Original Version LP Rerelease Version
1. Ponderous Moonlighting 2:23 1. Ponderous Moonlighting 2:23
2. The cainian chronicle part I: the curse 4:48 2. The cainian chronicle part I: the curse 4:48
3. Part II: lilith's embrace 6:15 3. Part II: lilith's embrace 6:15
4. Part III & IV: disciplines of caine / zillah and the crone 5:53 4. Part III & IV: disciplines of caine / zillah and the crone 5:53
5. At the infernal portal (canto III) 7:06 5. At the infernal portal (canto III) 7:06
6. Cry of mariamne 3:03 6. Cry of mariamne 3:03
7. Prophecy of sehenna 4:04 7. Prophecy of sehenna 4:04
8. Song of kaiaphas 8:47 8. Song of kaiaphas 8:47
9. Exu 2:52 9. Exu 2:52
10. The pagan cycle 7:30 10. The pagan cycle 7:30
11. Homage to pan 13:25 11. Homage to pan 13:25
total time 66:06 total time 66:06


Ponderous Moonlighting

(instrumental)


'The Cainian Chronicle'
Part I: The Curse

Black clouds fill the day sky
In the primitive lands of Nod
As the two sons of Adam offer up
Their gifts (of pride) to the one reigning high
A dark fate born by sacrificial fire

Caine: 'Oh, great father of my father
Whom thou banished from thy garden
Look down upon thy faithful servant
And accept my beloved brother.'

With tears of love the firstborn thrust
His sharpest scythe deep into Abel's heart
Rendering him lifeless but eternally
Prized in the mind of god as his body withered
In the scorching blaze

Caine: 'Oh, my dear brother
Forgive me for what I have done
But to the one almighty
A greater prize I have none.'

Adam: 'Caine, thou has broken my seal of absolute love
The crime thou'st committed meets not
The approval of him above
Forever shall you wonder in the lands beyond alone
And from this day forth I cannot call thee my own.'

Caine: 'Oh, father my great father
Why hast thou cursed me so?
Have I not done what thou asked for?
To the shadowed woods I cannot go.'

Adam: 'I can no longer endure thy sinful words
This greatly unmerciful deed hast done his wrong
I pray that thou find ways to repent
And as I was cast out so you shall be gone!'
Be gone!

Exiled, the firstborn rushes off to the obscure yet
Welcoming arms of Cimmerian darkness
For there he shall find great wisdom
And awaiting beneath the crescent moon lurks
The mother of magick...


Part II: Lilith's Embrace

Caine: 'Alone in the darkness I can hear
The sweetest voice
Whispering words of surcease
And I rejoiced!

Who would dare speak to one so
Condemned as I?
Do you know of my most wicked crime?'

Lilith: 'I'm known as Lilith, your father's first bride
Like you I'm cursed to dwell in the shadows of night.'

Caine: 'How can one survive here in the dark groves forlorn?
Without a sole compainion of a friend of some form?'

Lilith: 'But there are many compainions in my infinite kingdom.
Through magick and sorcery I've found my freedom.'

Caine: 'I was cold and she clothed me, I starved
And she fed me, I was mournful yet she loved me.

I shed bloody tears and she made them dissapear
She kissed away my tears
Her powers I could see would forever set me free

I begged her to awake me
Her blood, sweet as wine, as I drank she would sigh
Then I closed my eyes

Into the dark I fell and fell
A deepest abyss
Surrounded by obscurity
A price for her gift

Out from the frigid blackness
Came a radiant glimmering light
Revealing the flaming archangel
Known as Michael'

Michael: 'Cursed son of Adam
Indeed his mercy is great
Bow thy head and repent thine sins now
Before it's too late.'

Caine: 'Not by his grace but my own,
I choose to live with pride
Your 'merciful' god disgusts me
His kingdom infested with lies.'

Michael: 'You sad irrelevant fool
Have thy no shame?
You shall forever fear the light
Of the living flame.'

