In recognition of 1349's influences, the band performed a cover of Mayhem's "Buried by Time and Dust" on their debut album, Liberation. At 1349's live shows, the band has also covered Celtic Frost, whom vocalist Ravn cites as his principal influence.
1349 tours on a regular basis. The band's live shows often begin with Frost and guitarist Archaon breathing fire. In 2006, 1349 toured the US with Celtic Frost. Ravn also appeared on the Celtic Frost album Monotheist (2006), performing guest vocals on the CD digipack bonus track, "Temple of Depression". In 2007, during the French Hellfest festival, 1349 was slated to play during the day, but asked to reschedule their appearance to play in the dark instead. During 1349's appearance at the Oslo Inferno Metal Festival in March 2008, the band was joined on stage by Celtic Frost frontman Tom Gabriel Fischer for a rendition of the Celtic Frost song "The Usurper". In September 2008, 1349 toured with Carcass, Suffocation, Aborted and Rotten Sound on the Exhume to Consume Tour.
A music video for "Sculptor of Flesh" was released following the release of Hellfire (2005). The video, directed by Judd Tilyard, alternates between footage of the band performing the song in Norway and clips of surgery filmed in Australia.
During late 2008, 1349 recorded its fourth album, Revelations of the Black Flame. The album was co-mixed by Tom Gabriel Fischer, and was released in Europe on 25 May 2009. Revelations of the Black Flame marked a change in direction for the band, as songs on the album were slower than previous releases, and there were also some dark ambient and industrial-tinged tracks.
At the beginning of 2010 the band signed a contract with Indie Recordings for the release of its fifth album in Europe, with Prosthetic Records distributing the album in North America.
1349 toured with Cannibal Corpse, Skeletonwitch, and Lecherous Nocturne on the Evisceration Plague Tour, in April–May 2010. The band also performed at the Wacken Open Air and Summer Breeze Open Air festivals in August 2010.
1349 released its fifth album, Demonoir, on 26 April 2010. The album shows a return to 1349's earlier sound, before Revelations of the Black Flame, while continuing the low-fi production and ambient sensibilities of Revelations. 1349 toured Canada and the United States with Tom Gabriel Fischer's project Triptykon in October 2010. A deluxe box set of Demonoir was released in October 2011. The band's first live DVD, titled Hellvetia Fire – The Official 1349 Bootleg, was released on 24 October 2011 by Candlelight Records. It was filmed at Bikini Test La Chaux De Fonds in Switzerland in 2005.
In October 2013, the band began recording their sixth studio album, called Massive Cauldron of Chaos. On 10 December, the band announced that the record was finished, and it was released on 29 September 2014, via Indie Recordings.
In February 2017, it was announced that 1349 have now signed to Season of Mist and are now said to be in the process of writing their seventh studio album, which is set to be released in 2018
I Breathe Spears
1349 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Keyholder
For his world I shall enter
My call is answered
By force am I taken to realms, darker than death,
To witness the evil glory I have travelled to see
Many are the appearing shapes of Satan
The air is frozen
I can hear the hateful rumbling and pounding in the
Deep
I can see flickering spectres, silouettes blistering with
Electric coldness
I breathe spears
Unleashing a pulsating storm of steel
Sulphur floats in my veins
My eyes burn with fury
Carbonised into my heart
Far away, a wast bastard cross manifests in
The air
How dare it shine so clear
Here in these hellish realms?
Oh, did I not know of the impurity
As the blasphemy becomes unbearable
I behold thousands of claws gripping the
Golden cross from behind
Soon demons crawl like furious ants all over
The profante shape
Screaming in unearthly rage and insanity
The symbol of Nazarene us thirb asunder
Dripping with slime and rot
I shiver in cruel ecstacy
And laugh the madmans laughter
Returning now
With diabolical strength
And a vicious grin in the face
The lyrics to 1349's song "I Breathe Spears" tell the dark tale of a person who falls into a "nocturnal vacuum" and calls upon Satan to enter his world. As he is taken into the realms of darkness, he witnesses the grotesque horror of Satan and his minions. The air is frozen, and the person can hear the hateful rumbling and pounding in the deep, as well as see flickering spectres and silhouettes blistering with electric coldness.
The person then unleashes a pulsating storm of steel, breathing spears, and sulfurous fumes float in his veins. His eyes burn with fury, and he feels carbonized into his heart. In the midst of his diabolical ecstasy, he sees a "wast bastard cross" manifesting in the air, shining clear in the hellish realms. The person is outraged by this "impurity" and watches as thousands of claws grip the golden cross from behind. Soon, demons crawl all over the cross, screaming in rage and insanity and tearing it apart to pieces.
The person then shivers in cruel ecstasy and laughs the madman's laughter, returning with diabolical strength and a vicious grin on his face. The lyrics depict a journey into the darkest corners of human imagination, where evil and darkness reign supreme.
Line by Line Meaning
Falling into a nocturnal vacuum, I call for Satan, the Keyholder
Entering a dark, empty space, I cry out for Satan, the one who controls the gateway to his world
For his world I shall enter
I am determined to enter Satan's world
My call is answered
Satan has heard my plea
By force am I taken to realms, darker than death, To witness the evil glory I have travelled to see
I am forcefully transported to a place darker than death, where I can witness the evil glory that I desired
Many are the appearing shapes of Satan, Unfolding in utter grotesque horror
Various terrifying forms of Satan appear before me
The air is frozen
The atmosphere is extremely cold
I can hear the hateful rumbling and pounding in the Deep
I can hear ominous rumbling and pounding sounds coming from deep within the darkness
I can see flickering spectres, silouettes blistering with Electric coldness
I can see ghostly figures, their outlines flickering with an icy, electric aura
I breathe spears
I exhale sharp, pointed weapons
Unleashing a pulsating storm of steel
I release a furious barrage of metallic weapons
Sulphur floats in my veins
My blood is infused with the smell of sulfur
My eyes burn with fury
My rage is so intense that it feels like my eyes are on fire
Carbonised into my heart
My heart is hardened and transformed into coal
Far away, a wast bastard cross manifests in The air
In the distance, an ugly and desolate cross appears
How dare it shine so clear Here in these hellish realms?
Why does it stand out so much, shining so brightly, in this place that is supposed to be a living hell?
Oh, did I not know of the impurity
I realize now that the cross is a symbol of purity, which is repugnant to me
As the blasphemy becomes unbearable I behold thousands of claws gripping the Golden cross from behind Soon demons crawl like furious ants all over The profante shape Screaming in unearthly rage and insanity The symbol of Nazarene us thirb asunder Dripping with slime and rot
As my blasphemy intensifies, I see thousands of demons attacking the golden cross from behind, crawling over it like frenzied ants and screaming with insane rage. They tear the symbol of the Nazarene apart so that it drips with decay and filth
I shiver in cruel ecstacy
I am filled with both pleasure and pain and shudder uncontrollably
And laugh the madmans laughter
Laughing with a kind of crazed glee
Returning now With diabolical strength And a vicious grin in the face
Returning with newfound demonic power and wearing a sinister, menacing smile
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind