When Poems Of Shadows ripped off the lyrics from Horde's Hellig Usvart album

The year was 2004.

The brazilian black metal band (or unblack metal, christian black metal, holy unblack metal, etc) Poems Of Shadows released the album "Nocturnal Blasmephous Chanting".

Musically is a cool album, good songs like "Covenant Chalice Of Blood" and others.



The album received a lot of good criticism,but when we pay a better attention in the lyrics we note that great part of the album have the lyrics ripped off from "Hellig Usvart". Sometimes just a line or verse, others the entire lyric.

Some examples (First a PoS song, second a Horde song) are:

 



[ltr]1) "Nocturnal Blasphemous Chanting" and " Silence The Blasphemous Chanting"
 
2) "Sacrifice Of Triumph" and "Release And Clothe The Virgin Sacrifice"

3) "Behold, The Rise Of The Scarlet Moon" and "Behold, The Rise Of The Scarlet Moon"
 
4) "Crushed Into Dust...Forever Eternal!!!" and "Crush The Bloodied Horn Of The Goat" + "Weak, Feeble, Dying Antichrist"
 
5) "Blasphemy Will Never Rise" and "Blasphemous Abomination Of The Satanic Pentagram" + "Inverted The Inverted Cross"
 
6) "Complete Destruction, Absolute Annihilation" and "The Day Of Total Armaggedom Holocaust"
 
 
You can check the lyrics here:
 
 
Poems Of Shadows
https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Poems_of_Shadows/Nocturnal_Blasphemous_Chanthing/72010
 
Horde
https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Horde/Hellig_usvart/8358[/ltr]

I remember this controversy.  I recall one reviewer being (maybe tongue-in-cheek) confused if Poems of Shadows was a rip-off band, a tribute band, or a cover band.  Did the band ever address it?

That I have knowledge, no...

But on the next album ("Obscure Forest, Destructive Illusion), at least I know that all the lyrics are "brand new"

I know nothing of this album or controversy, but how could they even attempt to “rip-off” Horde?  Like who know of POS but not Horde?  Would be like trying to copy Star Wars and hope that movie-goers wouldn’t have seen the original.

I did get Obscure Forest. . . though, and thought it was surprisingly good.

The second album stole so many Immortal riffs! I was very recently out of secular music and I really could not listen to it honestly. It's been at least 7yrs since I've played it or thought about it.

^I wasn't even aware of the Horde rip-off but had heard about them copying Immortal.  Shameful...

Ha ha, so I’m the dope who knows Horde but not enough Immortal!

Kerrick wrote:^I wasn't even aware of the Horde rip-off but had heard about them copying Immortal.  Shameful...

When possible check the lyrics from both bands in Metal Archives. Very bizarre situation

Grindboy wrote:Ha ha, so I’m the dope who knows Horde but not enough Immortal!

Ha well between the two of us, we've got the full story now!  

LexMetalis wrote:

Kerrick wrote:^I wasn't even aware of the Horde rip-off but had heard about them copying Immortal.  Shameful...

When possible check the lyrics from both bands in Metal Archives. Very bizarre situation

Interesting, I will!  Maybe as was mentioned above, they're just wearing their influences on their sleeves and this is their way of paying homage...  Somehow I doubt it though.

If I have a band and someone pay this type of homage, I probally call the police hahahah

But seriously, once time I heard that the original version of PoS album would to be a "satanic" release and when the band was in the studio the bandmembers turned to Christ and changed the lyrics. A great chance to be a false story because the bandleader was involved in christian scene since  the middle of the 90's, so he defintly have knowledge about Horde and Hellig Usvart.

Is there any proof that they literally copied the exact riffs in specific Immortal songs? It's one thing to be influenced by a band or (especially in this scene) to try to create a Christian alternative and another to actually copy music. I noticed the Immortal influence right away, but I'd be surprised if they were directly copying the music exactly and I'd like to see the evidence if it exists. I don't think this is a White Throne situation here.

Copied? Considering Tyrants was such an incredibly unique song to Immortal's catalogue this one definitely bothered me. Forgive me it's been years since I've listened to either band. I can't remember other specifics these days.