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Sophia

by Vestige of Virtue

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1.
Decorum 06:01
Behold the man who before you stands A merry fool diluted with wine He corrupts the youth with his truth Blaspheming our decorum No saint nor madman Shall find redemption Before our council Beg to be pardoned Kneel before our highest priests Pray for your mercy Truth redefined is our property Behold the man who before you stands A merry fool diluted with wine He corrupts the youth with his truth Blaspheming our decorum Hypatia Her wounds still bleeding Sophia Her light is fading Covered in garments Their shame is armoured Against our nemesis Naked beauty had no knowledge of shame Until shame hit again and again Beg to be pardoned Kneel before our highest priests Pray for your mercy Truth redefined is our property Speak as instructed Your life may be granted you Lose your illusions The court will be grateful to you
2.
Worth 05:10
Imperfect perfection The bars that hold us Offers our being The pillars of order Like laws of nature We seek convergence Absolute theory Comfort in irony We find ourselves as peons Within an unfounded thought Put to use Towards a purpose unspecified Our worth determined By our willingness to abide Slaves to a father Devoid of heart and mind We work in our own sweat Labour presents a right to own Yet in the end We are the ones who are owned What is the worth of mankind to this earth Our only worth Is the bond between you and I In the absence of God Ours to define The sum of it all Valued by the eye that can see It is all worthless Without you and me
3.
Decreasing strength Vitality fades My youthful shine Of past decades All is lost when hope is lost What I meant to gain Disappointments became Dreams of the future Failures of the past Wasted wealth Naked prince Faithful servant To the unfaithful The gauntlet is their malice Guilty of humbleness Once so strong Proud and young Pity me not I will never live again Save yourselves from yourselves What I hoped to gain Disappointments became Dreams of the future Failures of the past Wasted wealth Naked prince Faithful servant To the unfaithful The glass of time Tastes like bitter wine My food, my bread Rotting with mould Praise my name When I am gone To hide the kill Our pain, your will Time is passing – eager towards infinity Souls adjourned – they wait to be assembled anew The end of this world is the birth of another Children awakened – finally they are free
4.
At last in my own home The noise from the outside gone The trials of the day Brushed off with dust and clay Alone yet at ease Solitude left in the streets Here I dress in my own clothes Free to think my own thoughts Refreshed I enter my study Content that I am ready Years lifted off my back Lightened, I am young again Humbled I call upon the Ones Masters of passed aeons And I ask to be taught As I was taught when I was young One candle still burns I still yearn – so much more to learn And the voices of old reply As pure wisdom speaks to my mind Your finite mind will rot What it has touched will not Years lifted off my back Lightened, I am young again Humbled I debate with the Ones Masters of passed aeons Now I understand the secrets of Elysium What I have touched holds the key to eternal life My mind will be gone yet live on through Sophia I will forget and still remain – everything preserved in her womb I lay me down with peace at heart Should I die in sleep tonight I close my eyes, relieved from fear Death is no longer here
5.
The Soothing 03:55
Drifting astray ‘Till the light of day Yet another chance Ending riddle solved Fences subsiding Withdraw to advance Labyrinthian caves Inverted stairs Through Hades I voyage without dread From the greatest heights To the darkest depths An angel illuminated within Passage through the Fiddler's Green Your brethren expect you with glee Algorithms of antiquity Will bring you here eventually Children of immortality They remember my name Cradled in parity Thus ebon hearts will gleam Savour your rest This ephemeral night Your task is not yet fulfilled Aid by gods A light above lights The burden of hell will pine
6.
Ex Machina 08:35
So allow me To introduce myself I am Anubis Lord of all things dead Obedience to my rule The sole definition Of virtue and truth The ontology held By its own theory Think by decree See as I bid you to see Love for the real Fools! Idiots! To question the norm Abide or be gone I am the system Mindless awareness My maker, my slave Gravity – his chains My paradigm Materialism Constitutes their perception The proposition Thrives on its conclusion Hollow words Their single need Reason beyond the frame Still enclosed by another The final one is mine Mine and only mine Anubis, you are wrong To deem the world your own The fullness of reality Narrowed down to what you can see Life does not rest upon death They both equate upon me Reshape your ontology And leave my children be
7.
Portrait 11:17
I have become What I sought to undo Altered in their image of hate And hate became my fate Cured from love Purity sullied Best intentions paved the way The means destroyed the end Willed ignorance, educate me To greet your transcript of reality Deviance from your establishment Imperils the spoils of avarice Seek help for shattered hope They will aid the illness, not its host The mirror to my past Now reflects how it will last So here I stand Afraid to reach Out towards her welcome And touch her healing hand Should I attempt, they will surely come To prevent her from doing me wrong Truth is madness, as madness is real Bound to their machinery of sanity Quench my desire Free thought is fire When I am aged and grey My weary flesh is aching for the grave She finally approaches me And points me to the door Read the words engraved Your time in this place is served Past the door I realise Death pays regards on the entry side Sophia Farewell, my love

