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THE LOST EMPIRE [V/A]

July 19, 2013, 9:36 am
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Band:URUK HAI
Title: The Lost Empire
Format: Released as both a double-CDr set and as a double cassette set on Fallen Angels Productions (South Korea) in February 2013, cat ref FAP032.  The CD pressing holds both discs within one case, with a paper insert, whilst the tape set is presented over two cassettes.  This is a 6-way split release, featuring Uruk Hai on the intro track to disc/tape one and the outro track to disc/tape 2.
Edition: The CDr pressing is limited to 50 copies; the tape pressing to 66 copies (all copies are unnumbered)

Track Listing:
Part.1: Wrath of Dawn
Uruk-Hai:
1. Intro (Enter Mordor)  03:03
Theudho:
2. War Into The World  05:02
3. Terror Cimbricus  05:45
4. The Raven Flies North  04:48
5. For All Those Who Died  04:28
Apparition:
6. The Soul Of Black Knight  08:38
7. In The Name Of Chiu  05:41
8. Upon Consent Of The Ancient Warriors Soul  05:03
9. Song Of The Musa  06:17

Part.2: The Vanished Time
Narbarion:
10. Les Sanctuaires De La Liberte  04:11
11. La Terre Des Anciens  05:24
12. Corbeaux Des Tempetes  06:12
Sad:
13. Cursed Be The Light  05:18
14. Hellfuck Ritual  07:04
Pyha:
15. 칼바람  06:40
16. Raubern Sie Ihre Tochter Im Keller  06:30
17. De Bruligas Santko  08:45
Uruk-Hai:
18. Outro (May It Be)  03:12

Here's a bizarre little compilation on the rapidly expanding Fallen Angels Productions label.

It features a clutch of black metal bands (spanning various shades of 'black' within the genre, from depressive to ambient to aggressive) bookended by a pair of old Uruk Hai songs from 2006's "Lothlorien" album.  Strange bedfellows, strange days...

The assortment of bands herein is like a mini United Nations in terms of global spread: we have Theudho hailing from Belgium, Sad from Greece, Apparition and Pyha from South Korea (home of the Fallen Angels label), Narbarion from France and - you'll know this one - Uruk Hai from Austria.  Nazgul must be honest, the only band apart from Hugin's project that he'd previously enountered was Theudho: they have appeared on a number of tribute albums to bands such as Bathory (with covers of 'A Fine Day to Die' and 'Blood Fire Death'), Summoning ('Marching Homewards'), Falkenbach ('Where Blood Will Soon Be Shed'), Burzum ('Det Som Engang Var') and Celtic Frost ('Dethroned Emperor').


The whole thing makes a jolly loud noise when played at appropriate volume, although finishing on the Enya cover 'May It Be' does come as something of a surprise given the carnage preceding it and it's hard to know if this is a cunning piece of song positioning by Fallen Angels or just random madness.  Let's be generous and say the former, shall we?

If you like some variety in your black metal then this compilation reflects pretty good value for money and does include some tasty morsels.  For anything other than the most dedicated Uruk Hai completist, however, it is something of a redundant oddity featuring a pair of atmospheric but ultimately out of place Uruk Hai songs which hang around awkwardly like a trainee nun at a black mass.  

You get the feel that Fallen Angels felt the need to put out a compilation and that Hugin was far too polite to refuse a contribution or two to the cause.  For all that, however, you'll get some quality listening moments so what the hell - if this genre floats your boat give it a rumble!
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OUR FIRE BURNS

July 24, 2013, 9:49 am
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Band:CEREMONY OF INNOCENCE
Title: Our Fire Burns
Format: CDr released in DVD-sized case with colour covers on the W.A.R. Productions label (Austria) in 2013, cat ref WAR079.  The set comes with lyrics on a numbered paper inlay, together with a large match!  The photographs on the covers were taken by Michele Brittany, partner of COI member Nick Diak.
Edition:50 hand-numbered copies

Track Listing:
01. Our Fire Burns 02:44

This, the second collaborative release under the COI banner between Alex Wieser and Nick Diak, develops the neofolk leanings of the project still further and moves it away from more traditional synth-pop roots and into richer, more complex areas of musicality.  Built over a spiky and fractured guitar hook, some fine acoustic guitar and a killer solo or two, the song comes bounding out of your speakers like a prowling feline, looking to catch you in its melodic claws and smother you in velvety vocals.  

Repeating the combination on their debut release as a pair ("No Never Not"), Nick again takes the vocal lead (based on his own lyrics, more of which anon) whilst Alex handles the musical elements.

The result?  Probably the best COI song that you'll not hear all year.  With only 50 copies out there - and unlikely to be a strong seller from the W.A.R. Productions catalogue - it might seem ill-fated to reside in a twilight world of relative obscurity unless this post can summon the faithful Hugin hordes to rush to their email and send the requisite 5 Euros (+shipping) to W.A.R. to support the cause?  

And you know, you really should, as this is genuinely of interest to anyone with tastes broader than metal - and Nazgul's guessing a lot of you like Hugin's music for this exact reason.

Being the 21st century (at least outside of Castle Nazgul) there is opportunity to sample the song atYoutubeso perhaps you might find the time to stop by and have a listen...?  

The description accompanying the video states that you'll come across "A hint of Sisters of Mercy gothic flavour mixed with acoustic and dream pop sentiments from "The Waking Dream" era of Chandeen combined with Neofolk inspired vocals done in classic Boyd Rice spoken word style".  Now, this is where Nazgul lumbers into unfamiliar waters as apart from the Sisters (who - in today's moment of random trivia - Nazgul saw live with Depeche Mode almost exactly 20 years ago to this very day) I have no idea about Chandeen or Boyd Rice. 

The former, I gather, is a musical project from Frankfurt am Main, founded in 1990 and popular in the darkwave scene in their early years, in a self-styled delivery of 'electronic poetry'.  Boyd Rice's bio, on the other hand, records that he is an American experimental sound/noise musician who has used the name of NON since the mid-1970's, and is an archivist, actor, photographer, author, member of the Partridge Family Temple religious group, co-founder of the UNPOP art movement and current staff writer for Modern Drunkard magazine!  

Well, that all sounds perfectly acceptable...!

The lyrics to 'Our Fire Burns' are handily printed on the accompanying insert (pictured above), and read as follows:

In the night
The cold rains blow
The thatched roof leaks
But we're never cold
In the hearth
Our fire burns

The smithy strikes
Toils over coals
The hammer echoes
Resounds with the blows
In the furnace
Our fire burns

The doors are bolted
The shutters closed
The walls are manned
The gates are lowered
In the beacons
Our fire burns

The streets are empty
The markets closed
We're always safe
We'll find our way
In the lamps
Our fire burns

Nick Diak's personal commentary on the song can be read at the new COI sitebut are reproduced here for your edification:  "The second song I've written lyrics for, completed in February 2013. The song is greatly influences by the title of Werkraum's seminal album Unsere Feuer Brennen!  I had an idea of a call-and-response type song, were someone would say a line and the response would be 'unsere feuer brennen', and my original draft was going this direction, but wasn't quite working. So I switched to English and started to compose around that.
As in a true neofolk fashion, the song is about fire (who HASN'T done that?), but I'd take solace in that I think I am talking about it in a different capacity. The song is obviously about unity. The subject matter is a town of an unspecific era, late at night, and its inhabitants. From the common man, to the workers, to the soldiers, to even the inanimate street lamps, they all work together and fire is the common linkage. I almost view this song as a sister song. maybe even a counter piece to "The Ride" as performed by Blood Axis. I would posit they take place in the same universe."

Nick explained to Nazgul his rationale for such explanatory notes:

"It's important to me at least to put some descriptors at the COI website talking about the songs. There's actually many reasons, the first being to always protect the integrity of the songs. What I mean is, lots of bands in the neofolk, military pop, dark wave/etc scenes get called fascist or something along those lines - look at controversy over Von Thronstahl, Days of the Trumpet Call, Death in June, you name it. All bands whom I adore and probably emulate - but the stuff I've written doesn't straddle any controversial lines - and I think a good way to keep anyone from misinterpreting anything in such a fashion, why not just put my intention up while writing it? The other reason is I just got done a year ago completing my thesis and my masters, and I was always hounded on "what do you think this film means?" and "what do you think this film-maker intended?" Ugh! So I am putting our my thoughts/feelings on the songs out there so no one else has to go through that!"

Nick also gives an interesting insight into the creative process of putting together the final song with Alex:

"As for the music - I didn't hear the music beforehand. I had submitted vocals and lyrics to Alex and I believe he had an instrumental on hand that he folded into. The music department is all Alex. In fact sometimes when I've done a song, I'll give him the vocals at like 6 pm at night. Then I'll go to bed at 10 pm. Wake up at 6:30 the next day with like 6 emails from him - 'oooh here is a version, no scratch that last version, here is a "BETTER" version, nope scratch that, try this one out, nope ok ok ok this is the final awesome version BAM!'   Ok, those aren't his words, but you get the idea. I think it's funny!"

We've noted before the apparently time-bending abilities of Hugin's recording process, and this lends additional circumstantial evidence to that theory!

The revitalised Ceremony Of Innocence project is certainly one to watch, and with a new release "Passing Through The Interstellar Gas" literally just out at the Catgirl label this week the next chapter in the story will soon be available for examination!

A small anecdote to finish the piece: with the arrival of baby Nazgul at the Castle the normal pattern of listening to music at night has had to chance for obvious reasons, and Nazgul has started the habit of listening to CDs in the car on his various journeys out and about.  Originally the 'Our Fire Burns' track had only ever been played in the car, where through some curious looping cycle the track kept playing and replaying over and over, giving the impression it was of vast length.  Nazgul genuinely believed the piece to be about 30 minutes long and more until a quick play on a different stereo revealed that this was, in fact, not the case at all.  Most peculiar, and perhaps a cunning device from W.A.R. to keep COI on the radio at all times!?

Never one to outstay his own welcome, Nazgul will sign off for the day with these wise words: check out the online clip, then send money to Alex to purchase a copy of your own! 
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TEMPERANCE

July 27, 2013, 3:49 am
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Band:URUK HAI
Title: Temperance
Format: A unique wooden box-set self-released by Hugin in 2012 as a gift to Nazgul! Contains a CD, a cassette tape, lyrics sheets and a myriad of other interesting parts - see photos below. The top of the box is packed with loose cassette tape to protect the contents, and the box lid is adorned with a wooden amulet.
Edition:1 copy only!

Track listing:
01. Temperance  33.06

Temperance is one of the Seven Heavenly Virtues.  If you can name the other 6 then you're far too much of a goody two-shoes and should get out more.  Nazgul, of course, transcends all base urges and encompasses Temperance - defined as "restraint, temperance, justice. Constant mindfulness of others and one's surroundings; practicing self-control, abstention, moderation, zero-sum and deferred gratification. Prudence to judge between actions with regard to appropriate actions at a given time. Proper moderation between self-interest, versus public-interest, and against the rights and needs of others" - at every twist and turn of life.  

And yes, that is a pig you can see flying past your living room window....

Lyric sheet for the first part of the song...
... and for part 2
The design and content of this large wooden box is quite simply staggering.  As if Hugin didn't have enough on his plate to keep him busy, he found the time to create not only a lavish treasure trove of goodness but an accompanying 30+ minute song to accompany it under the proudly flying Uruk Hai banner.  

Nazgul had originally planned to go a bit overboard on this particular review for Honour and Darkness but in the interests of modesty and ... well, temperance ... it seems less appropriate to blow one's own trumpet that it is to let the accompanying photographs tell their own story.   It will retain a small air of mystery, as befitting for such a wonderful thing.

