AN NCS PREMIERE: VOIDCRAEFT — “UNDER THE SUN” AND “I AM NOTHING”

 

In February of next year, I, Voidhanger Records will be releasing the third album (and the first on this label) by the one-man German black metal project known as Voidcraeft. Its title is Ἕβελ and it’s unusual in many respects, not the least of which is that all of the lyrics are in either Biblical Hebrew or Koine Greek. There’s a reason for that, which we’ll come to in a moment, but here’s the main point of this post: We’re giving you the chance to listen to two songs from the album, the English translations of which are “I Am Nothing” and “Under the Sun“.

For people who follow our site (religiously), Voidcraeft will not be a new name. Our man Andy Synn featured the band in a post here in October, recommending the music to fans of Deathspell Omega, Ævangelist, and Portal, while noting the experimental nature of the music and its creator’s tradition of writing his own self-critical analysis of his prodigious output.

 

 

This new album was largely inspired by Voidcraeft’s reading of all of the New Testament and the Hebrew Bible. “The ordeal lasted for seven months,” the band’s sole member recalls.

“Since I have a keen interest in foreign languages, I did not only read the English translations but also the Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic sources every now and then. I was constantly making notes, which I later reassembled and slightly modified to write the lyrics for this release.

“I was particularly impressed by Job and Ecclesiastes, early examples of Jewish existentialism. According to their bleak theology, Humanity is portrayed as the subject of a cryptic God who rewards the wicked and punishes the faithful. The laws he gave to man are ultimately meaningless because he does not care whether we choose to obey or ignore them. Born into an equally meaningless world, we are stuck in an endless cycle of birth, suffering and death, pursuing vain things such as wealth and social status, all of which are but a breath; that is, temporary and ultimately worthless.”

We’re also told that this figurative usage of the Hebrew term for breath or vapour, which is hevel or havel, also inspired the album title:

Ἕβελ is an Ancient Greek transliteration of the aforementioned hevel, and it references both the Hebrew and Greek album segments, which represent the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, respectively.

As explained, we have two songs for you to consider. The first of these is “חַת הַשָׁמֶשׁ (Under The Sun)“. The lyrics of this one are in Biblical Hebrew, and we have provided the original lyrics as well as the English translation below the music player. The second song is “Οὐθέν εἰμι (I Am Nothing)“. The lyrics to this one are in Koine Greek, and we’re also providing those as well as the English translation beneath the media player.

Now obviously, you can make up your own minds about the music. In fact, most of you are probably already listening by now. But in case you’re still reading, I’ll tell you that you’re in for a thrilling and head-twisting experience. “Under the Sun” is a mix of savage lightning storms and disorienting meditativeness, an intricate musical kaleidoscope of dissonant riffs, abrasive vocals, and unsettling atmosphere.

“I Am Nothing” is generally slower-paced though perhaps even more complex and contorted, though it interweaves traceries of beguiling melody through the labyrinth of discordant notes and unpredictable percussion.

Consistent with the creator’s conceptual approach, both songs capture the bleakness, the fearfulness, the chaos, and the despair that can often visit human life, in which rewards and punishments are meted out in seemingly random fashion during the gasping breaths of a transitory existence.

 

The wonderful cover art for Ἕβελ was painted by Norwegian artist Sindre Foss Skancke (website here), and this is the album’s track list:

1. (Under the Sun) תַּחַת הַשָׁמֶשׁ
2. (A Time to Die) עֵת לָמוּת
3. (I Wound and I Heal) מָחַצְתִּי וַאֲנִי אֶרְפָּא
4. (Devastation and Desolation) בּוּקָה וּמְבוּקָה
5. (Drunkenness and Sorcery) Μέθαι καὶ φαρμακεία
6. (I Am Nothing) Οὐθέν εἰμι
7. (On the Bones of the Dead) Περὶ ὀστέων νεκρῶν
8. (The Amen) Ὁ Ἀμήν

Total running time 38:15

 

