The Weakness of Virtue

by SOULMASS

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Auntie_Christ I always thought Dark Souls inspired metal would generally take the form of atmoblack or dungeon synth. However, this riffy death-doom captures the spirit of the games like no other. Grimy, desperate fights to the death.

Also just genuinely well written. Soulmass is by no means a gimmick band, and if you've banged your head to bands like Temple of Void before, you'll find a lot to like here. Favorite track: Spear and Hammer.

Lovdahl, Ian i burned out most of my free plays until bandcamp said, "pay up, dummy". GLADLY.
I've never played Dark Souls, but I've heard a death metal, and this is a good one. Especially that "Praise the Sun", I mean, how do you even do that? Favorite track: Praise the Sun.

Guillaume DC A very dark masterpiece, just like Dark Souls. Ive been craving more Soulmass ever since i heard them the first time. Embrace of the gathering darkness is possibly their finest work. Keep it up guys! (Shoutout to the artists who do all the amazing artwork) Favorite track: Embrace of the Gathering Darkness.

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10

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Principality of Mechanical Violence, Selling Rubicon by the Pound, The Age of Darkness: Remastered, Let Us Pray, Eidolon, Despairing Fates: Remastered, The Weakness of Virtue, Despairing Fates, and 2 more. , and , .

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1.	To Paint a New World 10:33	lyrics
I gaze across this world As cold winds blow My heart grows heavy As dark as my soul Come make this your home Stay with us Embrace the mold, let all decay Come share this our bed Abandon hope Forget the fire, just fade away Endless night Out of sight In this prison All is lost As we rot In this painted world We are the Forlorn Forgotten souls Accepting doom, please let us stay In this quiet place Unburdened by flame Betrayed by ash, this is our fate We are weak And the meek In this cold hell Our Father cries Believing lies In this tainted world I've seen your kind here before You seekers of truth You lack the stomach for it So die in agony I trust you'll learn your lesson Some secrets stay kept By oath to my dear Lady Curiosity be your cross The one to show me flame You've opened the door I am pleased to see you Uncle Gael has told me Very much about you I wish to return now To paint a new world Behold it, my canvas So cold, dark, and gentle And it will make someone A goodly home one day I see the flames, they flicker Not enough blood shed Please bring my flail, please Friede Canst thou not see? When the Ashes are two A flame alighteth Thou art Ash, and fire befits thee Let your black flame burn
2.	Blacksmith's Wisdom 05:32	lyrics
Flame, I smell flame upon you Power of the gods, how brightly you burn Flame, dear flame, I give you my all Still you waver and falter Feel the hammer strike Giving life into steel With power from the flame Artwork designed to kill A weapon to tip the scales Against the might of the lords I hear the will of the blade Calling out for their souls To be one with the flame To be kin to the fire Tools and tricks of a trade Born in righteous desire Edge of sword, point of spear Curve of axe, weight of club Children of dying embers From the flame that I love Flame, I smell flame upon you If you walk with flame, then I salute you Flame, dear flame, we give you our all Still you waver and falter The embers radiate A dull light nearly exhausted Revealing an eerie resilience Linked to the fire From the start of time Flame allowed man to flourish And even now, we devise new fiery arts The flame allures us, allows us to see
3.	Praise the Sun 04:00	lyrics
Gaze above, know the time has come Raise your sword, the struggle's just begun Ring the bells, reach the throne on high Nothing there, illusion conceals night Where can it be? Have I not searched enough? Am I a fool? Surely I am blind in your eyes Must not give up I may not find a sun beyond Yet much below To find the truth in the lie Seek the sun Follow the will of the fire Quell the undeath Praise the sun! Warriors unite Engage in cooperation Searching Lordran Praise the sun! Oh, my dear sun What is it now that I must do? I've come so far Is this the path I must pursue? I see it glow Glimmering beneath the ruins Beckoning closer My journey ending soon Finally I have found the one I am now a truly glorious sun Madness is all that I have left Crawling deep within undead flesh It's dark, so dark...
