The band incorporates black metal influences and symphonic elements into an overall grandiose canvas, with the elaborate lyrics of Byron Roberts painting a picture of battles in an antediluvian age where Atlantis had not yet been destroyed and the continents were still joined in a Pangaean mass. A predominant feature is the use of epic keyboards played by Jonny Maudling who composes and arranges the music. The guitar, drums and keyboards work together as an integral entity rather like a symphonic work. The vocals of Byron Roberts are a mixture of spoken word and black metal screams making the songs more like stories set to music than anything else. The stories are told like a play, with many characters (or groups of characters, speaking in unison) exchanging dialogue. Byron uses different vocalizations and effects to set them apart. The songs frequently have very long titles. Byron intends to release some short stories and novellas based on his lyrics and also some graphic novels created in collaboration with the artist Martin Hanford.
They currently have six albums out. The music for the latest one, "The Chthonic Chronicles" was recorded and produced at Jonny Maudling's studio "Waylands Forge", while the vocals were recorded at Academy Music Studio, the same studio where the band's previous five albums were recorded.
Draconis albionensis
Bal-Sagoth Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It was a time of change. The descendants of the Atlantean mages had fallen
before the New Praesidium, and the wolves were baying at the Empire's door.
An oppressive new faith was encroaching from the east, and the sylvan liege
had locked tight the gates of his arboreal realm. And so it was that towards
the end of the Age of Mystery, the last of Albion's great Dragon Lords did
gather for what would be their final battle...
Dragon-phalanx rend the sky, Albion our gleaming prize,
Sentinels of land and sea, guardians of destiny.
(Prowling amongst the pecseatan; Draconis Bipedes, swift and furious beast of battle!)
[The Dragon King's Vow:]
(Dragon-Runes etched by the firey tongues of the IX Legio Draconis into the
primordial stone of the great Logres Drachenstahl Cromlech):
The foes of this sceptred isle shall be driven back into the sea!
An oath sworn in battle, a vow blessed by steel,
I swear by the dragon's blood in my veins... and the dragon's heart that pumps
it!
[The War-song of the Dragon Lords:]
Dragonfyre in the fray, faith and steel shall win the day,
A god to serf and king alike, the Adamantine Hammer strikes!
(Devouring the infidel outlanders; Draconis Nematoda, great winged worm of war!)
[The Dragon King's Vow:]
To victory eternal... this world shall be our empire!
Dragon Imperium, throne of the Ancient Gods, behold the axiom, Wyruld-Cyninga!
It is time! We shall rule, and upon our dominion the sun shall never set!
[12 October: 1893]
I must commit this to the pages of my journal, while it is still vivid in my
recollection... not that such a macabre vision could possibly soon be
blissfully forgotten. Just before dawn, I awoke from a fantastic and somewhat
horrifying dream in which I traversed a great black cyclopean cityscape,
its towering stygian walls inscribed with some form of outlandish glyphs which
seemed to writhe squamously and alter their shape even as I gazed at them.
A sibilant whispering which seemed at once familiar and yet intrusively alien
compelled me to walk to the edge of a particularly sinister looking edifice
and peer out over its precipitous perimeter. When I did so, I beheld this
world of ours, recognizing vaguely the apparent shapes of the five continents,
yet the entire vista seemed so distant that the whole appeared in its entirety
no larger than a sphere which I could fit snugly into the palm of my hand.
When I turned again to behold the looming obelisks, I found I could then
easily read the previously untranslatable ciphers in the black stone. They
were the words of a great thaumaturgist who had seemingly discovered a
repository of aeons-old lore detailing the sidereal web of the cosmos, with
arcane diagrams pinpointing certain astral portals and places of empyreal
potency, a sort of pangalactic ley-line chart, if you will. Indeed, these
Star-Maps Of The Ancient Cosmographers seemed to take a not insignificant toll
on the author's sanity, as evidenced by the tone of his inscriptions, which
seem to suggest that in discovering this Pandora's Box of dark elucidation,
his fate was to be inexorably dogged by some nameless and implacable gloom;
The lyrics to Bal-Sagoth's song Draconis albionensis describe a time of great change and conflict in Albion. The descendants of the Atlantean mages had fallen before the New Praesidium, an oppressive new faith was spreading from the east, and the sylvan liege had locked the gates to his arboreal realm. In the midst of this turmoil, the last Dragon Lords of Albion gathered for their final battle.
The War-song of the Dragon Lords describes the dragon-phalanx, led by the Dragon King, as they fight to claim Albion as their prize and defend it against their enemies. The Dragon King makes a solemn vow, etched in dragon-runes, to drive their foes back into the sea with the dragon's blood in his veins and heart that pumps it. The Dragon Lords fight with dragonfyre, faith, and steel, with the Adamantine Hammer striking down their enemies.
The final part of the lyrics takes a shift towards the author's dream in 1893 of a great black cyclopean cityscape inscribed with outlandish glyphs. He sees the whole world as a small sphere and reads inscriptions of a thaumaturgist who discovered a repository of aeons-old lore about the sidereal web of the cosmos. The lyrics suggest that this discovery led to an inexorable dogging by a nameless and implacable gloom.
