Title: Upon The Elysian Fields
Format: A proposed tape release on the Lifeless Productions label (USA) that never came to pass....
Proposed Edition:100 numbered copies
Proposed Track Listing:
Tape 1
01. Return To The Sea Of Flames
02. God Tears (Oh Rain, Rain, Rain)
Tape 2
03. On An Evening In Autumn
04. Under The Cold Stars Before The Rising Of The Moon
#23 From the Vaults of W.A.R.
Today's entry in the still expanding 'From the Vaults of W.A.R.' series is the formal recognition of this version of "In The Elysian Fields", due to be issued by Lifeless Productions but shelved when that label disappeared in a cloud of uncertainty. I say formal recognition, as it's been seen and referenced in the past already: a picture of it popped up in the recent debut Nazgul's Horde post, whilst reference to its existence was made in the coverage of Lifeless Productions' other missing work, "...And In The Darkness Bind Them"where Nazgul reported, 'Hugin also mentioned that there had been plans for Lifeless to release a double-tape version of "Upon The Elysian Fields" too, but their demise put paid to that plan as well.'
We've seen a few variants of "In The Elysian Fields" over the years, as the original Honour and Darkness post will attest. One interesting fact relating to this tape is that it retains the running order of Hugin's original demo CDr: subsequent releases have tended to move the tracks around a little.
Personally Nazgul thinks the artwork on this Lifeless version is probably the best of the lot. so it's a real shame that it never actually made it out into the real world. You could really imagine yourself walking the paths of this forest, with fertile pathways bathed in diffused sunlight and high canopies stretching into the distance making for an enticing prospect. As we know, however, it's possible to use the images to produce your own 'dummy' version of the release if you are sufficiently enthused, to which you could dub a tape or two and make the set complete. And as long as you don't sell 'em then why not....?
The wording on the inlay for Tape 1 reads, "Upon The Elysian Fields" is an account of the elder days, or the first days of our pagan past. Limited strictly to 100 hand-numbered copies". A reference is given to an artist John Philip, though his website link no longer seems to work. This is something of a pity, as other work of this nature would have been a treat to see.