Altar of Plagues was an Irish post-black metal band formed in 2006 in Cork,… Read Full Bio ↴Altar of Plagues was an Irish post-black metal band formed in 2006 in Cork, Ireland. Terms that are most frequently used to describe their sound include black metal, ambient and progressive metal or post-metal, though it seems no one description can sum up the act's massive sound. The act themselves consider black metal to be the genre to which they are most attached, but on the contrary they have also been quoted to take influence from acts as diverse as Emperor, Björk and Arvo Pärt.

The band's untraditional aesthetic and approach to their music has led to Altar of Plagues appealing to a wide variety of listeners and this may be seen by the diverse range of acts Altar of Plagues have toured with, including Isis and Mayhem, as well as having appeared at festivals that focus on extreme metal and festivals that encourage experimentation and diversity.

In June 2013, the band announced via Facebook that they were splitting up and their final live performance would be at the Unsound Festival in Poland in October.

Members:

James Kelly - guitars, synthesizers, vocals;
Dave Condon - bass guitar, vocals;
Johnny King - drums.

http://www.altarofplagues.com

Earth: As A Furnace
Altar of Plagues Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

A once sacred womb, now more akin to a furnace.
And we watch her bleed, watch the wounds run dry.

Bury my hands in the soil
fingers withered and grey
extended like spines
pulling patterns in the dirt

Tear the bark from the trees and build a chariot

and watch the earth return to grain,
as it once was.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "Earth: As A Furnace" by Altar of Plagues speak of the distressing state of our planet. What was once a sacred and nurturing haven for all living beings has been degraded to resemble a furnace. The Earth has been wounded, and the wounds continue to bleed, causing it to dry up.

The song suggests that humans have become disconnected from nature, evidenced by the line "bury my hands in the soil, fingers withered and grey." The imagery of the fingers being withered and grey perhaps represents the idea that we no longer have the life force that nature provides us with.

By tearing the bark off the trees, the singer is suggesting that humans have destroyed the source of nature's life force. However, the line "watch the earth return to grain, as it once was" suggests that we have the potential to rebuild the planet and return it to its natural state of growth and abundance. The lyrics are a call to action, to reconnect with nature and start taking responsibility for our actions.

Line by Line Meaning

A once sacred womb, now more akin to a furnace.
The world was once sacred but now it's ruined, destroyed and feels like a fiery furnace.

And we watch her bleed, watch the wounds run dry.
We are responsible for the destruction of the planet and we watch it die out without doing anything to save it.

Bury my hands in the soil
I feel the need to connect with nature and ground myself by putting my hands in the soil

fingers withered and grey
My fingers show the signs of aging and deterioration.

extended like spines
My fingers feel like the bones protruding from my back.

pulling patterns in the dirt
As I touch the Earth, I leave patterns in the soil that shows my connection to the land.

Tear the bark from the trees and build a chariot
Destroying the trees and building a vehicle is a selfish act that shows our disrespect for nature.

and watch the earth return to grain,
We see the planet go back to grain, symbolizing how we treat the planet like a commodity and not a living thing.

as it once was.
Our disregard for nature has caused it to revert back to a time before humans existed.

Contributed by Lincoln N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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