Track By Tracks: Artach - Sworn To Avenge (2021)

1.Tuiteam an Duine:

This one kicks off the album, it's immediate. It blasts then calms, the savagery then the relative calmness. We wanted to have an opener that was somewhat in line with the opener on our debut which is an oft mentioned fav from the first album. The song lyrics are about how humankind overall views themselves atop the food and intelligence chain. We are not. And this will be our undoing. I didn't want the lyrics to be preachy so the ideas are not meant to pound you over the head totally. The title “Tuiteam an Duine” translates to the fall of man.

2. Ice Throne:

This one is inspired by the technologies of the ancients left behind in the Arctic and discovered by the Stargate SG-1 team. It's fairly self descriptive and a fan of the show would recognize some of the ideas.

3. Shimmer:

Lyrically, this one is more descriptive and doesn't have any hidden meanings. Those shimmering and dancing lights of the Aurora Borealis (in the north) can sometimes be seen even here in Newfoundland, but even further north they look magnificent. There's a spoken part in this one taken from a part of a poem by David Vedder (1790-1854) that was written about the Northern Lights. Musically this one is one of the more black metal sounding songs with lots of blast beats but as always, tempered with melody and hand-banging riffage.

4. Endless Tundra:

This is about the doomed Franklin expedition. Musically this one was a challenge as we recorded it in 2-3 sessions unlike the others. The structure is complex with intros, breakdowns, solo sections, and an outro. The plan was to write a song that was about 20mins long, I think we succeeded and added enough parts and riffs so as to not make it repetitive. It is almost like a mini-album in and of itself in some ways.

5. Into the frozen woodlands:

Loosely based on the book/film Into The Wild. Thoughts of leaving the shitty world behind and wandering into the wilderness are explored. Of course, it didn't end well for the unprepared protagonist in this story.

6. She Gathers Leaves:

Lyrically this one is more mystical and pagan. The music has a bit of a gothy feel in places and the music feeling lead to having some lyrics about witchy subject matter.

7. Mistress of Black Thorns:

Mistress of black thorns is about a cult. They are hell bent on destruction and desecration of all that is holy in an effort to impress and gather followers to worship the mistress of black thorns. The musical feel is in line with the subject matter: epic, sinister, and evil.

8. Winter's End:

The was was composed with the plan to not work out any of the music in advance. We came up with all of the parts and recorded the basis of the song in one jam-like session. The keys, which are the only song on the album that uses them, were played by Fíochmhar. He played the intro keys, then the guitars were improvised over the top - after the intro, the song goes into some Immortal-esque riffing and follows a non-traditional structure as it is more of an outro, albeit at full song length. The lyrics describe the end of winter as the title suggests and how despite the warmth, we know the winter will return and we shall arise again!