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Darkness Driving Darkness

by Wintering

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1.
Hecatomb 05:50
Lyric by Rahn Prod on past pillars, pale and vaulted Each clad in ceremony, slaves exalted Proceed to the pedestal, and there halted Chattel, cattle, lamb, man—innocents faulted With scepter gilt in consequence And draped in mail of confidence A king in errant quest of providence Stays the soft command of conscience With keening mouths and scaled eyes A restless flock of grim surmise Would glory fail at first command And rend the veil that lies ‘twixt beast and man Blade upon bone upon blood upon blade Beat ploughshares to swords, beat a path the grave Bone upon blood upon blade upon bone Flesh in the fields, our bodies’ seeds sown Antler, horn, tooth, and claw Sutured to flesh for war Bled by the doyen and Fed to the gaping maw Blessed and bathed Fitted and flayed The living depraved but One hundred souls saved Blade upon bone upon blood upon blade Beat ploughshares to swords, beat a path the grave Bone upon blood upon blade upon bone Flesh in the fields, our bodies’ seeds sown Swept from the altar, drained offerings Eyes wide with starlight, mouths blossoming The gloaming fades as he, gorged and red Ascends to his throne, oblivion to wed Blade upon bone upon blood upon… --Hecatomb
2.
Phlogiston 03:51
Lyric by Rahn The stone of fire and shard of flame The demon’s heart too fey to tame Twisted gate and fallen shapes Devil’s jape and bloody cape Enshroud a fragile mass Soft but sharpening That but a breath would rise Upon a shadowed wing Exhale the fire Inhale the flame Element of power Invoke its name With hidden words unraveling The fraying weft now free to sing Between the air and earth And caught amidst the seams Errant embers of the sun Erupt in radiant beams Piercing the dark divide Take the folded key And with it--abandon earth Exhale the fire Inhale the flame Element of power Invoke its name Collapse, combust Calx emerge from ash and dust A crown of rust Wrought to sate his jealous lust   He’ll laugh and spurn Human arts never to learn From air to turn Fires that forever burn
3.
Lyric by Rahn The stars portend a barren fall The rains withheld in parched thrall Another harvest dissolved into dust Our only reaping the bounty of rust On sickles, scythes, and plows withal Defy the drought Refuse the plague Deny the parasite Resist time Famine’s host stands assembled at our gates With bloated banners and tattered fates Bestial hunger flanked by ravenous thirst March through fields fallow, naked and cursed Oh, but past this mirage--paradise awaits Defy the drought Refuse the plague Deny the parasite Resist time March,feed, march, bleed Left, right, Theft of seed March,feed, march, bleed Left, right, Loss of need Our walls collapse our cities crumble Our crops decay and prayers are scorned But ether-cleansed and shroud-adorned Before his eyes we lay, humble We shed our skin beneath the sun Our lungs, our hearts, and minds excised Purified, our souls revived We’ll be interred and become one
4.
The Descent 01:26
5.
Fading Flesh 04:46
Lyric by Muxlow I deny The need that breeds Gluttony And adore This form I seek, So skeletal and withdrawn I aspire To be the weak Suffering, sick, forlorn And one Among the few To attain a perfect truth I require No sympathy No pitying Or your tears For what I was Just look what I've attained I inspire My devotees To worship me And let go of the hold And chance achieve This wasted grace And we all adore the fading flesh Ring the bells! — Master rises from his slumber Ring the bells! — Time to gather, gaze in wonder Ring the bells! — All to witness transformation Ring the bells! — Skin and bone, the last negation Greedy flesh has been defeated Barren pulse From amongst ourselves We find our next guide to fade
6.
Brazen Bull 05:18
Lyric by Rahn Perillos-- this gift is noble, unbowed A gleaming bull wrought of brass, proud-browed His broad and bright breast, hollow chest, an amber blazon His shoulders strong, and, lo, is not his bellow brazen? Let them burn To ash return With flesh and wood and flame he’s fed His smoking breath as sweet as lead The scraps of his feast blaze-borne Black bones for pale wrists prize-worn He breathes They bleed He yearns Foundry, forge, and fiery womb Sulfur, sweat, and singing tomb Yes, my son, you’ve pleased your king And now for me his song you’ll sing Perillos… Let them burn To ash return
7.
Vore 05:16
Lyric by Muxlow All that once lived is dead All that survives will die Nothing inspires such dread As the Nothing we all leave behind We run in terror to hide, to live But we're running down a dead line Into the maw of a beast poorly hid Gorging itself on our lives The eater of all… The end is the same for all And we all fear the same end The black empty silence that culls All living things fresh fat to rend It’s so fragile a thing, this life So fleeting and easily spent Falling to the swallowing jaw That feeds on all that’s ever went The eater of all… eater of all… Can we ever satisfy the vore? Behold—The Vore! The eater of all… The Vore! All that once lived is dead All that survives will die The spark of all life is struggling to light While the beast grows more black on our.... Death
8.
Hibernis Rex 07:20
Lyric by Muxlow O! At the autumn’s end When the last leaves fall Sunlight begins its slow And retreating crawl Ever to bow Scrape and defer unto The greying skies Over our heads Hark: The clarion call, harbingers of hoarfrost Come the wintering winds Behold! His entrance, grand His subjects stand Mute, frozen and pale All await his cry His seasonal sigh O’er the withering land All the peasants pale Shivering, mad from Starvation and fear And he, with frozen claw Demanding of all His tax of cold hunger pain 
Greenery gone, the sun sets at dawn Gloom has set into our stories and songs Frost on the plains, scarce is the game A chill in the air that no fire can tame Autumn comes cheerless, the terrain is bleak Our footsteps falter and grips have gone weak The rivers are frozen, the shadows are long It’s only December--so much has gone wrong We are the frozen chosen Months have gone by, many have died They cannot be buried, the rite is denied None have we eaten, in spite of our want Eye sockets hollowed, our faces all gaunt Rats in the grain, children in pain Hunger and fevers and frostbite again Fingers run black, numb to the blade, that Cuts off the waste that the winter has laid   We are the chosen frozen When will come a savior from this pain? Ostara! She arrives To battle her old foe The horse she rides Is battered but she glows With warmth and light She salves our wounds with hope Her sword is sharp, her arm is strong She cuts the grey king low 
Ostara!
9.
Lyric by Muxlow Cycling waves of violence Vortex of our mindlessness Mute before us, blind and deaf, Rotted corpses bear witness Raving Ouroboros storming Adversary without warning Can not see his enemy's Defeat is but his own Darkness driving darkness as our hearts intend Darkness driving darkness to our bitter end Here lies a miracle, it’s Wasted, wasted, rotted through Everything is coming down Madmen claim and tarnish crowns Debasing ourselves, we lie in Burning homes waiting to die Conflicts of the opulent Glory to the malcontent Cancer of all good intent Tragedy is never spent Chaos spirals all around us Mass extinction bays and hounds us Until boastful Doom announces “Fear not—now I’ve come for you” Darkness driving darkness as our hearts intend Darkness driving darkness to our bloody ends Here lies a miracle, it’s Wasted, wasted, rotted through Everything is coming down Madmen claim and tarnish crowns Debasing ourselves, we lie in Burning homes waiting to die Darkness Driving Darkness…

