User:Deligabi/Judas

Judas is the second studio album of the Hungarian heavy metal band Wisdom, released on the first of April 2011 in Hungary through Nail Records as the attachment of the Hungarian HammerWorld magazine. The album was also released in Japan through Spinning Records and in the USA through CD InZane LLC in September 2011. The Japanese edition includes a bonus track "Strain Of Madness" from the first Wisdom EP in re-written and re-recorded version. On the USA edition "All Alone" can be heard from the At The Gates single in re-sang version. On the 24th of August 2012, almost one and a half year after the Hungarian release, the Austrian-based Noise Art Records also released Judas in those countries where it was not published yet. "All Alone" has been added to this version as a bonus track too.

Background
The studio recordings of Judas had begun in 2009 however the album was not released until April 2011. It happened because after the original singer Istvan Nachladal quit the band in 2007 they couldn’t find the new frontman to replace him. All songs were written for the album by the spring of 2009 so they decided to record them, while looking for a professional singer to do the lead vocals. They agreed with Christian Palin, who was the singer for the French band Adaggio at that time. Christian began the recordings in November at a French studio but the work went slowly and with many interruptions so the band broke it off with him. They had to search for a singer again and found Gabor Nagy in March 2010. There was another change in the line-up in the beginning of 2008. Balazs Agota became the new drummer instead of Peter Kern who could not continue his musical career due to health problems. Almost all songs of the album were written after 2008 so they did not go back to old themes. The only exception is "At The Gates" which was the title track of the single released in 2007. The song was re-recorded for the album, and used as a connection between the band's past and present.

Album title and cover
The life story of the band’s mascot figure, Wiseman, continued on the cover artwork after the devil tried to tempt the young disciple on the front of the previous record, At The Gates. On Judas, the tempted boy became the main character who got his name by the biblical parallel. Because of its simplicity and deep meaning the album was titled Judas too. The cover artwork was created by Gyula Havancsak again. Wiseman in a cave and Judas in the background with a knife in his hand preparing to betray his master can be seen on the front of the album. The eyes of the old man show wise tranquility although he definitely knows about the upcoming attack on him. In front of him there is an ancient pendulum table divided for three rings and engraved with magic rune signs. The rune letters in the outer circle represent the half of the album’s quote which summarizes the story of Wiseman on this album. The full quotation was written by Marcus Aurelius:

"The soul of man does violence to itself, first of all, when it becomes an abscess and, as it were, a tumour on the universe, so far as it can."

In the inner circle different kinds of defensive rune signs can be seen. These signs with the help of the pendulum can forebode an upcoming attack but only for those who are worthy for that. The W letter in the center of the table is taken from the Wisdom logo symbolizing that the following of the right way leads to the eternal wisdom which is the center of everything.

The Story of Wiseman (Judas)
"Long months went by during his enchanted soul poisoned more and more by hatred towards Wiseman and his teaching. Judas looked for the appropriate time to implement his terrible action with this he betrayed everything he believed in and all those he belonged to. Inspired by the Devil's dark plan he feel himself encouraged to destroy the wise leader and only this goal has been floated before his eyes. If the destiny is fulfilled the last resistance of the power of all-consuming evil forces would disappear forever and uncontrollably could spread the chaos in the world and there would be no one who could stop it..."

"Fallin' Away From Grace"
"Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains." /Jean-Jacques Rousseau/

The galloping "Fallin' Away From Grace" opens the album with warp-speed guitars and multi-layered chorus. This is a fast song although originally it had a slower tempo. It was formed over months and rewritten many times until the song reached its final character. It’s true for the lyric too which has a very serious message inspired by the high number of fatal disasters. People can do anything but their fate is in the hands of higher forces which they cannot influence or control. What is more, some aberrant people kill and destroy in the name of childlike ideologies.

"Somewhere Alone"
"Look around you, remember that you are mortal." /Tertullian/

The mid-tempo "Somewhere Alone" reflects to the anti-war views of the band. It is about a man who is the sole survivor of a devastating battle standing alone in the battlefield between the dead bodies and thinking about the meaning of the pointless killings. Probably that’s not a coincidence that he was the only one who survived, maybe he was the chosen one. But what is the point of being the sole survivor of a battle? "Somewhere Alone" is the constant signal of the “Paletta” program in Hungarian “Hír” Television.

"Age Of Lies"
"We must be the change we wish to see in the world." /Gandhi/

"Age Of Lies" was the first song written for the album soon after the release of Words Of Wisdom album in 2006. The music had many forms and originally it was written in a lower tone. The lyric also changed several. The first version was about the witch-hunts but finally it got a completely different content. It draws parallels between the old and modern times; concluding that nothing has changed in the past 1000 years; someone always wants to rule over others and nothing is too expensive for him to achieve this. Besides "At The Gates" this was the song which they used for searching for the new singer after Istvan Nachladal quit he band. Everybody could hear the original version of "At The Gates" so the singers could prepare for it but when they sang "Age Of Lies" on the auditions the singer-candidates could rely on themselves only.

"Live Forevermore"
"The soil of their native land is dear to all the hearts of mankind." /Marcus Tullius Cicero/

"Live Forevermore" is the first neoclassical Wisdom track which follows Yngwie Malmsteen's Baroque music based style. The first music video of the album was made for "Live Forevermore" which increased its popularity. The shooting happened in Sóskút, Hungary, in an old quarry, exactly on the same place where some parts of the Hollywood movie Hellboy 2 was made. In the video the new singer’s face is covered with a mask to make the front man change more mystical for the audience. The lyric is symbolically about the vicissitudinary history of Hungary.

