A while after collaborating with Johan Van Roy of SUICIDE COMMANDO on a few songs in the Stored Images period (Johan also played live keys in IC 434 in the late 90's), Geert started with a side project, called PANGEA (now PANGEAN DREAMS), around the millenium change. Some people describe it as a mix of EBM and Goa/Psy Trance. Geert also joined VOMITO NEGRO when Guy Van Mieghem remixed the PANGEA song Permafrost a while after he broke up the collaboration with Gin Devo in 2002.
Six years later, IC 434 finally released its latest album BACTERIATE on the German record label INFACTED RECORDINGS, resulting in a n° 42 position in the Deutsche Alternative Charts for the total of 2008 - only FRONT 242 did a little bit better as Belgian band.
BACKGROUND
As you can expect from the name of the project, the lyrics mainly contain astronomical descriptions, linked with very personal experiences Geert had with death and mental pain - all lyrics are autobiographic and may be taken litteraly. The mysteries on our planet and in the universe also have an important place in the lyrics, just as animal rights, nature in general and the sickness of our society.
The IC 434 sound is still completely based on the 80's Korg M1, with only a couple of additional samples. This doesn't mean that the band tends to create a typical old school sound, but just a kind of timeless dark electronic and 'danceable' music, combining elements from now and earlier days. Well known for the strong live act, IC 434 is currently supported on stage by Nicolas Van Meirhaeghe aka. Sal-Ocin from EMPUSAE, THIS MORN' OMINA and TZOLK'IN.
Just a little remark left. Geert de Wilde changed the name of IC 434 temporarily into OBEDIENCE the summer of 2003. Nicolas Van Meirhaeghe joined Geert de Wilde at that moment, and together they would work out the new OBEDIENCE songs. Nevertheless, a year after the name change, the interest in the old IC 434 was still big and seemed to grow, even. This, and a lot of practical problems, led to the decision to restart IC 434 and to consider OBEDIENCE as an other, independent, project. The only OBEDIENCE song that was released so far is the remix of Ladykiller Geert made for HOCICO that was released on their album Hate Never Dies.
REMIXES
Brainleisure - Crawl In Vain (IC 434 remix)
Experiment Haywire - Mean Enough Hot Enough (IC 434 remix) - tbr.
Grandchaos - God Is Dead (IC 434 remix)
Hocico - Ladykiller (Obedience - aka. IC 434 - remix)
Implant - The Age Of Experiment (Space Lab remix by Pangea) - tbr.
Neikka RPM - Find A Way (IC 434 remix)
Psy'Aviah - Anger Management (IC 434 retake)
Psy'Aviah - Broken Child (IC 434 remix)
COLLABORATIONS
Nebula-H featuring Pangea - Andalusiòn
Suicide Commando - Mortal Combat
Albatross
IC 434 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Wings in the night across the sea of a dream
Brightness removes the dark
It leads me from the coast
I'm breathing through a beak
I fly
Crawling waves down below
Freedom flight
White feathers grow out
The sun is glowing high
Albatross
And I'm still dreaming
Albatross
The sea is dashing low
Albatross
And I'm still dreaming
Albatross
Silence across the sea
its blueness makes me mild
I'm flying through a cloud
I dream
My wing beats in the air
My freedom in the sky
White bird
My memory still remains
The song Albatross by IC 434 appears to be a reflection of a dream the singer had, where he imagines himself as an albatross flying over the sea. He describes the feeling of freedom that the bird experiences, as it soars through the air and looks down at the waves below. The brightness of the sun removes the darkness, and he feels led away from the coast to fly over the sea. The singer imagines himself breathing through a beak, as he flies through the air.
The lyrics paint a picture of an idyllic world, where there is freedom, beauty, and peace. The albatross is flying effortlessly, and the white feathers that grow out indicate innocence and purity. The singer feels that he is still dreaming despite being in this world, where there is silence across the sea that makes him feel mild. He continues to fly through clouds and feels free in the sky. The memory of this world lingers on, even as the dream fades away.
The song Albatross is a beautiful expression of the yearning for freedom. The bird, as a symbol of freedom, is used to express the desire for an idyllic world without any boundaries or limitations. The lyrics have a poetic quality about them, as they describe the beauty of nature and the freedom that the singer imagines as the albatross. There is a sense of longing and nostalgia that is conveyed in the song, as the singer wishes to hold onto the dream that he has experienced.
Line by Line Meaning
I had a dream like a flight of a bird
I dreamt like I was flying as free as a bird in my sleep
Wings in the night across the sea of a dream
I had wings in my dream and flew over an imaginary sea at night
Brightness removes the dark
Seeing the bright sky made me forget about the darkness behind me
It leads me from the coast
Flying in my dream took me away from the shore
I'm breathing through a beak
In my dream, I felt like I was breathing through a bird's beak as I flew
I fly
I soar through the sky in my dream
Crawling waves down below
I could see waves below me, slowly moving along
Flirting in the air
I felt like I was flirting with the wind as I flew in my dream
Freedom flight
I flew as free as a bird in my dream, without any constraints
White feathers grow out
I imagined myself with white feathers growing out of my wings as I flew
The sun is glowing high
I could see the sun shining bright in my dream, high up in the sky
Albatross
And I'm still dreaming
I dreamt about being an Albatross and the dream seems so real
Albatross
The sea is dashing low
In my dream as an Albatross, the sea became a lot calmer
Silence across the sea
The sea in my dream was so quiet that I could hear the silence
its blueness makes me mild
The blue color of the sea in my dream made me feel calm
I'm flying through a cloud
I dream
As I keep flying, a cloud forms and I keep dreaming
My wing beats in the air
I could feel the motion of my wings beating in the air as I flew in my dream
My freedom in the sky
The freedom I feel while flying high in the sky in my dream is unparalleled
White bird
I imagine myself as a beautiful white bird in my dream
My memory still remains
Even after waking up, I remember vividly the dream where I was flying as a bird
Contributed by Grayson K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Vitaly Vitalych
Great song! BTW I have always thought that Gorky's "The Song of the Stormy Petrel" could be at least an inspiration for a good EBM song.