Caine: 'On the mornign by silver wing
Raphael came to me and said
Abel did forgive me
Not by his (forgiveness) but mine own
For darkness is my home

I walk alone
My skin would burn by the sun's rays I learned
And the dawn had returned to earth below
I did run seeking shelter from the sun
The endless night of Caine had begun

When I awoke, Uriel appeared
The reaper with black wings
But thrice denied his grace
Hence, my blood-curse begins...'


Part III: Disciplines of Caine

My wrathful cries of anguish
Filled that dismal night
I tore at my flesh and drank my crimson tears

When I glanced up
Appearing in a myriad of stars
The illustrious archangel Gabriel shimmered
Like the moon in my eyes
Bringing mercy even to the damned

But why? Why?

He spoke of a path
The path of Golconda
From which my children could once again
Inhabit the light

Without another word, he disappeared
And I conceived
I had awakened at last

Then the bright-eyed demoness
Taught me how to hide from the eyes
Of those who dare to hunt us
How to command obedience
And demand respect

Soon I found myself attaining (yet) greater powers
I could alter forms, control all beasts and perceive
Beyond sight

Eventually I had to abandon Lilith
And flee from the barren lands of Nod
Set out to procreate my progeny
Caine's children shall inherit the night

Part IV: zillah and the crone

Of all my children, none so beloved
My sweet Zillah, none so desired
Her tender skin, her blood so saccharine
I was mesmerized by her enchanting eyes

But she would turn from me, she had no love to me
Nothing I'd provide could keep her satisfied
So I took to roam the wilderness alone
Amid the whispering trees, a wrinkled crone I did see

Crone: 'My spell can make thee win her heart
Drink of my blood then we'll start'

Caine: 'Her (foul) blood I drank for many nights
And Zillah indeed became my wife'

Crone: 'The elixir hast bound thee
My serving thrall thou always be'

Caine: 'But after a year (and a day) her grasp (on me) had gone
With a stake through the heart, I left her to the dawn'


At the Infernal Portal (Canto III)

Per me si va ne la citta dolente
Per me si va ne l'etterno dolore
Per me si va tra la perduta gente
Guistizia mosse il mio alto fattore
Fecemi la divina podestate
La somma sapienza e'l primo amore
Dinanzi a me non fuor cose create
Se non etterne, e io etterno duro
Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate

Through me you enter the woeful city
Through me you enter eternal grief
Through me you enter among the lost
Justice moved my high maker
The divine power made me
The supreme wisdom, and the primal love
Before me nothing was created
If not eternal, and eternal I endure
Abandon every hope, you who enter


Cry of Mariamne

(instrumental)


Prophecy of Gehenna

On the first day of Gehenna
The shrieking winds shall be silent
And when a black sun hangs from a somber sky
Caine's sleeping children shall once again arise

When antediluvians awake from eons of slumber
The strongest of us shall fall prey to their hunger
Countless storms shall quake the earth
As the world turns icy cold

On the second day of Gehenna
Our father shall return
And unite his wretched kindred
To the ebon throne of city Enoch

The vile culprits of diablerie
Shall meet their deserved fate
To drink the scarlet tainted from the first-born
Eating away their breathless bodies

And there shall be battle
The next millennium antediluvians rule
But shall be borne a woman bearing lunar mark
The only key to our salvattion...


Song of Kaiaphas

I slept in the fires of Hades
But did not burn
I breathed in sulphorous vapors
To reach the astral plane

I tamed the three-headed Cerberus
Then devoured his flesh
I stared deep at the face of the Gorgon
And made her turn to stone

I made love to Prosperine
To taste its bitter venom
I shot an arrow into the eye of the Cyclops
The earth shook as he fell

I called the mighty Kraken
And watched him rise to do my bidding
I soared on the wings of the great dragon
To feel the infernal wind

I hunted the enchanted unicorn
To obtain its horn of power
I entered the labyrinth of Daedalus
And slayed the ferocious Minotaur

I came as the great star
To ignite the blaze of the Phoenix
I'll come to you in the shape of Incubus
And plant my deadly seed


Exu

(instrumental)


