Random
Literary (and Ancient History) Lessons from Metal Magazines: Absu
- This is the band Absu.
As I was sitting around watching an 8 hour tape of tennis happening in Madrid, I also perused the English Metal Magazine Terrorizer and, as always, learned some new words and in this case, also increased my knoweldge of ancient cultures. Firstly, Absu is a metal band originally out of Plano, Texas whose myspace page can be found by clicking here. Secondly, the band Absu, “formerly known as Dolmen, was renamed in 1991. In Sumerian mythology, it is a subterranean ocean.” With further research, I discovered that “absu” could also be defined as a “blackened earth/nether” or, more in line with the Sumerian myth, “a world ocean.”
So what is Sumerian mythology, you ask? The Sumerians lived in what is now Southern Iraq and ” developed one of the earliest civilizations on earth (3500-1750 B.C.), but the existence of such a people and civilization was not even suspected until the middle of the 19th century.” (Click here to get to a fantastic page discussing Sumerian civilization in depth.) Of primary interest is the written language and creation myths that preceded Babylonian culture. According to my research, one partially destroyed tablet contain ideas very similiar to the Old Testament (and of course, this is not surprising, but worth noting, click here to see a translation), in particular in regard to a flood. I love learning about the endless history of our need to tell stories and explain our world to ourselves and each other. Below is a small excerpt from further Sumerian creation mythology:
Mix the heart of the clay that is over the abyss,
The good and princely fashioners will thicken the clay,
You, [Nammu] do you bring the limbs into existence;
Ninmah [earth-mother or birth goddess] will work above you,
The goddesses [of birth] . . . will stand by you at your fashioning;
O my mother, decree its [the newborn’s] fate,
Ninmah will bind upon it the image (?) of the gods,
It is man . . . .
And here are a few choice quotes from the interview with Proscriptor McGovern, (the drummer, I love drummers the most) from the band Absu:
Is music a form of magic? “Absu-lutely.” answers the magician (that being Proscriptor). “Euphonically speaking, yes it is. Magic is energy. And music is energy. Music is euphonic energy.”
And later, in discussing his work in regard to the word “absu”:
All the songs tie into what makes Absu what it is. Being the abyss, a chasm, a void, but also tying into Sumerian creation mythology, which is evidently preserved in one source. That source being the Absu.
I’m not sure exactly what he means by that, but he’s playing in late June in NYC and I might have to go check them out.
Tags: absu, sumerian mythology
I love that one of their tracks is called, Amy. It’s kind of grounding.
Good stuff, yo.
I love that one of their tracks is called, Amy. It’s kind of grounding.
Good stuff, yo.
haha. Maybe it’s a cover of that song “amy, whatcha gonna do, i think i’m in love with you, for awhile, maybe longer, if I do…(oooh, hoo!) “
I love that song. I went out with a girl named Aimee for like ten years. The song title was spelled like Amie, I think.
I love that song. I went out with a girl named Aimee for like ten years. The song title was spelled like Amie, I think.
i think i’ve only met two amy’s my whole life. it seems like there should have been more. i have not met any aimee’s or amie’s.
i think i’ve only met two amy’s my whole life. it seems like there should have been more. i have not met any aimee’s or amie’s.
amy is the moniker of the white girl. maybe you don’t hang out with enough white girls ryan.
amy is the moniker of the white girl. maybe you don’t hang out with enough white girls ryan.
jereme,
how do you know me so well?
jereme,
how do you know me so well?
A+. Recommend.
A+. Recommend.
Hi, I’m drunk. Let’s talk metal.
Pure Prairie league was the band
Love that song too
Pure Prairie league was the band
Love that song too
Grim Reaper was the ugliest metal band in history, but they rocked.
Flotsam and Jetsom was cool.
Anthrax was ahead of their time.
SOD was so so.
Grim Reaper was the ugliest metal band in history, but they rocked.
Flotsam and Jetsom was cool.
Anthrax was ahead of their time.
SOD was so so.
SOD == Speak English Or Die? or some one else? I forget.
I was a big fan of MOD as a child. Such hits as “spandex enormity” and “aids: analy inflicted death sentence” just don’t come around often any more.
They weren’t really metal like the metal we are talking about here.
I was big into Cannibal Corpse back in high school.
i’m an asshole. assholes know everything.
SOD == Speak English Or Die? or some one else? I forget.
I was a big fan of MOD as a child. Such hits as “spandex enormity” and “aids: analy inflicted death sentence” just don’t come around often any more.
They weren’t really metal like the metal we are talking about here.
I was big into Cannibal Corpse back in high school.
i’m an asshole. assholes know everything.
jereme,
i always wondered how i knew so much.
jereme,
i always wondered how i knew so much.
ryan,
my girlfriend is always saying she won’t argue a point with me because i find ways to be right.
i am a counter-puncher. i can make you feel like shit and be right in almost any occasion.
now that i think of it my ex-wife used to say the same thing.
go figure.
ryan,
my girlfriend is always saying she won’t argue a point with me because i find ways to be right.
i am a counter-puncher. i can make you feel like shit and be right in almost any occasion.
now that i think of it my ex-wife used to say the same thing.
go figure.
I passed out and didn’t get to talk metal. but i am happy you guys did without me.
I passed out and didn’t get to talk metal. but i am happy you guys did without me.
my motto’s just always been “i’m always right.” no one can prove otherwise. i’m certain of it.
my motto’s just always been “i’m always right.” no one can prove otherwise. i’m certain of it.
“steel”
“aluminum”
“copper”
“zinc”
“terne”
now you are up to speed ;)
“steel”
“aluminum”
“copper”
“zinc”
“terne”
now you are up to speed ;)
Black Metal. Not a big Absu fan, but Leviathan, Xasthur, Striborg, Ulver’s Nattens Madrigal, Burzum, Early Mayhem, Early Krieg, Taake……
Very Evil.
Black Metal. Not a big Absu fan, but Leviathan, Xasthur, Striborg, Ulver’s Nattens Madrigal, Burzum, Early Mayhem, Early Krieg, Taake……
Very Evil.