"Wander The World"
"Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe." /Anatole France/

"Wander The World" is the first triplet song of Wisdom. The structure is very simple and it has a really nice and cheerful atmosphere; wandering without any constraints and rules, complete freedom and unclouded happy feeling.

"Heaven And Hell"
"Who has a harder fight than he who is striving to overcome himself." /Thomas A Kempis/

"Heaven and Hell" is one of the most successful works of Wisdom. The cinematic music video for the song was shot in arboretum of Dég, Hungary. The story and the melodies represent Gabor Kovacs's struggles in his soul which tantalized him that time when the song was born. It's about someone who sometimes feels himself very low but other times very high and he can't handle this duality in his soul. The song has a unique structure and its atmosphere also brought a new color into the world of Wisdom.

"Silent Hill"
"Where there is mystery, it is generally suspected there must also be evil." /Lord Byron/

"Silent Hill" is the first song which came fully from the bassist, Mate Molnar. So far they shared the writing process with Gabor Kovacs; Gabor wrote the music and Mate the lyrics for each Wisdom tracks before. A mixture of the same titled Hollywood movie and the mystic story of Silent Hill provided the basis for the song. First the movie aroused Mate’s interest and then he started to research for its real background before he started to write the lyric about it.

"At The Gates"
"All hope abandon, ye who enter here!" /Dante Alighieri/

"At The Gates" was written during the short period when Zoltan Kiss helped out the band and it was released first with his voice on the same titled EP in 2007. From 2008 they used this song to find the new singer for Wisdom that’s why they re-recorded it later to Judas album with Gabor Nagy’s voice. "At The Gates" represented the band’s past, present and future that time.

"The Prodigal Son"
"A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong, which is but saying... that he is wiser today than yesterday." /Jonathan Swift/

"The Prodigal Son" was inspired by the biblical prodigal son or lost son story which has countless covers almost in every branch of art. It got a softer rock tone in Wisdom’s version.

"Judas"
"Sin goes in a disguise, and thence is welcome; like Judas, it kisses and kills; like Joab, it salutes and slays" /George Swinnock/

The title song of the album contains everything from the thrash-like riffs to the modern grooves, from the folk-like melodies to the epic vocals and classical power metal themes. The lyric is from Wiseman’s life when Judas is about to betray his master. The guest singer in the role of Judas is the famous Swedish vocalist Mats Levén (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, ex-Therion etc).

"Strain Of Madness" (Japanese bonus track)
"All people want is someone to listen" /Hugh Elliot/

"Strain Of Madness" was re-recorded from the band’s debut EP to be the bonus track of the Japanese release. Musically it got a deeper tuning and there are many changes in the lyric too took care about to keep the original message. "Strain Of Madness" has never been played live in this form.

"All Alone" (American and international bonus track)
"All of our unhappiness comes from our inability to be alone" /Jean de La Bruyère/

For the American and international release "All Alone" was re-recorded with Gabor Nagy’s voice from the At The Gates EP. This song gave a new color to the album with its lyrical melodies and acoustic themes.

Reception
After three year long break without singer, tours, and other appearances it was a hard work to bring Wisdom back to the scene even though fans haven't forget about the band. That’s why Judas was released as the attachment to the Hungarian HammerWorld magazine - like the first Wisdom EP - to get it to as much people as possible. Although the national press moderately wrote about the album it was very successful among the listeners and they accepted the new line-up right away. Soon after the Hungarian release the band got many offers from abroad for licensing or releasing Judas. Finally they signed with Spinning Records for Japan, CD InZane LLC for North and South America and Noise Art Records for the rest of the world.

Album release show and tour
The official premiere of Judas was on the 17th December in 2011 as the part of the fifth Keep Wiseman Alive concert. It was held in the Club 202, Budapest, Hungary. Almost all songs were performed from the album except for "Wander The World” and "The Prodigal Son". The album release tour took place between October and December in the same year, as the part of the X Wise Years tour which happened to celebrate the band’s 10 years anniversary. This tour reached 10 major Hungarian cities. The international album release tour was made after the international release of Judas between September 2012 and April 2013, supporting Sabaton’s Swedish Empire tour in 58 cities of 38 countries.

Songs performed at the album release show
Fallin' Away From Grace / Somewhere Alone / Holy Vagabond / Age Of Lies / Fate / King Of Death / Live Forevermore / Take Our Soul / Judas Priest – Night Crawler / Victory / Silent Hill / Wheels Of The War / Heaven And Hell / Unholy Ghost / Evil Disguise / Bon Jovi – You Give Love A Bad Name / At The Gates / Wisdom /// Judas / Strain Of Madness

Personel
Wisdom
 * Gabor Nagy - lead vocals
 * Gabor Kovacs - guitar
 * Zsolt Galambos - guitar
 * Mate Molnar - bass guitar
 * Balazs Agota - drums

Additional performers
 * Mats Levén - additional lead vocals on "Judas"
 * Zoltan Kiss, Zoltan Mezo, Gyorgy Philipp, Kornel Mikecz - choir

Production
 * Gabor Kovacs - executive producer, engineer, mastering
 * Gyula Havancsak - cover concept, graphics
 * Levente Kovacs - band photos