1/ And just like that, #eindhovenmetalmeeting 2025 is over. The second day was a ripper too. It started with #highparasite #tribulation #pessimist and #grindcore forefathers #terrorizer They gave us a full rendition of their #worlddownfall classic debut.
#TRIBULATION
Quote of the day, 5 December: St. Teresa of Avila
You should know that for more than three months, it seems, hosts of demons have joined against the discalced friars and nuns. They have stirred up so many persecutions and calumnies against us nuns as well as Padre Gracián, and these are so hard to stomach, that all we can do is take refuge in God.
As a result, I believe he has heard our prayer, for the nuns are, after all, good souls. Those who sent memoranda to the king have retracted their words about the lovely exploits they attributed to us.
The truth is a great thing and these sisters above all rejoice in it. As for me, it matters little. I’ve grown used to such things, and it’s not surprising that they leave me untouched.
Now, to top things off, the nuns at the Incarnation have agreed to vote for me for prioress, and though I received fourteen or fifteen more votes than needed, the friars so conspired that another nun who had fewer votes was elected and confirmed.[Ana de Toledo, 7 October 1577] And the friars would have done me a great favor, provided everything had proceeded peacefully.
Since the nuns did not want to obey the newly-confirmed prioress except as vicaress, they were all excommunicated—more than fifty of them.
Although in fact, according to learned men, they were not really excommunicated, they have nonetheless had to undergo two months without being able to attend Mass or speak to their confessors [including St. John of the Cross, abducted on 3 December 1577], and they are in anguish.
Although the nuncio [Felipe Sega] has now given orders for them to be absolved, they are still in the same situation. Just think, what a life it is, to see all of this going on!
Saint Teresa of Avila
Letter 219 to Padre Gaspar de Salazar
7 December 1577
Teresa of Avila, St 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Featured image: This image of Letter 148 from St. Teresa to the prioress in Seville comes from a rare book collection. Image credit: rrocio | Getty Images / iStockphoto.
#elections #monasteryOfTheIncarnation #obedience #stTeresaOfAvila #tribulation
St. John of the Cross Novena, Day 5: Trust
Reading
In tribulation, immediately draw near to God with trust, and you will receive strength, enlightenment, and instruction.
Sayings of Light and Love, 66
Scripture
Have mercy on me, God, men crush me;
they fight me all day long and oppress me.
My foes crush me all day long,
for many fight proudly against me.
When I fear, I will trust in you,
in God whose word I praise.
In God I trust, I shall not fear:
what can mortal man do to me?
All day long they distort my words,
all their thought is to harm me.
They band together in ambush,
track me down and seek my life.
You have kept an account of my wanderings;
you have kept a record of my tears;
are they not written in your book?
Then my foes will be put to flight
on the day that I call to you.
This I know, that God is on my side.
In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not fear:
what can mortal man do to me?
I am bound by the vows I have made you.
O God, I will offer you praise
for you rescued my soul from death,
you kept my feet from stumbling
that I may walk in the presence of God
and enjoy the light of the living.
Meditation
Oh, blessed tribulation, that sure sign that God is madly in love with you.
Tribulation is a word that is no longer part of our daily vocabulary. It appears in word puzzles and still makes its way into Hollywood film scripts, although it sounds more appropriate coming from the lips of the revered British actor Charles Laughton, whose King Herod once posed the legendary rhetorical question: “Why does the prophet visit me with worse than the tribulations of Job?”
