Yes, this song is about black metal. I myself have previously criticized bands for singing about singing or writing songs about writing songs (or in the case often heard in rap and hip-hop, rapping about rapping: I have the mic in my hand, etc...). It's one of the downfalls of being so obsessed and pre-occupied with being in a band that when it comes time to write lyrics they might end up being about being obsessed with being in a band and all the lifestyle headaches that come along with that, because that might have been all you've known for the past (long) while. While trying to stay away from the campy end of all of that, I still wanted to address a few of those themes in "Woods 3" (which we did) and to do a song like "Through Chaos..." because this idea is relevant to what WOODS OF YPRES is about, as simple as it is. The lyrics are intentionally simple and so is the meaning. It's about the admittedly unusual connection between nature and the black metal sound and me blaming 'modern life' for making such a connection to be possible in our brains, be it stress, technology, who knows... It's the same thing when asking why we now like 'noisy' music. Have people always liked noise and did it give them a charge like metal does for us now? Again, I already hear people blindly criticizing this song because of it's simplicity or dismissing it as silly, but to me this is actually about something really cool and positive about black metal and the enjoyment of it (and IMO, much more relevant and less silly that plenty of other bm out there screaming about fucking nothing at all!). I still prefer to write lyrics about something specific, to have a point and to have it make sense. I like a songs lyrics to be 'test-able' for meaning, rather than typing out some incoherent black metal filler and leaving the meaning and the content (if any) up to the listeners own interpretation. I always get a charge from people discussing Woods lyrics, especially when it's positive but even if people have really negative, judging things to say about them, and or the band and I. I feel we did something good when WoY lyrics are address because they've been noticed and people are talking about them, for whatever reason (you can't please everyone, so don't try, just be honest and do your fuckin' thing man). When was the last time people talked about, made mention of or even noticed your typical black metal lyrics in yet another new bm to come out that sounds like everything before it with a bad recording and a black and white self portrait out in the woods...? Maybe I am out of the loop or out of touch, but I just don't see it too often. How often do people even notice lyrics these days? I'm sorry to say that I hardly do (though I'm always looking), but I tend to love a band when I do notice their lyrics, even if I really love just a few key lines or ideas. Anyways, I always like that when I see people discussing WoY, lyrics come up. Here's a few words about "Through Chaos..."
This song is specifically about driving through through that stretch of highway between Northern Ontario and Toronto in winter, at night, while blasting black metal on the car stereo and feeling it.
To set the mood, the scenery is nice, dark and you are really feeling the music as you tear down the highway in your car (or whatever). You feel as though you are a part of both the music and the scenery and you believe that it is also a part of you. Your mind is racing with inspiration and ideas. Ice cold adrenaline. "Black Metal" in this case is not so much defined by a specific subgenre of the genre (True, Raw, Black Metal for example) or even a lifestyle, but rather a state of mind where you relate to enjoying darkness, cold, solitude, blastbeats, abrasive guitars, screaming vocals, noise, and you are comfortable with all of it. You feel at home with it. It's a very powerful feeling really, to feel a sense of belonging even when you are completely alone. The song's lyrics also touch on the very basic idea of the unspoken connection between nature, forests, snow, trees, the sky, the mountains with the sound of 'black metal' (which we'll describe here as emotionally heavy riffs and blasts), which poses the question, "why?". Why in modern times when some of us metal folk see a wintery nature landscape we think of black metal, and vice versa. What has happened to us for us to be able to make that connection between those two things in our minds?
Some people love this chorus section, some people hate it and throw the 'LOL' around like I give a shit what they think. This chorus is simply about a euphoric feeling experienced while listening to black metal in the right setting and identifying with that state of mind. It's about feeling like a beast, a 'being', just as much as a man.
This verse was about the discovery of black metal and how though it's not always easy to get into at first, but like many fine things, it is an acquired taste over time. The last two lines are about realizing that there is somehow this connection in our minds between nature and that black metal sound, but still not totally understanding why.
Most people don't like the winter but it has always been comforting to me.
Again, the reference to existence of black metal based on the frustrations of modern life.
This verse comes from the realization that many people around the world also make this connection between nature and black metal and the similarities in our artistic expressions of nature through music. For example, similarities in the sounds of bands from Europe and those in Canada or elsewhere in the world with similar climates and seasonal characteristics.
When you are alone, you often go your own way without anyone to try to tell you otherwise. Without outside influence, you go down the path that feels right, weather or not it is a good path to go down.
This addresses that sense of belonging within the music and the strength it builds within.
This very simply describes the scenery and then adds the twist of the outsider stranger who offers his warning or advice that you may be going down the wrong path or that trouble would lie ahead of you.
That's all I have for now. I may add or edit later. Thanks for reading.
DG - \w/