When this chest arrived in the post it was a tremendous surprise (to say the least: the ravens positively shot from the battlements of Castle Nazgul following the great shout of pleasure that accompanied the opening of the outer packaging) and it has been a much treasured object ever since. Yes, the glass on the frame had sustained a little damage during the trip from deepest Austria (Nazgul has this earmarked for replacement as one of those 'little jobs for a rainy day' that always seem to be deferred nowadays, much of which has to do with meeting the insistent demands of the fledgling baby Nazgul as he tears along the Castle corridors seeking fresh blood) but don't let that lure you into thinking that Nazgul doesn't take great care and pride of this mightiest of releases from his eternal brother in arms, Hugin.

a trio of unique Uruk Hai art prints
You'll be thinking that the music within must be in the classic mould of Uruk Hai ambient passages; something on the lines of one of Nazgul's favourite releases like "Honour" perhaps, or a re-mix of a modern classic?  Well you'd be wrong, so far out of kilter that you'd be staggered by the fuzzy guitar and hypnotic vocals that pervade this lengthy song and provide for a semi-religious ritualistic experience the like of which cannot be easily transcribed.  

To date, this particular song has not been found anywhere else in formal Uruk Hai releases, but I'm sure it's possibly more of a question of time and an appropriate vehicle before it reaches the ears of a wider audience.  Until that time, Nazgul prefers to keep his little secrets and revel quietly in the Castle Library with this delight playing in the background.

Mark Twain probably sums the concept of Temperance up the best:  "Temperate temperance is best. Intemperate temperance injures the cause of temperance, while temperate temperance helps it in its fight against intemperate intemperance. Fanatics will never learn that, though it be written in letters of gold across the sky"

Close up of the wooden adornment to the box-lid

Nazgul will continue to write the virtues of Hugin's music in letters of many colours on Honour and Darkness until the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse themselves come to wrest the keyboard from his bony fingers....
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Ruslanas Danisevskis

August 1, 2013, 9:08 am
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Band:RAVENCLAW
Update: Sad news, dear readers...

You may well have seen the news elsewhere on the Internet, but Nazgul is sad to report that on 30 June 2013 Lithuanian musician Ruslanas Danisevskis passed away after losing his battle against cancer.

Ruslanas was a founder member of bands such as Folkearth and Folkodia, but was perhaps best known to readers of this Blog as half of Ravenclaw alongside Hugin.

An online message from his Folkearth band members reads, "You've gone too soon to Valhalla our music brother, may you keep an eye on us as we'll keep alive your music heritage."

R.I.P. Ruslanas - may you Set Sail to the Shores Of Heaven

Ruslanas and Hugin in a  Ravenclaw promotional shoot
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Followers of Honour and Darkness ... #7

August 6, 2013, 1:32 am
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Another great friend of Honour and Darkness - Thomas Kahr
The passion for collecting sometimes becomes an obsession.  Nazgul understands this, and suffers the same symptoms as a number of you out there in the pursuit of all things Hugin.  So it's very welcome that we can add to our small family not only another maniac in the collecting field, but one with the professional skills to help us with our obsessions!  

Ladies and Gentlemen, today we welcome Thomas to the occasional series 'Followers of Honour and Darkness', complete with his eye-watering collection of Uruk Hai items!

(1) Welcome to Honour and Darkness: tell us your name?
My Name is Thomas Kahr

(2) And where do you live?
I live in Leoben, a city in the heart of Austria with 25,000 people. It’s 200km away from Hugin’s hometown of Linz.

(3) Your age?
27 years young!

(4) What do you do for a living?
I am a “male nurse” - I work in a hospital specialising in mental illness.  My department specialises in addictions (alcohol, drugs….)

(5) Your favourite style of music?
Depends on my mood, and is quite varied…

I first listened to Metal when I was 10, my sister played songs by Manowar and that’s how my story started. I bought my first metal record when I was 12 (Manowar´s “Triumph of Steel”).  Years later I came to the harder styles of Metal: I like Black Metal, sometimes Death Metal, Power Metal, some Hard Rock stuff, and later on Dark Ambient.  Also I like Classical music very much. Especially the Baroque Classic Style like Antonio Vivaldi et al (I recommend “The Four Seasons from Vivaldi”!!!)

Soundtracks are also great for Example: “Rambo”, Gladiator, Passion of the Christ, Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Apocalypto, Braveheart, Vangelis, Pathfinder…..too many to mention. Sometimes I also like Italian Pop music like Zuccero, Eros Ramazotti and I am also trying some Noise / Industrial stuff at the moment.

(6) Favourite other bands (non-Hugin)?
True Metal/Power Metal style:
Rhapsody/Luca Turilli, Blind Guardian (the old ones!!!), Manowar (until Triumph of Steel), Hammerfall (old ones), Dragonforce, Thy Majesty

Black Metal style:
Nargaroth, Dark Fortress, Nokturnal Mortum, Satanic Warmaster, Abigor, Kroda, Dimmu Borgir (old), Cradle of Filth (old), Burzum (old), Aeba (old), Mystic Circle (old), Darkened Nocturnal Slaughtercult, Enthroned, Belphegor, Graveland, Marduk, Summoning….and so on….

Hard Rock style:
Guns N’ Roses, Kiss, Alice Cooper

(7) How long have you been reading Honour and Darkness?
Umm … I have to guess: I think it is now 2-3 years. It was at a time when something like an official Uruk Hai Website exists, and I think there was a link. I’ve been a regular reader for a year and an extreme reader since the Metal Archives site for Uruk Hai was BLACK LISTED! (What a shame!!!)  I believe I’m not the only collector who was very frustrated when the Metal Archives Uruk Hai Page was deleted.

(8) How did you first come across Hugin's music?
The first contact with his music (and I didn’t know that this was Hugin) was the “Sterbegesänge” Tape from Elisabetha. It was 2005-2006. This was totally different and new at this time, and therefore it was very special, very atmospheric.

(9) You have an awesome collection of Uruk Hai releases: I'm guessing that this your favorite project amongst Hugin's many bands?
Yes, you are right, Uruk Hai is definitely my favorite of Alex’s bands.

I will do a list for a better report of my collection:

Tape collection
Tapes:
In Durins Halls (1999 WAR Prod)
In Durins Halls (2004 Eclipse of live Promulgation)
In Durins Halls (2008 Smell the stench)
Barbarians (Orcish battle Hymns Pt. 2)
Darkness
Darkness Pt. 2
Darkness Pt. 2 (with bonus track)
Dragons of War
Northern Lights
Elves and Men
Orchish Battle Hymns
Orcish Battle Hymns (Version 2010)
A Night in the Forest
Songs from the Woods (Eclipse of Live Promulgation)
Songs from the Woods (Depressive Illusions)
Spirits from the Ancient Worlds
Spirits from the Past
Long Forgotten Tales
Middle Earth Pt. 1
Gil Galad (Depressive Illusions)
Wrath of the Ring
Emyn Muil
Across the Misty Mountains
Morgoth
Balrog
War Poems
Ein Zeitzeichen von Lebenin
Die Festung
Elbenwald
Elbenmacht
Elbentraum
Lost Songs From Middle Earth
Lothlorien
Felagund
Lebensende Winter
Honour
The Battle/A Vikings Journey
After the War (Orcish battle Hymns Part 4)
A Dark Force Shines Golden
Tawantinsuyu (double Tape)
Black Blood, White Hand (unmastered first version from Wulfrune Worxx)
Black Blood, White Hand (Depressive Illusions)
Orc Funeral
Dagor Dagorath
Long Before the Creation
Northern Lights Pt. 2
A Vikings Journey
Orc
Quenta Silmarillion
Cirith Ungol
Battle Yells
Battle Magic

Split Tapes:
Uruk Hai/Symbiosis
Uruk Hai/Arkillery
Uruk Hai/Vinterriket (Nazgul/Landschaften ewiger Einsamkeit)
Uruk Hai/Vinterriket (The Uruk Hai/Nachschwarze Momente)
Uruk Hai/Valpurgi
Uruk Hai/Valar
Uruk Hai/Orcrist (Wulfrune Worxx)
Uruk Hai/Orcrist (W.A.R. Productions)
Uruk Hai/Wear and Tear
Uruk Hai/Hrefnesholt (Quenta Silmarillion Pt.1/Furchtelmandln)
Uruk Hai/Hrefnesholt (Quenta Silmarillion Pt.2/Dunklmoos)
Uruk Hai/Moloch/Luten/Ad Noctum (Khvorost)
Uruk Hai/Bestia (Under A White Hands Flag)
Uruk Hai/Bestia (Dragon War)
Uruk Hai/Hugin (Gil Galad/Bounded by Blood)
Uruk Hai/Abandoned (Valhall)
Uruk Hai/Hrossharsgrani (Valkyrian Romance/The Long Grey Road)
Uruk Hai/Errako/Morgvir/Nihiürbtrath
Uruk Hai/Hrossharsgrani/Elisabetha/B-Machina
Uruk Hai/Surt

CD collection
CD, CDr, 3 CDr:
Barbarians (Orcish battle Hymns Pt. 2) CD
Lothlorien CD
Lothlorien 4 x 3CDr
A Night in the Forest CD
Dragons of War CD
War Poems CD
Across the Misty Mountains CD
Quenta Silmarillion Cdr
Blutreich Cdr
EA Cdr
Cirith Ungol CD
Cirith Ungol A5 Digi
Northern Lights CD
Black Blood, White Hand CD
The Battle CD
Lost Songs From Middle Earth CD
In Durins Halls (Return to the Mines of Moria) CD
Emyn Muil CDr
Tawantinsuyu CD
Morgoth CDr
Balrog CDr
Upon the Elysian Fields 4x3CDr
Upon the Elysian Fields 2xCDr
Dagor Dagorath 3CDr
March to War 3CDr
Orc Funeral 3CDr
Long Before the Creation 3CDr

Splits:
Uruk Hai/Vinterriket ~2~ CD
Uruk Hai/Noldor CDr
Uruk Hai/Onyx CDr
Uruk Hai/Sieghetnar CD
Uruk Hai/Ancient Tongues CDr
Uruk Hai/Nebula VII CDr
Uruk Hai/Moloch 3CDr (Vereint durch die Kraft uralter Wälder)
Uruk Hai/Woodlands Edge (Land of the shadows)
Uruk Hai/Mhnunrrn

Box-set collection
Box Sets:
A Warriors Death
Smell the Stench From a Battlefield Without Honour
…And in the Darkness Bind Them
The Orcish Battle Hymns
Elbenlieder
Darkness
Cirith Ungol
Epic Part 1
Epic Part 2
Ancient Memories
In Durins Halls (Return to the Mines of Moria) Metal Box
Black Blood, White Hand
TRYBY 3CDr metal box
The Orcish Battle Hymns (tape box set)
Courage Is Found In Unlikely Places
Legacy of the Tyrant
Everlasting Sounds of Middle Earth
Tales of Glory and Mystery
Everlasting Wrath of the Tyrant

Vinyl:
Uruk Hai/Moloch Split LP “Iron Age”

Miscellaneous projects
Other projects 

Hrefnesholt:
Heidensturm tape
Wurzelmann tape
A Haund voi Dreck Cdr
Uraungst CD
Trostlos box-set

Hrossharsgrani:
Sanguis CD
Pro Liberate Dimicandum Est CD
Hrossharsgrani/Dead Mans Hill Split CD
Ancient Tales tape

Elisabetha:
Und Wirklichkeit Erfüllt die Seele Wieder Cd
Über das Prinzip der Unschuld CD
Sterbegesänge tape
Vampyr tape
Untodt tape
Blutrausch tape

Eismond:
Demo 1/2010 tape
Behind the moon we are looking… CD

Bonemachine:
Rehearsal 2002-2004 tape
Erste Rotation DoCD
Rotations Zwei CDr

Ceremony of Innocence:
Our Fire Burns Cdr

And the story continues … there is more stuff to come in the future!

(10) What was the first thing you bought that Hugin composed?
As I mentioned it was the Elisabetha “Sterbegesänge” tape, but the intensive collecting started afterwards. I guess this was 6 or 7 years ago, I listened a lot to Vinterriket at that time. Then my first demo was the Nazgul/Landschaften Ewiger Einsamkeit split tape. After some listening to this tape, I liked the music very much. And I contacted a label called Ravenheart Productions in Czech for an order including “A Night in the Forest”, “In Durins Halls (2004 Version)” and “Barbarians Orcish Battle Hymns Part II".

