Ayloss is a restless spirit and he expresses his vision through different forms of music. One form that particularly stands out to my ear and taste in music, are the compositions that draw their origin from the folk music of the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire that followed and the migration of said folk music along with the peoples from Asia Minor during the tragic events of the Greco-Turkish war. To this day instruments like the santoor, the psaltery, the ney, the lyra, instruments that sometimes go back to the Hellenistic days before the great empires and other times to the middle east, in places like Persia and Syria, Turkey, Armenia etc., are part of the folk tradition and are still being used today.
Anyone living in Greece, Turkey or in the greater region of the Eastern Mediterranean will most likely feel at home if that person moves along the coastline. There is a familiarity in the music, the scents, the food, the stories, the traditions, despite all the differences and the conflicts and wars between the local peoples.
To this day there is tension and dispute and differences that drive a wedge between the various folk that carry with them the local traditions and a common history that is at odds with herself, since every point of view is opposing the neighboring one. One example of this is of course the recent political controversy on the name Macedonia and her rival suitors, bringing to mind the suitors of Penelope while Ulysses was trying to return back to Ithaca.
This is a land that is burdened with a history filled with tragedy, wars, gods, emperors, great Empires, great works of art and languages that go back to the beginning of civilization. As William Blake wrote in the Marriage of Heaven and Hell: “Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate are necessary to Human existence.”
Conflict and tragedy breeds love and companionship. Death breeds life. Life feeds on life and viewing history through the lens of Marxian thought, everything is brought down to the essence of the eternal struggle: Class struggle. And this brings us to the vision of Ayloss from the perspective of the lyrical narrative that accompanies the music of Mystras’s second full length album Empires Vanquished and Dismantled.
The album begins with a piece of music that draws its influence from the instrumental epicness of heroic narratives combined with folk music. It is a great start because it gives a sense of an introduction to a story that will take us over deserts, over destroyed cities, over lands where blood was spilled to the soil and the rusty blades of the swords are waiting to be sharpened again.
Then we immediately fall into battle, where the lyrics describe how Christianity became a political tool and a sword for power. It is not an exaggeration to say that the Western Roman Empire was a successful marriage of the Roman virtue of dominance and the piousness of Christianity. This, of course, created a rather conflicted psyche in the European soul. The Crusades begun by instilling in the history of Europe the anti-Semitic sentiment to the local folks spreading the seeds of nationalism in an era where Empires where based on their multiculturalism. A great example of multiculturalism is of course Constantinople – the bridge that united the East and the West.
On the promise of the angels closes with what was never written down in history by name: that the slaves of the old cried for the masters of tomorrow in vain, since the masters where hung up, intoxicated by the promise of the angels and the glory of God. But, is God to blame or where the masters identifying themselves with God?
This album is not a philosophical inquiry into the history of the conflict between Christendom and Islam. It is rather a narration of the history, exposing the hypocrisy behind acts of valour and faith in a God that looked terribly distorted and evil.
Ayloss is very open and confident in his political views and through his art he expresses it vehemently. The second chapter in Mystras’s historical narration closes with a statement. Ayloss knows he is a heretic, and every heretic has a vision of a reality that opposes the dominant narrative. He assures us that they, the heretics, will be there until
Empires break into
nations
Nations into tribes
Tribes into Communities
Until all notions and borders created by men
To divide between themselves
Until the excuses of all that desire to rule
Over other men
All rendered useless
Empires Vanquished and Dismantled is an excellent album that draws us in an adventurous journey through the medieval history of the Mediterranean. This is where history, tradition and black metal collide.
P.S. This here is a link if you want to listen to some traditional byzantine music. And, of course, I encourage you to search and to listen to folk music of the greater region of the Eastern Mediterranean from all these colorful traditions. It is truly magical.
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