Overall, the lyrics of Draconis albionensis paint a vivid picture of a time of great conflict and change in Albion, with the Dragon Lords fighting to defend it against their enemies. The dream of the author in 1893 seems to hint at the discovery of cosmic secrets that come at a great cost.
Line by Line Meaning
Dragon-phalanx rend the sky, Albion our gleaming prize, Sentinels of land and sea, guardians of destiny.
The Dragon Lords go into battle, determined to protect Albion at all costs.
(Prowling amongst the pecseatan; Draconis Bipedes, swift and furious beast of battle!)
The Draconis Bipedes, a fierce creature, is on the prowl, ready to join the dragon's cause.
The foes of this sceptred isle shall be driven back into the sea! An oath sworn in battle, a vow blessed by steel, I swear by the dragon's blood in my veins... and the dragon's heart that pumps it!
The Dragon King swears to protect Albion, using the strength and power of the dragons within him.
Dragonfyre in the fray, faith and steel shall win the day, A god to serf and king alike, the Adamantine Hammer strikes!
The Dragon Lords fight with all their might and faith, knowing that they will reign victorious.
(Devouring the infidel outlanders; Draconis Nematoda, great winged worm of war!)
The Draconis Nematoda, a formidable creature, is ready to attack and consume any intruders.
To victory eternal... this world shall be our empire! Dragon Imperium, throne of the Ancient Gods, behold the axiom, Wyruld-Cyninga! It is time! We shall rule, and upon our dominion the sun shall never set!
The Dragon Lords vow to establish a new world order, with the dragons as rulers and the Dragon Imperium as the dominant power.
I must commit this to the pages of my journal, while it is still vivid in my recollection... not that such a macabre vision could possibly soon be blissfully forgotten.
The writer is documenting a terrifying dream that he had, which he knows he will not forget easily.
Just before dawn, I awoke from a fantastic and somewhat horrifying dream in which I traversed a great black cyclopean cityscape, its towering stygian walls inscribed with some form of outlandish glyphs which seemed to writhe squamously and alter their shape even as I gazed at them.
The writer describes his dream of a dark city with strange, shifting symbols carved into its walls.
A sibilant whispering which seemed at once familiar and yet intrusively alien compelled me to walk to the edge of a particularly sinister looking edifice and peer out over its precipitous perimeter.
An eerie voice beckons the writer to the edge of a foreboding building, where he looks out onto an otherworldly world.
When I turned again to behold the looming obelisks, I found I could then easily read the previously untranslatable ciphers in the black stone.
The writer suddenly gains the ability to understand the strange marks on the city's obsidian obelisks.
They were the words of a great thaumaturgist who had seemingly discovered a repository of aeons-old lore detailing the sidereal web of the cosmos, with arcane diagrams pinpointing certain astral portals and places of empyreal potency, a sort of pangalactic ley-line chart, if you will.
The inscriptions on the obelisks reveal the knowledge of a powerful mystic, describing the cosmic web with mystical diagrams and maps of otherworldly portals.
Indeed, these Star-Maps Of The Ancient Cosmographers seemed to take a not insignificant toll on the author's sanity, as evidenced by the tone of his inscriptions, which seem to suggest that in discovering this Pandora's Box of dark elucidation, his fate was to be inexorably dogged by some nameless and implacable gloom;
The writer realizes that the knowledge contained in the maps has damaged the psyche of the author, who feels cursed by the darkness of the revelations.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BYRON A. ROBERTS, CHRISTOPHER MAUDLING, JONATHAN MAUDLING
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Luc Castonguay
this song is a masterpiece
adelsasumi
Most of their songs are masterpieces.
Tom Guerrero
Absolute masterpiece. 4:49 I just want to melt into oblivion...
Gergő Pelyvás
Bal-Sagoth is the damned definition of EPICNESS!!!
Matthew Gibbs
I picked up a compilation CD called death is just the beginning back in like 1999. back when I thirsted to find kickass bands that I've never heard of.( I still do) it had a alot of good stuff on it I can't remember what vol. it was. But it had that track The voyagers beneath the mare imbrium. from the power cosmic album. all my friends thought it was lame but I instantly became a fan!! and til this day I get that same feeling when I listen to them. The music sounds serious. that's my best way to describe it. my favorite movie is Conan. 🤘 the barbarian and the destroyer! to Hell with that latest Conan. Crom laughs at your four winds! Lol he laughs from his mountain!!!!!
rufus Samsquanch_65
I thought Jason Momoa was awesome as Conan but the movie itself should have been better.
I say get Momoa back now that he's more experienced and confident in big action roles, and get a director who will do right by Robert E. Howard's vision.
Mattematt Scarse
Gold, pure gold.
maahes2
PERFECT, GREAT, AMAZING
1001 ET
I would like the whole track to be like 2:30. It is 1000% sublime. The rest of the song does not make much sense to me.
blindg
Why? It keeps going in the fast pace. No instrumental waste.