(11) What was the last thing you bought that Hugin composed?
Actual I received a package from France. I found a blog for collectors and it offers real pearls from Uruk Hai like “Battle Magic”, “Battle Yells” or Elisabetha’s “Blutrausch” and Hrossharsgrani’s “Ancient Tales”.

(12) What is your favourite release from Hugin's discography to date?I love Tawantinsuyu (I forgot it on my photos, it’s in my car!!!) because it's different theme for Uruk Hai, and there are so majestic compositions in it: one big beautiful song.

Also I love “A Night in the Forest”, “Upon the Elysian Fields” and “War Poems”

(13) What items/release(s) do you most treasure in your collection of Hugin's stuff?
I only have normal editions from albums, but I think a lot of them are really rare and some were very hard to find over the years. My own treasure is the “Upon The Elysian Fields” 3 CDr box,  and of course my favorite album Tawantinsuyu. I know you can find it very easily but I really love it, and I am proud to own a lot of limited box sets and items in smaller circulation around the globe.

I nearly have all Items from the TOP 10 Uruk Hai Items listed on Honour and Darkness and I’m proud of that.

(14) Are there any particular releases of Hugin’s that are you looking for?

I would like to fulfil my collection as every fanatic maniac wants to!

I'm searching for:

Tapes:
Middle Earth Parts 2, 3 and 4, In Durins Halls (Return to the Mines of Moria)

CDs/Cdr:
Über die Nebelberge weit, Gone With The Wind, Elbentanz, Uruk Hai/Arkillery split Cdr, Melancholie eines Herbstes in drei Akten Split Cdr

Box Sets:
Angband (The Metal Fortress), War Anthems, Gorgoroth

(15) Do you have a message for Hugin?
Go on with all your great work on different projects!

Your musical speediness sometimes scares me, sometimes makes me as a collector frustrated (in a positive way), and maybe do something again like Tawantinsuyu if you find the time! This would be great!

(16) What message do you have for your fellow readers of Honour & Darkness?
If you would like to please contact with me, maybe someone who reads this can help me to find my missing stuff!!!   metalium@gmx.at

Support Nazgul and the Honour and Darkness blog. It’s great to know such guy with this big loving passion for Hugins’ work!

Hails


Knowing that other people have such awesome collections of Hugin's music sparks a tiny glowing ember in the cold empty blackness of Nazgul's heart.  If you have anything to sell or trade that Thomas is looking for,or just feel the need to converse about all things Uruk Hai, then it is your solemn duty to contact him immediately! 
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A NIGHT IN THE FOREST - update

August 7, 2013, 12:01 pm
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Band:URUK HAI
Title: A Night In The Forest
Reason for update: The original artwork for this release is discovered!

Well strike me down with a passing hobbit!

This venerable Uruk Hai release was reviewed in detail back on 3 July 2009 and that was pretty much that: an excellent album, but one that has had little further to report on it over time.  And yet here we are - a little over 4 years later - with some exciting and never-before-seen pictures of not one but two proposals for the original artwork intended for the CD version of the album.

You'll notice that it's significantly different in theme to that used on the official version, but is nonetheless both striking and rather intriguing.  Exactly what shenanigans is going on in the classical illustration is left to the viewer's imagination: whether some dark and nefarious deal is in the process of being struck, or it's merely a meeting of friends in the heart of the forest is open to debate.  It's a splendid cover, come what may, and the fact that all of the other inlays had been completed to such a high standard suggests that this version must have been pretty close to being released before an eleventh hour change of heart.

So Nazgul did the decent thing to ask the man himself what the story was. Quoth the Hugin: "it was the first idea but I didn't like it because each page looks different, there is no concept behind it in my opinion. The final artwork is much better"


The second version is quite different again, with a more ethnic Viking feel to the cover.  Those swords have been used before Nazgul thinks, possibly on a Hrossharsgrani demo from years ago - the aged Ring-Wraith's memory is clearly fading - so let us consult with the Oracle once again:  "the image was used for Uruk-Hai but at first I created this cover for the 4th Hrossharsgrani album on CCP Records, which never happened ..."

And there we have it - the moral to today's post is that you never know what will come out of the woodwork, particularly when said woodwork is lining the deepest rooms in the W.A.R. archives!


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CIRITH UNGOL

August 10, 2013, 11:15 am
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Band:URUK HAI
Title: Cirith Ungol
Format: Many, and various!  The first pressing was as a CDr on Satanarsa Records (Russia) in 2010, which was followed by an extended version released on CD by Nordstrum Productions (Germany), cat ref NSP028, also in 2010.  This latter pressing came in three versions: a standard jewel case edition with black and white inlays and a second data-disc with album artwork; a limited A5 6-panel digipak (with patch); and a die-hard edition as in same format as the limited edition but adding a poster and fabric patch. There was also a vocal-less demo version released on cassette by Wulfrune Worxx (France), cat ref WW165, and in 2012 no less than 2 special box-sets were released on Fallen Angels Productions (South Korea): A 6CD set "The Whole Story" (FAP019) and then a much more limited edition "Tape vs. CD" (FAP019.2) that had fewer versions of the song on it but which also added a woven patch and packaged the CD discs in blu-ray cases.
Edition:Satanarsa edition was limited to 200 copies.  The Nordsturm standard edition is limited to 900 copies, their limited edition to 100 copies and the die-hard edition to just 7 copies.  The Wulfrune Worxx tape was limited to 77 hand-numbered copies. The Fallen Angel Productions "Whole Story" box-set was restricted to 25 numbered copies, whilst their "Tape vs. CDr" release was limited to a mere 9 copies.

Track Listing:
Satanarsa CD pressing
01. Cirith Ungol  57:00

Nordsturm CD - standard edition + data disc
01. Cirith Ungol  78:00

Nordsturm CD - limited A5 version
01. Cirith Ungol  78:00

Nordsturm CD - die-hard edition
01. Cirith Ungol 78:00

Wulfrune Worxx tape pressing (unique first take rehearsal June 2010)
01. Cirith Ungol  60:00

"Cirth Ungol - The Whole Story" box-set
CD1. Cirith Ungol  58:02 
(i) 1st take recording
(ii) 2nd take recording
(iii) Vox only (The Spider)
(iv) Vox only (Kill You)
(v) Vox only (Cirith Ungol)
(vi) Vox only (Eats You)
(vii) Vox only (catch You)
(viii) Edited Version    
CD2. Cirith Ungol (Rough Demo Mix)  51:09    
CD3. Cirith Ungol (Regular Edition)  57:26    
CD4. Cirith Ungol (Extended Edition)  01:07:18    
CD5. Cirith Ungol (Special Extended Edition)  01:18:30    
CD6. Cirith Ungol (Sturmklang Version)  57:26  

"Tape vs. CDr" box-set
Tape 1. Cirith Ungol 58:02
Tape 2. Cirith Ungol (Rough Demo Mix) 51:09
CD1. Cirith Ungol (Regular Edition) 57:26
CD2.  Cirith Ungol (Extended Edition) 67:18 

Satanarsa Records pressing

It's fair to say that if you've managed to emerge from the murky depths of keeping track of many versions of this release, you're doing quite well.  It surely holds the record thus far 'for most alternate versions of the same release to be issued', and given the past and recent history of re-issues of Hugin's work that's up against some pretty stiff competition!  A mini collection in its own right, there was clearly a Red Bull moment at W.A.R. Productions and associated labels when the energy to put this ensemble together occurred!  Hugin acknowledges that this is one of his personal favourites, which goes some way to explain the huge amount of versions of this one!

Nordsturm Standard Edition

Nazgul had been manfully (Wraithfully?) wrestling with the concept of how to intelligently distinguish between the original versions of this demo - there is, after all, limited value in reporting to you that one is nearly 20 minutes longer than the other, that some versions don't have vocals, and that there are more mixes that you can shake a stick at! - before the whole shooting match was thoroughly blown up by the arrival of the two Fallen Angels box-sets, with yet more versions of this mammoth track than you could shake a stick at.  And that's before you remember than an edited version of the piece had already been previewed on the Uruk Hai/Funeral Fornication split release. Hell's teeth, what's going on here?!

Objectively, of course, you would have to concede that a certain amount of madness must exist for anyone to actually acquire all the different versions of this release, let alone actually need every version of the song!  A quick shake of the Castle abacus reveals that you would comfortably spend well in excess of £100 to purchase all the different variations.  From a strictly sensible perspective the Fallen Angels "Whole Story" release would be the one to go for, as it beings together more versions than you might reasonably need to hear and sticks them in a nice box along with a few cards to admire whilst you're listening.  However, as this version is now sold out that might not be the most practical start, so Nazgul would recommend you pick up a copy of the widely available Nordstrum standard edition and see what all the fuss is about!

Wulfrune Worxx tape edition
Commercial songs live or die by their accessibility and ability to be listened to and remembered quickly, which is why Jona Lewie's 'Stop The Cavalry' will be in the Christmas charts again this year, and why 'Cirith Ungol' won't be.  It's just not that sort of a song: in fact, to call it a song at all is probably pushing it.  Really what Hugin has created here is an immersive experience, bringing you his interpretation of a murky part of Middle-Earth and asking you to join him on various treks around the neighbourhood, the length of which depends upon which version you care to play.  And like all lengthy journeys, some will enjoy the experience immensely and others will become bored and ask, "are we there yet?"

Cirith Ungol "The Whole Story"

Witness, for instance, this review of the Nordstrum version of the release found at the German website Voices From The Darkside, included in the spirit of fairness and constructive criticism (even though the reviewer is clearly a bog-sucking hobbit):

"I don't know what is worse, the overplayed Tolkien theme or the fact that ambient electronic albums induce yawning fits. That these two tiresome elements wed together on Uruk Hai's “Cirith Ungol” means boredom in the extreme. Uruk Hai is, as far as I can tell, a one-man band not unlike Drowning The Light and other 'bedroom' bands as they are sometimes referred to. Each year Uruk Hai releases multiple demos, EPs and albums, which in my view seems suspect. While it's certainly possible that each release might be good, the sheer number of them points to a quantity over quality work ethic. Indeed, "Cirith Ungol" has about as much artistic vision as a child’s chalk drawing on a block of pavement. The entire 78 minute song sounds like a cast out Skyrim soundtrack, mean to evoke lofty visions of knights on horseback and crenellated battlements wreathed in the mist of Middle Earth. 

All of which even the most casual Metal fan has heard in one form or another. Added to the absurdly long keyboards, harps, and whatnot, the vocals, which are about the only vaguely Metal thing about this album, couldn’t be more average. It's as if this band's entire modus operandi is to copy Summoning almost note for note, and make a bad copy at that. I can’t think of a single redemptive quality to this album. However, if you’re feeling generous, give this a listen at your own peril - after all, you might fall asleep, fall off your chair, and hit your head."

Suffice to say that the reviewer in question is probably not at the top of Hugin's Christmas card list this year.

Nordsturm Limited Edition A5 pressing

On a more upbeat note, however, there are far more positive responses to be found for "Cirith Ungol" across the web, including comments from the Nocturnal Cult webzine ('Cirith Ungol unites peaceful piano and warming horns while they hover above a battlefield of clanging steel and acidic black metal shrieks. The shrieks continue as insistent beats and crystalline xylophone chimes through the darkness') and Doomantia ('Musically it is blackened, ambient doomy stuff blended with neo-classical influences, it is bombastic yet kind of nerdy music and I say that with all due respect as I actually like most of it. Because of his incredible recording output, I have only heard a small part of what he has done but I can tell this is a huge step-up from what he was doing a few years ago. The production is much better, with more direction and dynamics, but it still an acquired taste. This is the kind of music you either love or hate or have to be in the mood for. No amount of review is truly going to tell the story here')

Nordsturm die-hard fan edition with poster and woven patch
The MetalSoundscapes site had some rather balanced coverage in their review of the Nordsturm version of the release too:

"It's really very difficult to count and name all Uruk-Hai releases and even more difficult to separate them in full-length, collections, EPs, etc. It's not only their huge number and limited releases, but there are also many versions of some songs, some re-used parts from older songs, many re-releases, etc. "Cirith Ungol" is not a new work, since it was released back in 2010 via Satanarsa Records in CDr, including one 57 minute song. Nordsturm Productions re-released it in 2012, including the extended 78:29 minutes version of the song. If you have never listened to Uruk-Hai before, then expect to listen to epic fantasy ambient music. 

