In Nick Perumov's "Chronicle of Hjorvard" Rakoth is the half-god, so-called "True Mage", who had the title Master of Darkness for using Darkness for his magic. He rose against the Young Gods accusing them of being Liars stealing mortals' freedom. After his second try he was defeated, disincarnated and bound to the world called "The Bottom of Worlds". With help of his friend, Hedin "Aware of Darkness", he returned and overthrew the Young Gods thus becoming the New God along with Hedin.
December, 1996 - the band is formed completely with coming of Black as vocalist with "clean" voice and changing bassist to Den. All music is written by Rustam and Ilya, lyrics - by Rustam. Now the band has its own face - Black's clean voice and Rustam's keys. The first song created is "Return of the Nameless" (first edition). The song becomes famous (in Obninsk) long before the first gig.
February, 1997 - the first concert together with Dissenter - techno-death band. The concert represents the fest titled "Rock against chemical dependence". Needless to say that everyone (especially some members of the band) is deadly drunk. Nevertheless the gig is extremely successful. Amazingly, public seems to know RAKOTH well although no tapes are distributed yet and no gigs were given before. RAKOTH plays own early songs "Return of the Nameless" (first variant), "Unholy Temple", "One Step Beyond" (which is unrecognizably transformed into the song "Beyond" later), "Dying Realm" and STORM's "Nagellstev".
March, 1997 - Tense relationship inside the band. Rustam claims to leave the band. Simultaneously Leshy and F. say they wanted to leave long ago. Band collapses. F., Leshy and Ilya form the band they call GORBUG and play black metal.
May, 1997 - Rustam decides to form new band and offers Black and Den to join. They plan to play doom with some other styles elements. Coincidentally, at the same time the band Dissenter falls apart and its guitarist/vocalist Dy wishes to play deeper music than death metal. Den invites him to the new band, which has no name yet. New line-up: Rustam - keys & voice, Black - voice, Den - bass, Dy - guitars. Leshy offers his help with drums. The band rehearses at Rustam's garage.
June, 1997 - Band is in search for the name. Many variants proposed (MEPHISTO, UNBORN, TEARS, DOWNFALL, IN THIS ROOM), but none satisfies. Finally, Dy proposes to use the name RAKOTH again. Taking into account that old band RAKOTH doesn't exist anymore and that the name was offered by Rustam in the beginning, the name RAKOTH is accepted.
July, 1997 - Leshy officially joins RAKOTH. The first demo "Tales of the Worlds Unreal" is recorded right in the garage.
August, 1997 - Tape is given to A. Arzamascev, the head of Arzamascev's Music Center (later - Signal Studios). He decides to allow the band to record free at his studio. Demo tape "Dark Ages Chronicle" is recorded live, with no post-mixing, during only 4 hours. The quality of recording is that high that noone believes in that short recording time and in live recording. Later, in review given in DEATHRIDER 'zine we can see: "This tape was recorded (according to legend) during only 4(!) hours…". Rustam starts sending the tapes everywhere.
September, 1997 - Solo-concert. As in the first case, the public knows the band well, so the gig goes perfectly. October, 1997 - Leshy suddenly leaves RAKOTH. He plays with Fascist (now Tuur) and Ilya (now Vuulko) in their band they renamed into Темнозорь. They play so-called "true" pagan metal.
February, 1998 - First review on "Dark Ages Chronicle" appears in VAE SOLIS web-zine. Positive one. All later reviews are positive as well.
March, 1998 - Latvian distro-label starts distributing "Dark Ages Chronicle". April, 1998 - Rustam starts his solo-project Umbral Presence in order to create something more aggressive (and personal) than RAKOTH.
June, 1998 - Another Latvian distro, Beverina Productions, starts distribution of "Dark Ages Chronicle".
August, 1998 - The band enters Signal Studios to record their new creation. By the strange coincidence they begin the recording at the same day which was chosen (a year ago) for recording of "Dark Ages Chronicle". It is 18th of August. After the week of work they finally can celebrate the birth of their first full-length (57 minutes) album, titled "Superstatic Equilibrium". During the same session Rustam records the demo for Umbral Presence, "…et germinet Chaos". Both tapes are immediately sent to Elven Witchcraft.
November, 1998 - "Superstatic Equilibrium" and "…et germinet Chaos" are now officially distributed by Elven Witchcraft.
April, 1999 - "code666" is interested in getting RAKOTH's tape. Rustam sends "Superstatic Equilibrium" to Italy.
June, 1999 - "code666" offers a deal to RAKOTH.
August, 1999 - The contract for recording of one album is signed.
November 1999 - The New Album “Planeshift” is out on code666 production (ITALY)
March 2000 - Planeshift took 100/100 on Aardschok Magazine (Holland) & 6/6 on Scream Magazine (Norway), and tons of other highly positive reviews.
