Carach Angren was formed in 2003, in the Dutch municipality of Landgraaf, after two members of Vaultage, Lee Hartney and Inger Indolia, started a side project based on their shared love of legends and black metal. Eventually, Carach Angren was more successful, so both stepped down from Vaultage.
In 2004, Carach Angren released their first EP, The Chase Vault Tragedy. The EP is a concept album, telling the story of mysteriously moving coffins known as the Chase Vault Mystery. In 2005, the band released a second EP, Ethereal Veiled Existence, covering the story of the Brown Lady. In 2007, Carach Angren was signed to Maddening Media, a German independent record label. Carach Angren recorded their first full-length album for this label, Lammendam, which received positive international reviews following its release in 2008.[2][3][4]
Their second album, Death Came Through a Phantom Ship, was released on 26 February 2010. To support the album, Carach Angren toured Europe under "A Declaration of Hate" tour, with extreme metal bands Dark Funeral, Zonaria and Nefarium.
On 18 May 2012, the band released their third studio album, Where the Corpses Sink Forever. This concept album covers themes surrounding war, including war, death, and suffering.
On 17 February 2015, the band's fourth album, This Is No Fairytale was available for streaming on Metal Hammer.[5] The album was officially released on 23 February 2015. The album is a modern interpretation of the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale with themes of domestic abuse, drug addiction, alcoholism, sexual child abuse, suicide, child abduction and cannibalism.
On 16 June 2017, their fifth studio album, Dance and Laugh Amongst the Rotten, was released. This album diverges from the previous "storytelling" theme of the previous albums, but remains a concept album, with ghost themes, including the Blood Queen and Charles Francis Coghlan.[6]
On 10 February 2020, drummer Ivo "Namtar" Wijers left the band. According to him, the departure was motivated by "dissatisfaction with the music industry". Seregor and Ardek posted the announcement on the band's official website, revealing that the exit was a friendly one, saying, "Although we are very sorry for your departure, we respect your decision".
In late 2019 the band announced they had begun work on a sixth studio album, scheduled to be released in mid-2020. Its name and release date were unveiled on 20 February 2020; Franckensteina Strataemontanus. The album is a concept album inspired by the life of Johann Conrad Dippel, and was released through Season of Mist on 26 June.
Al betekent het mijn dood
Carach Angren Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This storm...
Lightning, fears, winds and monstrous waves!
A demonic tempest!
My men, gone, raining
"I command!"
We set sail!
"I beg you, my captain!
What!?
Your God!?
May he suffocate, may he rot!
Clamp the bible, close to me,
His book of lies I shall now cast into the sea!
"This is blasphemy!"
Your hold your tongue or rip it out and have your heart for mutiny...
"No! You cannot send us into madness! We shall not obey!"
With my knife I slowly penetrate his tender throat!
I curse and rage: "Godverdomme! Wij zullen varen, al betekent het mijn dood!"
The lyrics to "Al Betekent Het Mijn Dood" by Carach Angren tell a story of a captain who is determined to set sail, even if it means his death. The opening lines describe a storm with lightning, fears, winds, and monstrous waves, creating a demonic tempest. Despite the dangers, the captain commands his men to set sail. However, one crew member objects, citing that Christ has forbidden setting sail on the east on Sundays. The captain becomes enraged at the mention of God and commands the crew member to hold his tongue or face mutiny. When the crew member refuses to obey, the captain uses his knife to penetrate the crew member's throat, cursing and raging that they will sail, even if it means his death.
The lyrics of this song speak to the power struggle between man and faith, with the captain representing the rebellious nature of humanity and the crew member embodying the religious obedience of faith. The captain is willing to risk his life to achieve his goals, while the crew member is willing to risk disobedience to abide by his religious beliefs. It's a haunting portrayal of the inherent conflict between man and religion, and the lengths to which individuals will go to assert their will.
Line by Line Meaning
This storm...
The storm is very violent and scary, with lots of lightning, fears, winds and monstrous waves.
A demonic tempest!
The storm is so violent that it is like something demonic, something that is not of this world.
My men, gone, raining
The rain is so heavy that it feels like it is taking away the sailors from the boat.
"I command!"
The captain is trying to assert his authority over the other sailors onboard the boat.
We set sail!
The boat sets sail despite the impending danger of the storm.
"I beg you, my captain!
Christ has forbidden to set sail on east on sunday!"
One of the sailors is trying to persuade the captain not to sail because it is against Christ's will.
What!?
Your God!?
May he suffocate, may he rot!
The captain's response to the sailor's plea is filled with anger and blasphemy towards God.
Clamp the bible, close to me,
His book of lies I shall now cast into the sea!
The captain rejects the authority of the Bible and throws it into the sea.
"This is blasphemy!"
Your hold your tongue or rip it out and have your heart for mutiny...
The captain threatens any sailor who questions his authority or blasphemes against his beliefs.
"No! You cannot send us into madness! We shall not obey!"
The sailors refuse to obey the captain's orders because they believe it is madness to sail in such a storm.
With my knife I slowly penetrate his tender throat!
The captain murders the sailor who questions his authority by slitting his throat with his knife.
I curse and rage: "Godverdomme! Wij zullen varen, al betekent het mijn dood!"
The captain curses and rages, declaring that he will sail no matter what, even if it means his death.
Contributed by David B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Zorp
This is my most favorite part of the whole album.
Jerry Baton
+L. Rainfell "and the dead hound is not what i find, blood stains on the wall, there is my daughters corpse, slaughtered on the ground"
HORROR MOVIE METAL FAN
This song is a masterpiece from the awesome Carach Angren.
Mariano Yalour
Unbelievable... I just had to listen to this like 20 times. Awesome!!!
Hunghau
nice :) i haven't heard this kind of thing done before. it sounds very dramatic like a play or something.. but that's awesome. very intense
Vilea
love it!
Lissa Smit
How did I not come across this before? Well, thank you wikipedia, for telling me this exists while I was looking for the full story on the Flying Dutchman.
malemuffin64
The captain in the beggining is from this times, he sees the ghost ship and then he gets cursed, he kills himself in the first 2 songs, then they tell the story of how Van Der Decken became the captain of a haunted ship by defying god by entering in that storm. he gets cursed and is destined to sail eternally.
Pedro
This is just epic.
Gerard Horneman
unbelievable.. it has been almost exactly 1 year since I came across this exact video.. not knowing that I came across 1 of the most awesome bands in existence that I would listen like at least 80% of the day... I dearly hope that carach angren will continue making music.. I've never been so exited about a band before!!