In this album the band chooses to emphasise more on the dark atmosphere of Middle Earth and not on its majestic epic side. This ultra long song moves in a slow hypnotizing tempo and almost everything is played by synths. A few distorted guitars and some screaming vocals here and there interrupt the tranquility of the ambient music, adding even more to the atmosphere. Some wonderful melodic piano parts, few flutes and some other interesting instruments and sounds complete this different musical journey. There are also a few electronic elements and an almost jazz mood in some parts, fitting so perfectly with the music, that I wish he used them more! “Cirith Ungol” is a characteristic example of the more atmospheric long compositions of Uruk-Hai, but it's only a part of their music, since there are other albums with more and shorter songs, other with female vocals and many other elements that someone can explore…

Generally Uruk-Hai is a very interesting band, but its big enemy, after so many releases, is the unavoidable repetition. "Cirith Ungol" is a very good companion if you like reading fantasy books, or even better if you are into RPG games. Otherwise it’s very difficult to concentrate and stay interested in a 78 minutes slow ambient song, no matter how good the music is."

As ever, it's a question of personal taste.

Tape Vs. CDr box-set

At this juncture Nazgul realises that he's been rabbiting on without so much as a mention of what the title "Cirith Ungol" actually refers to.  Fear not, stout reader, for it is not a reference to the Californian heavy metal band of the 1970s but is instead an Elvish name from Lord of the Rings meaning "Pass of the Spider" (and is pronounced 'kirith ungol' should you need to ask for directions).  Let us explore further together:

The Pass of Cirith Ungol was cleft through the western mountains of Mordor, and was one of two entrances to that land from the West. The name is Sindarin for Spider's Cleft, or Pass of the Spider, presumably referring to the guardian of the pass, Shelob, the daughter of the ancient spider Ungoliant. In Mordor, the road from Cirith Ungol came down to join the Morgul Road and these routes were guarded by the Tower of Cirith Ungol, built by the Men of Gondor after the War of the Last Alliance, but occupied by Orcs at the time of the War of the Ring.  During the Quest of the Ring Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee were led to this pass by Gollum in order to get into Mordor.

Another stopping point on our ambient journey might be the Tower of Cirith Ungol, a watchtower located high in the Mountains of Shadow overlooking the pass. At the top of the pass was a cleft with two great horns of rock on either side. On the northern horn stood the Tower of Cirith Ungol, built up against the eastern face of the rock. The Tower of Cirith Ungol was made of black stone. It had three tiers, each set back from the next like steps. The sheer sides faced north-east and south-east and formed a bastion pointing eastward. At the top of the Tower was a round turret that could be seen above the pass.  And now you know what the album artwork is based upon.
 
A road ran down from the pass and skirted the Tower alongside a sheer precipice before turning southward to join the Morgul Road. The Tower of Cirith Ungol was surrounded by an outer wall that was 30 feet high. The sides of the wall were smooth. At the top was overhanging stonework that prevented anyone from climbing over it. The main gate was in the south-eastern side of the wall. It was guarded by the Two Watchers — hideous statues seated on thrones. Each Watcher had three joined bodies facing inward, outward, and toward the other.

Frodo came through the undergate to the Tower of Cirith Ungol and was imprisoned in the topmost chamber of the turret. Frodo was stripped and questioned mercilessly. Gorbag — an orc from Minas Morgul — coveted Frodo's mithril shirt and he fought Shagrat for it: the orcs of their two companies fought and killed one another until nearly all of them were dead. Sam came to the Tower of Cirith Ungol to rescue Frodo and after much buggering about entered the turret in search of him, but he could not find a way to the uppermost chamber until he saw an orc climb up through the trapdoor in the ceiling and saved the day.  Sam returned the Ring to Frodo and they escaped from the Tower disguised in orc armour and livery. They used the Phial of Galadriel to pass the Watchers, and the archway collapsed behind them.  As they fled, a winged Nazgûl descended from the sky and perched on the wall of the Tower of Cirith Ungol, now in charge.  

Quite right, too - bloody hobbits!
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GUTS FOR DINNER Demo 1 - update II

August 11, 2013, 4:11 pm
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Band: GUTS FOR DINNER
Title: Demo 1 / 2000
Format: Cassette tape re-release of this demo on the Wulfrune Worxx label (France) in 2013, cat ref WW404.  The inlay is a simple photocopied black and white paper inlay, with hand-numbered section (Nazgul's copy being #1)
Edition:33 hand-numbered copies
Reason for update: It's back....

Track Listing:
01. Butcher XTC  02:43
02. Let's Kill  02:26
03. Ballad of a Gore Angel  02:05
04. Torture  01:38
05. Holyday in Frostland  02:25
Bonus track
06. Death Fuck Armageddon 01:49
 
We've had a lot of Uruk Hai on Honour and Darkness recently (and that's no bad thing), but as Monty Python famously said, "...and now for something completely different"!

And you don't get much more different than this particular side-project!  Much like Freddy or Jason, it's back and it's out for blood!  The most foul and depraved of demos, guaranteed to stunt the growth of young children and kill your lawn at one and the same time.  An atrocity so heinous that even midget-tossing Phil Knight of Odium Records would baulk at the prospect of playing it.  Yes, Guts For Dinner has returned, fuelled by a limited edition tape re-release of the infamous one-off demo, courtesy of Skogen, the mastermind behind Wulfrune Worxx.

If you missed it on the fleeting occasions that it has appeared before - and you may well have done, as only the CDr split release "Gore vs. War" had any sort of meaningful distribution (via Smell The Stench, and even that proved pretty hard to come by) - then this could be a golden opportunity to lay your sticky mitts on what surely is the most improbable demo ever recorded by Hugin, even allowing for the existence of Hrossharsgrani's "House Of The Rising Sun"!

It's the sort of release that will attract both the mentally challenged and the genuinely curious, and holds a strange sort of fascination in much the same hypnotic way that watching the blades on a blender does when you idly think to yourself, "Gosh, I wonder what would happen if I put my fingers in there....?!"  

In the 1930's, the Hungarian song "Gloomy Sunday" gained worldwide notoriety due to its alleged connection to 18 suicides in Budapest, and quickly became known as the 'suicide song' due to the extreme reactions it allegedly prompted in some of its listeners.  There's been no modern day equivalent of this (although the Cheeky Girls have come close on one or two occasions) so perhaps the time is now right for Guts For Dinner to assume the mantle of "song most likely to kill its listener" and take steps to infiltrate social media sites with insidious recordings of songs from this demo, as an early step towards subjugating the population?

There remain many unanswered questions arising in respect of this recording:  Would Hugin ever release anything remotely like it again?  Why would Wulfrune Worxx re-issue 33 copies of the demo, and on antiquated cassette tape format to boot?  Does anyone know what a gore angel actually is?  Why is there no entry on Metal Archives for Guts For Dinner?  And how on God's green earth has Nazgul ended up with no less than 4 different versions of the blessed thing?!  

Invoking a bizarre metaphor, if "Demo 1 / 2000" were a fruit, it would be a durian - the so-called 'king of fruits' whose edible flesh emits a distinctive odour that is strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact. Some people regard the durian as pleasantly fragrant; others find the aroma overpowering and revolting. The smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust, and has been described variously as almonds, rotten onions, turpentine, raw sewage and rotting flesh. So persistent is its odour that the fruit has been banished from many hotels and all public transportation in south-east Asia.  

Essential for the completist, and mandatory for anyone with an overwhelming urge to pulverise and eat the brains of their neighbours, this little tape has everything you need to bolster your collection of rarities.  Nazgul just wishes Skogen had remembered to put a health warning on the outside of the case...

The Guts For Dinner 'family' together at last...
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BLUTIGES VERMACHTNIS

August 12, 2013, 9:53 am
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Band: ELISABETHA
Title: Blutiges Vermächtnis ("Bloody Legacy")

#1: From the Vaults of W.A.R.

You'd think that having run this Blog for the past 4 years and more, Nazgul would have a pretty good handle on Hugin's releases by now.  After all, with some considerable effort Nazgul, has gathered together a substantial collection of all of Hugin's recorded output and housed it within the library of Castle Nazgul for posterity.  

And yet ... Nazgul has seen frankly shocking things recently.  Shocking in the sense of wonderous, awesome, unbelievable things.  Shocking in the sense of hints of what might have been, of lost opportunities and distant plans left unfulfilled.  If this was the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game my SAN would now be drained to zero and the padded cell would be a welcome release.

You see, dear reader, Hugin has thrown open the vaults of W.A.R. Productions for a brief glimpse into his past, and the results have shattered poor Nazgul's feeble mind.  Like looking upon the face of Great Cthulhu himself, or striding into the open gates of Hell, nothing could have prepared Nazgul for what was to come spewing out of the primal ooze that festers beneath the legendary W.A.R. vaults.  Think of those films that you've seen where the camera pans suddenly away from the close action - a hero battling an alien invader, perhaps - and focuses upon something in the near distance that forces you to appreciate the enormity of what is to come: a plague of aliens teeming from a spaceship or underground base in unfathomable numbers; an outpouring of such an immense scale that you go weak at the knees with the sheer magnitude of it all.  

Well that feeling, dear reader, is just a hint of how Nazgul felt after being assailed by the chill wind of history that emanated from the darkest depths of the ancient vaults of W.A.R.

Welcome to the first in an ongoing new series called - imaginatively enough - From the Vaults of W.A.R. - where some amazing relics of times gone by will be revealed for the first ever time for your enjoyment.  Essentially, what you will find in this series is an array of artwork for proposed but never released releases, demos, split albums, 7" singles et al from virtually all of Hugin's projects: encompassing Uruk Hai, Elisabetha, Hrefnesholt, Hrossharsgrani, Bonemachine, Heimatleid ... and even the little matter of another previously unknown band that never saw the light of day!

Now, your Uncle Nazgul going to be nice and gentle with you and introduce you to each of these important historical items one at a time, for fear of otherwise sending you running off into the night gibbering and foaming at the mouth.

So let's take a brief look at today's debut offering: a never released Elisabetha tape demo called "Blutiges Vermächtnis" from circa 2003.

No songs are listed on the inlay, though in truth they were planned to have been the same ones that eventually surfaced on the 13 track tape demo "Nosferat" of 2003.  The inlay details that the songs were recorded and mixed in the W.A.R. Studio by Blutgraf and Hollenfurst between 2001-2003, and their portraits duly appear on the cover.

The cover picture is a little hard to make out - it looks most likely to be some form of ancient grimoire or book cover, but if it were in fact something else entirely then Nazgul wouldn't be entirely surprised!

One must assume that the preference in W.A.R. was to release the demo through Smell The Stench, with the support of that esteemed underground label behind it.  Whatever the reason, this artwork never made it onto a final commercially released tape and is therefore revealed for your entertainment for the first time on Honour and Darkness.

And on that theme, you should see what other incredible goodies Nazgul has lined up for you over the months to come!

A Bloody Legacy indeed....



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WIZARD OF THE LOST KINGDOM

August 13, 2013, 9:53 am
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Band:URUK HAI
Title: Wizard Of The Lost Kingdom

#2: From the Vaults of W.A.R.

So to the second part of the newly instigated series here on Honour and Darkness, retrieving all manner of interesting bits and pieces from the shadowy vaults of Hugin's W.A.R. Productions archives.

Tonight's item is a never-before seen cover for a proposed Uruk Hai demo, rejoicing under the title "Wizard Of The Lost Kingdom".

The image may well be familiar to you, and if not then let Nazgul jog your memory: it was used as the cover of the "Elbenmacht" CDr demo that featured in the Blog on 25 April 2009, which you may recall was itself a one-off release for Nazgul based on a previously unreleased album.  So "Wizards Of The Lost Kingdom" is essentially the lost precursor for the lost album that was finally given an official tape release through Wulfrune Worxx in 2009 (and the post of 17 November 2009 will cover that for you)!

