Thousand Swords is a Metal album by Graveland, originally released in 1995. On Gatefold: 32 pressings tracked.
About
*Thousand Swords* is the second album by the Polish pagan metal band Graveland. It was released in 1995 by Lethal Record. The album was recorded in December 1994 at Tuba Studio in Wrocław, with Grzegorz Czachor assisting the band as mixing engineer and sound technician. After Graveland was dropped by Lethal Records due to antisemitic, far-right statement, Darken initially released the album on cassette through his own label, Isengard Production. In the booklet, he ranted against allegedly Jewish record labels Osmose Production, Lethal Record, and Nuclear Blast. Darken later signed with No Colours Record, which released a digipak version in 1999. Further reissues followed, on both CD and LP. In August 2014, a rehearsal version of the album without vocals and keyboards was released on cassette under the title *Resharpening Thousand Swords*. The cover features a black-and-white photo taken by Raborym, showing Darken in the forest wearing corpse paint, wielding a sword and shield, and dressed in armor. With *Thousand Swords*, the band stylistically moved toward the pagan metal direction of later album, serving as a transition between the early Graveland sound—heavily inspired by Scandinavian black metal—and the style of its successor, *Following the Voice of Blood*. The album opens with a “hymnic” intro consisting of distorted guitar over a steady tom-tom rhythm, accompanied by acoustic guitar. This intro flows seamlessly into the first full track, *Blood of Christians on My Sword*. Throughout the album, folk elements appear regularly, sometimes subtly, sometimes replacing typical metal riffs for large stretches of the album. These elements have been described as dominant in comparison to similarities with bands like Burzum and Bathory. The guitars are mixed low and pushed into the background. Vocals consist of a consistent rasping croak. The drumming includes not only aggressive passages but also rhythms reminiscent of galloping horse. The lyrics focus on battles against Christians and contain patriotic and pagan theme, though without the overt far-right content that Darken and Capricornus began expressing more explicitly around 1994. .
via Last.fm
The Clerk says
The Clerk knows this whole record — the pressing quirks, the credits, the take.
Credits
The people behind it.
Performers
- CapricornusDRUMS
- KarcharothBASS GUITAR
- Rob DarkenVOCALS , GUITAR , BASS VOCALS , GUITAR, KEYBOARDS VOCALS, GUITAR , BASS
Rare pressing on Gatefold · 32 pressings tracked on Gatefold
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