'Breakwater' has been unleashed!
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10 tracks of black grunge from Seattle, Finland. Best served loud.

Rootbrain is: 
Jules Näveri - vocals 
V. Santura - lead guitar
Hurja Helle - rhythm guitar
Thomas Wright - bass
Fat Tony - drums


 

Breakwater

The debut album of Finnish/German black grunge collective, Rootbrain. Featuring members from bands such as: Triptykon, Dark Fortress, Kuolemanlaakso, Profane Omen, Enemy of the Sun...

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Lyrics & sidenotes

Lion Tamer 
Strong presence of absence 
in his eyes 
Vultures circling 
in the sky 
Slowly breathing the air 
of a man defeated 
Devoid of focus 
Today something is missing 
Time for a change  

Enter the lion’s lair 
with a whip and a chair 
Enter the lion’s lair  

Paralyzed by fear 
Devoid of strength 
Vultures spiral down 
in a blink of an eye 
This is the day 
when the hunter 
becomes the prey  

Enter the lions lair 
with a whip and a chair 
Enter the lions lair  

This is the day 
when the hunter 
becomes the prey  

Enter the lion’s lair 
with a whip and a chair 
Enter the lion’s lair 

Lion Tamer was the first single from Breakwater. A no nonsense album opener with a strong chorus. Jules nailed the vocals spontaneously at a magical demo session at our cabin hq, in Sammatti, Finland. The band made a DIY video for it during the covid pandemic. All members filmed their parts separately and Thomas Wright sewed them all together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5IRjjGJhrA 

Gone By The Waves 
A deafening roar 
Wild currents coursing round 
One storm too many to weather 
Let’s die a few deaths 

Everything you love and cherish 
will drown and perish 
into the waves 
into the oceans rage 

Gone by the waves 
Gone by the waves 
washed away 
Gone by the waves 
Gone, washed away 
into the great wide grey 

Everything you love and cherish 
will drown and perish 
into the waves 
into the oceans rage 
Everything you hold dear 
will disappear into the waves, 
into the ocean grave 

Gone by the waves 
Gone by the waves 
washed away 
Gone by the waves 
Gone, washed away 
into the great wide grey 

Dark clouds gathering pace 
Wind whirling the waves 
With foam in their mouths 
they race to erase 

The second single from the album. This will be a banger live. Lyrics have a bit of dark, Finnish tongue in cheek here and there. But the core message is serious. Guided by the big religions and capitalism we're heading towards destruction. Mother nature will get her revenge eventually. 

Departures 
It beggars belief to behold, 
the cold we hold in our hearts 
and the distance we’ve drifted apart 
Get battered enough, 
broken, laid bare, 
losing the capacity to care 
What once seemed 
the be all and end all, 
pales into indifference 
I’m in a free fall 

Sometimes it takes a death 
to feel alive 
I’m a breakwater 
in the tide 

Good things are hard to come by, 
but easy go 
I’ve seen departures 
in a steady flow 
We’re but reflections of each other 
With each and every farewell, 
I lose a piece of myself 

Sometimes it takes a death 
to feel alive 
I’m a breakwater 
in the tide 

A song that went through a total evolution at the rehearsal place. It was originally a much slower, much more mellow song. Lyrics drew inspiration of the end of a long relationship, depression and other uncomfortable elements in Wright's life at the time such as his father dying of cancer. 

Life in a Grave 
Anger grew from frustration 
while fighting stagnation 
with our feet in leaden shoes 

Found myself seated in a train 
on a circle shaped rail 

I’ve been living in a grave 
Got lost in the grey, 
where tomorrow repeats today 

Running without purpose 
Fighting without a cause 
At loss for reason 
Forgot what I was looking for 

Found myself seated in a train 
on a circle shaped rail 

Been here before for sure 
Let’s give it another go 
Next stop desolation row 

I’ve been living in a grave 
Got lost in the grey, 
where tomorrow repeats today 

One of the very first Rootbrain songs ever written. It started by Helle & Fat Tony jamming the two chords of the intro riff at a rehearsal camp and Wright then built the rest of the song around those two chords. It is also the first ever lyrics written by Wright. 

Black Honey 
We turned all the stones 
in search for a reason, 
to keep carrying water 
into the well 

We came here together 
but we’ll leave alone 
Hold on just a little bit longer, 
until the cold cuts to the core 

Another season changes, 
paints the leaves golden 
We know what it means 
We know what is coming 

Where I took you, 
winters last for decades 
and the day fades 
after the first fleeting ray 
and the cold cuts to the core 

Black honey – cold cuts to the core 
Black honey – cold cuts to the core 

Where I took you 
winters last for decades 
and the day fades 
after the first fleeting ray 
and the cold cuts to the core 

There’s no place I’d rather be in 
The joy is fleeting 
Ripped my black bloody core 
to the fore 
Now see the vultures feasting 
Look at the vultures feasting on me 

A sexy mofo, this one. Jules really gets to use his wide vocal palette here. In a way this is Rootbrain in a nutshell: beautiful meets ugly 

Bullethead 
Stripped of control 
No strings attached 
A forlorn master detached 
Old king has come 
to claim his crown 
in a scorched empire about to drown 

which do you prefer 
for my head? 
A crown or a bullet? 