Personally, Nazgul thinks the blue hue of this version suits the piece better, with the impression being given of a solitary figure striding through bleak and snowy landscapes (presumably high up in the Misty Mountains) whilst on their way to perform some epic and heroic quest, such as sorting out Hugin's archives!

Proposed songs for this demo would have been the same as used on Elbenmacht, namely:

01. Intro 00:42
02. Lebenin 09:26
03. Elbenmacht 00:45
04. The Plague 07:11
05. Uruk Hai (part III) 00:34
06. Long Before I Die 03:35
07. Growth Of A Black Flower 02:49
08. Pagan Spirit 01:37
09. Dragonfire (demo version) 10:06

although of course given Hugin's endearing habit of adding bonus material or remixed versions who knows what the actual final running order might have looked like.

Nazgul's thirst for trivia leads him to identify only one other metal release that shared the same name as this: German band Mania's speed metal classic from 1988; a 7 song EP that bears absolutely nothing in common with Uruk Hai's musical output!

Once again feast your eyes upon what might have been, and then cast them down below for a picture of what was...

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URUK HAI / ONYX split release

August 16, 2013, 11:55 am
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Band:URUK HAI
Title: Uruk Hai / Onyx split
Format: Both a CDr and cassette tape version exists of this release.  The CDr pressing was released by the Depressive Illusions label on 26 July 2013, cat ref cut1117, and comes in a DVD-sized box with full colour covers.  The tape pressing was released on the Wulfrune Worxx label in the same year, cat ref WW434, and has a black and white pro-printed inlay.  Both versions contain the same songs but have different artwork.
Edition: The CDr pressing is limited to 33 unnumbered copies, and the tape version is limited to 66 hand-numbered copies.

Track Listing:
Uruk Hai
01. The Return Of The Fallen Warriors
02. Magical Touch
03. Grey Elves
04. Mardil - The Faithful
Onyx
05. Castle Courtyard  
06. Castle Garden  
07. Castle Corridors  
08. Castle Library  
09. Castle Dungeon  

Whispers echoing in the hallowed halls of W.A.R. Productions give a strong indication that the forthcoming Uruk Hai album "And All The Magic And Might He Brought" will be a distinctly more 'metal' album than heard from this project in the past few years.  Such a prospect will doubtless delight and alarm the existing fan-base in equal numbers, but until that album is unveiled and digested this split release with American band Onyx positions Uruk Hai squarely in the instrumental and epic vein redolent of massive past works such as "Darkness" or "Cirith Ungol".  The difference here is that rather than one long track being the heart of the recording, we have four smaller songs to enjoy in a purely instrumental capacity.  'Tis like a return to the days of "Honour" and demos of that ilk, thinks Nazgul, and the world is a better place for it.

Rooted deep in the heart of Tolkien's Middle-Earth as you might expect, the four tracks take their inspiration from elements of the great author's work.  Tolkien's works are littered with fallen warriors, of course, so you could take the opening track to be a tribute to pretty much anyone you choose to, so let Nazgul propose that it's mournful tune pays homage to that returning army of the dead, the Dead Men of Dunharrow.  Regulars at Nazgul's local pub they are, so a much deserved shout goes out to the boys.  

'Magical Touch' is thankfully nothing to do with the similarly named Aerosmith song, but is instead another keyboard-led paen to magical deeds within Middle-Earth.  Nazgul, being on such a roll in making things up as he goes along, has arbitrarily decided to dedicate this song to the mysterious Palantír: a magical artifact that functions somewhat like a crystal ball.  When one looks into a palantír, one can communicate with other such stones and anyone who might be looking into them; beings of great power can manipulate the stones to see virtually any part of the world. They were made by the Elves of Valinor, you know.... 


Third song "Grey Elves" is self-explanatory, being an ode to the most noble of the Elven race, whilst closing track 'Mardil - The Faithful' is pretty specific and therefore not subject to Nazgul's increasingly bizarre flights of fanciful interpretation: Mardil 'the Faithful' was the first Ruling Steward of Gondor during the last part of the reign of King Eärnil II and throughout the reign of his son, Eärnur. Mardil had the difficult task of restraining Eärnur's urge to fight me, errr, that is the Lord of the Nazgul, the Witch-king of Angmar, the chief of the Ringwraiths, who accused Eärnur after the Battle of Fornost of being afraid to fight him. 

The King of Minas Morgul (another of my many titles, one can't turn around nowadays without knocking up against another title) reminded Eärnur of this and challenged him at the start of his reign. Although Eärnur wanted to fight the King of Morgul he was restrained with difficulty by Mardil.  But when the King of Morgul issued a second challenge Eärnur would not be restrained. He marched to Minas Morgul and was never seen again (Nazgul kicked his arse).

Eärnur had never married and had no children, so Mardil took it upon himself to rule Gondor. There was no one with a clear and unassailable claim to the throne, so the rule of the Stewards was a way of averting civil war. Because the fate of the King was then unknown, Mardil made an oath to rule until "the King returns".  However, it was soon learned that Eärnur had met certain death at Minas Morgul (Ha! Nazgul told you, I kicked his arse), and upon Mardil's death his son Eradan succeeded him as the second Ruling Steward of Gondor.

The musical journey created by Hugin on these four songs is both whimsical and transcendent, literally dragging you into legendary realms of epic battle and sweeping landscapes.  Just behave yourself whilst you're there, or Nazgul will come and kick your arse too!


And now to the Onyx side of this split.  There are some dark ambient gems amongst the songs on this album, with the added bonus of ancient sounding instrumentation to give an authentic feel of days gone by (Nazgul is sure he heard a harpsichord somewhere in the mix!)  For a new band there is definitely promise amongst these songs, and this will be a project well worth keeping a beady eye on in the years to come.

Clearly anyone whose songs reference castles to such an extent must either be (i) medieval in the extreme, (ii) intent on pushing Castle Nazgul as the tourist attraction to visit in 2013, or (iii)  crazy like a fox!  In order to understand where Onyx sits in all of this, Nazgul mobilised the beacon atop the battlements of Castle Nazgul in order to facilitate a short exchange with the man behind the project.

Q1: Hails, Onyx!  Can you tell us a bit about yourself, and where you are based?
Hi Nazgul, I am from the state of Maryland in the United States. I don't have much to say about myself I'm afraid, but I can tell you my first name is Elliott, if that's of any interest.

Q2: Can you tell us about the philosophy behind Onyx, and from where the name "Ceyatatar" derives [mentioned in the credits on the album cover]?
Onyx just seemed like a cool name for a project. But the primary musical theme is a fantasy world I've created. I'm an enormous Tolkien fan but I felt that I would leave that theme to the masters (in my opinion) of the genre. But it draws influence from the fantasy worlds of the video game/book series "Baldur's Gate", "Icewind Dale" and Bethesda Softwork's "The Elder Scrolls" series. I'm glad you have asked this question as I've yet to speak about what Onyx is and as I said it is a fantasy world but it is one that is left to ultimate interpretation as it is completely devoid of life. Granted this may not let the listener completely relate to how I see it but this is meant to be that you are the only person discovering this strange land for the first time in many years and it is yours alone to explore. The name Ceyatatar is borrowed from The Elder Scrolls series of one of their fictional languages called the Ayleid language (similar to the Elvish language from Tolkien's world) which translates to "Shadow of the Fatherwoods".
 
Q3: How would you describe your music in general, and in particular the tracks on this split release?
I would describe this music as dark ambient/neo-classical with many keyboard sounds and melodies but also I try to make this music have a lot of atmosphere as there is only so much I can accomplish on melody alone. The tracks on the split release are done in the same style as the first full length I have released which is a keyboard heavy with melody sound.

Q4: A theme involving a Castle clearly runs throughout the recording - does this represent a concept piece of any sort, or a homage to a place you know?
The castle theme is only coincidental in relation to Castle Nazgul :o) this is about a center piece of the Onyx fantasy world which is a rather large castle completely abandoned by people/life. I wanted to supplement the theme on the first full-length and speak (well speak musically) more about the castle that was referenced and try and breathe some more life into it.
 
Q5: For those who have not yet heard Onyx, can you give us some comparisons to bands or songs that you have been influenced by?
Yes, I am heavily influenced by Uruk-Hai and as such that is the best comparison I can make. But I also can say that you will find that Onyx sounds a bit like Ringbearer from Canada. I also am very much influenced by the ambient tracks that you will hear dotted through out Burzum's discography.
 
Q6: How did this split release come about?  Were the Depressive Illusion and Wulfrune Worxx labels working with you already?
This split came about after contacting Hugin regarding buying some Uruk-Hai material, haha. But I spoke to him about seeing if he had any interest in doing a split with a different project. This was of course the first time I spoke to Hugin so I was a bit starstruck haha but primarily it was out of respect for Hugin. So later on I asked if he wanted to do a split with Onyx and it seemed like a great idea and so we decided to compose the material. I had not worked with the Depressive Illusions label before but I am very glad to say that I have worked with them now. I had worked with Wulfrune Worxx before briefly to release the first full length tape from Onyx. And both are very pleasant and easy to reach labels that I recommend people attempt to work with in the future.

Q7: Are you familiar with Hugin's music, and if so do you have a favourite band of his or song that he has recorded?
Oh yes, I have been a big fan of Uruk-Hai for many years and I recently have been able to discover one of his new projects called Eismond and both are my personal favourites but I also really enjoy his material with Hrossharsgrani. Frankly anything Hugin has done is excellent and has influenced me to make my own material.

Q8: Clearly both releasing a split with Uruk Hai and featuring in Honour & Darkness puts you well on the way to success!! What will 2013 see from Onyx and any other projects you are involved in?
Thanks very much!  2013 has one split in the works which I can say I am pleased to be doing a split with Ringbearer and that should be available by the end of the year.  As for 2014 then I cannot say as that's quite a way away now.
 
Q9: Do you have any thoughts for Hugin that you'd like to say on Honour and Darkness?
Sure, Hugin, thanks again for all your assistance. I wouldn't be able to be doing any of this without your help my friend.
 
Q10: ...And any thoughts for the readers of Honour and Darkness?
Please continue to read this blog for all the great information on the work of Hugin and to hear about the best and latest in great music.

Q11: Where should readers look online to learn more about your band and buy your music?
The two best sources are the official Facebook page (Facebook.com/onyxambient123) and the Bandcamp page where you can download for name your price the entire Onyx discography. I'll also make it a point to talk about where you can purchase physical copies and upcoming releases.

Thanks for your time, Ceyatatar!
Thanks for the interest, Nazgul. Have a good day!


Depressive Illusions are still advertising this split release as available in CDr format from their site, so if your interest has been suitably piqued then check out their shop and tell them that Nazgul sent you...
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THE FORCE...

August 26, 2013, 4:19 am
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Band:BONEMACHINE
Title: The Force...

#3: From the Vaults of W.A.R.

The recent gap in Blog transmissions was the result of Nazgul taking a much needed holiday away from the Castle and going back to his ancient Celtic roots.  A lovely destination, but most assuredly not a galaxy far, far away ... which is where this long-lost Bonemachine tape demo originates.

Originally conceived to be a cassette release in its own right, this particular set of songs was later to resurface in two different places: 'The Force' and 'Metamorphose' appear on the excellent Smell The Stench compilation CDr "The First Evil Spell", whilst the "Coldashell" song made an appearance on the split CD with Rei Rea

Both of these releases were covered in the early days of Honour and Darkness, and and long time ago they seem now!

The cover of the proposed artwork sees an appearance by Darth Vader; although it's not on this proposed demo, Bonemachine did of course release a track called 'Darth Vader' as part of the online "Extraterrestrial Death" free release, also through Smell The Stench, which gives us a handy time-frame on which to base the likely anticipated release of this tape, although the date of April 2006 given on the inlay is a pretty big clue too!

