Get all 4 Hard Venom releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Vampire Rising, Elemental, Après la Vie, les Fleurs Fleurissent à Nouveau, and To Sever Ties With All Of Mankind.
1. |
Light
00:13
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High lights
Carnal delights
Deadly sin
Shining begins...
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2. |
Earth
06:56
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The majestic sweeping mountains
The wide and distant plains
Valleys that wind like serpents o'er the land
Hills rolling away
Coastlines attacked by the sea
Cliffs worn away
Caves formed, arches made, collapse
Sand deposited
Earth
Billions of years gone
Billions of years left
How much damage can be done in billions of years?
None, we'll all be long dead
And the new rulers will be environmentally friendly.
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3. |
Air
04:45
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Hissing slowly,
Tearing through trees,
The freshening lick of the cold morning’s breeze.
Caressed by the updraught,
Descending in waves,
It flitters us by never caring to stay.
It howls in the night and whines through the day,
Gathering speed blowing debris away.
When pressures then rise it won’t dare to rescind;
For the joy spoken of is the buffeting of winds.
Rustling softly,
Through the courtyards,
It strips off the leaves that come and then go.
The winds gust and swirl now,
Increasing caprice,
Before pressures fall and the winds do then cease.
It howls in the night and whines through the day,
Gathering speed blowing debris away.
When pressures then rise it won’t dare to rescind;
For the joy spoken of is the buffeting of winds.
Hurricanes batter the coastlines of faraway shores;
Tornadoes rip apart all that was built;
Gales come forth, ripping up trees, trapping the fools;
But as they are storms, non-sentient, they feel no guilt.
It howls in the night and whines through the day,
Gathering speed blowing debris away.
When pressures then rise it won’t dare to rescind;
For the joy spoken of is the buffeting of winds.
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4. |
Fire
04:53
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Ashes trickle slowly through
The clenched palm of the hand
That ripped the heart from the breast;
Proud, happy to have done its work.
Embers now lie in place of this void;
Burning slowly, seething, shedding dim light
Over the blackened hole whence it came,
Gradually expending its fuel.
Flames flicker, hungrily tasting the air;
Trying to sense its next source of fuel,
Willing to attempt any means in order
To extend its lifespan and never burn out.
Flashes of orange light cast shadows,
As trees and people are plunged into darkness
With but a single source of light
To keep dangers away.
Burning, exerting energy;
Feeding, slowly expanding;
Attempting to grow unchecked;
Slithering, in vain hopes of catching life.
Fire lies in place of eyes;
Insides burning up in pain.
Anger boils easily through
At the mere sound of her cries.
Yet death, sweet death?
That is torturous in its absence...
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5. |
Water
14:01
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The rain drips down from above,
Depositing itself on mountains;
The cold freezes it stiffly, unable to move,
Restraining it from reaching the fens.
The sun beats down from the sky,
It’s energy warm and delightful.
The ice melts upon mountain peaks,
It was not quite cold enough to life stifle.
Trickling quickly down the mountain side,
The water erodes the soil where it treads,
Establishing itself in its own concourse,
Winding down through the hillside it threads.
The stream widens and speeds its way
Over rocks and other protrusions,
Winding its way down its own valley,
Gushing as it does over all obstructions.
Over waterfalls it springs like a valiant scourge,
Sweeping all the impurities of life away;
Beauteous it thunders like the trampling of hooves,
Sending everything that enters it astray.
At last the hills end and the river is swathed in light;
Its deep valley stretches over a vast expanse.
The birds drink from it and spread their trivial delight:
The mayflies are born, die, and in betwixt dance.
As it stretches out through the long discourse,
It encounters a large and strange obstacle.
Unable to break through this unforeseen barrier,
It instead rushes sideways to remain stable.
The meanders then dominate the landscape around,
Sweeping through glades and thickets of trees,
Winding its way slowly down through the glen,
As it attempts to eventually make its way to the sea.
The levee breaks and sends a crashing tide
Into villages and cities below.
Floodwaters rising in the rain that does fall,
Showing yet no sign that it’ll slow.
As it nears the end of the land it widens
Into a large and lumbering beast,
Filing dutifully past the ports and docks,
It merges into the sea in the east.
The estuary tears quickly into the sea,
Murky now after the long journey;
As it moves slowly past the country it ran through,
It stirs not less happy than could be.
The sea works its way North with the wind,
Freezing and chilled it there resides.
But despite the cold it does not yet rescind
To the winter that in the North doth lie.
As summer approaches it melts from its prison,
Free once again to flow wherever it may please.
Separating from the ice in a typical schism,
It breaks itself away from the icy vestige.
The Ocean it resides in now,
Filled with fish and other things;
And yet still it does not kowtow
To the storms and beasts with wings.
The summer comes in full force,
It’s heat immense and heavy;
Evaporation occurs en masse,
The water is spirited away.
Back to the clouds, up high it goes;
Stratus, cirrus, pileus, pyrocumulus,
Any one of these are chosen
To house the music of the water in trust.
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6. |
Ice
05:09
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Freezing winds scour the desolate landscape
Travelling along at great speeds.
The snow has fallen thickly to the ground;
Blinding and obscuring the land.
The chill sweeps through the valleys,
Freezing the streams and the lakes.
The trees lay lifeless again,
No leaves left to plummet to the floor.
Snowy peaks mark ranges,
Frozen lakes mark the land;
The trees’ bare branches shake,
In the wind that sweeps through.
Ice descends,
Threatens mortal life.
Life cries out
And shatters, dies.
Earth bare, sinking into a new age:
An ice age, colder than those before.
New masters rise up to reign over all,
Black, white and orange, they snuff out remaining life.
The overlords revealed,
Plotting away,
Penguins arise…
And smite the day.
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7. |
Continuum
22:22
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Space
Pinpricks of blinding light mark
The location of the faraway stars,
Millions blinking, dazzlingly bright,
All show how insignificant we are.
The Blackness,
The Dark,
The Cold and the Breeze:
Solar flares erupt and slay thee quickly.
The Hugeness,
The Sight,
Incomprehensible:
Indescribably wondrous to all.
Supernovae, tachyons, nebula clouds:
Full of ceaseless wonders to behold,
Pulsars, quasars, et Luciferi Shroud:
Space – too young, too old, too cold?
Comets, planets, stars and asteroids:
Full of things beauteous and bright,
Black holes, cosmic rings, interstellar typhoid:
Ugly buggers that are invisible at night.
Time
Creeping slowly over the horizon,
Shadows chased astray by the beams
Of light radiating from the direction
Of the newly risen sun.
Slowly, wearily, the day draws on,
Taking its time to dwindle into dusk.
Striving to persecute all night dwellers,
The sun sets without a sound.
Time, infinite, eternal,
Ticks away slowly.
Ever slower.
Slower.
Slow.
Until it finally stops.
All Lights go out…
And never turn on again.
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8. |
Dark
00:18
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Darkness,
Swallowing light.
Death approaching,
Evil...
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Hard Venom UK
A band from the southern UK who keep moving to far-flung realms. Exploring metal, rock, classical, prog, and pretty much anything else that takes our fancy at a given moment.
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