Opulent Decay, by SPELL (2024)

1.

Oh, golden apple of ambitionDoubt is a serpent warning me so threateningly In raging silences he whispers: “Prudence is wisdom, denial is sage”To Psychic Death I'll bowOh, hunger not for ours is famineNor suffer lust for ours is infertilityRenounce the pride of actionThe dying man regrets his life lived recklessly To psychic death I'll bowSilent as the moonTo psychic death I'll bowPassive as the wombSilence the sea has never seenI cut away my thoughtsStill as the sky could never beI cut away my heartI give what has no use to meEnthroned in lavish jewelrySits Saint Austerity

2.

Pale comfortSick in luxuryFrail abundanceShe mocks sardonicallyShivers, she, in land austereFor comfort she can't bearWayward she will turn awayFrom those who court her desperatelyOpulent DecayYou who've felt cold Sleep most sound on nature's bedHunger leads youYour thirst will keep you fedAsk for something greater still Than ease can ever fillLovesick artist, bid adieuand Lady Truth may follow you

3.

A lone girl waitsHer tears have long since passedBut the cold cuts so deeplyThe summer never lastsWhy did you thinkYou could feel the morning sunBut not suffer the cold ice of winterIt's just begunBright are the stagesWhere tragedy liesBut from a desperate girl on a dark nightThey turn their eyesWhat's the differenceWhen you live within your artIf your days are spent in fiction Where does truth start? Heavy chainsDrag this poor child downHeavy chainsWrap her round and roundSibyl Vane, wear your shackles proudThe curtains are drawn on the last act of Sibyl VaneChains of love No tears can ever rustThis world seems so unforgivingSeems so unjustShe moves like a sunsetLast gaze at the skyHeavy chains in deep waterRipple her lullaby

4.

Beneath my wandering footstepsA path of flowers bloomIntoxicating coloursSeduce with rich perfume Forget my pastRenounce my future To this Primrose PathMy senses pull me onwardsI'm led as though a slaveEnchanted pedals falling As autumn brings decayCold winter looms

5.

Down in the nightAncient as sleepAbandon our raft into the deepMany still clingThought she rots awayOn yesterdays' words their tongues decay The drowned stand proud once moreAs they sing their mournful songTheir eyes beg me to join themBut Iron Wind pulls me alongKeep faith in meAs we throw ourselves freeI'll hold my doubts in silenceCarried as slavesBy iron bound wavesYield to the ocean's violenceThough I may falterAnd fail to reach the shoreSeek ye not afterFor tomorrow's yoursLove me as the wolf loves her prey

6.

Infant born in mother's painWisdom earned through failure's gainBeauty lost to time's decay The sun sets on another dayBut dawn will come againHonest as a child at her playAnd when nothing else remainsAll I have is what I give away Love is learned in deepest lossArt is won at painful costThe runner suffers every mileThe father sweats to feed his child

7.

A cavern liesForgotten deep within the earthAlive with gold and bright with gems of boundless worthUntouched by hands, unseen by eyesThe serpent whispered:“This wealth alone is mine” Below the roots of tallest treeA river trickles quietly And he who tastes it will be freeTo live his life eternally Within the treesAn ancient temple waits10,000 years interred in nature's deep embraceIn crumbling halls still written clearIs knowledge of both man and GodConcealed by timeA songbird answers in reply“For all your wealth, what shame you cannot flyDespite what immortality may bringI pity you who cannot sing”

8.

As towards the sea will tumble restless stoneTwo sisters bathed in river broadAs winter's frost had recently thawedThe elder's hair grew to her kneesThe young remembers all that she seesAs towards the sea will tumble restless stoneThough charged unto the younger tendThe elder swam to shore againThe young succumbed to current strongAnd to the river she now belongs As towards the sea will tumble restless boneTell not our mother I've been drownedOh say instead I'm joyfully wedThese willows weeping bridesmaids proudTall banks the isle down which I'm ledTowards my love eternal, cold hard stone

9.

In shadows you alwaysSee what you fearIn emptiness your eyesSee most clearI only feel your warmth in the dead of night I remember the fading imageBut I can't quite...Can't shake this feelingI'm imprisoned by shadowsIn sleepless nights...(hear the spectral voice around me)in fear delight...I'm imprisoned by shadowsVessel of changeI'm caught in your chainsAwake within sleepI'm trapped in your dreams

10.

Ivy bound handsReach out in welcome or in warningRuins standChoked with dust and timeSeek deep in memoryCome lose your way to meIf I put out my eyes you'll seeConceal the world from meIf I cut out my tongue you'll speakRise up from ancient sleepWhat secrets do you keep?Strange fires burnLead astray into illusionA page is turnedLost before the dawnSought in banalityFound in periphery

“Music, like dreams, exists in feeling rather than explanation. In sleep, the strangest things can elicit joy or terror — this is why dreams are so difficult to articulate. Creating music, for me, is similar; often, I’ll wake in the dead of night with a powerful feeling or melody in my mind, not connected to reality in any concrete way. I’ll then leap out of bed to try and capture it before it disappears!”

Thus reckons Cam Mesmer, bassist and vocalist of Spell. Hailing from Vancouver, British Columbia, yet divining their art from the realm of nocturnal visions and fantasies, this band have already proven themselves mighty chroniclers of the more supernatural quarters of the heavy music sphere.

Full Moon Sessions, their 2014 debut (reissued in 2018 on Bad Omen) and 2017’s For None And All are proof positive of an outfit — completed by drummer and co-vocalist Al Lester and guitarist Graham McVie - whose grasp of crepuscular atmosphere and diverting dynamics matched their infectious song-craft. However, these were apparently mere preludes to Opulent Decay, the band’s third and finest record to date on Bad Omen Records, and an aural vista where moonlit melody, strident heaviness and potent romanticism collide to startling effect.

Recorded by Felix Fung at Little Red Sounds studio in New Westminster, B.C., it’s an emotionally charged psychic travelogue wreathed in mysticism. Opulent Decay embraces harmonic guitar heraldry while also showcasing a band as adept at essaying a hymnal acapella piece like the beguiling ‘Ataraxia’ as they are the wistful and melancholic 'Dawn Wanderer', the pastoral-tinged and progressively slanted 'Primrose Path' or the catchy and barnstorming title-track. “Many bands find their third album the most difficult because they’re trying to recreate what they’ve already done; for us, it gets easier and better every time,” clarifies Cam. “As ideas emerged during the writing process, we nurtured them and gave them all the time and care they needed to flourish and bloom.”

Lyrically, as well as the influence of romantic poets like Keats, Shelley and Coleridge, there's an underlying concept, as Cam explains: “All of the songs deal with the contrast between opulence and austerity, and the decay that results from imbalance. Our drive to avoid suffering is strong, but it can be overcome by the love for another and the desire to put them before yourself. Opulent Decay examines this balance and the dangers that await on either side of the pendulum."

Some might hear the echoes of legends like Rush and Blue Öyster Cult in these chimerical serenades, but this is a record that sounds like no one but Spell. With Opulent Decay, the band marks their own delirious and affecting journey towards musical nirvana, above and beyond any spurious notions of retro-chic.

"After being obsessed with heavy metal our whole lives, we feel entitled to take it in our own direction and decide what that looks like," elucidates Cam. "We’ve taken the heavy metal sounds we know and pushed them to the most exciting places we can. Whatever people choose to call it, this is a heavy metal record as much as anything else — hypnotizing heavy metal."