Saint Teresa of Jesus understood what Saint John of the Cross meant when he was writing about tribulation because she had seen her fair share of it in her lifetime. Here’s just one example from Testimony 53 written in Seville, 8 November 1575:
On the octave day of All Saints I spent two or three very troublesome days over the remembrance of my great sins and because of some fears of my being persecuted that had no foundation, except that false testimony was going to be raised [She had been falsely accused before the Inquisition of Seville]. And all the courage I usually have for suffering left me. Although I wanted to encourage myself, and I made acts and reflected that this suffering would be very beneficial to my soul, all these actions helped me little. For the fear didn’t go away, and what I felt was a vexing war. I chanced upon a letter in which my good Father [Jerome Gracián, Discalced Carmelite and Apostolic Visitor] refers to what St. Paul says, that God does not permit us to be tempted beyond what we can suffer (1 Cor 10:13). That comforted me a lot, but it wasn’t enough. Rather, the next day I became sorely afflicted in seeing I was without him, since I had no one to whom I could have recourse in this tribulation. It seemed to me I was living in great loneliness, and this loneliness increased when I saw that there was no one now but him who might give me comfort and that he had to be absent most of the time, which was a great torment to me.
On the next night, while reading in a book a saying of St. Paul which began to console me, I was thinking of how present our Lord had previously been to me, for He had so truly seemed to be the living God. While I was thinking about this, He appeared in an intellectual vision, very deep within me, as though on the side where the heart is, and said: “Here I am, but I want you to see what little you can do without Me.”
I felt reassured right away, and all my fears were gone. While I was at Matins that same night, the Lord, through an intellectual vision so intense it almost seemed to be an imaginative one, placed Himself in my arms as in the painting of the fifth agony. This vision caused me great fear. For it was so clear, and He was so close to me that I wondered if it was an illusion. He told me: “Don’t be surprised by this, for My Father is with your soul in an incomparably greater union.”
This vision has so remained up till now. What I said of our Lord lasted more than a month. Now it is gone.
Now, we may not be falsely accused before the Inquisition, but in our daily lives, we see plenty of tribulation. And Saint Teresa makes it clear that if we are seeking to make love our ambition, to grow in that untiring love of which St. John of the Cross speaks, then we will be blessed with tribulation.
Blessed with tribulation?
“It is clear that since God wants to lead those whom He greatly loves by the path of tribulation—and the more He loves them the greater the tribulation—there is no reason to think that He despises contemplatives, for with His own mouth He praises them and considers them His friends.” (Way 18:1)
But what if I don’t want to be a contemplative?
For the faithful, this truly is not an option if we desire to be united with Christ in heaven, where we will be contemplatives for all eternity! St. Paul writes, “and we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18).
The Catechism reminds us:
Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his mystery to man’s immediate contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. The Church calls this contemplation of God in his heavenly glory “the beatific vision.”
Citing St. Cyprian, the Catechism continues:
How great will your glory and happiness be, to be allowed to see God, to be honored with sharing the joy of salvation and eternal light with Christ your Lord and God, . . . to delight in the joy of immortality in the Kingdom of heaven with the righteous and God’s friends. (CCC 1028)
To be able to contemplate Christ for all eternity, the tribulation is worth it.
We notice that a great Saint and Doctor of the Church like Our Holy Mother Teresa was not immune from tribulation and anxiety. She was suffering terribly: there were “very troublesome days” and fears of being persecuted. She had lost her courage, and every remedy, every action that normally helped in past situations didn’t help at all. She was stuck in her fears and left with what she calls a guerra desabrida… a rather unsavory war—fruitless, vexing, and pointless. Even reading a letter from the priest who meant more to her than any other friar in the world couldn’t console her; his advice was to read St. Paul, but she admitted that it “comforted me a lot, but it wasn’t enough.”
Poor St. Teresa, she was really in emotional distress and in a spiritual bind. The next day she became even more upset because Father Gracián wasn’t there to encourage and console her in her anxiety. “I had no one to whom I could have recourse in this tribulation” and for her, the loneliness seemed to be the worst part.
St. John of the Cross says that it’s in times like these that we must “immediately draw near to God with trust” and that is exactly what St. Teresa did. She didn’t give up praying, seeking, and hoping, and she didn’t abandon God. Quite the opposite: she continued to draw near to God, even though He seemed distant or hiding. It seems that she may have had difficulty praying with peace, so she turned to spiritual reading instead.
