпуска небывало яркого и разнообразного для своего времени альбома «Extreme Cold Weather» они вернулись, но с кардинально обновленным составом и пересмотренными взглядами на музыку. Messiah образца 1991-го года – это треш-дэт, отличающийся от собратьев умеренным темпом композиций, наплевательским отношениям к соло-гитарным партиям (они есть не в каждом треке, а запоминающимися их можно назвать только в случае с песней «Munchhausen Syndrom») и довольно ироничными текстами. Ну и еще одна особенность «Choir Of Horrors» - периодические короткие вставки акустической гитары, всегда неожиданные, и в чем-то даже парадоксальные. Парадоксальным можно назвать и сам альбом: будучи, по сути, абсолютно ничем не выдающейся работой, он сконструирован так, что поддерживает интерес к себе до самой финальной композиции. Постоянно ожидаешь, что музыканты вот-вот сыграют нечто по-настоящему крутое и цепляющее, а взамен получаешь очередную порцию банальностей. Более того, швейцарцы словно делают все для того, чтобы их материал запоминался как можно хуже. Такое понятие, как «припев», им словно бы неведомо. Запоминающийся рефрен-кричалка есть, кажется, только в той же «Munchhausen Syndrom». Да и вообще эта песня, кажется, - лучшее, что есть в альбоме. Все остальные треки – набор почти качественных риффов, почти забойных скоростных кусков, почти цепляющих почти мелодий и многообещающих акустических интермедий. В общем, ждешь фейерверка, а получаешь банальный взрывчик петарды. Потому и оценка почти хорошая. |
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Let him fear ruin! For in the scars it is written
Until he's shaken by the resonance of the seven trombones
Bel Marduk - glory to him by Chaldaeus
Later I saw an angel descending from the sky
One with great sway and the earth lit up
With his elevation and enlightment
The sinner was despised
Volupatis avidus - magis quam salutis
Mortus in anima - et ustus fortiter
I heard another voice amidst the lightning in heaven
Abscond Babylon and you won't share in the sin
And you won't partake in the pain
And as they glorified themselves and roused excess
To the same dreadful degree, they were overcome
By torment and despair
Up to heaven!
Os eius vias malus sederam elatus
Obdurat imperat ira vehementi sors turpissima
And I heard another cry from all of the trombones of retalia-
tion
Abscond babylon and you won't partake in pain
Babylon - pray for the choir of horrors
Babylon - choir of horrors
Then I heard it from the heart of the city
I reign as a queen and I'm not a widow
Never will I feel regret, never
Babylon - pray for the choir of horrors
Babylon - choir of horrors
And so the pain will come
Plague, sorrow and hunger
In just one hour, you - might Babylon
Will perish in fire
2. Akasha Chronicle
You were just twenty years old
When you were run down by a car
We were all deeply filled with sadness
When we were told of your death
You always were a happy person
But respect for death
It was shown in your lifestyle
Tell us about your trip into eternity
After I was supposedly dead
I heard a loud humming
I moved very fast
Through a long dark tunnel
I felt blackness and darkness
Then I found myself outside
Of my own body, but still close by
And I observed the attempt revive me
I experienced eternity at first
Just as I had always thought it would be
Angels, ghosts and other creatures came
They greeted me and showed me the way
The picture faded, more nd more
And the angels lost their wings
A light appeared, the true light
An unbeleivably bright, white light
I landed on a big lawn
And felt the pure joys of life
Saw a lot of my relatives
And I was taken through the 'hall of memories'
I had to evaluate my life
And I came to a gate
The boundary between the life on earth
And the new life, yet to come
I must return to my physical body
And try to live my earthly life
Through this experience my life is touched
My outlook on death and on life
Death is a second birth into the invisible astral world
From where the soul stepped down into a visible body
3. Weeping Willow
Babylon you must die
In god's fire
You can't survive
Hell has arrived
Once a thriving town, now rubble and ashes
Hungry homeless human, sitting on ruins
Helplessly crying in the night, where is the redeemer
