Araphel - Old Comet Transition CD

“Araphel” (or “arafel”) is a Hebrew word for “darkness.” More specifically, it is a thick, black fog that enshrouds God. As used in sacred texts, “araphel” is more than a simple adjective—it refers to the location of God within the darkness. For humans, the absence of light generally elicits fear. However, there are some who find within that same darkness—the darkness found in the deepest recesses of the mind or that arising out of harrowing external circumstances—sublime sensations and concepts akin to the divine. Since its inception, the thematic focus of black metal has been predominantly metaphysical, an exploration of the shadow side of religion exalting lust, avarice, and blasphemy. As Western culture drifts unmoored toward collective nihilism, the spiritual narratives that once provided the fuel on which the genre has long burned have begun to run dry. Araphel represents the inward shift toward the individual, the subjective interiority of man in relation to the meaninglessness