1. Covenant is a Swedish electronic band formed in Helsingborg in 1988. The band is currently composed of Eskil Simonsson and Joakim Montelius in the studio, while live shows consist of Simonsson along with touring members Daniel Jonasson of Dupont, Andreas Catjar and Daniel Myer of Haujobb.
Their music comprises a mixture of synthpop and electronic body music. They have been releasing music since the early 1990s.
History
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, electronic music and several of its subgenres became a preferred musical style among European underground culture. It gained favor initially within major cities and eventually trickled into the continent's more secluded regions. This new wave of music was discovered at different instances by a group of friends living in Helsingborg, a scenic town in south western Sweden. Eskil Simonsson, Joakim Montelius and Clas Nachmanson, three teenagers with mutual, youthful curiosities for science, philosophy, and matters of existence, were all enthralled by the unique presentation and the emotional content of the music, specifically by that of bands such as Kraftwerk, The Human League, Depeche Mode, Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb. It was after attending the first Front 242 show in Scandinavia that the trio and others familiar to them decided to start a band.
The friends carried this fascination with them to university life in the historic town of Lund, approximately 50 kilometres (31 mi) southeast of Helsingborg. In between their academic endeavors and discussions of worldly affairs, they assembled a small recording studio in Nachmanson's bedroom and began to experiment with their own musical compositions. In 1988, the name "Covenant" was selected for the group—a name derived from the unspoken spiritual bond the trio professed to share.
As Covenant, the three produced their first publicly released track, "The Replicant", by invitation of Swedish record label Memento Materia. "The Replicant" was released on a compilation album in 1992, and the track thrilled label executives, prompting them to ask for a full album. In 1994, the group compiled enough songs to release the album, which became Dreams of a Cryotank. Dreams was well received by critics and fans alike, and with its success, the boyhood friends decided to take their musical efforts more seriously. They upgraded and added more equipment, relocated their studio, and committed to tour.
In 1995, Covenant performed at a festival in Germany at the request of Off-Beat Records. The band impressed Off-Beat's attending A&R representative, who signed them to a record deal the following day. Excited by the prospect of broader exposure, the band members eased further away from their educational pursuits and devoted themselves to completing a new album, 1996's Sequencer. Later in 1996, the band released the "Stalker" single before embarking on a tour with Haujobb and Steril across Germany, Belgium, and Holland.
With Sequencer, the band sought to improve upon the weaknesses they found in Dreams by combining sequencing, diverse melodies, and commanding lyrics. It became an instant classic among many observers, some of whom boldly declared it "the best electro album of the decade." It would go on to be re-released a number of times throughout the world and remains a club favorite in many settings.
Later in the year, San-Francisco-based record label 21st Circuitry agreed to distribute Covenant's albums in the United States, expanding the band's reach in the process. As a result, the group created the Theremin EP in 1997 specifically for North American release and started to accept tour dates throughout the US and Canada.
The trio's third full-length album, Europa, debuted in 1998. Europa carried Covenant's initially aggressive, often distorted brand of music into the beat-driven realm of synth pop, marking the beginning of a gradual evolution in the band's collective sound. In the U.S., the album peaked at #101 on the CMJ Radio Top 200 and reached #3 on the CMJ RPM charts.[8] Also in 1998, they sued the Norwegian black metal/Industrial metal band The Kovenant (then known as Covenant) for the rights to the name "Covenant", arguing that they had established use of the name first and forcing the Norwegian band to change the spelling of their name.
Covenant spent 1999 touring, changing record labels, and on the preparation of another album. Off-Beat Records went out of business, and Dependent was created by former Off Beat employees. Together with a few selected former Off-Beat acts, Covenant joined Dependent. In addition, Covenant were signed with SubSpace Communications in Sweden, effectively ending their tenure with Memento Materia. Meanwhile, 21st Circuitry Records ceased operations, leading the three to find a new home in America with Metropolis Records (Metropolis had bought the rights to the 21st Circuitry back catalogue). Shortly thereafter, the band's first three albums and the Theremin EP were re-issued in the US under the Metropolis label.