Bloody rivers flow through the dust, no hope in sight
Just to survive - murder everyday
No remorse - that's our way
4. Lycantropus Erectus
Overpowered by his tendency for evil
A man drew out an ancient magic formula
Painted two circles on the ground
And burned pine and poplar
Other ingredients followed into the cauldron
Opium, poppy, aloe, hemlock
As the flames blazed
He began to mutter his conjuration
Chosen from the devilish group
Send the big grey ghost
Who makes humanity tremble
Come, come, come
Steam and cintment begin to work
The man sinks to his knees
He implores to the ghost of the unknown
To give him the power of metamorphosis
I ask. I call. I implore you
You phantom of the darkness
Nobody's like you
Transform me into a werewolf
At last perfectly transformed in his fantasy
The werewolf hunts in the darkness
He serves the evil one
With heart, body and soul
He's damned night after night
Scouring dales in search of human victims
He knows that he's vulnerable
For defense he mutters the last words of the ritual
Smelt the ball, blunt the knife
Let the cudgel wear away
Terrorize man, wild animals
And reptiles shake in terror
Why they don't seize the grey wolf
And skin his warm coat
My word is strong, stronger than the sleep
Stronger than the strength of heroes
5. Munchhausen Syndrom
Whatever the woman in black does
Her hands are covered by silk gloves
She's a lady that looks elegant'n stylish
No one knows that she lives in misery
Sometimes when she's alone in her apartment
Deep in her soul she experiences her inner pain
It starts with running up'n down the floor
Suddenly it stops
She then cowers in a cramped position
And begins gnawing on her fingernails
Then continues by cutting up her already maimed
And stunted hands with a razor-blade
She pounds her tortured bloody fists on the floor
Unable to feel the same pain we would
At the end she cries out for all she's worth
Making her soar to her seventh day
Indifferent she goes to bed or watches tv
Not knowing that in reality
She shares that misery with many others
It repeats
Year for year
Month for month
Day for day
Hour for hour
When she was a child
Her parents gave no love
Only when she was sick
Everybody took care of her
And now she's thirty
It's still deep in her mind
It returns again - n - again
And it repeats
Year for year
Month for month
Day for day
Hour for hour
When she had problems as a teenager
Her parents gave no help
But when she had an accident
All took care of her
And now she's forty
It's still deep in her mind
She's controlled by muchhausen - syndrom
Incurable and damned to death
6. Cautio Criminalis
Shadowed and veiled in various colors
Maiden worthy of love so rich in joys
Let her please you with devilish golden hair
As the witch for a faithful dead may the unknown bless you
Most beautiful one - witch!
Endless precious jewel - heretic!
Pride among virgins - confess!
You rose of the world - and die!
Holy inquisition seized by desire
Young men and women for a most bitter fate
Hundreds and then thousands in the name of the holy church
Her messiah dies now, not on the cross but by the flames
Most beautiful one - witch!
Endless precious jewel - heretic!
Pride among virgins - confess!
You rose of the world - and die!
Oh my god - where are you now?
Is this the temple of messiah
Or is this the gateway to hell?
There are not enough places in heaven
Forgive them, they know not what they do
I don't bemoan my wounds of flames
breathe to the smoke against my soul
I'm one of thousands, you are the next
But think! There are not enough places in heaven!
7. Northern Command
[instrumental]
8. Weena
I'm afraid of the night, helpless
The forest is drenched in sinister fog
My home is in the mountains, without civilisation
I have no contact to the outside world
A dog is barking in the night
His faithful eyes gleaming, he stands on the porch
I take him in and he grows stronger
Guarding me against the creatures of the wood
No hunting without him at my side
I can't imagine life without him
More and more, his body's changing
His coat gets shaggy and his muscles bulge
He shows hatred and aggressiveness towards me
Bloody, raw meat is what he wants
Me, I'm meat too, that's what he sees
Too late, no chance to kill my creation
I'm perishing in agony and pain