Borys Shchuka - The Crown and the Ring (Lament of the Kings) (Manowar cover)

This folk rendition of a Manowar’s anthemic piece is the last single from my “Kviet haspadarstva” (“The Flower of Lordship”) EP. Initially I tried singing it to the hurdy-gurdy just for fun but it turned out to sound natural with it. The original is a trademark Manowar anthem with lyrics that are quite simple but to the point. I like it for the easily memorable melodies and the many right images and ideas that the lyrics convey, like kings, wars, death, weaponry, pagan gods, loyalty, freedom, sovereignty. All those things that boys like, you know. The original song isn’t too much metal BUT the hurdy-gurdy – at least the Belarusian version that I used – is inherently metal in the sense that you can’t play accompaniment in the form of chord progressions on it. It has a couple of constantly sounding drone notes making up a fifth between them; and the main string on which you play the melody itself. The result is similar to what happens in good metal: you refrain from playing chord progressions under your melodies; instead, you play your melodies (or other meaningful patterns) on your instrument directly. As for the pictures in this video, most of them depict battles of ACTUAL, historical pagan warrior kings from different parts of the world, including Norway and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.