Get all 11 A Constant Storm releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of ANT: The Tale Of Soldier, Soldier's Lament: ANT Reprise, ANT, Pantheon I, The Vanity Of Sirens, Live In Isolation, Pinnnboard: The Lava Extras, Lava Empire, and 3 more.
1. |
||||
|
Antennae / compound eyes / hard thorax / mandibles
Heat sensors / night vision / hemolymph / air spiracles
Absent mind / zealous sight / robust limbs / common goal
Allegiance / devotion / synergy / unity
Deep down underground
Far from human sight
There they live and thrive
This society of workers
A secluded brood
Of loyal soldiers
Dredging earth and stone
In a hectic infinite march
From the depths of their souls
Not one thought can emerge
They live as slaves to their instincts
Meant to die at their own work posts
Antennae / compound eyes / hard thorax / mandibles
Heat sensors / night vision / hemolymph / air spiracles
Absent mind / zealous sight / robust limbs / common goal
Allegiance / devotion / synergy / unity
As a hypothesis
What could then happen if one
Awoke from its torpor
And gained identity?
Dear spectator,
Come dive below the ground
Observe what may unfold
In this scenario
Enter the hermetic COLONY
|
||||
2. |
The Colony
03:33
|
|||
|
Born into a troupe of soldiers
Bound by an ulterior goal
We carry the species forward
Sharing body, mind and soul
Born into a troupe of soldiers
In a hidden colony
Our blind, deep-rooted faith
Is the source of our potency
We bring progress to the Colony
One mind for the Colony
One heart for the Colony
Our bodies for the Colony
Servants to the Colony
Mandibles in constant movement
Tunnels dug at breakneck speed
Feelers scanning the surroundings
Safeguarding our armored keep
Headlights peering into darkness
Sharply scouting the whole field
Scalpel fangs set for precision
With shells as hard as iron shields
Ours is the supreme anatomy
Unwilling to halt the ENDEAVOR
Never forsaking the brood
Instinctively protecting our brethren
Negating any sense of self
Unfeasible brain contamination
By even a single thought
Soldiers of the Colony
|
||||
3. |
Chimeric Endeavor
04:37
|
|||
|
Soldier works, vacant brain
Rocks below, sliced in twain
Duty’s call, cleaving claws
Frantic pace, sharpened jaws
High above, unbeknownst
Stirrings from the upper world
Man’s VANITY had birthed a germ
And spread a plague below the earth
The toxin fills the mine
The other miners pay no mind
The only victim is our poor scout
As he makes contact with the cloud
A change of pace and Soldier halts
A sudden chill then breaks his waltz
The air is thick and the shadows long
Had they been so all along?
Shaken by this new condition
Soldier does what’s not allowed
A fully unnatural act
Soldier rises from the crowd
What could the consequence be,
After such a stunning act?
Soldier looks within in dread
Nature’s order has collapsed
No consequence befell him
As he was the only one
Affected by this shift
All his brethren kept working
None did seem to realize
What was happening
“One is I - I am I
I am one - One is man
Man and ant - Ant and man
A chimera - Here I stand”
Here I stand
|
||||
4. |
Vanity
04:58
|
|||
|
POV: Soldier
Cannot cope with this realization
Cannot quite view the world as it is
Should I try to achieve sublimation?
Is there now a new reason for this?
As I’ve walked through the groves of my vanity
So I’ve feared that my reason was gone
Though I clawed at the cage with my full force at hand
The locks were shut and so they would remain
But for now…
Why did all have to come down to this,
When my own purpose changed in a heartbeat?
Nature failed to predict the enigma
Of the soldier who sought to be king
As I ran through the pits of the colony
So I cried, I knew I had to leave
Though I dashed straight ahead with my full speed at hand
The CAGE OF TUNNELS would not let me go
Oh! I swayed through all moods in my vanity
And I cursed all the changes inside
Oh! I tried to ignore, to make all thoughts withdraw
Alas, time was then moving too fast
All has changed…
|
||||
5. |
Cage Of Tunnels
03:00
|
|||
|
Soldier has been struggling with the aftermath of his infection by the virus of individuality, created by the vain and arrogant men of the upper world. His restless mind, awakened to the concepts of existence and singularity - and thus alienated from the rest of his vacant-minded broodmates -, has filled his heart with a horrifying desire to escape the Cage of Tunnels that has surrounded the ants’ Colony since uncharted times.
As the fear of leaving his natural home becomes increasingly overshadowed by the growing feeling of claustrophobia provoked by the Cage’s thick and stale air, Soldier starts to frantically search for a way out.
The Cage is a fortified labyrinth of earth and stone, a perpetual work in progress meticulously crafted by many generations of working ants, its main purpose being the complete and absolute protection of the brood from the unknown horrors of the outer world. Its structure is thought to be flawless – that was, at the very least, the objective shared by the ones who built it, albeit driven only by their meticulous and primal ant instincts.
Soldier knows that no other ant had realized his attempt to escape – doing so would mean they too had risen from the crowd and achieved individuality, and he had already confirmed beyond all doubt that he’d been the only one contaminated by the mysterious toxin. He cries and screeches as he starts to panic, the deafening silence that answers his bellows becoming more sinister by the second.
His mind shoots visions of fame, another new concept – the recognition that he would surely achieve by reaching the surface and becoming known to the universe as the first ever creature in existence to achieve individuality. These illusions of grandeur only increase the creeping terror behind the possibility of being ultimately unable to escape… And Soldier keeps progressively edging closer to his breaking point.