Drilling holes 
into the boat 
I’m the captain, 
the master of ghouls 
No strings attached, 
stripped of control 
Are you a saviour 
or a scavenger? 

which do you prefer 
for my head? 
A crown or a bullet? 

No middle way 
Just binary shades 

An outrageous one. Ugly and aggressive. This one is about letting go and the false sense of control we people have. Also, the world's quite black & white, binary place nowadays. Not least thanks to the internet and social media. 

On the last day of the vocal recordings at Woodshed Studio, Germany, we had a little party. We also got an idea of adding some Gremlins choirs to the choruses. And there was laughter. A lot of laughter. Featuring our  friend Michael Zech of Secrets of the Moon fame. 

Hatemongers 
Priests of sodom 
preaching doom 
We let the snakes crawl 
into the throne room 
More wealth than ever 
yet a famine looms 

It’s easy to stand tall 
in front of a crowd in awe 
And easy to disappear 
when the heart fills with fear 

Hatemongers step aside 
constant change will abide 
You wouldn’t last a day 
in the world you crave 

Motherslayers spin the wheel of greed 
blown out of proportion 
We will pull the trees down, 
rip the roots off the ground 
Desolation in perfection 
We’re here to make our mark 

Hatemongers step aside 
constant change will abide 
You wouldn’t last a day 
in the world you crave 

The way you glorify 
shows you have no clue 
You should be horrified 
when war looks straight at you 

Hatemongers step aside 
constant change will abide 
You wouldn’t last a day 
in the world you crave 

The most political song on the album. An energetic one. Far right populists are in vogue in Finland and trending around the world. Fuck them, most of their voters are losers who would remain losers in a world where it's all against all, survival of the shittest. Secondly, even more evil are the more liberal ones in power who are happy to play with the far right just because of their will to stay in power. 

It takes more balls to love than to hate. Change is constant, deal with it. 

A New Leash of Life 
We’re on ascension, 
flying high 
Today our sole possession, 
ruins behind 
Not here for friends 
or to make amends 
We’re on ascension 
Today is all we have 

We dwell in the deep, dark night 
yet we crave for the brightest light 
Time waits for no man 
We dwell in the deep, dark night 
yet we crave for the brightest light 
Life’s just a one night stand 

It’s time to let go 
Enter the void called ego 
I need a new lease of life, 
a new leash of lies 
Draw me a line and I’ll follow 
the straight and narrow, 
balancing on a tightrope 

We dwell in the deep, dark night 
yet we crave for the brightest light 
Time waits for no man 
We dwell in the deep, dark night 
yet we crave for the brightest light 
Life’s just a one night stand 

Let go 
Time to let go, 
enter the void called ego 
Let go 

Let go, live in the moment, lose control, balance between manic and depression. It's complicated. Letting go and mourning have many stages. This one is chaos, self destructional behaviour and not giving many fucks. Metaphorically that is. 

Steer by the Scars 
In search of truth 
we settled for a pleasant lie 
Another day goes by, 
weeks melt into months 

Repeat the same mistakes 
and start all over 
Learn through mistake 
Forgot to learn 

We’re stones pretending stars 
steered by the scars 
Burdened by pride 
slowly ripped apart 

Steered by the scars 
Slowly ripped apart 

We came a long way 
now we’re lost at sea 
I know the safe way home 
but keep drifting further 

We’re stones pretending stars 
steered by the scars 
Burdened by pride 
slowly ripped apart 

Steered by the scars 
Slowly ripped apart 

We’re stones pretending stars 
slowly ripped apart 

We’re stones pretending stars 
slowly ripped apart 

We came a long way 
now we’re lost at sea 

A bit more mellow one. Calm after the storm. Again something that begins kinda beautifully but turns ugly as things progress. Our fears, traumas and pride have quite often a bit too much power over the decisions we do in our lives, on the paths we choose or don't dare to choose. 

Floating Feathers 
My mind is a beast 
waiting to be released 
It’s the funeral feast 
welcome, you’re all invited 
You know what I wish for 
when I blow 
the candles cold 
But lets pretend a happy end, 
let's pretend 

Beasts of burden 
dodging the hangman’s rope 
Travelling lightyears 
unified by fear 

Prolong the moment 
while we can 
before letting the floodgates open 
and the currents 
shred us to pieces 

Come drink with me 
from the bowl of last drops 
This is no second chance, 
we’ve had a few 
Prolong the moment 
while we can 
before letting the floodgates 
open wide 

Beasts of burden 
Dodging the hangman’s rope 
Travelling lightyears 
unified by fear 

In the end 
nothing but a memory remains 
and the love 

Kind of a happy ending for the album. Well, not happy, but at least slightly hopeful. The process of letting go gets some sort of a conclusion. The last three lines might seem cheesy for some but they were basically the last words Wright's father said to him on his deathbed. 

This was the third single released from the album and it has a DIY lyric video adorned by the nature photography of Petteri Hautamaa: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcIvHZ85euA