United States of Mind was released in 2000, and with it, Covenant's tendencies strayed further into synth pop. Also released that year was a stand-alone single, Der Leiermann. Sung to the tune of the album track Like Tears in Rain, it was a version of the German Art song of the same name. The song was originally a poem by Wilhelm Müller, set to music by Franz Schubert as part of the poem cycle "Die Winterreise". S. Alexander Reed asserts that this point in Covenant's career marks a distinct break from previous work in an attempt to project a sense of the "sublime built on wonder, rather than abjection."
A live album, Synergy, was released later in the year which featured tracks from the band's first four albums. The group continued with 2002's Northern Light, which they portrayed as having a more sombre, cold sound in comparison to their earlier offerings. In another transition between labels, the European release of Northern Light was handled by Sony Music's Ka2 division rather than Dependent or Subspace. (The US release was through Metropolis.)
Whilst they continued to produce music together, Montelius and Simonsson took up residence in separate countries; Montelius residing in Barcelona, Spain, and Simonsson living in Berlin, Germany. Nachmanson remained in Helsingborg.
Covenant released their sixth studio album, Skyshaper, in March 2006 to an overall positive reception. The band toured Europe prior to the album's release and toured the United States beginning in September 2006.
In March 2007, Covenant announced that Nachmanson would not be touring with the band and his replacement would be Daniel Myer of Haujobb. In an interview with Side-Line magazine Covenant's Joakim Montelius said he was not sure if Clas would still continue with Covenant.
In October 2007, Covenant released the road movie "In Transit" on DVD. It contained material from the world tour undertaken in support of the album "Skyshaper" and documented the band's travels in Europe, North America, South America and across Russia over a period of 18 months. The band confirmed Clas' departure in the DVD documentary.
In January 2011, Covenant released their seventh studio album, Modern Ruin — the first album by the band with Myer as a core member. The band released a new EP, "Last Dance" in June 2013. The band released their new album, titled "Leaving Babylon" in September 2013.
In April 2015, the band embarked on a North American tour to promote their eighth album, Leaving Babylon. The band, joined on tour by an opening band called "The Labrynth," performed in approximately 20 cities, including Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C, and Austin. Slug Magazine favorably reviewed the 6 April show in Salt Lake City, describing Covenant's stage presence as "exquisite" and "just as powerful as their music."
In October 2015, Covenant headlined the Gothic Meets Klassik festival in Leipzig, Germany, along with British synthpop band Mesh and songwriter and electronic musician Anne Clark.
In November 2016, they released their ninth studio album The Blinding Dark. It was accompanied by a tour in Europe and, in 2018, the UK. and the United States.
In February 2019, the band commenced a ten-city tour through Germany, starting in Berlin on 7 February. The "Fieldworks Tour 2019" show stops offered a new extended play record called the "Fieldworks: Exkursion EP". The EP features five tracks, each written by a member of the band, and one song in collaboration with French electro-industrial newcomer Grabyourface, who also performed opening sets during the band's German tour that year. According to the band's Facebook page, this EP is intended to be the first of an upcoming cycle of records associated with the "Fieldworks" theme. The new music was inspired in part by sounds collected at an electricity plant, according to an interview conducted by a writer for the magazine Zero. "This time we wanted to use the sounds we have collected for many years, from exotic places on the six continents we have visited as a band, as well as the mundane hum of everyday life, as stepping stones for the songs," Joakim Montelius explained in an interview published on Gruftbote.
The band headlined the final day of the Terminus Festival in Calgary on 28 July 2019 and then embarked on a set of five U.S. shows in Seattle (30 July), Portland (31 July), Los Angeles (2 August), Oakland (4 August), and Denver (6 August), respectively.
2. Covenant, now known as The Kovenant, was a Norwegian band which has evolved from a melodic symphonic black metal band to industrial metal/harsh industrial on more recent albums. The band changed the name due to a dispute with the Swedish band that shared the same name.
3. Covenant is also the name of the progressive rock project of Dave Gryder, ex-drummer of metal band Rotting Corpse. So far, he has released one album under the Covenant moniker: 1992’s Nature’s Divine Reflection, on which he plays all the keyboards and drums.
