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Post by julienbakerfan on Apr 9, 2019 21:39:44 GMT -6
Interesting band. Their first album seems clearly in Christian territory. Their second album has lyrics that are about...something. I can't figure it out. I messaged the band asking what their lyrics were about, so we may see soon.
Anointing's artwork was done by Elijah Tammu, who is the vocalist and songwriter for Panegyrist.
I like this band, although they're a little more trve kvlt than most black metal I listen to.
lo-ruhamah.bandcamp.com
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Post by jazzhead on Apr 10, 2019 9:05:21 GMT -6
Their first album was the one that got me back into Christian metal after not listening to it since the mid-80's. I was amazed how far the genre had come. From then, it's been quite the rabbit hole to dive into!
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Post by _ on Apr 10, 2019 21:42:21 GMT -6
Their 'The Glory of God' album was one of the earlier black metal albums I ever got -- from my iTunes data, it looks like I got it on my 19th birthday.
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Post by frozenfire on Apr 15, 2019 15:52:21 GMT -6
You know, I only have the Ep and Anointing. They sent the Ep when I ordered Anointing from the band. I could never really grasp what their lyrics were about (reading them on Metal Archives) and that's why I hesitated on purchasing The Glory of God or the Ep prior. I was hoping somehow that Anointing would help. I'd say I'm even more confused at this point at the ultimate aim.
What I will say, after reading through the lyrics to Anointing numerous times over the last year or so is it seems to me to a philosophical, spiritual look at man or even Satan abandoning God and anointing himself as sovereign. Read them. In the beginning calling Sovereign God "Father" he wishes to break away, longing to look into the abyss (Mouth and Sibilant Chorus). He is both pleased at being released from a sovereign hand but recognizes the curse in being bound to his fate (Rending and Charisma). The character descends further and further into this hopeless state of madness, for a time wondering if he can return to his former state (Vision and Delirium). By the time tracks 6 & 7 (Corridor and Lidless Eye) come along there is a transition to descend paradoxically both into the abyss and toward self-deification. Track 8 (Coronation) is that defining self defying moment that leads to the last track (Aeon) which sees a total descent into madness.
Bottom line for me, it's about as dark as anything I've ever purchased. I find it fascinating, as is evident by me digging into the lyrics.
Is it Christian? No. Is it not? No. Not If the lyrics read as I interpret them. For me, it's like the extreme metal version of Zao's "the Funeral of God" or the lyrical equivalent to C.S. Lewis' "That Hideous Strength" in that it seems, in some similar way, to be a scathing commentary on creations attempt to rise to take on the roll of autonomous creator only to realize it ends in depraved ends and the ultimate destruction of self. The one who attempts to rise realizes they are a madly perverse version of the pure. The freedom and power we seek ends in enslavement and death.
And with that... maybe I'm reading far more into this. :lol
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Post by Bartimaeus on Apr 15, 2019 17:10:30 GMT -6
What I will say, after reading through the lyrics to Anointing numerous times over the last year or so is it seems to me to a philosophical, spiritual look at man or even Satan abandoning God and anointing himself as sovereign. I remember thinking about the madness of Nebuchadnezzer or descent of Saul when I was reading the lyrics, though I'll admit it's been awhile.
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Post by julienbakerfan on Apr 21, 2019 21:01:38 GMT -6
I emailed the band about their lyrics on Anointing and this is what they replied:
"Thanks for your question. The lyrics for The Glory of God were a big range of reflections concerning the divine, and were always about our personal experiences, doubts, sorrows, etc. It was a cathartic way for us to interact with our own religious experiences. Nothing changed directions lyrically in that regard with Anointing. It still has heavy religious content and is dealing with visionary experiences, hallucinations, deification, delusion, etc.
The perspective has always been informed by Christianity, but as with most groups, being tied to the strange and often off-putting world of Christian music was never something we were really interested in, nor has Lo-Ruhamah ever been about some kind of propaganda for a certain kind of religious viewpoint. The music is just about our own reflections and experiences with God, the divine, etc., not really with any intention of trying to proselytize for anyone else's particular religious sect. But saying that, we certainly aren't individually embarrassed about our own religious beliefs or convictions. So if you are asking about those, that just depends on each person in the band. I can only answer for myself on that front."