Ἕβελ will be released by I, Voidhanger on February 5, 2016. For more information, visit these locations:

http://www.i-voidhanger.com
https://www.facebook.com/i.voidhanger.records
https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/

 

 

 

Lyrics:

“תַּחַת הַשָׁמֶשׁ (Under The Sun)”

וְהִנֵּה הַכֹּל הֶבֶל
וּרְעוּת רוּחַ
וְאֵין כָּל־חָדָשׁ
תַּחַת הַשָׁמֶשׁ
And behold, all is vanity and a chasing after wind
There is nothing new under the sun

כִּי מֶה־הֹוֶה לָאָדָם
בְּכָל־עֲמָלֹו
וּבְרַעְיֹון לִבֹּו
שֶׁהוּא עָמֵל
What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil

הֶבֶל
וָרִיק
תַּחַת
הַשָׁמֶשׁ
Worthless and empty
Under the sun

מַה־שֶׁהָיָה
כְּבָר הוּא
וַאֲשֶׁר לִהְיֹות
כְּבָר הָיָה
אֲנִי־הִיא
אֲנִי־הוּא
אֲנִי רִאשֹׁון
אַף אֲנִי אַחֲרֹון
That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is
I am she, I am he, I am the first and I am the last

אָמֵן
Amen

רָאִיתִי
אֶת־הָאָרֶץ
וְהִנֵּה־תֹהוּ
תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
I looked on the earth and it was waste, waste and void

רֹעָה הִתְרֹעֲעָה
הָאָרֶץ
פֹּור הִתְפֹּורְרָה
אֶרֶץ
The earth is utterly broken, the earth is torn asunder

מֹוט הִתְמֹוטְטָה
אָרֶץ
נֹועַ תָּנוּעַ
אֶרֶץ
The earth is violently shaken, the earth staggers

הֶבֶל וָרִיק
תַּחַת הַשָׁמֶשׁ
Worthless and empty
Under the sun

אָמֵן
Amen

 

 

Lyrics:

“Οὐθέν εἰμι (I Am Nothing)”

Οὐθέν εἰμι
Καὶ οὐθὲν ἔσομαι
I am nothing and I will be nothing

Ὁ ἥλιος
Σκοτισθήσεται
Ἡ σελήνη οὐ δώσει
Τὸ φέγγος αὐτῆς
Οἱ ἀστέρες πεσοῦνται
Ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ
Αἱ δυνάμεις τῶν οὐρανῶν
Σαλευθήσονται
The sun will be darkened
The moon will not give its light
The stars will fall from the heaven
The powers of the heavens will be shaken

Tῇ σαρκὶ δουλεύω
Νόμῳ ἁμαρτίας
With the flesh I serve the law of sin

Τάφος ἀνεῳγμένος
Ὁ λάρυγξ μου
Ταῖς γλώσσῃ μου
Ἐδολιοῦσα
Ἰὸς ἀσπίδων
Ὑπὸ τὰ χείλη μου
Τὸ στόμα μου ἀρᾶς
Καὶ πικρίας γέμει
My tongue practices deceit
My throat is an open grave
The poison of vipers is on my lips
My mouth is full of cursing and bitterness

Καθαρός εἰμι
Ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος πάντων
I am innocent from the blood of all

Σύντριμμα καὶ ταλαιπωρία
Ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς μου
Ἔστιν φόβος ἀπέναντι
Τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν μου
Ruin and misery mark my ways
There is fear before my eyes

Πρηνὴς γενόμενος
Ἐλάκησα μέσος
Καὶ ἐξεχύθην
Πάντα τὰ σπλάγχνα
Ἐκχεῶ
Ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος μου
Ἐπὶ πᾶσαν σάρκα
Ἐπὶ τὸν κόσμον
Having fallen headlong, I burst asunder in the midst and all my intestines gushed forth
I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, on the world

Ἐγὼ οὐκ εἰμὶ
Ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου
Οὐθέν εἰμι
Καὶ οὐθὲν ἔσομαι
I am not of the world
I am nothing and I will be nothing

Ἀμήν
Amen