It is then that he finally sees it: a tiny breach in the tunnel’s wall, which is letting a tremendously slight string of light through, along with a constant stream of chilled air, showing Soldier the way to go. As he furiously widens the breach and burrows a new path, a burning beam of light showers over his face. His eyes, overwhelmed by the radiance that quickly envelops his whole body, begin adjusting slowly.
Breathless, Soldier reaches THE FROZEN VALE.
|
||||
6. |
In The Frozen Vale
04:12
|
|||
|
Frozen Vale - Totem’s Tale
Light overflows from the rift
That Soldier stumbled upon
A vast and tremendous sight
Now appears before his eyes
A snow-white luminous chamber
Its floor coated in clear ice
Elegant swirling vibrations
Fill the grotto’s atmosphere
Frozen Vale - Totem’s Tale
In the Frozen Vale, he stands
Nimbly treading virgin ground
Observing the glowing glaciers
Inhaling the gelid currents
Moving through this wintry land
Soldier reaches the cave’s core
A dark statue stands before him
One he just cannot ignore
Its shape is truly bizarre
Resembling an ancient fossil
Green musk covers its contour
Built oddly familiar to Soldier
Limbs curled up and vacant eyes
Rugged husk that’s as hard as steel
Semi-buried in frozen ground
A swift thought flares in his mind
As Soldier inspects the statue
Could it be a premonition?
A warning to go no further?
Soldier curses at himself
His urgency spurs him on:
This is no time for futile omens
His TRUTHBENDING now commences
The upper world is close at hand
Climb…
|
||||
7. |
Truthbending
04:00
|
|||
|
POV: Soldier
Truth, Lies
Truth within, Lying
Truth is what one makes of it
Truth lies within
…So I dig the tunnel
Leading to the upper world
I’ve lingered on for too long
It’s time to reach my golden fate
My exploits will be known to all
And I will be the one to call
Myself the King
The one above all
I shall feel the glorious air
Of the upper world
I must pay no mind to this
Sudden stream of questioning
Brought forth by the bizarre statue
At the center of the cave
Symbols hold no weight on fate
My evolved mind has taught me so
I refuse the woeful stain
That would taint me if I should fail
Truth lying within
Truth is what one makes of it
Truth, Lies, Within
Fate is but A COLLECTION OF ENDINGS AND ORIGINS
Their shapes chiseled by resolve
In what we trust and choose to ignore
Oh! The tunnel’s end
My triumph is close at hand
I’ll become the utmost being
Once I surface gloriously
Hah! I laugh at those below
As the pure air seeps through my skull
Euphoria, wash over me! I’ve reached…
Disillusion?
|
||||
8. |
||||
|
POV: Soldier
The beauty that lies
In chasing a dream
Is not salvageable
When its end is not what it seemed
Here, the aftermath
Of my tragic path
Only now do I understand
How hubris had corrupted my head
I chose to ignore
To see nothing more
Than that vain, delusional dream
My claim to fame as a self-proclaimed king
Cycles of longing and grief
Of surging hopes and broken dreams
Fate is truly nothing but
A collection of endings and origins
As I look around
Hoping to be found
I see dozens of creatures like me
Surfacing from other colonies
I had deceived myself
I wasn’t above the rest
I was not chosen, I was just a farce
Just another SOLDIER in the MARCH
The air up here is too strong
Too fierce to tame
I feel like I’m going to be split in half
Head moves too fast
I don’t feel well
All’s just too massive to fathom
Cycles of longing and grief
Of surging hopes and broken dreams
Fate is truly nothing but
A collection of endings and origins
I can’t be here any longer
I must run back
The tunnel’s breach is still open
I crash, tumbling down
Break all my limbs
Back in the vale I lay, mangled
Lying here alone
Paralyzed and cold
At the frozen core
Can’t move anymore
That totem I’d seen
Vanished, it would seem
Sunken below ground
Left its place for me
Somehow, I knew straight away
I just chose not to believe
That the statue was the corpse of an ANT
One that had attempted the same as me
Here is this journey’s last stop
I’ll soon turn into a corpse
I’m now the ending and the origin
The one to greet the next self-proclaimed king
|
||||
A Constant Storm Hamburg, Germany
No Rules, No Expectations ||| A Constant Storm is a musical and artistic project created in Porto, Portugal - now based in Hamburg, Germany
If you like A Constant Storm, you may also like:
The latest from indie rock outfit Activity has a charmingly sinister feel, blending in stark rhythms and washes of dark ambient.
go to album
Perfectly pitch-black goth rock from this Santa Barbara band, with razorwire guitars and melancholy vocals.
go to album
Last Stop To Nowhere
by Reflection Black
Cinematic-scale goth from Reflection Black with catchy melodies, dreamy synths, punchy rhythms, and a sense of timelessness.
go to album
Another Autumn Day (Reissue with Bonus Tracks)
by Shadowplay
A killer re-release of a rare solo post-punk LP from 1988 by the frontman of Taste of Decay and Garden of Pleasures.
go to album
This DC shoegaze group work like fog, bringing in ephemeral melodic layers that swirl together to become something surprisingly heavy.
go to album
Forgive Yourself
by Publicist UK
Blood Relative is Publicist's latest post-punk salvo from the Forgive Yourself LP, steered by Zachary Lipez's unnerving baritone.
go to album
featured on Bandcamp Radio Oct 27, 2023
go to album
