Track By Tracks: Neverlight Horizon - Walxaz (2023)

We all wanted to make our upcoming record a bit different than the previous ones. We chose a very specific lyrical theme for this one: old and scary legends that were once told in the region we actually live in (Wallonia - southern Belgium). Those legends were usually told to children so they’d not get lost in the forests, do not play close to the rivers, etc. The demons, evil creatures and characters being told in these stories have been a huge source of inspiration for all of us and it’s been really exciting to write the lyrics.

Each song talks about a separate legend or demon, even if there is a close link between “The One With The Hooks” and “Mist and Darkness”: Mist and Darkness is about an evil spirit that could appear in the shape of an old man, as a dog, or as a very thick mist. Its purpose was to get people lost, to get them distracted so they'd eventually lose their way until they got close to the river so they could be taken by "The One With The Hooks"!

The One With The Hooks is a separate song, for a kind of related legend. Called “Pépé Crochet” in Walloon (which is the language our ancestors used to speak before French), this evil creature has hooks instead of his hands and used to live deep in the river... His purpose was to hook lost wanderers and take them back into the river so he could kill them and eat their souls.

The audio sample you could hear at the very beginning of the song has been taken out of old TV archives (1972). What you’re hearing is actually a kid talking about witches and about the fact that all the town believed that a woman was used to curse people and do witchcraft. What he’s saying could be translated as: “Some people said that the skulls we’ve recently found here have been put there on purpose by witches. Some people say that witches are still alive”.

"Bellem" is by far the grooviest song we’ve written for this record and has many sick riffs. The lyrical theme got us very enthusiastic to make a great song since it’s talking about an old shepherd and sorcerer called Bellem, who supposedly existed a long time ago. This character was actually pretty nice with people as long as they were respectful of him. He used to put spells on people laughing at him (so people would die due to disease, hunger, etc). He looked like an old man, walking with a cane. The legend also says that he could make red wine flow out of its cane so he could have a drink with respectful and kind people (which is pretty nice, I admit).

"Among The Caves" tells the story of a cave that supposedly was a gate to hell. People reported witches performing their dark rituals around the cave entrance every November 1st. Since then, this place is considered wicked and unsafe. A lyric video of “Among The Caves” has been released as a Teaser a few months ago.