Try to imagine... Try to picture this inside your mind. ¶ Lots of buildings. Drugstores, supermarkets, offices, houses, schools, playgrounds, parks, cafeterias, department stores, each and every building anyone would find walking by a street of any ordinary city. But they’re all ruined, falling apart, its bricks and cement turning into dust. And there’s this wind… This great wind, the kind that keep blowing and whistling day and night, sweeping everything in its way. Accelerating the demise of what became history. Bridges are broken, collapsed. There are cars all around, abandoned like dirty and useless napkins. Some are even crashed and rolled over. Everything being slowly eaten by rust. Gutters, curbs, pavements and windows are all stained. Irregular stains of a color between red and brown that covers everything. But above all this there is the smell… An unforgettable smell. A foul stench of rust, rot, wet that never fades. And fear, loneliness, hopelessness, and sadness crowned by an always present big yellow sun. ¶ But it wasn’t always like this. You know that don’t you? Then let me tell you just how things came to this. You did it. I did it. All of us did it. Guilty as charged. Every single human being that walked this earth. ¶ Everybody knows how people are. They want what they can’t have and if they ever get it one day, then they want something else. And this way humankind evolved, developing everything they dreamed so they could dream of other new things. But this had a cost.
Freezing ^ Our eyes soaked in tears shed for lost hopes ⁄ Our faces wet as well ⁄ Our dead dreams all around fill our minds ⁄ With despair ⁄ Friends we’ve lost in this path ⁄ Rot unburied as we forget ⁄ We gave it all ⁄ But too late came the thought ⁄ That we were wrong Now we’re all alone ⁄ In this cold weather ⁄ The snow cover our steps We’ve walked so far and we’re so apart from ourselves ⁄ The price we had to pay for the wonders we’ve created But the gates are opened once again ⁄ The first chance we’ve had within years Tears are frozen like the hearts ⁄ We don’t fear nothing anymore ⁄ Now is the time to take action ⁄ To be together once again ⁄ We’ve survived the disaster ⁄ Cold weather won’t us bother anymore ⁄ We’ve survived the disaster!
We developed something called nuclear energy. It would be used to turn easy lives easier, but there were those that saw the opportunity of using it to destroy and to make people miserable and they didn’t hesitate to do it. Many thought that this would show mankind that some things just have to be left alone but it never happened. Not long after this sad period man start to work with this technology again and soon even the smaller place around the globe had something atomic going on. The thing is that every generation has its good and bad guys and the bad guys decided to strike again. It really doesn’t matter the reason, just know that this time things were globalized and just a few survived at a high cost. People suffered, dreams were shattered and loved ones were lost. Some just gave up. Others stood up again, but there was more to come.
Breakout At Dawn ^ Thousands days passed and I can’t say ⁄ That I’ve earned anything in the way ⁄ All I am ⁄ A bunch of words that has no meaning ⁄ A waste of time with no achieving now ⁄ I’m awake Now I can see ⁄ I threw stones that would only hurt me ⁄ And I know it’s hard ⁄ To recognize my own mistakes but nothing will stand on my way ‘cause I don’t wanna hide ⁄ Hide myself on time ⁄ Hide myself on my mind ⁄ And I, I don’t wanna fight ⁄ All of this ‘cause I know they’re right Now as I see myself reflected ⁄ Just like the water rolled I’ve changed and ⁄ My Ideals ⁄ Eroded and uncovered my eyes ⁄ No revolution fight, I’ll rise now a ⁄ Better man Now I’m down on my knees ⁄ I ask forgiveness for all of my sins ⁄ But in fact I’m not ashamed ⁄ ‘Cause first we crawl before we walk ⁄ What matters is that I’ll stand at dawn I don’t wanna hide ⁄ Hide myself on pride ⁄ Hide myself on my mind ⁄ And I, I don’t wanna fight ⁄ All of this ‘cause I know they’re right ⁄ So fucking right!
Again, the mistakes would act as the tutor, but this time there was no more turning back. People could just forget what had happened because it was everywhere to be seen. Almost all wildlife died. It was rare to see a bird or even a bug flying by. It was harder to find trees and any other greenery. A gray and everlasting winter started.
