Fleshgod Apocalypse - Agony (2011)
Fleshgod’s
music isn’t metal for the masses. Their mix of classic orchestration and insane
and complex death metal is quite demanding. So are their lyrics, the English as
well as the Latin ones. They don’t content themselves with screaming words like
“sathanas”. They dig deaper into ancient books. Some of the phrases are very
well-known, some I didn’t found in classical textes, so I guess that they wrote
it by themselves. Hats off!
~ The
Imposition ~
Semper avarus
eget et hostis humani generis est
He who is always
greedy lives in want and is an enemy of the human race
Impunitas semper
ad deteriora invitat
Impunity
always invites to greater crimes.
Parcere subiectis
(et) debellare superbos
To spare
the subdued and war down the proud
This is a quote of Vergil’s Aeneis, Book 6, Verse 853, where (in the
underworld) the dead Anchises reveals the future and destiny of Rome to his son
Aeneas.
Ab uno disce
omnis
From one,
learn all/ the whole
Again a quote of the Aeneis, Book 2, Verge 65. Here, the
whole phrase talks about the Trojan Horse.
Fiat iustitia et
mundus pereat
Let there
be justice, though the world perish
This was the motto of Ferdinand I, the
Holy Roman Emperor of 1558.
~ The Deceit ~
Discete aut disce
quam ubi non accusator, ibi non judex
Learn (plural)
or learn (singular) that there is no jugde where is no accuser.
(Although
discite would be the correct imperative plural)
Si vis pacem para
bellum, cur qui tetigerit picem inquinabitur ab ea
If you want
peace, prepare for war, because he who touched pitch, will be besmeared by it
Impares nascimur,
pares morimur, ergo iustitiam quaerimus, rem omni auro cariorem cur pulvis
sumus et in pulverem reverterimus
Unequal we
are born, equal we die, so we seek justice, which is more valuable than gold,
because we are dust and to dust we turn
~ The Egoism ~
Si vitam inspicias hominum, si denique mores, cum culpant
alios: quia nemo sine crimine vivit
If you look
at the men’s lives, or at least at his manners, (see, that) everyone has a
skeleton in the closet, although he blames the others
This is a poem from
the Distichs of Cato (the Elder, 234 -149 BC). In fact, the collection of Roman
proverbial wisdom is older and not originally written by Cato. Fleshgod filled
in the word quia – because. This doesn’t make any sense, because it turns the
only main clause into a subordinate clause and it destroys the hexameter. But I
don’t want to blame the others!
Quis habet fortius certamen quam qui nititur vincere se ipsum?
Who is forced to struggle more than he who tries to master himself?
Thomas à Kempis - The Imitation of Christ, Book I,3
~ The Oppression ~
Quis habet fortius certamen quam qui nititur vincere se ipsum?
Who is forced to struggle more than he who tries to master himself?
Thomas à Kempis - The Imitation of Christ, Book I,3
Keep on rockin’, FG and see you in the
“Labyrinth”.
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