4.	Remember My Name 06:24	lyrics
I do not know you You do not know me No need to be friendly Why do you want to talk to me? Walls closing slowly Decaying and moldy I look, but I can't see Who are you? Why am I here? Long ago, in my land of birth I joined the Order of a Lord Risen from nothing No name, no worth Just the loyalty of my sword What of my story? Memory so hazy Only the journey What is this place? What draws us here? Darkness surrounds me Growing so weary I stand, but I feel weak What is this? Why are we here? Please forgive me, for I am cursed But you—you are the same My thoughts are scattered At loss for words I beg you, remember my name My brother I remember I pray you're still here as well Dear brother I'll find you Before you've lost all yourself Strength fading Mind failing Trapped within this undead hell I'm fading Body failing The rot is starting to smell My brother Do I remember? You must have come here as well Dear brother Where are you? I fear I'm losing myself Mask fallen Legs give in I've been reduced to a shell Of what I Once had been But I can no longer tell
5.	A Once Proud Knight 08:44	lyrics
I’m slowly losing myself How much longer can I hold on? The light inside grows dimmer How much longer ’til I am gone? I’ve seen the realm of Lordran On this quest before I’m lost Travelled far from my homeland At this curse’s heavy cost And I’m so tired now The burden grows within Please let me get some rest now To sleep, perchance to dream again Visions of withered corpses Nightmares, what I’ll become When left no other choices I left my family and my home An ailing wife and noble daughter To save them from myself What kind of husband? What kind of father? They must remember who I was Through darkest depths Fighting pain and sorrow My eyes have grayed, memories fade Soon I’ll go hollow Daughter, why are you here? Can’t you see what I’ve become? Daughter, why are you here? Your mother’s gone? I can’t go on Please no I can not stop the monster that I am Please go Before I tear you limb from limb Bloodlust wells up within Losing control, I swing my sword Sanity growing thin All hope is lost to save my soul And I’m so tired now Nothing left of who I’d been I think I’ll get some rest now Thank you, my little Lin
6.	Spear and Hammer 04:41	lyrics
Golden in sunlight their armor gleams Eyes fixed, determined intensity The dragon slayer sworn to his king Protects with honor and loyalty Before you stand Masters of spear and hammer Fight for your life Face the onslaught to ascend Run, dodge, and roll Seize opportunity or die The tide has turned Ornstein takes a mortal strike The knight collapses Gripping his spear to meet the end Fallen in battle No greater honor to achieve Smough's hammer comes down His laughter echoes gleefully At virtue's weakness A bloodlust knows not friend from foe The lightning cracks As pillars crumble beneath his mighty swings Cannibal yearning to eat your corpse Merciless evil without remorse Psychotic laughs as he crushes you slowly Immense destruction and death is so pleasing
7.	When the Flame Begins to Fade 06:11	lyrics
A flame alights the grey Awakening lost spirits Drawn they are to the blaze Coming out from the shadows Souls writhe within the fire Lords of life, death, light, and dark Gods to bring a new age Rising against the dragons War to split the world below A swirling mass of death above Chaos burns the land of ancients Lightning piercing scales of stone The dragons fall Betray their own The lord of light Claims his new home Lordran the great City of gods An age of fire But at what cost? When the flame begins to fade What can we do to save it? When the dark comes for us all How can we hope to stave it? Desperation, she alights A chaos flame out of control Consuming evil, untamed life The witch reborn a demon lord When the flame begins to fade What can we do to save it? When the dark comes for us all How can we hope to stave it? The lord sacrifices all Against forces of chaos His family torn apart His people left to darkness Illusion of the sun Shines light upon the city But soon the flames will fade And only dark will remain When the flame begins to fade What can we do to save it? When the dark comes for us all How can we hope to stave it?
8.	The First Sin 08:53	lyrics
