The band… Read Full Bio ↴Shape of Despair is a funeral doom metal band from Finland.
The band was founded in 1995 as Raven by Jarno Salomaa (guitars, later also keyboards), Tomi Ullgrén (bass, later also guitars) and Toni "Otso" Mäensivu (drums, later also vocals) as a faster, instrumental black metal-isch band following the footsteps of their contemporaries like Strid, Burzum, Darkthrone and Unholy. The trio soon realized that the music they played wasn't as good as they would have wanted, lacking the atmosphere and emotion of the bands that influenced them. They needed to either step up their songwriting game or try something else completely. During the summer of '95 Raven recorded their rehearsals with a simple cassette recorder, capturing all the songs that later became the Alone In The Mist demo, for the first time on tape. After listening to the rehearsal tape and realizing they actually had something in their hands they could stand behind, Raven wanted to record the tracks in a proper studio. It took the band three years to do it. Raven entered Arkki-studio in early '98. They still hadn't tried any vocals until the very last minute, when they decided they wanted to test how the songs would sound with Mäensivu's vocals and were surprised how well they actually fit. The Alone In The Mist demo [1] was not released until 2016, when the band thought it was the proper time to do it. They changed their name in September 1998 to Shape Of Despair. The decision to change the name came down to basically not wanting to be confused with the UK hard rock stalwarts Raven. Obviously, their new moniker fit their new sound better too.
In 2000 they signed a deal with Spikefarm Records and released their debut album Shades of...with Samu Ruotsalainen on drums.
The second album Angels of Distress, released on September 2001, featured Pasi Koskinen on lead vocals. Sami Uusitalo joined up in 2002 to play bass for the third album Illusion's Play. It was released in 2004.
In 2005, the band released a compilation titled Shape of Despair, featuring rare and unreleased material from the group, including tracks from the band's first demo Alone in the Mist and a new song called Sleeping Murder, recorded over a four-day period at Sundicoop Studios in Savonlinna, Finland. After a 5-year lull the band released the EP Written in My Scars and a split EP with Before The Rain.
Their 4th full-length album Monotony Fields was released on June 15, 2015 by Season of Mist.
Still-Motion
Shape of Despair Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Bleeding inner to suffer with time
Endlessly lost and still searching
For something, someday
Obsession and deceit
To burn a mark for a lifetime
Boundaries to brake
To rebuild the past
For something that will everlast
Just searching for to find itself
In still-motion
For to hope
Whenever to find a closure
Find itself in still-motion
Get closer, closer to your own faith
Serve the frail mind
Escape through the lifetime
To glance for your dismal youth
Get closer, closer to your own faith
In Shape of Despair's song "Still-Motion," the lyrics delve into the human condition of suffering and the search for something meaningful in life. The first stanza portrays the struggle of a life filled with inner turmoil that only seems to increase with time. The search for solace and meaning in the human condition is echoed in the next line, which emphasizes the longing and endless search for something that may never come.
The second stanza delves into the conflicting emotions that plague us when we are lost and searching for meaning along with the self-deception that can come with it. The singer longs to create something permanent in life that will last forever, but the futility of the search for something eternal is highlighted in the line "just searching for to find itself in still-motion." The final stanza is a plea for hope and the search for closure, to escape the lifetime of suffering and find faith in oneself.
Overall, the lyrics in "Still-Motion" delve into the human condition, the despair that comes with the search for meaning, and the idea that sometimes the answers we crave may not exist.
Line by Line Meaning
Arisen in vain to a life
Born for no purpose; brought into existence without reason
Bleeding inner to suffer with time
Experiencing emotional pain that intensifies with the passing of time
Endlessly lost and still searching
Perpetually confused and seeking answers
For something, someday
Hoping for a specific outcome, someday in the future
Obsession and deceit
Compulsive preoccupation and lying
To burn a mark for a lifetime
To make a permanent impression or damage
Boundaries to brake
Limits to be surpassed
Reached from the edge of time
Accomplished from the limit of existence
To rebuild the past
To reconstruct history
For something that will everlast
For an enduring legacy
Just searching for to find itself
Merely seeking to discover its own identity
In still-motion
In a state of apathy and stagnancy
For to hope
Looking forward to the possibility of something better
Whenever to find a closure
When the search for resolution may be successful
Get closer, closer to your own faith
Move nearer, nearer to your own beliefs
Serve the frail mind
Assisting the delicate mental state
Escape through the lifetime
Fleeing through existence
To glance for your dismal youth
To look back at the misery of one's childhood
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JARNO SALOMAA, NATALIE KOSKINEN, PASI KOSKINEN, SAMI ANTERO UUSITALO, SAMU RUOTSALAINEN, TOMI MIKAEL ULLGREN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Heathen Pride
Maybe my personal fave Shape of Despair creation ever.
I can’t express what feelings this band and track brought me in so many years I’m into their music.
Slow, deep, cold and warm reflections about life, death, especially past and present. Still one of the best bands around.
AnUnhingedMind
I love the way it slows down more and more in the first half of the song. So powerful.
Vldmr Kldzhn
Это прекрасно 💔💘
Black Fire 2604
I want this to be played at my funeral.
Enzo Galli
Excellent!! Shape of Despair...Great band!!
Artur Pępek
Moja muzyka z przepływu zaświatowego .
Oscar Cartes
Excelente,gran grupo
Tiago Monteiro
Amazing atmosphere
Argenfinland
Increible canción....
James M
Haven't heard this much from S.O.D. the Sweet, Subded meaning of the song title in the second half.