The End Of Good Intentions ^ This life is nothing but taking chances ⁄ A world full of different faces ⁄ Looks can be misunderstood and words can easily distort ⁄ When every beginning is fated to end The key to glory lies in your hands, don’t hesitate ⁄ Don’t hesitate And tears may be shed for dreams that we’ve lost ⁄ Pain may fill our hearts when good intentions ⁄ Turn into dust and disaster ⁄ Mistakes… No one seems to see the true meaning ⁄ Behind the masks of hate we’re wearing ⁄ Time will pass and words will fade ⁄ Nothing will never ever change ⁄ But I won’t walk away The key to glory lies in my hand, I won’t hesitate ⁄ Won’t hesitate And tears may be shed for dreams that we’ve lost ⁄ Pain may feel our hearts when good intentions ⁄ Turn into dust and disaster ⁄ Mistakes, hopes into ashes…
It became the age of the extreme. There was only fanatic good or chaotic evil. And little by little those who tried to do good or even become neutral just got overwhelmed by the others, and from here on good intentions just ceased to exist. There was no “us” anymore, just “I”.
Rain ^ Now the rain has come ⁄ We’re all out on the streets ⁄ And we’ve brought our sins ⁄ Hoping it becomes a storm ⁄ To wash our souls ⁄ As clouds watch our acts… clouds watch our acts! And see how dirty ⁄ We are inside ⁄ But there’s no rain ⁄ Capable of washing the stain ⁄ And no drugs to soothe the pain that we’ve caused with our bare hands ⁄ So much blood to soothe this pain we’ve caused with our bare hands! And we’ve killed then we’ve raped ⁄ We killed and raped! ⁄ Then we’ve spilled blood we’ve hated We’ve lied, we’ve broken! ⁄ We’ve made mistakes… We sold our souls ⁄ Destroyed our fate ⁄ Now there’s no turning back! Under the pouring rain ⁄ We crawl around like maggots ⁄ Crying for redemption ⁄ But what awaits us is obliteration!
And there came the violence. Laws became the manifestation of what each being believed to be right, but always fed by selfish interests. Men raped women and other men every time they were in the mood. Murder became the natural solution to conflicts of interest. Old people perish because they seemed to be a burden. Children came to be hunted as food as the provisions became scarce. The streets were full of rotting bodies and coagulated blood. The never ending snow getting bloodier every day. But one day it suddenly stopped to snow. The sky, once of dead green color, started to become orange. Days passed and the orange turned to crimson. The thunder started to echo around but always seeming to be distant. Sometimes, flashes illuminated the skies and when it happened the all out war that life had become would just stop so people could celebrate. Months passed and finally the sky turned into gray and started to get darker every day. It was going to rain. Mankind rediscovered a long forgotten word‌ Redemption.
It was unanimous. People would give up everything to be redeemed so they started to long for the rain. Day by day, as the thunder grew and became nearer, men and women began to believe that the storm was come to make it all good again, to their lives back, to make it clean, to wash the dirty not only from the streets but from their hearts and souls. So the rain fell. People went to the streets, dancing and shouting. Celebrating. But this was no normal rain. Its drops tasted like rust and burned like hell. The dance turned into convulsions of pure pain and the shouts of joy became screams. The wind grew, giving the storm even more momentum. The thunders started to strike the earth one after another, hit the ground and the people in the streets as well. The drops turned into ice stones that got bigger by the second. Soon the picture stated to seem as tv static due to the amount of stones falling. Nothing could be seen, but the panic in the voices remained. Growing louder and louder until the streets became silent. The rain kept falling for a month and when it stopped there was no one left.
Days later it rained again but this time it seemed more like normal rain. It continued happening time and time again until in the middle of the street of a deserted city, struggling to rise through the concrete a rose bloomed. Seconds later, a curious bird came to look at it and a bee gently landed on one of its petals. But there was no one to see or, worse, ruin it.
Atomic Winter is: Fábio Calaça, Heitor Lima, Rodrigo Modesto, Gustavo Gontijo, Magno Emerson + Renato Simon. All songs, lyrics and graphic stuff by Atomic Winter. Recorded and mixed at Rocklab. Illustrated by Suryara Bernardi. Designed by Gustavo Gontijo. Atomic Winter would like to thank those who support all our effort to hold down through the hard work of maintaining a hardcore band in Goiânia. We also thank from the bottom of our hearts our lovers, family, friends and all the bands that roll with us through the scene. We won’t list any names, we’d probably leave anyone out and that wouldn’t be fair because you’re all too much important to us. So, if you feel like your name deserved to be here rest assured knowing that we feel the same, it is just too hard to put all in this few words now. Finaly, we hail those friends, near or far, that believe in Atomic Winter but had to go through other paths... Life is like this, but we know that time will come for us to have our golden days to enjoy together. Now... You may feel the storm! © 2011, atomic winter
www.atomicwinter.com
1 . Freezing 2 . Breakout At Dawn 3 . The End Of Good Intentions 4 . Rain