Also appearing on the inlay is Bonemachine-maestro Hugin, although given the visual effect applied to his face it looks like an accident with a transporter beam has rather spoiled his day..!
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HARBINGERS OF STORM

August 29, 2013, 9:15 am
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Band:Burevestnik 
Title: Harbingers Of Storm
Format: CDR released on the Depressive Illusions label (Ukraine) in 2013 in a standard-size jewel case, with colour inserts, cat ref cut667.  This is a Russian band, but included in Honour and Darkness courtesy of track one being an intro by Hugin's Uruk Hai project.
Edition:500 unnumbered copies

Track Listing:
01. Intro [Uruk Hai]  03:02    
02. Последний день  (last day)  05:11    
03. Вечная битва  (the eternal battle)  06:49    
04. Буревестник  (petrel)  05:11    
05. Не находя покоя  (not finding peace)  06:16    
06. Север  (north)  04:44    
07. Единство братства  (the unity of brotherhood)  05:01    
08. Оutro (Рождество в окопе)  (Christmas in the trenches)  03:51  

Something more unusual to finish off the month of August here on Honour and Darkness - a seemingly random Russian black metal release, but cunningly featuring an introduction by Hugin's enduring project: Uruk Hai.

We've seen this sort of contribution before - Hugin has popped up on all manner of other band's releases with the odd (and occasionally literally 'odd') intro or outro track, normally a short keyboard-led piece designed to give a little atmosphere to an album, and/or offer the rub of support from one well-known artist in the genre to another.  Examples of this are rife across Honour and Darkness, and encompass bands such as Nachtfalke, Hugin Munin, Orcrist, and Dark Domination to name but four.

Well, here's another one, working with a new and relatively obscure Russian band named Burevestnik [Буревестник in the original Cyrillic].  Reliant on Google translation as Nazgul is, it would appear that the band name literally translates as Petrel, which ... is a sea-bird!  Assuming this translation is correct, the bird's name derives from the Latin name for Saint Peter, and refers to the habits of certain species to hover just above the ocean waves, with their feet barely touching the water, thus giving an appearance of walking on water, as St. Peter is said to have done.  It may be a bizarre coincidence, or may be absolutely relevant, but there is a genus of the species called a Storm Petrel, which given the album title seems highly appropriate!  

It does sound like an improbable name for a band though, and it's a truism to note that bird names are not exactly common currency as Black Metal band nomenclature.  Whilst it remains possible that the next corpse painted horde to cross Nazgul's radar may rejoice under the name of Chaffinch, he's not putting money on it...

Although our main interest here is the Uruk Hai contribution, we can't very well ignore the main protagonist.  Burevestnik hail from the Russian town of Ekaterinburg. As you will doubtless know, this is the fourth-largest city in Russia, located in the middle of the continent, on the border of Europe and Asia, and is home to about 1.3m people.  Perhaps most infamously, it is the city in which Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their children Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatyana, Maria, Anastasia, and Tsarevich Alexey were murdered by the Bolsheviks at the Ipatiev House after the October Revolution, on July 17, 1918.  

In its other dubious claim to fame, there was an Anthrax outbreak in the city in April and May 1979, which was attributed by many to a release from the Sverdlovsk-19 military facility but in actual fact was the spearhead of a thrash metal insurgency into Russia led by Scott Ian.

According to their label, Burevestnik play 'Depressive Militant Black Metal' in the vein of Trist and Wedard, and it's fair to say after your first listen to these tracks that they are unlikely to be selected as background music for television commercials anytime soon.  That said, Nazgul found the material to be very listenable and the inclusion of some acoustic instrumentals and varied song structures actually gave the album quite a punch, particularly effective in fifth song 'Not Finding Peace'.  Their album has scored an average rating of 2.47 out of 5 from the users of rateyourmusic.com so can't be all bad, as they say.

The two big questions remaining at this juncture are therefore these: (i) How did this collaborative relationship come about, and (ii) does the Uruk Hai track fit into the general mournful blackness, or is it one of Hugin's more uplifting tinkle on the ivories?

Nazgul approached Hugin in regard to the first point, and Hugin's comment summed up the situation nicely: "that guy [A. Bandera] first wanted me to play keyboard in his band; I told him I did not have the time to be in another band and I offered that I could do an intro for him if he wanted and he was very happy about this idea.  That's the way it happened :-)"

Well, that clears that one up.

And as for the 3 minute introduction, it's rather a sombre affair and sets an interesting mood of apprehension: if this track were playing as the background music in a film it would be odds on that someone was imminently about to get the chop!  An opening burst of thundery noise, followed by pervasive elements of an industrial nature (as in hell's kitchen, rather than the Genre per se), is then chased with a mixture of ambient sounds, peculiar rumblings and snippets of a gloomy violin.  All entwined together it works nicely, and if this isn't itself a harbinger of storm then Nazgul doesn't know what is!

Not - as far as Nazgul can see - appearing anywhere else in the Uruk Hai catalogue, this release is currently the only place to hear the song so for collectors this becomes a must-have release to find!

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ZALGIRIO MUSIS

September 2, 2013, 3:26 pm
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Band:RAVENCLAW
Title: Zalgirio Musis
Format: The cover from a proposed but ultimately unreleased cassette release of this set of songs from 2003, which ended up as half of a split album with Svarrogh.

#4: From the Vaults of W.A.R.

Our opening post for August contained the sad news of the passing of Ruslanas Danisevskis, Hugin's fellow brother-in-arms in the project Ravenclaw.  So let us begin September with a tribute to our fallen comrade with another item drawn from the sepulchral vaults of W.A.R. - a Ravenclaw release that never quite came to be, at least in this format.

Stardate - 2003:  Ruslanas and Hugin have recorded the 6 songs that would rejoice under the title of "Zalgirio Musis", which from the Lithuanian translates as 'Battle of Grunwald'. This momentous event was fought on 15 July 1410, during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The battle was one of the largest battles in Medieval Europe and is regarded as the most important victory in the history of Poland, Belarus and Lithuania.  It was surrounded by romantic legends and nationalistic propaganda, becoming a larger symbol of struggle against invaders and a source of national pride.

We've come across this Ravenclaw release before, of course, but as part of a split album rather than a demo in its own right, covered in Honour and Darkness on 1 May 2009.  It was formally released on Ruslanas' own Atlantida Productions label in 2003 as "Baxas Xebesheth 1883 / Zalgirio Musis", a combined work between Ravenclaw and Bulgarian band Svarrogh.

We've also come across this artwork before too, although not in quite the same colours as those on the proposed Ravenclaw release:  Step forward Uruk Hai's "Battle Yells" best-of tape for that claim to fame.

It would have been a great demo tape had it come out in this format, but like many of these lost treasures from the W.A.R. archives subsequent events overtook Plan A and led to an alternative reality - there's probably entire parallel universes out there a la the series Fringe, in which the old Hugin demos exist in that time and space whilst his actual releases from our timeframe don't.  Hmmm, there would have to be an alternate Honour and Darkness blog too, with an alternate Nazgul in charge.  Or maybe more than one other ... hell's teeth, that's a scary thought!

Ruslanas helped to create a lasting body of work, not least with perhaps his most successful and well known undertaking Folkearth, yet these early demos are still worthy of acknowledgement and attention.  Raise your flagons high this evening in memory of one of the fallen, taken before his time but not to be forgotten....
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The Top 10 most popular posts on Honour & Darkness...

September 5, 2013, 9:52 am
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The thought initially crossed Nazgul's mind one sunny afternoon as he was dredging the moat for the corpses of dead hobbits (well, they do cause a stink if left in there to rot):  "I wonder," thought Nazgul, "what the most popular post has ever been on Honour and Darkness?  Which one had had most visits and can therefore be crowned as the post of choice for my discerning readership?"

Armed with statistics drawn from the web-site as at today's date, Nazgul sat down to answer that very question, and the results below may just surprise you as they did him.  

Nazgul's thinking was that the most read posts would probably be covered by some 'obvious' criteria:
(1) the older the post, the more times it would have been accessed and read;
(2) the more popular projects (Uruk Hai) would have been looked at more times than less popular ones (WACH, for example); and
(3) reviews of the 'bigger' releases (e.g. box-sets) would be more widely read than more modest releases (e.g. those on tape, for example).

So: with all that in mind and other criteria of your own no doubt, what would you consider to be the particular post to have been most read?  The end result was unexpected not least because the winning post not only had more views than the rest of the top ten added together, but was almost 10 times as popular as the post in second place!  The plot thickens, the mystery deepens, and in traditional reverse order here are the Top Ten most read posts in Honour and Darkness history:

10.Nazgul's Top 10 Uruk Hai rarities
Posted: 19 August 2010
Views: 354

One of the least surprising entries in the list, the interest in Uruk Hai material is always high and never more so when it involves the most rare items.  This list is now likely to be in need of an update, given the time elapsed since Nazgul's original post and the discovery of various of these items by other collectors.  "Battle Magic", for example, may now not be the hardest item to find as two have come to light since this post was published, and a number of copies of "Land Of The Shadow" seem to have been discovered, whereas the metal box version of "Angband" remains unobtainable.  Hmmm ... this may require Nazgul to do a little work....

9.Nargothrond [Uruk Hai]
Posted: 8 December 2011
Views: 363

It's a good demo and an interesting item for collectors, but 9th on the all time read posts list? Gadzooks!

8. Of Ravens, Battle & Fire - vinyl update [Hrossharsgrani]
Posted: 12 August 2011
Views: 461

A little more detail on proposed artwork for this release, and it positively rockets up the ranking order leaving the original post covering the vinyl itself trailing in its wake.  What a strange bunch you all are...!

7.After The War (Orcish Battle Hymns Part IV) [Uruk Hai]
Posted: 6 November 2010
Views: 463

As with "Nargothrond", another modest and unassuming Uruk Hai tape demo attains unexpected popularity.  Can Nazgul explain this - no he cannot.  Is Nazgul pleased - yes he is.

6.Morogth [Uruk Hai]
Posted: 2 July 2010
Views: 518

We seem to have said something similar before: as with "Nargothrond" and now "After The War..." another modest and unassuming Uruk Hai tape demo attains an unfeasibly high popularity?  Answers on a postcard to ...

5.In Memory Of Miguel Serrano [V/A, feat. Bonemachine]
Posted: 23 February 2010
Views: 659

Perhaps there was a general belief that someone connected to one of Hugin's projects called Miguel Serrano had actually died?  There's no other likely reason for this relatively obscure Russian compilation CD to score so many hits, even allowing for the presence of the ever-conquering Bonemachine on the playlist.  Still, it's nice that one of Hugin's less well known projects can break into the list of the top ten most viewed posts, however it happened!

4. Followers of Honour and Darkness #1
Posted: 3 January 2010
Views: 664

Testament to trying something new, perhaps, this originating post in the 'Followers...' series clearly was of interest to readers, and has been followed by a number of successful instalments over the years.
 
3. Oak Folk [V/A, feat. Hrefnesholt]
Posted: 4 March 2011
Views: 975

Nazgul suspects the popularity of this post may have been triggered by the presence on the compilation of more widely acclaimed bands such as Agalloch, and people searching for reviews of this album online with those bands in mind.  After all, it seems improbable that a relatively obscure Hrefnesholt song would have garnered such interest all by itself, but for a Hrefnesholt post to reach the heady heights of 3rd most popular post is good news indeed!

2.An Interview With Nazgul
Posted: 21 December 2010
Views: 2474

How gratifying to learn that the lengthy interview him the Witch-King of Angmar himself proved so popular with the ravening hordes.  Most likely retaining interest because of the photographs of the collection to date, rather than because of Nazgul's ramblings, it was a fun item to do and to post all the same.

1.Balrog  [Uruk Hai] 
Posted: 17 December 2010
Views: 23,749

And so "Balrog" is the king of the Castle, and by a colossal margin!  Nearly 10 times as popular as the next most read post, and probably with more viewed hits than the majority of the rest of the Blog combined!  "What gives", you cry?  Well, frankly, Nazgul has no idea!  The suspicion is that the hits must be associated more with generic searches for 'balrog' on Google in light of the Lord of the Rings films than anything to do with this particular demo, but you never know.  Not at all the post that Nazgul expected to see sitting atop Hírilorn in Forest of Neldoreth, but there you are.