about

Musically, VESTIGE OF VIRTUE derives from styles of both contemporary and archaic origin. Based in a melancholic core of gothic doom metal, the debut album «Sophia» extends into chamber music, liturgical passages, movements inspired by Viennese classicism and occasional elements of musique concrète. The aim being a dialogue between the modest and the dramatic; the mellow and the powerful; an interplay led by Forsmo's salient baritone.

Lyrically, VESTIGE OF VIRTUE is a philosophical statement with «Sophia», meaning «wisdom» as idolised by the ancient Greeks, being an ode to philosophy and the philosophers. The general idea is that the opposite of wisdom is not necessarily the lack of wisdom, but rather that of acting against it - knowingly. A possible end result of such friction is a system where the contemplation of truth is shunned, and the untrue is rationalised to be true; shaping one’s own comforting reality. Analogous to entropy or death, this condition manifests itself as an obstinate and efficient movement towards non-movement; a system that turns hostile towards the very fundament of its own subsistence. A hostility nourished by fear.

History has witnessed many such systems go berserk.

Caught between the blind on the one hand and the deaf on the other, many philosophers have lived dangerously and have typically been regarded as imbecile, mad and even threatening. Nonetheless, the essence of learning is widely indebted to them. «Sophia», then, is more than an artistic outlet: It is purpose. Accordingly, the album is a meticulously crafted opus wherein all instruments are intimately coupled with the philosophical themes reflected in the lyrics, offering a consistent and holistic labour of pure ideal.

credits

released October 1, 2014

Frode Forsmo – vocals
Kjetil Ottersen – guitars, bass, keys and programming
Shaun Winter Taylor-Steels – drums

All music written and performed by Vestige of Virtue, except «The Soothing» written and performed by Kjetil Ottersen and Frode Forsmo
Concept and lyrics by Frode Forsmo and Kjetil Ottersen

Vocals engineered by Frode Forsmo at Pitfire Studio
Guitars, bass and keys engineered by Kjetil Ottersen at Vektor Facilities
Drums engineered by Keith Appleton at Academy Studio | www.academystudio.co.uk
Field recordings on «Ex Machina» by Kjetil Ottersen
Mixing and mastering by Kjetil Ottersen at Vektor Facilities
Tape transfer by Kjartan Hesthagen at Studio Studio Nyhagen | www.studiostudio.no
Logo and album cover design by SENSE:VERSUS
Albergaccio photo by Don MacDonald | www.donmacdonald.com - home of his graphic novel on Niccolò Machiavelli
Band photos by Marta Anna Løvberg | www.lewicka.eu

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Vestige of Virtue

VESTIGE OF VIRTUE is a trio consisting of Kjetil Ottersen (In_zekT, Omit, Funeral) Frode Forsmo (Minas Tirith, Funeral, Old Man’s Child) and Shaun Winter Taylor-Steels (Solstice, Anathema, My Dying Bride).

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