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One of my favorite song from Swedish artist Vintersorg is Algol, which is about the eponymous star system. Algol, demon, capricious your brightness shi

by epsylon 11y ago

One of my favorite song from Swedish artist Vintersorg is Algol, which is about the eponymous star system. Algol, demon, capricious your brightness shifts from day to day - rises, abates, intesifies again, sometimes triumphant and sparkling, sometimes pale and faint. For a long time we've searched with wonder for the key to this mystery, the right element to your eager and changing, queer temperament. Now we've dispearsed the haze of the riddle: you've got a companion on your journey, like a slave, a faithful shadow he constantly follows you on the desolate path, he circles and sneaks quiet around you, closely. Never have we seen his guise, dark, parches, stiff and cold, but still we know he exists; like ashamed he hides behind you - free and merry you shine - until he once again crawls out of the darkness and covers you. And your glare becomes pallid and dull, and your mind cloudy. [Chorus] And similars there are - many Algols wanders in the space - maybe even more among us on earth. Sunlight spirits darkened by a shadow, young princes concealed by old slaves, doublesouls, divided creatures - a blissful son of the light indissolubely linked with a bitter dark demon. [Chorus] His lyrics talk a lot about science in general, astronomy, philosophy and nature. Also, fun trivia: Vintersorg, despite singing mostly black metal, is a primary school teacher.

livatlantis 11y ago
Someone else recommended Vintersorg. It's now on my list of bands to check out, along with many others from this thread. But while we're on the topic of Swedish artists (who have unrelated day jobs†), I absolutely have to mention Seventh Wonder[0]. They based their 30-minute anthem "The Great Escape" on Aniara[1], an epic sci-fi poetic cycle authored by Harry Mattison. It's a significant piece of literature because, to quote his Wikipedia page[2]: "He was awarded a joint Nobel Prize in Literature in 1974 together with fellow Swede Eyvind Johnson 'for writings that catch the dewdrop and reflect the cosmos'." Someone actually uploaded a comparison of lines from the English translation of the poem to the lyrics of the song[3]. Maybe I'll write a more detailed article about this at some point, but it's a beautiful song that really lets you get into the story. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh_Wonder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh_Wonder [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniara_(opera) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniara_(opera) [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Martinson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Martinson [3]: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MUd4hf0FH4gQQN_9kypNtGBeT-Ly0v94h08TYiAIUsc/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MUd4hf0FH4gQQN_9kypNtGBe... † Tommy Karevik is the singer in Seventh Wonder (and Kamelot) and also plays the part of the Prodigy in Ayreon's Theory of Everything. He is also a firefighter.

by epsylon 11y ago

livatlantis 11y ago

Someone else recommended Vintersorg. It's now on my list of bands to check out, along with many others from this thread. But while we're on the topic of Swedish artists (who have unrelated day jobs†), I absolutely have to mention Seventh Wonder[0]. They based their 30-minute anthem "The Great Escape" on Aniara[1], an epic sci-fi poetic cycle authored by Harry Mattison. It's a significant piece of literature because, to quote his Wikipedia page[2]: "He was awarded a joint Nobel Prize in Literature in 1974 together with fellow Swede Eyvind Johnson 'for writings that catch the dewdrop and reflect the cosmos'." Someone actually uploaded a comparison of lines from the English translation of the poem to the lyrics of the song[3]. Maybe I'll write a more detailed article about this at some point, but it's a beautiful song that really lets you get into the story. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh_Wonder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh_Wonder [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniara_(opera) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniara_(opera) [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Martinson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Martinson [3]: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MUd4hf0FH4gQQN_9kypNtGBeT-Ly0v94h08TYiAIUsc/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MUd4hf0FH4gQQN_9kypNtGBe... † Tommy Karevik is the singer in Seventh Wonder (and Kamelot) and also plays the part of the Prodigy in Ayreon's Theory of Everything. He is also a firefighter.