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| Sumin Samin & Kaos |
It was some time around 1995 or 1996. If I remember correctly. At the time, I was totally obsessed with fantasy novels. I read Le Guin's Earthsea, Tolkien's Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, the works of Guy Gavriel Kay, and more. This was also the time when I read Edgar Allan Poe's stories for the first time.
Looking back now, I'm pretty embarrassed by the things I wrote during that time. Which is normal. But I also look at those writings with fondness. It was a different time. I was only just starting to create and write my big fantasy mythos. I was still finding my voice.
It was during that time that I wrote a pretty short and simple poem. One of my friends really liked it and he showed it to another friend who was the singer, guitarist and main composer for a heavy metal band with a penchant for fantasy tinged lyrics.
A few days later, they had a song with my lyrics: Arima Galdduen Jauregian (The Castle of Lost Souls).
Here's the original Basque text, followed by my own translation to English.
Ezagutzen al duzu arima galduen jauregia?
Atea bi dragoi erraldoiez dago zaindua,
Ta behin barruan, iluntasuna inguruan,
Ta mila hegazti hegan,
Zuri begira. Arima Galduen jauregian.
Han dagoen bide ilunetik dabiltza beti.
Itzal ilunak, betirako madarikatuak.
Itxaropen gabe, betirako ahaztuak
Azken gela hotzera
Heuren patua aurkitzera
Hiru errege inoiz ez menperatuak
Harrizko hiru tronu ilunetan
Hegazti beltzei agintzen die zain ditzaten
Zeruari ohostutako arima guztiak
Arima galduen jauregian
Arima galduen jauregian
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Do you know the Castle of Lost Souls?
The gate is guarded by two giant dragons
And once inside, darkness all around
And a thousand birds flying
Staring at you; in the Castle of Lost Souls.
Ever descending down the dark path,
Dark shadows, forever damned,
Without hope, forever forgotten,
Reach the last cold room,
To find their doom.
Three kings never vanquished
Sit on three dark thrones of stone,
Commanding the black birds to watch
Over all souls stolen from heaven;
In the Castle of Lost Souls
In the Castle of Lost Souls
Back then, I listened to a recording of the song from a rehearsal and I really liked it. I especially liked how the song started quite atmospheric and mysterious then built up to an epic conclusion.
The band played quite a few gigs but never recorded an album and, some time later, they disbanded.
I often thought of the song. I wanted to listen to it again but I never could. The rehearsal recording was lost and they never released an album. It seemed like a lost cause.
Until now!
Some of the members of the band kept in touch and they thought it would be interesting to resurrect those songs in some form. They knew there wouldn't be gigs and an album. The time for that was long in the past.
But they shared stories. Stories about the band, stories that they could about their youth, and putting them all together, with a healthy creative licence, they developed a story for a six part podcast series. It's fiction, but it's based on their experiences and, of course, it features a lot of their songs.
The first four episodes are out so far and it's been really interesting to follow their story and to listen to the old songs in a new way.
That's a long way to say, I finally have a recording of the song and I love it. Sure, it will never be a hit but I never thought I'd hear the song again and it's been an absolute thrill to receive the recording and sing along with the band. 🤘🤘🤘🤘
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