credits

released August 11, 2017

Samu Rahn – Vocals, guitar
Jason Muxlow – Guitar, bass, keyboards, clean vocals
Phil Messina – Drums, backing vocals

Produced by Wintering
Mixed & mastered by Spenser Morris
Drums recorded by Dan Klein at Iron Hand Studios
Instruments recorded by Jason Muxlow
Vocals recorded by Spenser Morris

Cover painting, “self portrait” (2010) by Anastasia V Sweets

Copyright © 2017, Wintering. All rights reserved.

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Crafted in the vein of the European old guard, Darkness Driving Darkness contains nine tracks of rumbling, organic death metal inspired by by the grim adversities of the natural world, man’s struggle against entropy, and the irresistible siren song of the HM-2 distortion pedal. No simple homage, however, Darkness… is interwoven with progressive and contemporary threads that have become Wintering’s hallmark blend.

Wintering was conceived in 2010 as a live performance outlet for Chicago-based guitarists Jason Muxlow (WITCHCRYER, ex-EARTHEN GRAVE) and Samu Rahn (CAIRN, VASKULA), whose mutual band (THE LIVING FIELDS) was a studio project with members spread across the globe. Along with bassist/vocalist Paul Garcia, they recorded two demos — End of All Tides (Spring 2012) & Carrion Call (early 2013) — before drummer Phil Messina (DeathCult, Boatman’s Toll, ex-Impale) joined to round out the live lineup. Garcia departed soon thereafter to focus on his main band; once more a trio, Wintering hunted for a replacement while preparing a full-length release. In November 2013, songwriting was completed and it was decided that Rahn would handle lead vocals, as he does in his own project, CAIRN. Focus turned back to the studio and in short order Messina had tracked drums with Dan Klein (FIN) at Iron Hand Studios in Chicago. Life then unexpectedly intervened and the album languished for a time, but was taken up again once Muxlow relocated to Texas and recorded primary bass and guitar tracks there. Back in Chicago, Spenser Morris was tapped for vocal tracking, mixing & mastering, which continued through the fall and winter of 2016.

And so here we are at last. Although entropy had its day and Wintering's original intent as a live ensemble never came to fruition, Darkness Driving Darkness has emerged as a testament to perseverance.

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Wintering Chicago, Illinois

Wintering is a Chicago death metal band featuring past and present members of The Living Fields, Cairn, DeathCult and Witchcryer.

For fans of Bolt Thrower, Amorphis (old), Sentenced (old), Morgoth, Autopsy, etc.

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