The Pagan One

Eurus, we call upon the east wind
Notus, we call upon the south wind
Zephyrus, we call upon the west wind
Boreas, we call the north wind
Spirit mother hear thy pagan son

On winter solstice night
Waxing mon reveals a new dawn
(The) dark king transforms to infant light
The cycle of ancient times has begun
IO'EVOHE we are reborn

Candlemass brings the (growing) child sun
The triple goddess comes shining down
As witches sing with inspiration
Spiral dancing round and round

The spring equinox rises high
(The) dark maiden returns to us
The woods abound with faery goblins
Pan performs his songs of lust

Rejoice in the beltane sabbat
When lilac performes this magickal night
Naked we leap the sacred fire
And feast upon fruits and violet wine

On the day of summer solstice
The sun king will embrace the litha queen
And perish in the wake of Lughnasad
So may a splendid harvest be reaped

On Mabon we follow the lord of shadows
The empty season is upon us
Lady autumn blows leaves of sadness
Chanting as our offerings turn to dust

Ancestor wraiths ride on Samhain night
To proclaim the mystery of passing
Wearing a death cloak smiles the waning king
Let us see what the future will bring

Death is rebirth
The end brings new beginning
Ever turning
The wheel of the Pagan cycle

Anadia... Klephera... Nuit... Mercury... Hestia...
Horus... Brigit... Vulcan... Aphrodite... Ea... Isis...
Akasha... IO EVOHE!


Homage to Pan

Goat horned god
Wandering free in the woodlands and mystical forests
To thee I owe my manhood
For thine sexuality is untamed ans pure
Satyr-king for centuries worshipped
A legacy born in the bosom of man
Lust beyond love, love beyond lust
Ruler of nymphs I praise thee

The wilderness is yours
O great son of Herme and lovely Dryope
When arcadians gather and sing
The sweet sound of your pipe
Will resound through the night
Beyond wide valleys and streams

Thou make all wood-nymphs run with fright
With thine phallus awe-inspiring
Like Dionysus and Cernunnos
The muses sing in thine glory

I am one of thousand in thy flock
Be my shepherd, guide my cock
Oh universal Pan
Reveal thyself to me, make me mad


Lyrics in plain text format



Line up





Aphazel - All guitars, Bass and Synth
Kimberly Gross - Vocals and Synth
Kjetil - Drums
Lord Kaiaphas - Vocals, Drums on nr. 5, 8, 9 and 11





Artwork







Info



Recorded and mixed at Unisound studios, January 1996
Produced by Dan Swanö and Ancient
Engineered and Mixed by Dan Swan&omul;
Mastered by Peter In De Betou at Cutting Room

Front cover and back cover artwork by Alex Kurlagic
Aphazel photo by Lisa Johnsen
Kimberly photo by Vivian Holås
Kjetil photo by Nicholas E.W. Syracuse
Lord Kaiaphas photo by Nicholas E.W. Syracuse

Metal Blade website:
http://www.iuma.com/Metal_Blade
E-Mail: MtlBldRcds@aol.com

For a free Metal Blade catalogus write to:
Metal Blade records - Attn: Catalog
2345 Erringer Rd., Suite 108
Simi Valley, CA 93065-2200

For personal contact with Ancient, write to
Ancient c/o Metal Blade
2345 Erringer Rd., Suite 108
Simi Valley, CA 93065-2200
(Reply is not guaranteed)

For merchandise, T-shirts, newsletters, etc., write:
Red Moon Entertainment
P.O.Box 666
5082 Eidsvaagneset, Norway
Include 2 IRC or $2 for return postage





Review



Quite a lot has changed since their last CD. Grimm left the band, and three new members have been added. All this makes The Canian Chronicle sound quite different than Svartalvheim. It has a much better production, which surely has something to do with Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity) producing it... The songs sound real cool again, and the addition of female vocals makes this another great album. The song "Lilith's Embrace" also has a video which shows Ancient's interest in Vampires. Still I think Svartalvheim was a bit better. The last few songs of this album sound a bit alike, and I think the vague production somehow fitted the black metal better. Still, it's a great cd.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10


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