Now, the Lord made himself known to St. Teresa at that moment through a mystical experience. However, that may not necessarily be the path the Lord chooses for each one of us. What St. John of the Cross explains is that if we draw near to God with trust, then we will receive “strength, enlightenment, and instruction.”
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity gives the following advice to ordinary folks like you and I for how best to draw near to God when troubled or anxious in those moments that St. John and St. Teresa called “tribulation”:
You must build a little cell within your soul as I do. Remember that God is there and enter it from time to time; when you feel nervous or you’re unhappy, quickly seek refuge there and tell the Master all about it.
Ah, if you got to know Him a little, prayer wouldn’t bore you anymore; to me it seems to be rest, relaxation. We come quite simply to the One we love, stay close to Him like a little child in the arms of its mother, and we let our heart go (Letter 123).
Prayer
O St. John of the Cross
You were endowed by our Lord with the spirit of self-denial
and a love of the cross.
Obtain for us the grace to follow your example
that we may come to the eternal vision of the glory of God.
O Saint of Christ’s redeeming cross
the road of life is dark and long.
Teach us always to be resigned to God’s holy will
in all the circumstances of our lives
and grant us the special favor
which we now ask of you.
Mention your request
Above all, obtain for us the grace of final perseverance,
a holy and happy death and everlasting life with you
and all the saints in heaven.
Amen.
Let’s continue in prayer
Day 1 — Self-trust
Day 2 — Self-giving
Day 3 — Cleansing
Day 4 — Walking in love
Day 5 — Trust
Day 6 — Prayer
Day 7 — Humility
Day 8 — Eternal Silence
Day 9 — Silent love
18th c. French
Oil on canvas, 1768
Carmel of Pontoise
© Ministère de la Culture (France), Médiathèque de l’architecture et du patrimoine, Diffusion RMN-GP. Used by permission.
The novena prayer was composed from approved sources by Professor Michael Ogunu, a member of the Discalced Carmelite Secular Order in Nigeria.
John of the Cross, St 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, rev. edn, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Teresa of Avila, St 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, Nash, A (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
All scripture references in this novena are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America as accessed from the Bible Gateway website.
Don’t become discouraged and give up prayer, says St. John of the Cross. We offer varying novenas to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, as well as novenas to St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. Joseph.
#anxiety #doctorOfTheChurch #elizabethCatez #enlightenment #icsPublications #inquisition #instruction #johnOfTheCross #letter #letters #loneliness #novena #persecution #psalms #sabeth #sanJuanDeLaCruz #stElizabethOfTheTrinity #stJohnOfTheCross #stTeresa #stTeresaOfAvila #stTeresaOfJesus #strength #teresa #tribulation #troubles #trust #wayOfPerfection #worries
@HopelessDemigod Uh oh... I'm still here. #tribulation
#TheMetalDogArticleList
#BraveWords
Former TRIBULATION Guitarist JONATHAN HULTÉN Returns With “Dawn” Music Video
#TRIBULATION #JONATHAN #Former #Guitarist #album #newrelease #video #musicvideo #BraveWords #metal #music
#TheMetalDogArticleList
#BraveWords
KANONENFIEBER And TRIBULATION Added To 70000 Tons Of Metal 2026
https://bravewords.com/news/kanonenfieber-and-tribulation-added-to-70000-tons-of-metal-2026/
#KANONENFIEBER #TRIBULATION #AddedTo #video #BraveWords #metal #music
Sure… why not listen to ‘The Children Of The Night’ by Tribulation?
#TheMetalDogArticleList
#BraveWords–WhereMusicLives
Former TRIBULATION Guitarist JONATHAN HULTÉN Releases “Song Of Transience” Music Video
#Tribulation #JonathanHulten #SongOfTransience #EyesOfTheLivingNight #HardRock #MusicVideo
Being a #Christian inevitably means discomfort in this world. #Jesus proclamation of the kingdom entailed #tribulation and the #cross bearing (John 16:31; Matt. 16:24). He offers comfort, but never says we won’t suffer. Why?Because following him means #Nonconformity with the ways of this world (Matt. 24:9). This is a missing element in much Gospel #proclamation today.
