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There are very few songs that would prompt me to do a whole page on them, but this one of them. I have two reasons for doing this page. One, is because for a very long time, ever since I got into the DragonLance books, I wished that a metal band would do a song about one of the situations/characters in the book. The second reason is because I have seen other comments about the lyrics on the net and wanted to set the record straight. Contents of page: Raistlin and the Rose, the song, starts out with a very slow opening for about 2 seconds, with some very raw acoustic, before exploding into the full fury of a very upbeat rhythm and a nicely laid keyboard melody, that is pulsing and just as memorable as the keyboard rhythms on such synth driven classics as "Rainbow In The Dark" by Dio and "Kiss of Judas" by Stratovarius. The guitar melody consists of some heavy riffing that almost reminds me of some of Dokken's rhythm guitar. When the chorus kicks in, it slows down to a more doomy sound, ominious and mystical, twisting and turning until it explodes back into the next verse...the song is very consistant through and through. It lays an excellent addictive course and keeps on with it, changing between the upbeat verses and the doom ridden choruses, with the keyboards coming in and out. The little section with the prominent synth and guitar rhythms after the chorus really sets the pace for the next round of vocal onslaught. The vocals, even though they are aggressive sounding, and remind me a little of Jon Oliva, they are surprisingly crisp and clear, quite clean for a doom metal band, but then again this song is a far cry from doom metal, sort of doom gone progressive. The grand finale isn't bombastic or like any other part of the song, it slows down, the sound dropping to that raw guitar plucking, playing the most haunting melody while the singer whistles.....and then its over. CURRENTLY OFFLINE
The basic background of the song is about the
relationship between the dark mage Raistlin and the white cleric, Crysania. Raistlin
is one of the main characters, if not the main character in the first 6 DragonLance
novels, the Chronicles and Legends trilogies. He was a black mage, one that had
taken the test at the Tower of High Sorcery in Wayreth and passed it at a very young age.
He came away from the test scarred for life, with golden skin and hour glass pupils
that see everything wither and die right in front of him. Roses wither and people
age, the toll that time takes on every living creature is shown through the hourglass
eyes. His health was also shattered, leaving him with coughing spells that would
nearly break his frail body into. But he traded his health for the magic, tempered
stronger within him by a deal with an evil mage, Fistandantilus, who's soul and mind
literally became one with Raistlin's own. Hidden deep within, sometimes he is taken
over by the other entity and sometimes not. As the story goes, and in
Raistlin's quest to become a god, he must open the portal to the Abyss and to do that, it
requires that a Dark Robe mage and a Cleric be together. The ultimate of evil and
the ultimate good, two forces that unlikely to come together, thus the ones who sealed it
never dreamed that it would be possible to open the portal. However, they were
wrong. Of course there are some that say that Raistlin was only
using Crysania for his own evil purposes, to plot and plan the challenge to Takhisis and
the triumph of achieving godhood. This is a much debated topic, but for the sake of
the song, we will assume that there were underlying feelings towards Crysania, and not
just jealousy or hate, but positive feelings of affection.
Shadows, shadows and fever, no-one hears him cry so he turns to evil The first line, deals with Raistlin's past, and his illness. unseen moon will show The unseen moon is Nuitari, the moon that the black robed mages get their energy and power from. It is black like the night, and thus hidden in the sky, only the mages in the black robe order can actually see it, a thin outline in the sky. Love, love makes her blind, soon she follows him through the doors of time This line has to do with her love for him, making her blind to the rest of the world. She follows him into the Abyss, into a place where time has no meaning....of course this also could mean when she went back into time with Caramon (Raistlin's twin brother), and Tasslehoff Burrfoot, the kender (a small race of people with distinctive features like a topknot, and any kender worth his salt has a hoopak. They have a tendancy to 'acquire' things, but have no intentions of stealing). They did this to stop Raistlin's plans of entering the abyss. As they dance under the moon they bring doom As stated before, to enter the portal, they have to be together. And to enter the Abyss with one of such power can only signal doom.
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