With:	Tobias and Narrenschiff
Conducted by:	Undercraft
Published:	04.02.2004
Band profile:	Illnath
Album info:	Cast Into Fields Of Evil Pleasure

01. Zetite
02. Behind The Mirrors
03. Cast Into Fields Of Evil Pleasure
04. Temporary Borders
05. The Creators Biggest Pride
06. Gloomy Gathering
07. Bring Down The Witching Hour
08. By The Hands Of Violent Winter
09. Frozen Constellations

01. Setite:
This song was at the brink of causing us trouble with a company in Atlanta, whose name I shall not mention. It is based, I guess some of you already know, on the role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade (personally, I like the Dark ages setting better). I was quite fascinated by the song Death Becomes All from the "Angelic Voices Calling" MCD, and by this I spent my chance to make another song, in which the narrator describes how neatly he can tear off your head and shove it up your ass. I like these kind of songs.
Yet, I feel the lyric piece did not come very close to what a Setite in the role-playing game might be like. Given this music, i think it was deadborn in the first place. Maybe Baali or Brujah would have fitted better, maybe even Malkavians... but I like Setites...
-Narrenschiff

02. Behind The Mirrors:
The Mirror-song-lyric was finished the same day as we recorded it, and with it's rather experimental way of writing, it delivers a punch I never thought it would do. As I wrote the lyric I wondered how short I could do each line. I wanted every line to punch like the little freeze you get down your spine when you see a mirror that you didn't know was there, or suddenly see something strange in there, so i wrote: "The mirrors / The mirrors / That hides / The hideous / Me / The others / Banned! / Forbidden!"
I think mirrors are one of the most spooky things in my house, and I never stop being fascinated by them. Horror movies like Poltergeist 3 and the Changeling was good inspiration and hard fuel for a spooky boost. I think the song has quite some good punchlines, and really enjoyed working them out.
-Narrenschiff

03. Cast Into Fields Of Evil Pleasure:
If you can imagine a spot in between worlds where one side describes the positive (yin, summer, daytime) and the other describes the opposite. We take the basic elements: Heaven and Hell. Then you imagine that the hordes of Hell have conquered this spot, and that from here they can see Heaven again, but don't really dare to go any further. This was the borderline, and now they are standing closer than ever, maybe to break loose on Heaven's green fields, maybe ready to stay on stand-by forever.
I think the idea of the song was just to make the borderland, but then I tended to fill it up with all kinds of nasty figures. ("Here they sacrifice the captured saints, here is where the torture awaits, here is where you abandon faith: The Devil's own Sinai"). I liked the idea of the Devil's Own Sinai, and if I was the Devil and wanted to poke God in the ribs by making my own Sinai, where would I build it but the brink of Heaven, just to say: "Yeah? Well look what I've got!". But I think my favorite line in this song must be " This is the common abyss for all alike, Where red melted stone flow a scorching river, Into the day in north, and in south; the night." I kind of like that image.
And here, while being poked in your guts, you can still see Heaven shining north of where you lie strapped down. Quite depressing, huh?
-Narrenschiff

04. Temporary Borders:
I had just joined Illnath, got their lyrics and listened through all the music which was going to be on the CD. I was like a kid in a candy-store, and got to work that very evening at Tobias place with a lyric piece (which Tobias also participated strongly on). The lyrics I had received had some qualities, but mainly, I thought, I could do them better. The guys had already read some of my lyrics and pointed out 'Frozen constellations', 'Bring down the witching hour' and 'By the hands of violent winter' as the only songs they did not want to change.
I guess the idea of a gothic romance in a moody black metal song is not very original. I assume I wanted to make a presentation of our own gothic romance song, and at the same time I enjoy writing these kind of lyrics, even though, as mentioned, they do not give much to the black metal scene today.
Partly based on the coming summer (it was written sometime in may, I think), partly based on my poor lovelife and strange feeling of suddenly being in another country doing music with people I didn't know a week ago. I alone, yet somehow welcome and at calm here. Just like the narrator in the song.
It was also a good possibility to use Lena's vocals.
-Narrenschiff

05. The Creators Biggest Pride:
A most funny song to work on. It turned out quite infant and childish, with the sheer wickedness and evil which are found in classical King, Fulci and Argento movies and with a pinch of Tales from the Crypt. I don't really have a clue why the lyric turned out like it did, but I have a sneaking feeling that the song made me do it. It's just perfect how the doll sneaks trough the living-room and hides in the dimly faded gloom?
-Narrenschiff

06. Bring Down The Witching Hour:
This lyric was done as a sort of homage to all the witches that died at the stakes in medieval Europe. The lyric was done some time before Narrenschiff joined the band, but it was a lyric that both he and I liked a lot so we decided to keep it as it was.
The lyric is all about how the righteous people of the church killed all these women and the masses loved them for it. But now, today the witches are returning in great numbers and today we have no hallowed men to slay them for their knowledge.
In the studio we found that it could do with a couple of lines and Narrenschiff added the final touch, so it's basically a joint effort.
The title itself is partly inspired by Anne Rice and her Mayfair Witches.
-Tobias

07. By The Hands Of Violent Winter:
The idea for this lyric came from and old horror-movie, that I can't remember the name of. But it was about a guy who had his memories shared with those of a cat. He got away from the scientist guys and ran and ran but they caught up with him in the end nevertheless, and all the time he had these flashy images running through his mind that he knew wasn't his own.
I wrote it because I found it a scary though that you were being experimented upon and you could do nothing about it. And in the end dying is not even a relief.
The lyric was written together with Tyr, before Narrenschiff joined the band.
-Tobias

08. Frozen Constellations:
One of the last songs I wrote, this one is about the Old Norse gods coming back to life and sending the Christian god running like hell?
Not much to it, but a fun little lyric that I enjoyed writing. Don't think too much about this one.