Members:
Nick Stanger - All instruments, vocals, composition, artwork, production, mixing and mastering.
Discography:
Vacant, Ashbringer's debut album was "Written between early 2013 and late 2014. Photos taken in Minnesota and Wisconsin, USA, summer of 2014.
Recording information:
Recorded throughout 2014, mixed and mastered between late 2014 and early 2015 at Ephemereal Audio in Lakeville, Minnesota." - Metal Archives
With Vacant Eyes
Ashbringer Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where life and death become irrelevant
My feeble hands meet the ground again
This is my rapport with the earth
It is said that all beauty must come to an end
I now repeat this statement
As I watch this realm burn down
This surreal place I've found is burning to the ground and I am left with nothing
The opening lyrics of Ashbringer's song "With Vacant Eyes" are deeply poetic and introspective. The singer of the song appears to be contemplating the concept of mortality and the impermanence of existence. With "vacant eyes," the singer looks out at "endless landscapes," which suggest the vast, uncontrollable nature of the world around them. The use of the term "vacant" implies a sense of emptiness or detachment, as if the singer has become disconnected from the life around them.
The second line of the song reinforces this sense of detachment from the world of the living. The idea that "life and death become irrelevant" suggests that the singer has moved beyond the realm of the living and has entered a kind of void or limbo. The line that follows, "My feeble hands meet the ground again," suggests a kind of surrender or resignation to this state of emptiness. It's as if the singer has given up on trying to make sense of the world and has accepted their fate.
The rest of the lyrics continue in this vein of mournful resignation. The use of the term "rapport" suggests a kind of affinity or connection with the earth, but it is a tenuous one that is ultimately meaningless. The repetition of the phrase "burning down" reinforces the sense of loss and destruction that the singer is experiencing, and the final line, "A vacant, shapeless world is what I now wake up to," seems to suggest that the singer has finally accepted their fate and is resigned to living in a world that is devoid of meaning or purpose.
Line by Line Meaning
With vacant eyes, I stare at these endless landscapes
My gaze is empty and lifeless as I look out at the vast, unchanging scenery before me.
Where life and death become irrelevant
Here, the cycle of life and death holds no meaning or significance.
My feeble hands meet the ground again
Once more, I find myself kneeling weakly on the soil.
This is my rapport with the earth
My connection with this land has become my only means of communication and understanding.
It is said that all beauty must come to an end
The beauty of life and the world is inevitably fleeting and temporary.
I now repeat this statement
I have come to understand and accept the truth of this statement.
As I watch this realm burn down
I witness the destruction of this fantastical place.
This surreal place I've found is burning to the ground and I am left with nothing
The dreamlike environment I had discovered is rapidly deteriorating, leaving me with nothing in its wake.
A vacant, shapeless world is what I now wake up to
I awaken to a world devoid of form or substance, empty and meaningless.
Contributed by Charlie K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
MetalGamer666
Aside from the clean vocals at the end, it sounds pretty good.
Dropkickpennyday95
Dude, nothing wrong with cleans! In fact I loved the cleans in this album honestly
I mean I respect your opinion, but it's not like every single vocal style has to be "br00tal" or "cvlt" to be good
MetalGamer666
+Dropkickpennyday95 You jumped the gun and made extremely invalid assumptions about me. I love black metal, its is about 75% of what I listen to. And I enjoy many black metal bands that have songs with clean vocals such as Burzum (Dunkilheit), Deep Mountains (山魂/Mountain Soul), Isengard (Vinterskugge), Myrkur (Nattens Barn), Nokturnal Mortum (Perun's Celestial Silver), Panopticon (all of his straight up blue grass songs have clean and only clean vocals) and many others. I also listen to many other genres of music that, guess what? Are not even black metal. In fact the majority of what I listen to outside of black metal, isn't even metal at all. I listen to genres such as acoustic (Nocturnal Poisoning/ acoustic Xasthur), Neo Folk (Hex Vessel), hell even hip hop (Tyler The Creator); all of which I might add, have cleans.
And lastly, I am not some "trve kvlt elitist". In fact I'm actually quite the anti elitist. However I don't know how anything I said in that statement was even REMOTELY elitist. I said that I don't like the clean vocals at the end. That was it. I didn't say "holy fvck this band is so fvcking gay, clean vocals in black metal? Ha posers!, only I am the tvrest ov the kvlts" now did I? I didn't like the vocals because IMO they were the kind of low, woods of ypres sounding vocals that I hate, and I found that they ruined the atmosphere of the song.
Dropkickpennyday95
+MetalGamer666 i see
I apologize for making that assumption then.
It's hard not to really, knowing how in extreme metal in general a lot of people seem to hate clean vocals.
But yeah, I enjoy black metal with and without clean vocals myself, like in burzum like you said, I just don't think I've heard the rest of those.
But yeah I guess if you don't really like how they sound in this i can respect that opinion. Personally I like them because it almost gives me this woods of Ypres vibe for some reason, not sure why.
Dropkickpennyday95
+MetalGamer666 but yeah that's cool you're into non metal stuff too as well
Lately I've been into a little bit of hip hop myself, I just haven't heard Tyler the creator at this point. Xasthur I've heard, just not the acoustic stuff yet, and then panopticon I've listened to, just haven't heard the straight up blue grass sounding stuff. I might have to give the others you mentioned a listen though, thanks.
Wheel of Ixion
See it's this shit that restores my faith in the YT comments.
Wheel of Ixion
So much BM, so little time!
format c: for cortex
i ripped the intro and set as my ring tone
mastertij
Gay...gotem