The lord of light banished the dark Linking his soul to the first flame Cursing us all; we are the damned We live as shades of the first sin Trapped by fate and false pretense This world of warmth and resplendence It's all a lie; we are deprived Our heroes Are hollow Gone insane Cursed to live again and again Our burden The chosen Linked to flame Cursed to die again and again What lies beyond the scope of light? What lies beyond the reach of dark? We're all that remains What lies beyond the scope of light? What lies beyond the reach of dark? Only ash remains Our heroes Are hollow Gone insane Cursed to live again and again Our burden The chosen Linked to flame Cursed to die again and again When the flame begins to falter The curse returns again On this path we're forced to follow We're slaves to the first sin When the flame begins to falter And the darkness creeps in As the world turns to the hollow The cycle starts again
9.	Embrace of the Gathering Darkness 13:42	lyrics
Welcome home, ashen one Let these souls become Thy heart's desire Elucidated by the fire Take nourishment from me Relics of disparity Yet hear my words Deep in the dark where all converge These eyes reveal a light Such a terrifying sight Images of betrayal A flameless world beyond the veil Please take this dream away These visions cannot stay We are drawn by fate Is this your wish? It's not too late But of course I serve thee And hope you find your peace When the darkness comes Together then, thy will be done Farewell, ashen one Face your trials and overcome Gather to the thrones Cinders of Lords who must atone Shackled by the sin Life, but means to an end The flame they fear Will be the one to draw them here The wolf knight of the past A great giant and the last The devourer of men When princes fall, they'll burn again Ashen one, the time's arrived Beckoned here among the fire Bend thy knee afore The coiled sword and rise a Lord But of course I serve thee And hope you find your peace Now the darkness comes Together then, thy will be done For a world that should not be Into nothingness set free No more curse, no more lies Our eyes will see as the fire dies We remain among the accursed Unkindled yearning only for warmth Burned by the flame to ash On a pilgrimage from the church Come sovereignless Hollows clad in black To find their Lord at last Is the soul the source of all life? What distinguishes the humanity that we hold within ourselves? If to be vulnerable is to be alive What little use for humanity until we are undead Dark is the mother of us all To inherit the fire and harness chaos Is to bring the Age of Men Our world began without knowledge Born into captivity And without knowledge will it end And as her black eyes shimmer within I can see our strings are pulled The two serpents and the crow At the edge of existence Lies a city hidden away So easily forgotten Where the furtive pygmies wait Like a golden spire of light Nestled in a blessed egg Where all time falls to dust And all kingdoms laid to waste Among the ruins of the past Innumerable souls gathered in red The Dark Soul of man returned When the blood of Gael is shed This is our future to decide The ancient gods are dead and gone Damn them all to the Abyss Our final battle will be won No prophecy to be fulfilled No serpent's tongue to have its sway The canvas waits for our rebirth There are no masters we obey A world born from the Dark Soul's power Painted with hope for all the lost Escape the prison of undeath Must break this curse at any cost Warriors of cinder Time has come to heed the call The unremembered Drawn to duel and doomed to fall Fight, souls of cinder Chosen ones without a name Linked to the embers Guardians of the First Flame Rise, Lord of Cinder You will never burn again Vengeance delivered In the Dark your cycle ends We are one in the darkness And alone we choose to face it We are one in the darkness And alone we will embrace it Without light there are no shadows

credits

released January 28, 2019

Aaron Sluss — Bass
Brett Windnagle — Guitars, additional vocals
Lux Edwards — Vocals
Steven Scudero — Drums
Mercedes Victoria — Vocals on "Embrace of the Gathering Darkness"

Mixed and mastered by Damian Herring at Subterranean Watchtower Studios
www.subterraneanwatchtower.com

Album art by Sam Nelson
www.facebook.com/StigmaArt/

Interior art by UnexpectedSpecter
unexpectedspecter.tumblr.com

Praise the Sun single art by Bo Bradshaw
www.behance.net/charlesebr1678

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SOULMASS Florida

DEATH
DOOM

Soulmass is a duo made up of Lux Edwards and Brett Windnagle, making death/doom about Soulsborne lore and other dark and fantastical settings.

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