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Deeper and Darker than Wytches, with "Heartbeat" Inkubus Sukkubus moved back towards their gothic roots.
The album opens with the hypnotic bodhran beat of the intro to its title track, a deep, driving chant that calls the listener back to nature and the mysteries of the earth. Can you hear the heartbeat of the Earth? Can you hear the heartbeat of the Earth? The rythym comes and the rythym goes The river ebbs and the river flows Can you hear the heartbeat of the Earth?
Love and Sorrow come next, in "Young Lovers", which moves from the betrayal of youth to the tombstones of the graveyard. In a field of marble stones Lie one long dead lover's bones Forgotten, dead and gone. Sorrow's tale is on her lips The icy blade where love once kissed The blood runs cold inside
"Underworld", with its driving beat, is a power-driven hymn to the ancient Egyptian guardians of the realms of the dead, and an invatation to journey to the Otherworld. Welcome to the Underworld Here thou shall be weighed for truth Down in Subterrania Far from the heat of Ra Within the womb of Nut he lay As thou within her bones shall stay Welcome to thy Judgement Day Down in the Underworld
"Prince Of Shadows" is a dark and seductive prayer to ancient powers, or perhaps to the Vampire, in which the singer offers her very being in return for the rich life of an imortal lover. My heart shall know of no other Within your arms I feel strangely sereene All those lives you've seen rise, mature and die Who else could say that they've seen the sights you've seen The world shall show us such wonders I'll cast my net into the sea of dreams And so my love, I'll give you my life blood And disregard the hollow life that's been. After these four, the mood lightens, and the band turn out yet more of the "pagan anthems" for which they are famous.
The forests of the world are dying but they shall be reborn For the wind of change is coming A'riding on the storm And from the desolation Is born the seed of hope For the tyrants will fall, one and all The wheel is ever spinning round
While "Corn King" invokes Autumn, and the year turning towards Samhain - a popular theme for pagan imagery. The King, the Corn are born to fall And all must die in sacrifice Underneath the Harvest Moon Hide your pride, let time decide Who must live and who must die Underneath the Harvest Moon
Then comes the enigmatic "Witch Hunt", a breathless first person tale of flight from terror in the darkness, with the pursuers just a breath behind. Fly sister, fly Into the dark night that loves you Into the darkness Let not their eyes catch your shining To be continued...
Soft and gentle, this beautiful song conjours up visions of a moonlit ocean gently lapping at a faraway shore, and of a wild-haired free spirit dancing through the surf...
This is a reprise of the song first heard on "Wytches", however to my ears this version is the better of the two - more kick and more power, and with the rough edges tidied up and locked down. Probably one of the Inkies heaviest songs - great to headbang to! The rage of unloved wives would seal this beauty's fate, Many years of fading looks brought bitterness and hatre, A man of God must ensure justice will be done, For Satan dwells within the black heart of this one!
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