Tribulation - Jonathan Hultén at the Metaldays 2019
A week ago, we had the pleasure to see #Tribulation play in #utrecht These videos capture some of the evening's awesomeness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeYGV_u1LeY&list=PLmn2ED1LqEvDnWQkBQY4AG1D8Le_LL2GM
Unto Others & Tribulation announce co-headline tour:
#UntoOthers #Tribulation #Tour #MayTour #SpringTour
Link: https://metalinsider.net/touring/unto-others-tribulation-announce-co-headline-tour
TRIBULATION Announces North American Headlining Tour, Co-headlining w/ UNTO OTHERS
Great gig at #dehelling in #utrecht with #tribulation They played some really fine, catchy tunes, spanning five albums. We could almost have danced at times… while fist pumping 😆
A quotation from Carlyle, Thomas:
«
As dark misery settles down on us, and our refuges of lies fall in pieces one after one, the hearts of men, now at last serious, will turn to refuges of truth. The eternal stars shine out again, so soon as it is dark enough.
»
Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/carlyle-thomas/73642/
#quote #quotes #quotation #darkness #light #stars #tribulation #troubles
I just found the 7" of the first Tribulation EP. High five to past self!
AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Siren Oath – Loveless
By Dolphin Whisperer
“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.”
Are people really allowed to call albums Loveless still? One brave man from Poland, Bobek Bobkovski, seems determined to strike in the face of that shoegaze classic with his own downcast escapades of a far more metallic nature. Siren Oath, with a love for amp tones and a distance from happiness, seeks to explore every creative wile that Bobkovski has to offer, all of which fall in post, black, and riff-centered shapes. And unlike some solitary acts, the mastermind of Siren Oath relies on his proficiency in real instruments to construct his works. So with talent enough to fuel his passion, can Loveless make lovers of our discerning Rodeö crew? – Dolphin Whisperer
Siren Oath // Loveless [September 27th, 2024]
Dolphin Whisperer: Conjuring the big sad requires some level of earnestness in performance. And for an act like Siren Oath, a one-man project, that truthful pathos that adorns every crack of Bobek Bobkovski’s post-grunge-y, lightly accented drawl goes a long way across Loveless. Whether conjuring the reverb-heavy clean to bone-crushingly heavy depressive assault of Ghost Brigade (“Nothing to Be Afraid Of,” “Praying for Your Life,” “Gone Forever”) or the waltzing black metal lament of early Shining (“The Inside,” “The Saviour”), his rough but full mid-range croon—or scattered array of harsh vocal techniques—land fitting enough to his missions of sadness. And when the goal shifts toward aggression, like the bridge-to-breakdown tearing of “If I Leave You” or the groove/nu leaning harmonic scuttle of “Forced to Live”—complete with the bounciest drum performance of the album—Bobkovski hits a proper throaty howl that fills the stage as wide as his pleasantly crunchy guitars. In a curious decision, and I’m entirely unsure it’s intentional on Siren Oath’s part, many of the shortest run songs on Loveless, despite having choruses (and rather big ones at that), end not with a chorus reprisal at close but some other musical intensification like a breakdown or heavy modulation. On occasion though, certain tracks wade to heavy into post-genre guitar textures and lose the pace against the urgency that persists elsewhere. And closing track “Christantemum” plays as nothing but an exploration with a saxophone and shoegazing guitar waves. But these quibbles do little to detract from what is overall an enjoyable experience. 3.0/5.0
Thus Spoke: I consider myself a reasonably big fan of “sadboi” metal.12 With this tongue-in-cheek descriptor presented as a selling point of Siren Oath’s sophomore record, Loveless, with an additional promise of black metal, I was sold. But Siren Oath caught me by surprise by sounding absolutely nothing like I anticipated. That’s not (entirely) a bad thing. There is indeed many a tremolo riff and plenty of rasping snarls, tendencies towards the mellow that follow the hazy, almost folk-like scale progressions over shuffling drums that associate most strongly with atmo-black (“The Inside”). Even the ringing atmospheric sections (“Becoming,” “Saviour”) would be at home in most modern blackened albums, “post-” or not. What sticks out, however, are the pretensions to sludge, post-hardcore, and rock. Sometimes, even though confusing, it’s great nonetheless, like the angsty “wooahhs” on opener “If I Leave You,” the gaze-y moodiness of “Nothing to be Afraid of,” or the aggressive grooves laid down on “Forced to Live.” Yet, as the album progresses, it’s difficult not to feel the tonal whiplash. It begins to detract from the strength of the whole, in spite of the individual strengths of each track. There’s a lot to like, but Siren Oath needs to pick a lane, or more seamlessly integrate their many stylistic leanings, the next time around. Mixed.