4. Covenant is a Christian rock band from Worcester, Massachusetts. www.covenantrock.net
5. The Covenant is a Modern (blues) Rock/Grunge Band from Holland. http://www.myspace.com/thecovenant.nl
Slow Motion
Covenant Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A frail continuous sequence spanning over lives
Blindfolded by stars we roam in our realm
Striving to the very last
Dwindling at the most
Marching in the waste we produce for living
Tending to forget we are not the lasting kind
The steps we take upon the earth
Will be worn and lost
As the moment elapsed we walked in slow motion
Denying the tide, we'll find our devotion
Possessed by our possessions we deny the present
In the gallery of achievements we look upon the past
And as the moment passed away recalling the restraint
Counting and weighing the amounts of our breaths
But strong in the knowledge of our lack of purpose
By learning the fear and gaining our composure
Content at the surface descension to come
Peace in aloneness although all will be lost
As the moment elapsed we walked in slow motion
Awaiting the tide, we'll lose our devotion
The lyrics of Covenant's song Slowmotion reflect on the transience of human life and the urgency to find meaning and purpose in a world that is always in motion. The first verse describes how time is both eternal and fleeting, and how we are constantly moving forward without fully comprehending the significance of each passing moment. It is as if we are wandering blindly through the universe, our lives marked by a sequence of events that are fragile and finite.
The second verse speaks to the damaging impact of human activity on the environment, and how we have a tendency to forget that our time on earth is limited. We often prioritize our own needs and desires over the long-term health of the planet, and the consequences of our actions will ultimately outlast us. Despite this bleak outlook, the lyrics suggest that we can still find purpose and value in our existence by embracing our mortality and living in the present moment.
The chorus emphasizes this idea of slowing down and appreciating the present, rather than obsessing over the past or future. The lyrics suggest that by letting go of our material possessions and worldly accomplishments, we can find peace and contentment in our own company, even as we are inevitably swept away by the tide of time.
Overall, the song presents a complex meditation on the human condition and our relationship to the world around us. It raises important questions about the meaning of life and our place within the larger cosmic order, while also acknowledging the beauty and fragility of our existence.
Line by Line Meaning
Vvery instant second a suspension of forever
Every single moment is a pause in eternity
A frail continuous sequence spanning over lives
Life is a delicate, ongoing cycle that exists across generations
Blindfolded by stars we roam in our realm
We are lost in the vastness of the universe as we navigate our own existence
Striving to the very last
We push ourselves to our limits, even as we approach our end
Dwindling at the most
Our energy and vitality fade away as we approach our final moments
Marching in the waste we produce for living
We are destroying the very world we depend on for survival
Tending to forget we are not the lasting kind
We often overlook the fact that our time on this earth is limited
Every day we die we are slowly decomposing
The process of death and decay is ongoing, even before we take our last breath
The steps we take upon the earth
Our actions have an impact on the world around us
Will be worn and lost
Ultimately, everything we do will fade away into obscurity
As the moment elapsed we walked in slow motion
Time seems to slow down as we reflect on our lives
Denying the tide, we'll find our devotion
Even as we face the inevitability of death, we continue to strive for meaning and purpose
Possessed by our possessions we deny the present
Our focus on material possessions distracts us from truly living in the moment
In the gallery of achievements we look upon the past
Our obsession with accomplishments blinds us to the beauty of the present
And as the moment passed away recalling the restraint
As time moves forward, we reflect on the opportunities we've missed or the things we've held back
Counting and weighing the amounts of our breaths
We are constantly aware of the finite nature of our lives
But strong in the knowledge of our lack of purpose
Despite our existential uncertainty, we find strength in acknowledging our purposelessness
By learning the fear and gaining our composure
We find balance by confronting our fears and remaining calm in the face of uncertainty
Content at the surface descension to come
We are at peace with the inevitable decline and eventual end of our lives
Peace in aloneness although all will be lost
We find solace in being alone, even as we acknowledge that everything we know and love will eventually disappear
As the moment elapsed we walked in slow motion
Time seems to slow down as we approach the end of our journey
Awaiting the tide, we'll lose our devotion
As we near the end of our lives, our passion and drive may gradually fade away
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind