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Legacies of Frailty

by Woe

supported by
Dmitry Nevozhay
Dmitry Nevozhay thumbnail
Dmitry Nevozhay USBM highlight of the year.
bmurator
bmurator thumbnail
bmurator US Black Metal. This straightforward & great & in your face BM of fantastic quality & agression! I missed this first when it came out & only saw / heard it again thanks to wibbs' wishlist. Thanks wibbs! Highly recommended!!! Favorite track: Far Beyond the Fracture of the Sky.
Cactusbutt
Cactusbutt thumbnail
Cactusbutt Woe is not your average black metal band. Woe has managed to create songs with amazing song writing, jaw dropping melodic transitions and aggressive guitars.

All of these things add up to a wonderfully balanced blend of Black metal.

Legacies of Frailty is a late release this year, but I can say it's my favorite AOTY. Favorite track: Distant Epitaphs.
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    Woe's logo reimagined for "Legacies of Frailty" by renowned artist Stephen Wilson (Unknown Relic).

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    The 2023 album released by Vendetta Records on CD in jewel case with multi-page insert. Outside North America, please order from Vendetta Records directly!

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  • Legacies of Frailty Black Cassette
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1.
What fearsome beast awakes again to stalk this harrowed earth? What thing beyond imagination, sloughing skin in timeless rebirth? The dread of the new day, the threat of the last, a fever dream breathing, the future aghast The living lament of power misspent on history's profoundly shameful regrets The brazen sycophants, the spineless drones emerge To sway in craven veneration, drawn to its pure vacuous dirge Somehow faith strains to nourish the garden that logic denies In fealty to the madness that consumes the world and never truly dies Against the wall, pushed to the ground, forced to a cell Into a crate, into the flames, cast down to hell A crumpled husk to feed the worms that feed the earth That never cared, that could not stop the thing it grew Tremble under the weight of the lurid contempt For imagined slights against petty tyrants and their tragic recompense Against the wall, pushed to the ground, forced to a cell Into a crate, into the flames, cast down to hell A crumpled husk to feed the worms that feed the earth That never cared, that could not stop the thing it grew Joyous in conflict Nourished by fear The beat of an ancient drum Legacies of human frailty Carrion tragedy Vultures of loss A swarm for the sadness Devours worlds in lucid horror March of oppression finds gleeful embrace Gluttonous masses Gorge themselves on human failures Drink the very marrow From their bones It comes again Fresh chaos greets the dawn You never see from where it comes A defeated sun groans to its post To weep away an endless day Against the wall, pushed to the ground, forced to a cell Into a crate, into the flames, cast down to hell A crumpled husk to walk the earth That dares not stop the things it grew It comes again It comes again Mourn for the living It comes again It comes again It comes again Mourn for the living It comes again
2.
“Rise now, ye faithful! Witness these auspicious signs The riotous winds blow with terrible greatness And sovereign purpose illuminates the grand design! Behold clamoring chaos Ripe for rapture, the multitudes await Your leaden devotion A boot to quake the earth, a fist to wield the weapons of fate" Scavenger prophets These foul vultures of loss Proudly aloft in their ill-gotten sky A swarming starving cloud The holy vermin Desperate for burden and flush with demagogue urge The righteous impious They see themselves as kings Reap the spoils from the tributary herds And unto a ripe world Hiss the word of god “Resurrect the esoteric words” Liars tongue Benighted reason “A fist against the weakness of the world” Coward strength Desperate urges “Arise! Arise! to meet a golden day!” Mass affliction Joyous rage, the work is never done Scavengers, vultures of loss Victims of their own invective Lives turned kindling for the flame The noble work is never-ending Lest their prayers will not be heard For every silent fear there crawls a shadow born from where no joy abounds and time becomes a shrill reminder of a frail existence Not bound by memories but measured by the deepest sorrow Wither hope and rise reborn A vessel of the damned to claim the world A just doom for a savage season Cruel their purpose, cruel their death A just doom for a savage season Cruel their purpose, cruel their death Glorious freedom, the hate lives forever A just doom for a savage season From the depths of loss something worse appears Cruel its purpose, cruel its death Glorious freedom, the hate lives forever A just doom for a savage season From the depths of loss something worse appears Cruel its purpose, cruel its death
3.