I would put this band in the same category as artists like Julien Baker, Sufjan Stevens, Panegyrist, and Reverorum ib Malacht--artists who are definitely influenced by Christianity, but who aren't part of the Christian music scene.
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Post by Deepfriar on Apr 22, 2019 18:59:20 GMT -6
I have yet to pick up The Anointing but want to. Great band.
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Post by grendel on Jul 23, 2019 10:56:47 GMT -6
Today on the Christian Metal Realm, one of the LR-guys explained a bit his view on the Anointing album - I think it is worth to be shared here:
"It would be a mistake to associate the speaker in the lyrics with my own (or our own) voice personally, as if the lyrics were simply articulating my own viewpoint. In a sense, everything in the lyrics has come from personal experience, at least in the sense that I've found those motives buried in my own heart. The difference is that the lyric's speaker has made a decision to turn away from God in a way that I have not.
Roughly speaking, I closely identify with the viewpoint of the lyrics up through track five, but track six begins a trajectory that is different from my own. When I came to the edge of the pit, in the last moments before I spilled "over the edge into the hole" and called out to God, I did not reject His response but gave Him a part of myself that I had always held back before, I think. The album, however, carries out the trajectory I was on. What if I had continued down the direction I was going? More generally, where would that path end up when taken to its ultimate logical conclusion?
The lyrics end with just that conclusion: when the Logos is rejected, even the logic of linguistic sense/grammar can't be expected to hold. He IS the unfailing Logic through which all coheres. The cost of trying to take His place is that the house, as it were, will fall apart. The evil in the human heart is revealed in its refusing to change, despite the consequences to itself and all else. Think about the end of the movie The Boxtrolls.
For my part, this album is something like a mirror held up. The world is largely occupied with telling itself lies about its moral reality. We're not THAT bad -- as bad as that other thing or person -- so therefore we must be good. Black Metal, in my view, largely performs this very role: it makes concrete and visceral the spiritual condition that the world is trying desperately to cover up and hide with contouring makeup. Black Metal at its truest, whether it knows it or not, holds up a mirror and says, "This is the truth of the world." It's why BM is so often apocalyptic. The most recent Deathspell Omega interview with Bardo Methodology is a good example of that. It's 23:58 on the doomsday clock.
The lyrics to Anointing are not the personal spiritual vision and intimate truth of my own heart -- thankfully. And I am thankful both for the fact that the lyrics were hard to write and that I listened to my wife's counsel and didn't hold back in the full depth of darkness that the truth would reveal.
This album was written from a fully and unequivocally Christian perspective. I reserve nothing in my commitment to Christ, even with the gritted teeth of the dedicated soul seen often in Black Metal: blood for blood, the unrepentant commitment of the blasphemed soul, but held toward the Lord rather than away from Him -- unwavering in my commitment to the Lord and defiance toward the spirit of the world. CHAIN ME TO HIM. In that sense, it could be said to be a Christian album. But I wouldn't say that it's a Christian album, really, because I don't think it's written for Christians, and I would never recommend it to a Christian (especially a young one) who is looking for Christian music to influence them in the way they should go -- to uplift, encourage, or teach in a direct way.
I don't think that generally a Christian audience is the right audience for this album, even though it was written from an unequivocally Christian perspective. Indeed, I don't think this album could have been written at all except from a truly Christian perspective. Perhaps for a Christian who is veering away from the Lord there is some value in showing the end result of a certain trajectory -- and, like the way the last song ends, inspiring a nausea in the listener that repels them from the direction being depicted.
I hope this makes sense. I know I'm kind of necroing a thread, but I came across this post a while ago and wanted to respond to it. I appreciate that someone picked up the basic spirit and intention behind the lyrics, and I'm not at all bothered that even Frozen Fire had difficulty with the lyrics and didn't feel edified by them. I would hope not. There are upcoming projects (yet to be revealed) whose purpose is more to express my actual spiritual core. The Anointing lyrics, however, were written in hopes that they would repulse someone -- toward a good end. But they were written from a fully Christian commitment and viewpoint. I am a PhD student in a philosophy-related field (semiotics), but I have not and am not veering from my faith, nor are the other two LR members, in my estimation. In fact, I hope God does not call me to work full time in academics. I would much rather move into an area where I can more explicitly devote my energies into things that openly glorify God -- directly rather than obliquely."
