Darken sees himself as a Heathen and Christianity as the worst enemy of white Europeans. He exalts the latter’s return to their ancestors' heritage, and has spoken out against “race mixing”.[2] On the Graveland EP Raise Your Sword!, he declares Heathendom to be the religion of white Europeans.
Darken has been accused of being a neo-Nazi. However, he has made statements to contradict this accusation, even speaking out against the Third Reich and their ideology: "I do not see any point in referring to NS because I do not see any point in referring to any ideologies that lost. It is against logic and eternal law of evolution"[3] and "If you are White proud of being White and proud of your forefathers faith, if you politically incorrect, if you dare to criticize the politicians and it you point at the existence of a strong powerful Jewish lobby supporting Israel – you are called nazi and anti-Semite. And the special institution start to persecute you. I am called ‘Nazi” but no one has any proof of my nazi background. They just repeat once heard someone else words having no proof of it."[4] And "In Poland many people refer to Slavonic heritage as many refer to German. And I think that those who refer to Slavonic culture are the majority but they do not make big show of it. For me there is no difference between pagan beliefs of Vikings and Slavs. The names are different but the core is the same. Different stories but the same Gods with the same attributes. The ideologist of the Third Reich were responsible for the division between German Aryan world and Slavonic world. They distorted the historical facts in order to separate from Eastern world. Communist did the same but they of course favouritized [sic] Slavs."[5] Yet, in a 2006 interview with Decibel, he stated that "Graveland is regarded as a NSBM band because of my political convictions, [which] most people would call extreme right-wing National Socialist convictions," and "people I played with were Satanists and they were not interested in paganism. Due to these differences, we finally started to walk separate ways and Graveland became [a] one-man band again. I understood that I could not support Satanism [because it] was a part of Judeo-Christian religion. In the Third Reich, Satanists would end [up] in gas chambers."[6] In the same interview, he stated "I do not see any point in referring to [National Socialism] because I do not see any point in referring to any ideologies that lost. It is against logic and the eternal law of evolution. I think that white men should search for new ideas that would be well adapted for the current reality and the problems of [the] contemporary world."[6]
In the Northern Carpathians
Graveland Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And reality turns into nightmare
Lighting cuts through the dark sky
Almighty Perun gave us his sign!
Brothers, wolves, I summon you!
Wind will bring you my howling
And smell of the human blood
Yes, I found another sacrifice
I lick the cold virgins corpse
I am blinded by my bloodlust
In the northern Carpathians
Mystic eyes between the trees
Brothers hungry for the blood
Through the blood I find desire
The only sense of the evil life
Immortality is true
For the creatures without shadows
There is hell on the earth
In the northern Carpathians
Unholy woods of mysteries
Alone witches full of hate
Werewolves hidden in the caves
Forgotten spells of pagan past
Long nights and hours of darkness
Cold mountain winds blow through the trees
Diabolic feast around the fire
Dark shadows dancing with flames
There is a place where Evil lives
There are woods where people die
At midnight blood is more precious than gold
In the northern Carpathians
The lyrics of Graveland's song “In the Northern Carpathians” depict a scene of darkness and horror. The beginning of the song describes a gloomy atmosphere where black clouds cover the moon and reality transforms into a nightmare. Suddenly, lighting cuts through the dark sky, giving a sign from almighty Perun, a Slavic god associated with thunder and lightning. The main narrator then calls forth his brothers, wolves, to join him in the hunt for humans. The lyrics also depict the retrieval of a sacrifice, a virgin whose blood drips on a stone, which is then licked by the singer in a blind bloodlust. The chorus of the song repeats the phrase “In the Northern Carpathians” which helps to establish the setting of the song: the mysterious, mythical woodlands of the Carpathian Mountains in Eastern Europe where pagan traditions and folklore still have a strong presence.
Further into the song, the lyrics describe a more comprehensive image of this ancient and eerily beautiful place. The northern Carpathians are referred to as unholy woods of mysteries. They are a place where witches, werewolves, and forgotten spells of pagan past reside. The sense of time passing is also conveyed as long nights and darkness take hold, and the cold mountain winds blow through the trees. The diabolic feast that is depicted is meant to show the dark shadows that move about and dance around the fire. The lyrics emphasize the fact that this is a place where people die, where the value of human blood is more precious than gold. The song then ends with a final repetition of “In the Northern Carpathians,” finishing with the idea that this is a place where evil and ungodliness thrive.
Line by Line Meaning
When the black clouds cover the moon
Under the darkened skies, where visibility is limited
And reality turns into nightmare
The scene turns into a dreadful and surrealistic nightmare
Lighting cuts through the dark sky
Sudden brightness illuminates the surroundings in a brief moment
Almighty Perun gave us his sign!
This is a sign of the authority and power of Perun
Brothers, wolves, I summon you!
I call upon my brethren wolves
Wind will bring you my howling
My howl will be carried to you on the wind
And smell of the human blood
The scent of human blood wafts through the air
Yes, I found another sacrifice
I have discovered yet another victim for my sacrifice
Droops of blood upon the stone
Blood drips on the stone's surface
I lick the cold virgins corpse
I consume the flesh of the deceased virgin
I am blinded by my bloodlust
My thirst for blood has impaired my vision
In the northern Carpathians
An area of the Carpathian mountain range
Mystic eyes between the trees
Between the trees, there are mystic, supernatural eyes watching
Brothers hungry for the blood
My brethren are also thirsty for blood
Through the blood I find desire
Through consuming blood, I become more aroused
The only sense of the evil life
This is the only source of satisfaction in a life defined by evil deeds
Immortality is true
I am immortal, each time I feed on blood
For the creatures without shadows
For those who are unseen, the undead
There is hell on the earth
The abode of the damned has come to our plane of existence
Unholy woods of mysteries
The mystic woods where unholy entities dwell
Alone witches full of hate
The witches are solitary with an overwhelming feeling of aversion
Werewolves hidden in the caves
The werewolves are concealed in the caves of these woods
Forgotten spells of pagan past
Incantations that were lost across the passage of time
Long nights and hours of darkness
The nights are prolonged and the darkness seems unending
Cold mountain winds blow through the trees
The cold winds on the mountains travel through the trees
Diabolic feast around the fire
A feast is conducted around the fire with a satanic theme
Dark shadows dancing with flames
The shadows of the participants flicker and dance with the flames
There is a place where Evil lives
There exists a place where the malevolent energy thrives
There are woods where people die
This is the territory where people perish
At midnight blood is more precious than gold
At midnight, the value of blood surpasses even that of gold
In the northern Carpathians
This place is located in the northern region of the Carpathian mountain range
Contributed by Adrian K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.