Remember, the artists you support are people! And they like burgers!
Alekhine’s Gun: As the winter finally descends upon us, Siren Oath arrives to escort us into the cold. Loveless is a post-metal sadboi release, flirting with everything from shades of blackened ’80s ballads to modern rock sensibilities. Loveless doesn’t lack for ambition, with cuts like “Forced to Live” heaving serious scrape-picking riffs under harsh vocals, and “Praying for Your Life” operating under crooning delicacy. Too heavy to be classified as shoegaze, but not black enough to be called black metal in any real sense, Loveless seems to be unsure of what kind of listen it wants to be. Highlight “Nothing to be Afraid Of” shows Siren Oath at their most potent, with sole member Bobek Bobkovski layering his vocals, emulating Life on Venus atmospherics. While all of the music is passable, it seems he struggles to write in his vocal range. The heavier cuts feature harsh vocals which sound pained and strained, and many of the clean sections hear him reaching for notes and sounding at odds with the music. “If I Leave You” is a key example, with a verse that sounds curiously out of tone, only to hit a chorus that sounds well executed and ripped right from classic rock. This tonal inconsistency is Loveless’s biggest stumbling block. A more focused direction in either direction, and writing more in his vocal range will strengthen future releases. 2.5/5.0
Killjoy: N00b feeding times with Dolph were a tender bonding experience. He often tied us up, stuck funnels in our mouths, and poured in the foulest concoctions he could find.3 I thought such moments were behind me after recently escaping n00bhood, only for him to press me into Rodeö service on my very first day as a staffer. So it was that I became acquainted with Siren Oath, the solo project of Bobek Bobkovski from Poland. Compared to my prior meals, the quality has dramatically improved but the consistency has not. Loveless predominantly flip-flops between somber post-black (“The Inside,” “Gone Forever”) and depressive goth rock that reminds me a bit of the recent Tribulation album (“If I Leave You,” “Praying for Your Life”). The most aggressive track, “Forced to Live,” dips its toes into sludgy waters. There’s even some saxophone to close out the album, but after test-driving so many styles it feels less novel and more like another piece of spaghetti to throw at the wall. That said, no matter the direction, Bobkovski proves adept at setting the tone through gentle guitar picking, dynamic riffs, and a surprise guitar solo in “Becoming.” With a more focused approach to songwriting, Siren Oath has the potential to land the emotional punch it’s swinging for.4 2.5/5.0
#AlternativeRock #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo2024 #BlackMetal #GhostBrigade #IndependentRelease #LifeOnVenus #Loveless #PolishMetal #PostBlackMetal #PostMetal #SelfRelease #SirenOath #Tribulation
Bald beim gutsortierten Zeitschriftenhändler: #DeafForever Nummer 62 kommt am 13.12.2024.
