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]
Thousand Swords
Graveland Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Our banners were streaming under clouds
At the gates of christian capital
The wide river of blood was flowing
We attacked with hate in our eyes
Their request for mercy was nothing for us
They had no respect for our ancestors
Today is not a day for mercy...
Christ's elected ones' paradise was burning
Their golden bells were tolling the last hour
The last hour of Christian rulers in Pagan Europe
We are just, blessed soldiers
From the dephts of unbaptized forests
Barbarians in the wolvish skins
And we had pleasure to burn the Vatican!
Gods returned and now they are with us
Spirit of war possessed our souls
Our swords want to fight with our moves
It's a great feeling to spill the blood in the basilica
Herds of ravens fly between the clouds
They'll come to the earth, when we go away
They'll eat the food we prepared
They'll drink blood we have spilled
The vengeance will be cruel
Blessed by Gods and spirits
In self defence of fatherland
Vegeance done by our hands
"Thousand Swords" by Graveland depicts the pagan invasion of Christian Europe. The lyrics describe the intense battle that occurred as they attacked the Christian capital with a thousand swords. The pagan army had hate in their eyes as they had no respect for the ancestors of those they were attacking. The song portrays a sense of vengeance and justice in the pagan army, who saw themselves as blessed soldiers fighting for their fatherland.
The lyrics also describe the destruction that was caused as the golden palaces of the Christians collapsed, and their paradise burned. The song suggests that the pagan gods returned to be with the army, possessing their souls and pushing them to fight with their swords. The description of ravens flying between the clouds adds to the eerie, triumphant tone of the song. They see their vengeance as being blessed by the gods and spirits, and necessary for self-defence of their fatherland.
Overall, "Thousand Swords" is a powerful portrayal of the pagan invasion of Christian Europe, with a strong sense of vengeance, justice, and a pride in their pagan heritage.
Line by Line Meaning
We attacked with thousand swords
We launched an aggressive attack, our numbers were many, and our weaponry was abundant
Our banners were streaming under clouds
Our symbols of allegiance were flowing high as the sky was overcast
At the gates of christian capital
We stood at the entrance of the principal city of the Christian faith
The wide river of blood was flowing
There was a colossal amount of bloodshed, death, and destruction
We attacked with hate in our eyes
We had a deep loathing burning in our eyes as we attacked
Their request for mercy was nothing for us
We were unyielding to their desperation for leniency
They had no respect for our ancestors
The Christians did not revere or acknowledge our heritage
Today is not a day for mercy...
This is not a day to show compassion or show mercy
We attacked and golden palaces colapsed
As we assaulted, the prestigious edifices crumbled and toppled
Christ's elected ones' paradise was burning
The paradise reserved for Christ's chosen ones was combusting in flames
Their golden bells were tolling the last hour
Their ceremonial bells encouraged them to assemble as it was their last hour of reign
The last hour of Christian rulers in Pagan Europe
The Christian reign in Pagan Europe was coming to an end
We are just, blessed soldiers
We are righteous and holy warriors in the eyes of our gods
From the dephts of unbaptized forests
We're from the remote and unknown woods not yet marked by the Christian sacrament of baptism
Barbarians in the wolvish skins
We're savages clothed in the skins of beasts
And we had pleasure to burn the Vatican!
We took great joy in setting fire to the Vatican, the seat of the Roman Catholic Church
Gods returned and now they are with us
Our deities have come back to our side and are assisting us
Spirit of war possessed our souls
We're fully possessed by the fervor and passion for warfare
Our swords want to fight with our moves
Our blades are in perfect harmony with our fighting techniques
It's a great feeling to spill the blood in the basilica
It's a satisfying feeling to shed blood in the holy setting of a basilica
Herds of ravens fly between the clouds
Flocks of ravens soar among the clouds above
They'll come to the earth, when we go away
Once we've left, the ravens will descend unto the earth
They'll eat the food we prepared
The ravens will consume the remains of our prey
They'll drink blood we have spilled
The ravens will drink the blood we've shed
The vengeance will be cruel
The retribution for the Christian wrongs we've suffered will be merciless
Blessed by Gods and spirits
We've been received with divine favor by our deities and their spirits
In self defence of fatherland
We've taken up arms to protect our homeland from our oppressors
Vegeance done by our hands
We shall exact revenge with our own hands
Contributed by Jeremiah H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@westwind7465
Seeing how they just took this album and every other Graveland album off of streaming services, I guess I have to rely on these uploads now.
@skinfelloff
You got that right. Just when I was looking for a Graveland fix too...
@nocturnal1667
Why did they took them off 😢
@rudi_tabootie
@@nocturnal1667 NSBM ties
@marekkupiec9903
@@nocturnal1667 NSBM ties, openly racist and pretty edgy boys. Not that being edgy or a "bad person" should be a concern in fucking black metal, and I say this as a leftist...
@aronjanssonnordberg307
@@marekkupiec9903 It's annoying to me, because the music is so epic and grand, like a sequel to Bathory, but the NS stuff makes it unacceptable to mainstream access. I guess some think it's cool and want it to remain underground, but I think Graveland could have been a huge metal band if they just dropped the NS stuff. Same with Nokturnal Mortum.
@DaniFenriz
Amazing and perfect album 🤘🤘🤘
@countdunkelheit1389
An absolute classic and I mean that in every sense of the word
@uvegravkammer3049
One of the best...
@tonynordstrom5092
One of my biggest inspirations