In the interests of balance, there's always the other side of the coin to consider, of course.  Amongst all of the most visited posts reside a hardcore of unloved and little read Blog entries, those meagre scratchings from Nazgul's virtual quill that are almost entirely unread.  Perhaps the list of the 5 least read posts might encourage you to revisit the early days of Honour and Darkness and give some of these original posts some much needed attention....?

Again in reverse order, with 1st place having the dubious distinction of being the least read, the results are:

5.Apocalyptic Streams [V/A, feat. WACH]
Posted: 23 April 2009
Views: 8

=4. Schwarzes Jerusalem [Bonemachine]
Posted: 7 April 2009
Views: 7

=4.Wolf [Hrefnesholt]
Posted 11 June 2009
Views: 7

2.Nachtmarfahrten [Elisabetha]
Posted: 11 June 2009
Views: 4

1.Ancient Battles t-shirt [Uruk Hai]
Posted: 3 July 2009
Views: 3

So Uruk Hai has the dubious distinction of being atop of both lists!?  This time next year, who knows what might be king of the hill....!
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DYNASTY

September 10, 2013, 7:58 am
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Band:URUK HAI
Title: Dynasty
Format: An unreleased concept album

#5: From the Vaults of W.A.R.

A brief entry today, but one of interest nonetheless.  The cover you see above was for a planned concept release that Hugin had in mind for Uruk Hai, involving the history of the samurai (and not - thankfully - the Carrington family of Denver...!)  The idea had come to him after the release of another themed album, that being "Tawantinsuyu" from 2006, but sadly the project never developed beyond the proposed cover artwork.

Although not greatly advanced, the core of the idea was to cover the history of the samurai from the beginning until the early 1900s.  Hugin notes that whilst this may not now appear as an Uruk Hai project, the idea is still on the back-burner, possibly for another project....

Nazgul's knowledge of the samurai is fairly limited: Samurai were essentially the military nobility of medieval and early-modern Japan, and the word was closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class. While the samurai numbered less than 10% of Japan's population, their teachings can still be found today in both everyday life and in modern Japanese martial arts.  Samurai warriors described themselves as followers of "The Way of the Warrior" or Bushidō, defined as "a unique philosophy that spread through the warrior class from the Muromachi period. From the earliest times, the samurai felt that the path of the warrior was one of honour, emphasising duty to one's master, and loyalty unto death".

One of the more interesting facts about the samurai was that it took until 1873 to abolish the law enabling them to execute any commoner who had shown them disrespect - a tradition kept alive and well at Castle Nazgul, it should be noted.

Japanese swords are the weapons that have come to be synonymous with the samurai, and indeed one appears front and centre on the artwork for the cover of this project.  Ancient Japanese swords from the Nara period (Chokutō) featured a straight blade, by the late 900s curved tachi appeared, followed by the uchigatana and ultimately the katana (wearing a katana in public was also outlawed in the 1870s). Smaller swords (commonly known as companion swords) were the wakizashi and the tantō. Wearing a long sword together with a smaller sword became the symbol of the samurai, this combination of swords was referred to as a daishō (literally "big and small"). 

It transpires that Hugin has a small collection of such swords at W.A.R. so keep your eyes peeled: you never know when they might appear on a forthcoming release....
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ATLANTIDA Volume 11 [V/A]

September 12, 2013, 10:20 am
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Bands:HREFNESHOLT andELISABETHA
Title: Atlantida Volume 11
Format: A plain silver CDr disc in jewel case with pro-printed black and white inlays, on the Atlantida label (Lithuania) from circa 2004/05, no catalogue reference.
Edition:unknown

Track Listing:
01. Hrefnesholt *  Trollsturm  3.22
02. Fall of the Leafe  *  Deference, Diminued  6.12
03. Blood Tears  *  Blood Tears  5.22
04. Witches Sabbath  *  Darkness Kingdom Crusade  3.47
05. Foscor  *  Old Winds Revenge  5.47
06. Crimson  *  Starry Eyes
07. Delirium  *  Silent Art  4.28
08. Sirens  *  Mindfood
09. Vexed  *  Bringer Of Death  3.16
10. Immemoreal  *  Immemorial Ages  3.31
11.Elisabetha *  Tanz Der Vampire  5.42
12. Nightspirit  *  A Crystal Palace  5.05
13. Valhalla  *  The Sword Of My Father  2.45
14. Epheles  *  Les Livres De Sang  4.19
15. Stonehenge  *  Impaled By God  4.59
16. Moonsorrow  *  Vihrealla Valtaistuimella  8.47

Mention the term Atlantida to people and you'll likely have a number of different interpretations of the term depending where in the world you are.  For a biologist, it may refer to a specific genus of brachiopods (come back Cthulhu, all is forgiven); to Central and Southern Amercians it is a town Uruguay and Honduras, and also a football club in Paraguay; for historians, an ancient city along the Amazon River supposedly founded by Phoenicians; for the literary critic a French novel by novel by Pierre Benoit; and for the musically inclined a Serbian heavy metal band.

But for the doyens of the dungeons of Castle Nazgul, it is best known as the label that was run by our old friend Ruslanas Danisevskis of Ravenclaw, on which a myriad of bands were featured across the many volumes of the tape and CDr series sharing the same name.  Back in 2009 Honour and Darkness had covered some of the entries in the series that featured Hugin's bands: Volume 15 (Ravenclaw) in July of that year; Volume 16 (Hrossharsgrani and Ravenclaw) in the August; and Volume 19 (Hrossharsgrani and Elisabetha) in the November.

Since then we've not heard much of Atlantida as a series, but now dear readers it's back, courtesy of a recent deal struck between the twin-powers of W.A.R. and Castle Nazgul, which sees the Atlantida back catalogue come to roost in Nazgul's collection.  A fine looking body of work it is too, with the early parts of the series being tape-only releases before moving into CDr format.  Not all of the twenty-odd releases had content from Hugin's bands on them, but at some future point Nazgul will do a special post of the cover artwork of all of the items in honour of our departed brother, Ruslanas.

As with most compilation albums - and todays offering of Volume 11 is no exception - there is a mixture of bands that you've heard of, and some that you haven't.  Some of the bands are actually quite well known (or, went on to be well known at least) including in this example Fall Of The Leafe, Valhalla, and Moonsorrow.  However, the primary focus for us today are the tracks contributed by Hrefnesholt and Elisabetha, which are not new to us but were previously unreleased at the time that this CDr was released.

'Trollsturm' finally made an appearance on Hrefnesholt's "Rabentanz" compilation of 2005 and falls into the style of music that Nazgul is wont to call 'Uruk Hai-lite': all of the swirling keyboard atmospherics without the Middle-Earth connection.  Howling winds and magical keyboards combine to present a very engaging piece here, and whilst simplistic the song is always a pleasure to listen to.  Hrefnesholt are almost unique in Nazgul's personal experience in as far as he greatly enjoys both principal iterations of the band's sound (old school, and the 'percht' Alpine folk evolution) equally as much: normally such a radical change would polarise opinion, but not in this case.

'Tanz Der Vampire' by Elisabetha is culled from their "Sterbegesänge" demo of 2001, although this fact is curiously omitted from the details printed on the rear inlay regarding the origins of each song.  This particular dance of the vampires was originally reviewed waaay way back on 8 May 2009, and remains the sprightly nip to the jugular that you might expect.

One wonders how many of the contemporary purchasers of the Atlantida series were ever tempted to explore the individual recordings by bands contained therein, and how many found Hrefnesholt, Elisabetha, and other bands from Hugin's stable that way.  Alas, we shall never know, but should you chance across any CDr or tapes in the series online they are always well worth picking out for a listen one dark and stormy night...
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Hrossharsgrani interview in Possessed Magazin

September 14, 2013, 12:52 am
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Band: HROSSHARSGRANI
Item: Transcript of a Hrossharsgrani interview with Possessed Magazin (sic) on 1 March 2003

Back in the annals of time - so long ago, in fact, that Hugin has forgotten all about this interview! - the online Possessed Magazin posted an interview with the Viking battle-machine that is Hrossharsgrani.  It's an interesting read for a couple of reasons: obviously, it's with Hugin and about one of his bands, and if you don't find that interesting by default then please leave the room.  It is also of note, however, as the Hrossharsgrani discography cited in the report contains releases that are as yet uncollected and in a few cases actually unknown before this interview came to light.  Finally, although some online interviews have been posted that continually recycle previously published material, this one does not and has some unique content.  Worthy enough, therefore, for republication.  

The issue of the 'new' demos will be covered in more detail at the end of this post, but before then let's get to the interview as undertaken back in 2003:

Please, tell us something about your band (history, members, recordings/releases, live gigs, label?)

In the cold winter of 1998 anno bastardi the battle-machine Hrossharsgrani gathered for their first strike, the rehearsal demo-CD "Blut". In these dark ages they still haunted the black realms of dark ambient music to tell their tales of those creatures who only come out by night: the undead, the vampires - a homage to the bloody heir of Lord Byron and Bram Stoker. More demo-CDs followed leaving this world behind and penetrating the battlefields of a barbaric world with as barbaric black metal hymns.

The first era of the band was completed with the bloodletting releases of "Der Pfad Zum Tor Der Toten" and "Ancient Tales". The year 2000 marked not only the beginning of a new millennium but also of a new era in band history. Hrossharsgrani entered the CCP studios to create "…Of Battles, Ravens And Fire"– a giant step forward. Battle sounds and choirs lead the listener through a long forgotten time full of myths and legends. For the originators Fylgja, Munin and Hugin this was indeed the start for a new chapter in their musical journey: a journey far off the well trodden and boring paths of the metallic art.

This fascinated the new label CCP, with which Hrossharsgrani signed a contract, an alliance that showed to be successful for Hrossharsgrani in all battles yet to come. In the beginning of the following year the battle force Hrossharsgrani started to compose for "The Secret Fire"– an epic tale based on J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings and Silmarillion. For the listener, who is troubled by the boring daily routine of our world, "The Secret Fire" is a mighty stronghold in a better world full of magic and wonder.  Classical melodies combined with the grim face of metal music built the soundtrack for a crusade through the worlds of Middle-earth. Fylgja, Munin and Hugin sang of mystic, enchanted forests, of fire-breathing dragons, whose wings conquer the clouds, of gleaming swords in the northern territories and of powers that unfold to an insurmountable force when baptised in dark battles.

In 2003 new grim battles had to be fought. Blood froze at the sound of the charging blades. Born from flesh and steel and tempered in fire and ice, the iron force of Hrossharsgrani rose to war in the land of the shadows: sealed was the way of the warrior. Symphonic metal hymns, mystic bombastic battle choirs accompany you through moors of death, that rise high into the air and hunt dark creatures through haunted woods. Mighty guitar riffs, war-drums, giant percussion and fanfares form a sound-adventure which can only compared to a ride with the Valkyrie.

Hrossharsgrani's third attack is a perfect union of heroic battle hymns and strong charismatic radio plays, an epic tale that burns all boundaries down to ashes, and takes you to a world where flesh, steel and heroism will no longer be hidden in the mist of fear.  "Schattenkrieger" is an ode to war, a new incarnation of the violence of the sword, an album with a hypnotising magic attracting every metal 'warrior of the world'.