April 2000 - a new Deal is signed with code666 for two more albums.
May-June 2000 - composing and arranging new songs for the next album…
... a lot of interesting things between 2000 — 2008 undescribed to fit the format yet...
September the 4th, 2008
After 2,5 years of cooperation Zafod B. the Utkinson announces the great start of his new project(s) which makes him leave Rakoth immediately. The band is still working on its new album nevertheless.
Farewell
Rakoth Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In mourning hall your sorrow for me is too deep
No feeble thought, you gaze into the void
Think what you are before the eternity
The vision before your eyes - the bloodstained flowers...
An everlasting torment
Moaning, crying, in flowers body lying
Rain of tears is pouring from your mourning eyes
Depression, sorrow, for me there's no tomorrow
Now you take all pain and grief for my demise
My coat is shroud and the coffin is my only home
Don't moan so loud, let me rest, don't make my soul roam
Blessed are the strong, the strong with spirit
And grief is supressed by fierce impact
The flash of insight reveals desire
To join me within my grave - the godless craving...
An act of desperation
Don't cry for me, can't you see - I feel better now
My soul is free so get near and kiss my cold brow
And no tears last - the chalice is empty
Extict the feelings, fear's gone and forgotten
And in your dream I beckon to follow Come share my afterlife...
I'll wait
The opening lines of Rakoth's "Farewell" signify the singer's passing and his wish for his loved ones to not weep anymore, for he has achieved eternal peace in death. The second line draws attention to the mourners' excessive sorrow, indicating an unhealthy attachment to the deceased. The third and fourth lines of the first stanza further explain this idea by suggesting that mere mortals' thoughts pale in comparison to the eternality of life and death. The imagery of "bloodstained flowers" communicates the idea of the brevity and fragility of human life, for flowers die quickly and easily.
The second stanza is more dramatic and centers on the mourners' experience. They're depicted as moaning and crying in a field of flowers where the singer lies dead. The image of the "rain of tears" stylizes the concept of mourning, indicating a great deal of sadness and despair. The idea that life is fleeting and that there's "no tomorrow" for the singer gradually begins to sink in, overpowering the mourners' will to live. Meanwhile, the singer lies in his coffin and accepts his fate. He asks the mourners not to disturb him with their cries because he would prefer to vanish peacefully. He points out that only the strong can withstand such grief, signaling the idea that mourning can be so intense that it can make the mourner spiral out of control. The last two lines reveal that the singer perceives death as a gateway to a new existence, and he believes that he has found freedom and relief from the constraints of mortal life.
Line by Line Meaning
Farewell to all, I'm in arms of eternal sleep
I am gone forever and will now rest in peace.
In mourning hall your sorrow for me is too deep
You are deeply saddened by my departure and will mourn me.
No feeble thought, you gaze into the void
You are deep in thought and contemplating the void that is eternity.
Think what you are before the eternity
Reflect on your existence and what it will mean in the face of eternity.
Staring with awe yet unbelieving
You are looking at something with both shock and disbelief.
The vision before your eyes - the bloodstained flowers...
You are seeing flowers stained with blood, a reminder of death and violence.
An everlasting torment
This experience will haunt you forever.
Moaning, crying, in flowers body lying
You are moaning and crying while lying next to my body among the flowers.
Rain of tears is pouring from your mourning eyes
You are shedding a lot of tears because of your grief.
Depression, sorrow, for me there's no tomorrow
You are feeling depressed and sorrowful, while I have no future left.
Now you take all pain and grief for my demise
You are now feeling all of the pain and grief associated with my passing.
My coat is shroud and the coffin is my only home
My coat has become a covering for my lifeless body, which resides permanently in the coffin.
Don't moan so loud, let me rest, don't make my soul roam
I need you to stop mourning so I am able to rest in peace.
Blessed are the strong, the strong with spirit
Those who are strong and resilient are blessed.
And grief is suppressed by fierce impact
Strong emotions can suppress grief with intensity.
The flash of insight reveals desire
A sudden realization makes you want something.
To join me within my grave - the godless craving...
The thought of joining me in my grave is a desire that has no relation to a god.
An act of desperation
A decision that is made in a state of desperation.
Don't cry for me, can't you see - I feel better now
You don't need to mourn me because I am at peace now.
My soul is free so get near and kiss my cold brow
My soul is no longer confined and you can come close to say goodbye.
And no tears last - the chalice is empty
All of the tears have been shed and there are no more emotions left to express.
Extict the feelings, fear's gone and forgotten
All feelings have died down and fear has disappeared from the mind.
And in your dream I beckon to follow Come share my afterlife...
I am calling out to you to come and join me in the afterlife in your dreams.
I'll wait
I will be waiting for you.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind