As Above...: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:37, 25 June 2014

Revision as of 21:20, 17 October 2014

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"Rúdolf" contains a sample of Hitler saying ''"Around us is Germany. In us Germany marches. And behind us Germany follows"''. It was a fragment taken from ''[[Triumph of the Will|Triumph des Willens]]'' (''Triumph of the Will''), a propaganda film directed by [[Leni Riefenstahl]] in 1934. However, the record inserts credit [[A. Schicklgruber]] as the impersonator of Hitler’s voice.

The title of the album is thought to be inspired by [[Killing Joke]]'s ''[[What's THIS For...!]]'' from 1981 and with sarcasm refers either to the band's name or their previous works (in the sense that "as above" is written on application forms). It is more generally considered to be half of the maxim "[[Hermeticism|As Above, So Below]]" that is quoted by every occultist and originates in the second line of the ancient alchemical tract ''[[Tabula Smaragdina]]''.

The remaining songs of this album were never reissued since the masters are believed to be lost. By 2001 Þeyr’s members and friends released a CD titled ''[[Mjötviður til Fóta]]'' which included songs from their second album, ''[[Mjötviður Mær]]'' and the [[single (music)|single]] ''[[Iður til Fóta]]'', both releases from 1981.

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*"Shout" is the English version of "Ópið" from ''Mjötviður Mær''.

==Controversy over Rúdolf ==

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[image:Þeyr (As Above - inlay and back cover).jpg|right|Back cover and inner sleeves of As Above…Above...]] -->

The meaning of the song "Rúdolf" was the focus of controversy among many who thought it was an allegory to Nazism. It should be noted, however, that Þeyr was an anti-fascist group. Several years later, drummer Sigtryggur Baldursson said: "The song 'Rúdolf' was supposed to be a criticism, but was really interpreted as we were Nazis. We also adopted some Nazi things like clothing, but we were never real Nazis. We were just showing off, just like today."