Chaotic voices scream in frantic tongues A savage din reaching from primal dark Red frothing rage consumes the hearts of man As if ordained to kill by hateful hands The shining city's lights confess its truth The living ruins boast of myths disproved Its gaudy glow can't hide its dark charade Hungry torches for the next Crusade Walking the worn path Onward, oblivion, the oldest face of man Inside, they all know Onward, oblivion, the oldest face Hatred The reliable refrain Raze the rags of civilization All at once retreating Tribal warfare thrives In the ashes of the world Walking the worn path Cast away the chains of enlightenment The truth for all to see Onward, oblivion, the resting place of progress Sacrifice your convictions Dominate your cherished virtues New skin stretched over faded leather Old refrains survive generations Their songs, we sing We studied all their failures And gasped at all their crimes And centuries past the primal rage that lingers deep within our weaker moments, An ancient language from a dark and twisted time Still speaks its ageless violence Vestigial tongues somehow survive And now, where have they fled? Bright-eyed champions of peace? Gone are those better angels Here we have familiar beasts And now, where have they fled? Here we have familiar beasts And now, where have they fled? Here we are familiar beasts The justice of gnashing teeth Chaotic voices scream in careful tongues A savage din filtered through modern thought Red frothing rage defines the worth of men So gladly led to kill by nature’s hand Walking the worn path Onward, oblivion, the oldest face of man And everyone knows Onward, oblivion, the oldest face Sacrifice your convictions Dominate your cherished virtues Every era thinks that it is different Until it sees The broken bodies at its feet
4.
Distant epitaphs drain the world of color so vibrant and leave dark craters A constant drone of loss howls the words and rains in torrents upon desperate masses A frantic, captive throng -- prisoners of men and madness of hate and power Gasps of snuffed-out light reverberate like some foul wind that tears through nature Resentful eyes will track the men who destroyed them Accusations pierce the silence The unheeded testimony of stolen voices Betrayed in contempt to an unmarked grave Distant epitaphs roar from where sanity fled and horror gives chase Snarling and ravenous creatures emerge from the dark Nightmare monstrosities shamble forth Decayed and servile to rancid ambition Dredged from a past of primal virtues Wherein nothing grows but dread machinations of violent compulsion That stalk the virgin day and strangle dark crisp nights In terrible campaigns Resentful eyes will track the men who destroyed them Accusations pierce the silence The unheeded testimony of stolen voices Betrayed in contempt to an unmarked grave Fearsome echoes of death pang eternal Conscript the world to war The ever-constant pulse of degradation The pounding drum of ceaseless confrontation Awash in sorrow, we gaze from distant vistas And thrash against the tearing claws of time The helpless victims of an empire's failures Chained to dark annals of a history that's already written Unending screams, inhuman conditions Forever to speak their deafening truth Forever to sing their sorrowful dirge Forever to command we cling to the future that they were all denied
5.
One final march to shores of extinction Far-off trumpets call through the glow of dusk Heavy eyes spare no glances A haze descends To still the world Last rays of sun stretch shadows cold and vacant No more home than fiery day Heavy eyes spare no glances A haze descends To still the world below The choking sky is theater to procession Long-dead stars silently await Heavy eyes spare no glances A haze descends To still the world Where once grew forests rich with ambition Now lie graveyards of ancient hopes Heavy eyes spare no glances A haze descends To still the world below A haze descends upon the masses And stills the world below Color drained from the faces None remember how to mourn Entranced by flames on the horizon Nothing is lost, nothing is found Under a silent sky that never heard prayers Nothing is lost, nothing is found One final march towards the end
6.
Every parent dreams of peace in wartime Gentle reason that yawns throughout the day Of simple sadness, of fading scars, old studied anguish The kind that lives in other people's songs Every parent knows the fear of daylight The lurking dread of sorrow's fresh assault Every shadow hides the next vicious invention Of time's cruel march against the fallow heart A world no child dares explore Strutting, jeering in the despairing face of hope Seethe a roiling, man-shaped multitude Jerking to the greedy whims of a hundred ruthless masters who manipulate the world The promise of a moment that makes great what others took And erases generations Devours helpless young Raises flags of victory over dead and salted earth Blinded eyes gaze past the ruin Of this world towards the next Can you hear the trumpets blasting? Are you ready to ascend? Rushing down ever-further No remorse, no escape Nothing's left for the future Beyond today there's only hate A world no child dares explore The lasting memory of our age Their lasting memory of our time Hatred, fear, failure This is our gift Hatred, fear, failure This is our curse The lasting memory of our age Their lasting memory of our time Hatred, fear, failure Far beyond the fracture of the sky Higher than the surging of seas When the embers of cities die What will there be to inherit? When the age of reason is failed When the word of God is law When every man knows his place What will there be to inherit? Rushing down ever-further No remorse, no escape Every parent dreams of peace And driven to lie To those wondrous gazes Somehow sentenced to life

about

The eternal return–we are doomed to repeat our own history; the horrors of humankind resurface time and time again. This is our legacy, one of destruction, callousness, and self-aggrandizement in the face of our species' worst accomplishments. At the precipice of chaos, destruction, and hopelessness is New York-based black metal band Woe, whose new album–the band's first proper album since 2017's Hope Attrition–shows multi-instrumentalist Chris Grigg at his most rejuvenated and feral.

