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Monuments

by Northern Oak

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    -Printed by Sound Performance Studios- 16 page, full-colour booklet with front cover artwork by Travis Smith*, song lyrics and a picture of our lovely faces in the middle.

    *Artwork for Opeth, Devin Townsend and a host of other artists: www.seempieces.com

    -As well as the physical CD, you also get an immediate download of the album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you feel like, so you can listen to the tracks while waiting for the CD to arrive. When you click 'Buy Now', it will ask you which format you'd like to download the songs in.

    -The download also includes a bonus instrumental version of the album and a .pdf of the album booklet as extra material!
    ships out within 2 days

      £6 GBP or more 

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  • Digital Album
    Streaming + Download

    Immediate download of the 11-track album in 320k mp3, FLAC or any other format you feel like. Please select what file type you'd like the songs in when you checkout!

    The download also includes a bonus instrumental version of the album and a .pdf of the album booklet as extra material!
    Purchasable with gift card

      £4 GBP  or more

    You own this

     

1.
Amaterasu required her shrine be rebuilt every twenty years to maintain its purity, while Apollo drove his chariot across the skies in return for the burning of fat wrapped thighs. The Romans devoted a day of every week to the worship of Sol Invictus, Boddhisattva of the solar temple seeks to enlighten all and India was transformed for Makar Sankranti in honour of Surya. Though the rites and deities may have differed, countless cultures condoned the idea. Believing they had to act to make the sun rise again. Norse wolves would devour the light to bring about Ragnarok, Ra demanded his legend be carved in temples in the desert sands and Tonatiuh demanded the fresh beating hearts of his followers in ritual sacrifice. Though the rites and deities may have differed, countless cultures condoned the idea. Believing the world would end if humans are negligent.
2.
Gawain 05:33
Last Christmas at the feast at King Arthur's court a monstrous figure entered dressed head to toe in green. With a wicked blade in his hands he challenged us, "Would the bravest knight take sport in an exchange of blows." Arthur rose first but I quickly took the axe. I could not risk Guinevere being left alone. With one fell strike I cleaved the head from his shoulders and had assumed myself free from reprisal. But the courtiers' cheers quickly became cries, as the corpse rose covered in its crimson. "Gawain", it spoke, "seek me out in a year's time. Come receive my blow or be known a defaulter." The allotted time has passed. I stand before the Green Chapel. This is my last chance to turn back. Though I appear resolute my soul is uncontrollable, like forked lightning down my veins. Trying to escape the fate of this doomed knight. My king, I will not falter now. I will leave no trawpe un-honoured. No man will brand me coward. If the Green Knight shall take my head, then so be it...
3.
Into the forest, taking memories, leaving only footprints but the trees would not let it be easy. Forcing our route in much deeper. What were we to find there? Discovering ruins devoured by moss and roots draped in an eerie silence in this place a sense of mourning We pulled aside the plants and branches, climbing in amongst the few remaining walls. Is it disrespect or reverence? Exploring what was once a life... We questioned ourselves, each other, what had these rooms once contained? Did children run through here laughing? What pain left this place abandoned? Into the forest, We may be fated to end Just as those before us. But if we lay foundations that inspire those who follow, Then our time will not be spent In vain.
4.
The light that shines on golden leaves Flickers softly through the trees Lost, she trembles, scared and alone Deep in the forest and far from home Now, as the light slowly fades away The night-folk can dance without fear of the day Their instruments play a most fearful song A silvan lullaby, to those who don't belong She runs in fear, afraid for her life The sun descends, into the twilight The night-folk pursue her, their horns baying long A hollow tree gives respite from their song Now, as the verdant darkness holds sway The night-folk can dance, without fear of the day Their instruments play the same haunting tune A silvan lullaby that foretells your doom Interlude and Solos Now, as I climb from this hollow tree My ears are opened to the sounds of the sea Avalon is calling, its wings do me caress The silvan lullaby has taken my last breath
5.
Arbor Low 05:14
