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Great Brunswick Forest

by Thrawsunblat

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gebs
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gebs Their take on folk-black metal is fine, but just like Eluveitie, I appear to prefer their stripped-down, acoustic approach. It's dark, yet playful and an ode to the great, Canadian north. Favorite track: Song of the Summit.
deletedviper
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deletedviper I'm a person who tends to be drawn into unfamiliar bands by the cover art of the albums. Looking at this band i thought i was going to get some dark aggressive black metal. What i heard pleasantly surprised me, This maritime sounding dark folk music that came out was so ear pleasing to listen to. I can't help but feel transcended into a dark forest when listening to this album. I can't wait to hear more from Joel and the rest of the gang. \m/ \m/ Favorite track: Thus Spoke the Wind.
Gansettman
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Gansettman Great Brunswick Forest is one amazing album. It's incredibly cohesive in both sound and lyrics with heavy themes around man's place in nature. Makes you want to head to the northeast and live off the land.
Fantastic acoustic guitar work! Really hoping Joel continues future releases with this vocal approach. That said, Great Brunswick Forest will be difficult to top! Thanks for the inspiration. Favorite track: Here I Am a Fortress.
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1.
I chanced to meet a strange man Down a Brunswick lane, Dressed in brown and a vagabond's cloak A timeless image from the wood. I stopped and said to him Before he passed me by, "Stranger to these Maritime shores, spare me a moment of your time!" Green Man of East Canada Dark Shores of Northumberland Green man, sing, man, of your journey 'cross the waves! I'm no stranger to these lands, Though they're not my own. I left with the changed tides To call this Brunswick kingdom home. Its shores alive with green, Its cities cloaked in trees Like the halcyon of my youth, Thousands of old summers past. I wear the emblems of the summer and I bear its pulsing song. I carry it through winter, I spread it when the snows have gone. Across the jagged seas I traveled With the first to cross them, And spread my arms across the richness of these misted lands.
2.
Here I am a fortress. Heavy were my days; sleep wore my nights; Toil was my bane; but stone was my will. O my allies in blood and in spirit— Together we roam the brimming glades! But on my own I face the wailing winds Of languor, so here I am a fortress. Fashioned from the surrounding land, I stand against the winds. Here strength I summon and travel inward; I see into the earth. Its ore I gather, and smelt out in the depths of this fortress mine. So when we gather, then I emerge And I bear for you shimmering ore. Among the rocks did I lay; among the roots did I slumber; In the earth did I sleep; I was devoured by the sun. I was washed into the sea; I became naught but purpose; But then I rose and strong I stood Against the weight I chose to carry. A fortress I am and here I stand, Fashioned I am from this land. Life is not simply to breathe, Nor to break back for others’ intents. Life is to grow, to struggle free, To assert one’s own unique existence. A fortress of stone is what I am. Fashioned I am from this land, First crumbled down, down, Indiscernible from Earth.
3.
Vast river flows a mari usque ad mare, Tethering cities so distant. We ride to see the stones, the great standing stones They tower like the memories and myths they mark. On we go — to the standing stones we’ve made! On we go — to the standing stones we’ve yet to raise! So stand the stones a mari usque ad mare, Tethering times so distant. As we stand in awe, we prepare to carve out our own. On we go — anchored in the earth. On we go — megalithic art for these transient times.
4.
I who have cast my eye on the world, I see what I am. See what I take for granted and given, I lies and traps dispel. I who have cast my eye on the self, I see the earth. I own what I take for granted and given, I lay bare the distant spell. Through this wanderer’s eye, I see the way. The song of the summit calls through autumn’s haze. I who have journeyed for days on foot, I learn what I am. Learn what becomes of all my trappings, As I wake on misted ground. I the ascender of thousands of feet, I survey the land. And so I bind my sapling learnings To the great canvas sprawling below.
5.
Peace becomes fire, still beneath night. Raven, sing words of the sky. Mind cast alone for knowledge in my bones. Whisper, wind, secrets that I hold. Ancient wind, show me now; Kindle the fire and dispel The thundering skies behind my brow So I might give unto this world. The throne of your mind, in great knotted pine, You must claim. Thus spoke the wind. The storm of your soul, which across wide valleys rolls, You must tame. Thus spoke the wind.
6.
From inside the windblown treeline I saw another great tree fall, Torn in twin by the immortal wind, Like thunder shook us all. But now I'm borne on through the storm, For better or for grim. Blood and bone and rain and stone I’ll face Time and the Immortal Wind. Sing Time and the Immortal Wind, I say, The great healer of beast and man. But as one hand it makes, the other it takes, Time and the Immortal Wind. But in the Great Brunswick Forest Time stands regal, still. The immortal wind howls on in At the timelessness that here fills. For every kin to fall herein Springs a sapling in its stead. It’s the one lone to resist the throne Of Time and the Immortal Wind! But we are not unlike the wood That through the harsh wind throve. With all those who've gone and all those to come We stand in flowing groves. Shoulder to shoulder you and I stand With all who will ever have been. These words we will chant and we will withstand Time and the Immortal Wind!
7.
Let me sing you songs from the Maritimes; Let me sing you songs from the summertide. Come times of plenty, times of none, As Lady Prosperity comes and goes, As Good Lady Fortune makes her rounds Of the Earth. A singer of these times, These ever changeless times. With Brunswick strings and Scotia pipes, A singer of these times, These ever changeless times. Our songs they carry on long past the grave. The songs of our forebears strong remain. No distance from them in age or in place As we strum and sing the notes of our forebears. Let me bring you tides from the Maritimes; Let me bring you tides from the wintertime. As pines and poplars shrug off the storms, And the halls and dwellings open their doors, And we know that what December darkness brought Is reversed. When Lady Prosperity rides ‘cross the land And the sun shines down on sea and forest, Wherever she treads — or not — we thrive. Tell me, how are we so different from our forebears? Let me bring you tides from the Maritimes, Ever changeless tides from the Maritimes. We still hail the summer, we still tell our tales. We still sing the winter, and toast with our ales. So I stand up and shout, my friends, “What shall Ever change?”
8.
Here another journey ends, As too the sun lays to rest, Where stellar flame suffers no restraints— For me a passage earnt to time of stone. In this dark sky sanctuary, In this shrine of stellar light. Myriads only seen at night above the trees, In this dark sky sanctuary. A rite of stone in ‘lectric time To name the stars in their own light. Extratemporal mind brings introspective gifts, Binding to the shining myths above.

credits

released October 19, 2018

Joel Violette: songs, guitars, vocals, bass
Rae Amitay: drums
Keegan MC: fiddle

Production:
Produced by Joel Violette and Siegfried Meier
Engineered by Joel Violette and Siegfried Meier
Recorded at Studio Jolheim and Beach Road Studios
Mixed by Siegfried Meier at Beach Road Studios
Mastered by Siegfried Meier at Beach Road Mastering

Artwork:
Artwork and layout by Brett Goodchild and Joel Violette
Photography by Joel Violette
Cover lettering by Adam Gillis

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Thrawsunblat

metal from the atlantic fog

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