Legacies of Frailty is the result of a few choice things. Helming the project by himself in near-isolation, Grigg methodically and near-completely took over the recording, his first solo album since 2007's A Spell for the Death of Man. Though this seems like a brash move, having had a full band since 2010, Grigg's control of the songwriting process has been a consistent element in Woe's existence.

Taking a darker, faster, and even more aggressive approach this time around, Legacies of Frailty's concept mirrors Grigg's performance and songwriting. Co-produced by Grigg and longtime collaborator Grzesiek Czapla, this album's immensity is augmented by a fitting, just-clear-enough mix and master to give Woe a sharp sonic edge. Encouraged by his bandmates Czapla, Matt Mewton, and Lev Weinstein, who is featured at choice moments, Grigg's songwriting and conceptual vision overtook Woe, resulting in a powerful, furious album.

A concept album concerning itself with humankind's self-centered propensity and ruinous tendencies, Legacies of Frailty's ferocious sound is as incensed as it is mired in tragedy. Following a conceptual arc which leaves humankind's future with nothing to inherit, Grigg's disgust with the cyclic repetition of historic horrors manifests in Woe's most aggressive album to date, but also the band's most complex work.

Using many layers of overdubs, the atmosphere laid forth on Legacies of Frailty is unlike other Woe albums. Eschewing the sinewy, lean sound that defines this band's preceding discography, Grigg's sumptuous approach and near-progressive use of leads, synthesizers, and other ambient elements shows Woe at its most exuberant and over-the-top. Even so, this is not an "atmospheric black metal" album, and Grigg's fury is more than palpable across the album's six songs.

What fully encapsulates this album as a whole both conceptually and as a definer of mood is the front and back cover art. A veritable Guernica, Serbian artist Khaos Dictator Designs painted a tragic scene of a city ablaze, a mother carrying her child in the foreground. All is lost as we destroy each other, and Legacies of Frailty as an album is represented in full through this catastrophic representation.

With a new epoch comes a new visual identity, and thus gives birth to Stephen Wilson's (Unknown Relic) new take on the classic Woe logo, emblazoned on the front cover. Though still clearly inspired by the band's original logo, Wilson's interpretation is damaged and frayed. Woe has been around a long time now, over fifteen years, and Wilson's new logo shows an unraveling that mirror's Grigg's emotive display. Complete with a trinity of upside down crosses, it is clear where Grigg's anger is pointed.

Slated for release through the venerable Vendetta Records, Woe's return to the fold with Legacies of Frailty is a re-cementing of this band as one of the States' finest acts, but also on a global scale. Chris Grigg is an unholy riff machine and is, if you weren't already aware, clearly a talent not to ignore.

Legacies of Frailty releases September 29th, 2023 via Vendetta Records on CD, LP, cassette, and digital formats.

-Jon Rosenthal

credits

released September 29, 2023

Written 2020-2023
Recorded and mixed February-April 2023

Vocals, guitars, bass, drums, and synth programming by Chris Grigg
Additional drums in “Fresh Chaos Greets the Dawn”, “The Justice of Gnashing Teeth”, and “Distant Epitaphs” by Lev Weinstein

Drums recorded by Joe Smiley at Red Planet Recording in Clifton Heights, PA
Drum session produced aggressively by Grzesiek Czapla and Lev Weinstein
All other recording by Chris Grigg
Mixed by Chris Grigg in Queens, NY
Mastered by V. Santura at Woodshed Studio, Germany

Cover artwork “Anguish and the Great Fire” by Stefan of Khaos Diktator
Logo updated 2023 by Stephen Wilson
Layout by Paul Jeffrey and Alex Eckman-Lawn

All songs and lyrics by Chris Grigg
Portions of “Fresh Chaos Greets the Dawn” and “The Justice of Gnashing Teeth” were refined and elevated in collaboration with Lev Weinstein
Produced by Chris Grigg and Grzesiek Czapla

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Woe Queens, New York

Uncompromising American black metal. Absolute emptiness since 2007.

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