At the seat of Arbor Low rumours rise and curl like smoke. Christian desecration or ancient intention? The truth of this site, none shall know... If I am condemned to join the mysteries of Arbor Low, may I leave my mark and shape the flow of history! We may not understand the importance but we feel it but we are drawn to it. Moulding our minds, driving our dreams, outliving its meaning and joining ours... Perhaps the greatest designs, are those that go unnoticed. Unconsciously shaping our thoughts and actions. *the whispered pleas of those long forgotten* If my life is to become undecipherable, may my ribs rise up from the earth like monuments. If my life is to become undecipherable, may my ribs rise up from the earth like monuments. If I am condemned to join the mysteries of Arbor Low, may I leave my mark and shape the flow of history.
6.
Nivis Canto 05:18
If you could gaze into a snowflake, what would you find in each one? Those crystalline structures of unearthly perfection, as they fall they transform their environment into a sparkling wonder. I can only find a rival for their beauty in mankind, those myriad beings messily constructed from hopes and beliefs. With aspirations that defy all measurement but they are no stronger than when they act with one mind. As they continue to fall, blanketing their surroundings, suffocating them. How can one do anything but marvel at their tyranny? Their cold indifference to all they consume. No matter how many line the foundations, whether it be one or a million. All are lost without a trace beneath their advance.
7.
Instrumental
8.
She sits atop the beast, upon her forehead her name is carved, Babylon the Great. None can comprehend the glory of she Who defiles mankind with their blind consent. Drunken on the blood of saints. Luring, she calls me hither. I see her and wonder with admiration. She rules over the kings of the earth. Host for demons, haunt for spirits and every unclean creature. None can comprehend the glory of she Who defiles mankind with their blind consent. Drunken on the blood of saints. Luring, she calls me hither. I see her and wonder with admiration. I care not if the fruit I long for will be stolen from me. If you are my bringer of ruin, I will embrace the smoke of your burning. So pour forth the wine of your adulteries. I disregard the word of the lamb and pursue her virulent vision, witness to her debaucheries. Revelling in her diabolical nature so impure. She holds a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. Revelling in her diabolical nature so impure. How my trembling flesh yearns to drink deeply from those sins and plumb the depths of their profanity. Revelling in her diabolical nature so impure.
9.
He stands alone, bloodied and bowed, mops his furrowed brow and surveys the land of his lord. The scythe he holds in his calloused hands. Now heavier with soil than the blood of years past. Severing marsh grass in the way, his forebears cut their cordiality with the clergy. The grass proves unyielding, the scythe blunted by the efforts of years past. A death in the marshes. The defeat inglorious. A death in the marshes. The scythe slowly sinking into the mire.
10.
Instrumental
11.
The days have lost their candour and the nights are endless. The ruined foundations of your dreams with her, spur you on in search of why she deserved such cruelty. But you wonder, do you really want a reason for her suffering? Or to find some logic, for why yours should have to continue. Offering fresh sacrifice you ask the priests and they solemnly say, "The answers you seek can be found atop the hills that claw at the morning star But be prepared, you may not be able to leave behind what you find." Pausing your ascent you remember. The sound of her voice. The gentle touch of her fingers. Whispered trysts until dawn... *grido di dolore* That life is gone, you reach the peak and your eyes dart in search, where are the answers? What does an oracle look like? Then you begin to notice, the regular deafening crashes of the wind. This is the beating heart of Chaos, it was here before the gods and will outlast them. In a universe where stars explode and planets collide, there was never an explanation for what happened there. No fate to justify your loss. Your cry of anguish is caught by the wind and lost in these hills.

about

The second full-length from Sheffield progressive folk metal group Northern Oak, 'Monuments' was recorded, mixed and mastered between March and October of 2010 in a number of Sheffield locations.

Recording by Chris Mole, Harriet Holman, Ajeet Gill of Hellfire Studios and Loo Yen Yeo.

Mixing by Chris Mole.

Mastering by Lee Redfern at Redfern Studios.

credits

released December 10, 2010

Lyrics (unless noted otherwise) by Martin Collins.
Music by Chris Mole, Catherine Williams, Elliot Sinclair, Richard Allan and Paul Whibberley (Northern Oak).

Cover portrait by Travis Smith (www.seempieces.com).
Cover and booklet artwork by Chris Mole.

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about

Northern Oak Sheffield, UK

Founded in early 2006 during a wintry excursion to the Peak District, Northern Oak have been spreading their unique brand of flute-heavy progressive folk metal across Sheffield and the rest of the UK ever since.

Our music sounds like Jethro Tull played by extreme metal fans with an appreciation for everything from Pink Floyd to Emperor.
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