#Helloween #Tribulation #PaulDiAnno #TheHellacopters #NeueAusgabe #NewIssue
Tribulation – Sub Rosa in Æternum Review
By GardensTale
Tribulation has battled its share of tribulations. After an interesting decade of gradually shifting from death metal to goth metal with growls with a new drummer every couple of years, the band lost one of their primary songwriters with the departure of flamboyant guitarist Jonathan Hultén. The last album to include him, Where the Gloom Becomes Sound, was not bad, but certainly more messy and unpolished than its predecessors, and it was the first to largely halt the band’s evolution. Sub Rosa in Æternum sees the reintroduction of Joseph Tholl on guitars, who originally helped found Hazard, the thrash metal band that would become Tribulation. How has the shake-up affected the music, though?
In the face of all these changes, Tribulation has resumed its long transformation. The death metal to goth metal slider has been yanked almost entirely to the latter end with the introduction of Sisters of Mercy-style clean vocals. All brooding bass and sonorous aching, vocalist Andersson chews the scenery with appropriate abandon and does well with his newfound laryngeal freedom. Yet I am grateful he hasn’t dropped his trademark expressive growls, but instead transitions between both styles with a practiced ease. The ratio varies from all harsh (“Time & the Vivid Ore”), all clean (“Reaping Song”) to a split down the middle (“Saturn Coming Down”) and everything in between.
The instrumentation and compositional style have made a similar shift into dichotomy. On the one hand, the more metal side of the band remains firm, with inventive hooks and multi-part melodies rendered in just enough distortion to remind that this was a full-blown death metal band once upon a time. On the other hand, an injection of goth rock introduces synths like neon-lit noir streets slick with rain. While it seems obvious to use harsh vocals on the former and clean vocals on the latter, Tribulation’s ability to play against expectations make for an amount of variation and dynamism that makes the record positively fly by. “Drink the Love of God” is a quick but effective ditty that recalls Unto Others’ “Give Me to the Night.” “Tainted Skies” has an infectious chorus and I adore the excellent hold-and-charge patterns throughout “Time & the Vivid Ore.” But some of the best tracks of Sub Rosa in Æternum are the furthest from the band’s bed. “Murder in Red” is gleefully grisly in theme but its Ulver-adjacent darkwave is smooth as butter. But “Reaping Song” takes the goosebump-inducing prize with a stunning and emotional gothic tale carrying shades of Nick Cave and Dead Can Dance.
With this broad a palette, Sub Rosa in Æternum could have easily wound up a mess, but Tribulation wisely decided to pull back on the song complexity, with the majority of tracks following a more basic verse-chorus structure than the band’s previous ventures. Thanks to the great melody-craft and lean songwriting this is rarely an issue, but when the imaginativity falters, the flaws are more stark. None of the tracks are particularly weak, but the wings on “Saturn Coming Down” fail to unfurl in full, and “Hungry Waters” doesn’t hit the levels of creepy it seems to be going for. Overall, though, it’s simply a more modest record than some of Tribulation’s heyday, and while there is certainly nothing wrong with that, it also doesn’t elucidate as big a response as an album like Down Below did for me.
Sub Rosa in Æternum feels primarily like the best-case scenario of a transitional album. This term feels a little redundant given Tribulation’s tendency towards ongoing evolution, but in the wake of the impactful line-up change, it makes sense for the band to test the waters with new ideas and influences in a more stripped-down form compared to their recent work. With that in mind, it is a no less accomplished album, a successful blend of established sound and new influences that integrate into an array of playfully diverse compositions. After the minor letdown Where the Gloom Becomes Sound, it’s heartening to hear Tribulation hasn’t lost its touch.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Century Media Records
Websites: tribulation.se | facebook.com/TribulationSweden
Releases Worldwide: November 1st, 2024
#2024 #35 #CenturyMediaRecords #DeadCanDance #GothicMetal #Hazard #NickCave #Nov24 #Review #Reviews #SistersOfMercy #SubRosaInÆternum #SwedishMetal #Tribulation #Ulver #UntoOthers
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