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Post by julienbakerfan on Jul 23, 2019 20:19:29 GMT -6
Interesting. Now if only we can nail down Batushka's (Batuskae's) beliefs.
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Post by nocturnaliridescence on Jul 23, 2019 20:28:03 GMT -6
Interesting. Now if only we can nail down Batushka's (Batuskae's) beliefs. Batushka are blacklisted on my site for the following reason: They try to be ambiguous, but various things (such as this inverted schema symbol showing "death" over the cross) make their stance clear.
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Post by julienbakerfan on Jul 23, 2019 20:40:52 GMT -6
Interesting. Now if only we can nail down Batushka's (Batuskae's) beliefs. Batushka are blacklisted on my site for the following reason: They try to be ambiguous, but various things (such as this inverted schema symbol showing "death" over the cross) make their stance clear. I'm pretty sure they're not a Christian band; I've just never been sure whether they're out-and-out blasphemous or just include things like upside-down crosses in their symbolism because "it's a black metal thing."
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Post by Thomas Eversole on Jul 27, 2019 11:39:30 GMT -6
They try to be ambiguous, but various things (such as this inverted schema symbol showing "death" over the cross) make their stance clear. That same "cross" inverted is on the on-disc-print of Possession's "Eternally Haunt" CD. They are a Christian band. I don't think its clearly identified that that "cross" right side up by itself, means something completely different than that cross turned upside down with a skeleton figure above it. (I can't help but think about the Christian death metal band that had Christ on the cross, disemboweled and turned upside down, and they're response to that was "yes, we are Christian, and this is death to the false Christ.". No, I didn't care for the artwork at all, but I wasn't about to argue with the artist of their intentions.) I've just never been sure whether they're out-and-out blasphemous or just include things like upside-down crosses in their symbolism because "it's a black metal thing." Symbolism and music being "Christian" is highly subjective... not to mention, extremely complicated. Years ago, back in the GRIM days, I was practically "gluten free" about Christian metal. If it wasn't labeled Christian, I didn't listen to it. If it was one of these gray area bands, not good enough. How I view it now, is quite liberal. Christians in a band, blatantly Christian lyrics, artist intends it Christian, I intend it Christian when I listen to it, etc. ...all the same thing to me now. What I'm still trying to figure out is why violent Christian lyrics bother me more than lyrics that are blatantly satanic/violent/etc. I think its kind of like biting into a slice of pizza and it tastes like ice cream. (expectations destroyed) Likewise, I'm still trying to figure out why some bros will enjoy a movie about killing zombies, but a song about blowing the heads off the undead is considered beyond obscene.
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Post by nocturnaliridescence on Jul 27, 2019 15:52:34 GMT -6
That same "cross" inverted is on the on-disc-print of Possession's "Eternally Haunt" CD. They are a Christian band. You're thinking of the Petrine cross, a normal † symbol but upside-down. That is a Christian symbol. The one on Batushka's shirt is a cross from the Great Schema. "The skull and crossbones represent “the first man Adam” (I Corinthians 15:45), who by tradition “returned unto the ground” (Genesis 3:19) at this very spot, the reason that this place of execution, “full of dead men’s bones” (Matthew 23:27) became the place where “the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (I Corinthians 15:45)." [1]
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Post by Thomas Eversole on Jul 28, 2019 8:09:50 GMT -6
You're thinking of the Petrine cross I wouldn't call this a "Petrine cross". (Possession "Eternally Haunt" CD) The one on Batushka's shirt is a cross from the Great Schema. I had to read up on that since I wasn't familiar. It seems to represent the highest degree of monasticism - for spiritual excellence. Seems to me that upside down, it could very well mean "not monastic spiritual excellence".... but I'm more inclined to think that its this. ↓ I've just never been sure whether they're out-and-out blasphemous or just include things like upside-down crosses in their symbolism because "it's a black metal thing." ...because a symbol, with no context, doesn't have a meaning. Well, people will assign their own meaning to it, but that's more going on than the artwork.
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Post by Thomas Eversole on Jul 28, 2019 8:22:52 GMT -6
...because a symbol, with no context, doesn't have a meaning. Well, people will assign their own meaning to it, but that's more going on than the artwork. If this was an album cover, people would have very different feelings if the album name was "John 2:13-16" vs the album name being "Jesus was a Dick".
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