The rehearsals and releases so far:

HROSSHARSGRANI – Blut (rehearsal demo CD)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Rehearsal CD 1 (rehearsal demo CD)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Rehearsal CD 2 (rehearsal demo CD)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Rehearsal CD 3 (rehearsal demo CD)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Rehearsal CD 4 (rehearsal demo CD)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Rehearsal CD 5 (rehearsal demo CD)
HROSSHARSGRANI - Rehearsal MC 1 (rehearsal demo tape)
HROSSHARSGRANI - Uruk-Hai (rehearsal demo tape)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Der Pfad Zum Tor Der Toten (demo CD and tape)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Ancient Tales (demo CD and tape)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Die Rueckkehr Zum Pfade… (demo CD)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Die Rueckkehr Zum Pfade…(promotional tape)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Sagen & Gedichte (rehearsal CD)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Lieder Aus Mittelerde (rehearsal demo tape)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Der Ring Der Macht (rehearsal demo tape)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Ewig Winter (rehearsal demo CD)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Kampf (rehearsal demo tape)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Krieg (promotional tape)
HROSSHARSGRANI – In The Mystic Forest (rehearsal demo tape)
HROSSHARSGRANI – In The Beginning…There Was Fight (promotional tape)
HROSSHARSGRANI – From The Dark Ages (demo tape)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Feuer & Eis (rehearsal tape)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Epische Gedanken (rehearsal tape)
HROSSHARSGRANI – …Of Battles, Ravens And Fire (professional CD)
HROSSHARSGRANI – The Secret Fire (professional CD)
HROSSHARSGRANI/ MITTWINTER – Split (picture disc vinyl)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Schattenkrieger (professional CD)

How would you describe your position in the wide-world metal scene? What do you think about the underground movement?

It doesn't matter about our position in the world-wide metal scene – we are the warlords – we destroy everything!  The underground gets bigger and bigger (stronger and stronger) - I don't know where the underground ends and the overground starts. I'm very interested in the eastern European underground PAGAN BM scene – their kind of music takes me back to the glorious ages of heroism and war! Hail the ancient gods!  The real METAL you can find only in the Underground!

Which 3 CDs would you take with you to a lonely island?

(a) BATHORY – Blood Fire Death
(b) MEKONG DELTA – Dances Of Death
(c) PINK FLOYD – Dark Side Of The Moon

If you had enough money to shoot a video, what would the clip look like?

Battles like in Braveheart
Brutal like Braindead
Fantastic like Lord Of The Rings

It's a dream to create a short movie with a Hrossharsgrani soundtrack. Some guys told us our music was the perfect soundtrack for a fantasy movie, in a review I wrote: '…the Soundtrack Battle Hymn Combo…' Maybe far, far away the dream will come true

If you've the chance to change one day of your life, which would it be and why?

Hmm, every single day in the past forged my destiny – I don't want to change it, I like the way it goes…  maybe some girls in the past would be better changed than others :o)

Which song shall be played on your burial?

Richard Wagner – Der Walkuren Ritt

Drums and Trumpets shall take me to the other side!

If you had the chance to kill someone and to bring back one person in the same way, who would it be and why?

Kill: George W. Bush (The USA is not the world)
Bring Back: Gerald Decarli (my best friend, died by a gunshot, so many things I have to say…, see you on the other side)

What does 'Metal' mean to you?

100% Power
100% Spirit
100% Party
100% My Life

What is your opinion on political lyrics?

Hrossharsgrani doesn't give a f**k about politics!

What can we expect from your band in the future?

The new album “Schattenkrieger” will be out on 24 March 2003 at CCP Records: the first edition is a limited (1000) digipak version with different cover artwork. We are working on a war-page to present Hrossharsgrani online too.

Destroy the world – total war!

An interesting insight into the mind of Hugin, circa March 2003.  Now, the discography mentions a few interesting items, new to Nazgul and possibly to you too:

HROSSHARSGRANI – Rehearsal CD 1 (rehearsal demo CD)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Rehearsal CD 2 (rehearsal demo CD)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Rehearsal CD 3 (rehearsal demo CD)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Rehearsal CD 4 (rehearsal demo CD)
HROSSHARSGRANI – Rehearsal CD 5 (rehearsal demo CD)
HROSSHARSGRANI - Rehearsal MC 1 (rehearsal demo tape)

The first Rehearsal CD has been covered on Honour and Darkness historically, but the existence of a further four discs was news to Nazgul!  Similarly, whilst the odd early demo tape has been retrieved from the ages for the collection, the one referred to here is also a potentially new release.  Hugin thinks that early rehearsal CDs like these may have been sent out to various friends and labels back in the day, possibly in quantities of only 3-5 at a time, so the chances of finding any survivors now would seem to be nigh on impossible.  However, Nazgul has overcome such odds before, and with Hugin's hardcore fan base now aware of their existence let  us see what can be uncovered...

HROSSHARSGRANI – Epische Gedanken (rehearsal tape)

No trace of an "Epic Thoughts" tape release has yet been found, nor details of its content revealed, so was one ever actually released?  This interview would suggest so, and as a result antennae are now twitching worldwide as the hunt begins....!
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ANCIENT TALES - update IV

September 16, 2013, 10:53 am
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Band:HROSSHARSGRANI
Title: Ancient Tales
Reason for update: The fourth instalment in an ongoing series, courtesy of a reader of these pages...

Ha - no one expected two Hrossharsgrani posts back-to-back!

We've seen a number of updates since the original post of "Ancient Tales" was posted back on 21 March 2009.  These have all been associated with various reissues or older formats of the demo that Nazgul has managed to get his sticky mitts on.  However, today's post is somewhat different as it covers an original tape demo for the release that - to date - Nazgul has failed to track down.  

Not everything Hugin-related is yet caught in the lair of the Nazgul, but it is surely only a matter of time....

The prompt for this post came from the recent Followers of Honour and Darkness interview with Thomas Kahr - during a look through Thomas' collection it became clear from the photos that he had something rather unusual in his group of Hrossharsgrani items:  Said item was the Werwolf Productions tape pressing of "Ancient Tales" released circa 2003, catalogue reference WP013.  This has different cover artwork to any of the other tape or CDr pressings of the album, featuring a hand holding a sword extending across its cover.

Abibial of Werwolf Productions (based in Italy) was interviewed by Nazgul on 20 March 2010 and you may recall from those discussions that the 'typical' Werwolf release was of very limited quantity and have consistently rated as amongst the hardest to find of all of the labels who have issued Hugin's music.  Uruk Hai's "Battle Magic" and "Battle Yells" were Werwolf releases, for example, as were the "Ea" CDr demo and the "Long Forgotten Tales" and "Honour" tapes.  

They also produced the very hard to find "Isten Szek!" demo from Elisabetha, plus a handful of other related demos too.  Pretty much all Werwolf items are impossible to find, so it's rather splendid to be able to feature an actual copy of this inlay at all, as Nazgul has never actually seen a 'real' one before.

The pictures you will find at the base of this post were kindly supplied by Hugin as original colour copies of the artwork, but close inspection will show that it does not contain details of the issue number under the photograph of Hugin himself that does appear on the final black and white cover.

Interestingly, going off at a slight tangent, all of the Werwolf covers were black and white photocopies, presumably of colour original artwork in most cases?  Nazgul is only speculating, but  somewhere out there - either with Hugin or with Abibial - just may be a set of full colour covers for all of the Werwolf releases: now that would be a sight for sore eyes!

The great thing about Thomas' find is that it clearly displays the issue number as 30/88, so we know for certain for the fist time just how many copies were produced.  88 copies is actually quite a lot for Werwolf, as runs of 20-50 were more common across most of the rest of the issues they did on tape, so there's some hope that other copies of this demo may eventually come to light!  Nazgul did see a copy with this artwork for sale on Discogs (and it's still there, in actual fact) but closer reading of the description for it confirms that the tape for sale is actually a later pressing with different artwork.

Thomas - the lucky so-and-so - found his copy onlineand for the princely sum of around 7 Euros, which sounds like quite the bargain!  

Nazgul will whip up the Castle minions to double their efforts to scour the internet for similar treasures, lest their hides be flayed from their worthless carcasses ... and as and when an original copy eventually finds its way to the Castle Library, Nazgul will organise a 'family' photograph of the "Ancient Tales" releases to date!

Original artwork, in colour, as conceived by Hugin
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URUK HAI / WHEN WE LIVE split

September 18, 2013, 11:35 am
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Band:URUK HAI
Title: Uruk Hai / When We Live split release
Format: This demo comes as a CDr pressing on the Depressive Illusions label (Ukraine) and was released in July 2013, cat ref cut1142, and comes in a DVD size case.  The album has a double-sided colour cover, and a picture CDr disc.  
Edition:33 unnumbered copies

Track Listing:

Uruk Hai
01. The Red Dawn  5:21
02. Broken Blade  3:12        
03. Mordor's Coldness  8:12
04. Nightfall (The Red Dawn part 2)  4:33

When We Live
05. Winter's Sorrow  6:32
06. Frozen In Time  2:23
07. Solstice Moon  6:00
08. Shadow's Cold  2:49

A new release in 2013, and one that slipped quietly into circulation like snowflakes landing on linen.

Coldness seems to be something of a theme through this split demo, with When We Live (hailing from deepest Russia, spearheaded by a mysterious type called Kirill) displaying evidence of the frozen tundra through both his song titles and the soundscapes he creates, which have a distinct feel of Symbiosis to them to Nazgul's ears.  It's very chilled out, musically, if you pardon the pun and envelops you in blankets of metaphorical snow as you drift away to places unknown and parts both bleak and frosty (beware the risk of hypothermia).

There is pretty much nothing online about the project or their music: a Bandcamp page exists but nothing is posted on it, and apart from that the band seems to be as mysterious as you like.  It may even be that Kirill has now moved away from this project to devote attention to his new band Crows In The Garden, more of which you can find out here.  Given that the When We Live music is good stuff, it might well be worth checking this other project too.

In terms of the Uruk Hai material, there's a frosty edge to at least one title in the four on offer but the prevailing theme again is drawn from the realms of Tolkien, which we will look at more closely in just a minute.  Musically Hugin has gone back to a more majestic sound on these tracks, part soundtrack and part grandiose and gallant soundscapes.  All four pieces are instrumental, composed in June 2013, and describe imaginary tales of darkened realms far away, alive with magic and wonder.  Hugin himself noted to Nazgul that, "it's a kind of new path for Uruk Hai, I tried to make Uruk Hai sound more epic this year..." and by Treebeard's ancient whiskers, he's pulled it off you know.

Lead off track "The Red Dawn" has a bombastic start and a racy feel thereafter, and takes as its inspiration Théoden's speech to Aragorn in The Two Towers, in which he cries, "Let this be the hour when we draw swords together! Fell deeds awake. Now for wrath, now for ruin and the red dawn! Forth, Eorlingas! Charge!"  Théoden's earlier decision to take his people to safety at the stronghold of Helm's Deep rather than to confront the enemy in open battle is presented by Tolkien as a grave strategic misjudgement, which Gandalf can only make up for by finding Éomer in time.  Such time pressures might account for the frenetic bursts of energy in this song! Typical of many differences between the Lord of the Rings films and books, when Théoden despairs Aragorn convinces him to ride out of the Hornburg (the fortress at Helm's Deep) at sunrise - the red dawn - to confront the enemy whilst in the book this is Théoden's own initiative.
 
The 'Broken Blade' of track two is possibly a reference to a classic weapon from Middle-Earth, Narsil.  This sword was forged during the First Age by the Dwarf Telchar of Nogrod and was broken into two pieces in the overthrow of Sauron at the end of the Second Age, later being reforged as Andúril. In The Two Towers, it is written that Aragorn uses Andúril with a shield from Théoden's armoury during the Battle of the Hornburg.  In a tangent into trivia once again, a perennial Nazgul trait as you will well know, Peter Jackson opted not to make Andúril glow at all in his film, keeping that property only for Sting.  Jackson notes, in his DVD commentary on The Fellowship of the Ring, that this was an oversight, not a deliberate change from the books.

An alternative interpretation of this song is that it has nothing to do with Tolkien whatsoever, but refers instead to the unfortunate habit of Lady Nazgul in breaking all of the good knives in her annual pursuit of extreme Halloween pumpkin carving...

Both 'Broken Blade' and 'Mordor's Coldness' weave melodies and scales to fine effect, some new and some familiar from past Uruk Hai releases (this, for want of a better expression, is recycling Hugin-style!) and it's all good stuff and will be familiar territory for fans of the project.  There are few surprises, but the listener gets a solid dose of what they were expecting and to that end should come away happy.

A final word on the artwork on this release, which is a little unusual reviewed against the the comparable images on recent Uruk Hai releases.  It comprises 'artistically' blurred light effects on a dark background as opposed to images from Middle-Earth or themes of such an ilk. but there's nothing wrong with trying something different once in a while!
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