The Kelpie is a water-demon that lives in the cold waters of Scotland’s rivers. Traditionally taking the form of a beautiful black horse, with seaweed for a mane and tail, the Kelpie’s favoured tactic was to lure a weary traveller onto its back with a promise of assistance crossing the river. Once on the Kelpie, the unfortunate traveller would find their hands stuck to the creature’s skin, whereupon the Kelpie would leap into the rushing water and drown its victim before devouring their flesh, leaving nothing behind but the heart. The lyrics are inspired by the story “The Doomed Rider”, from Sir George Douglas’s Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales (1901).
lyrics
“Hold fast there, pilgrim-traveller! Hold fast your haste.
‘The hour is come but not the man’, spake the Kelpie of your fate!”
“Your faerie tale is heresy”, dismissed the man of faith
“I will ford the Conan here, though her banks be bowed in spate.”
Death is the black horse that rides you – to your grave!
Death is the black horse that devours you – underneath the waves!
Down by the river’s bank, there stood the beast
Waiting, as dark as pitch and sleekit in majesty.
“A gift from God!” the weary pilgrim cried, and he mounted the steed
But hands stuck fast, fright filled his soul; too late, he realised his mistake…
Death is the black horse that rides you – to your grave!
Death is the black horse that devours you – underneath the waves!
Once only did the pilgrim shriek, as the Kelpie reared and turned
And with a noise like thunder, into the deepest churn it plunged…
Death is the black horse that rides you – to your grave!
Death is the black horse that devours you – underneath the waves!
And whence the sunrise came the crofter ventured to the Conan
And found the pilgrim’s heart steaming bloody in the morning.
credits
from CLONE OF EUROPA,
released February 14, 2014
Written, arranged and performed by Curtis Beardy, Rick Cardellini, Vinnie Cardellini, Steve Greenough and Graham Harris. Lyrics by Graham Harris.
Engineered, mixed and mastered by Alex Wilkinson at Signals Audio (www.signalsaudio.com), Calgary, AB.
Since 2010, Hammerdone has been honing a distinct sound that mixes intense aggression, dark atmosphere and elegant melodies to deliver death metal that is both epic and catchy. No clean singing, no symphonics.
Not gonna lie, I don't usually go in for the super composed, melodic flavor of black metal. That said, I'm thoroughly enjoying this release. Gives kinda an Old Man's Child type vibe. Ghuughra
This is my favorite metal album of all time. The only bad thing is that the vocals are somewhat buried in the mix. Otherwise, the record perfectly blends a mix of metal genres with excellent songcraft. A record you'll listen to again and again. The Real Nick House