Album: "Infrawarrior" by Monica Richards (2006)

GAIA

There seems to be no escape from our difficulties until the industrial system breaks down for some reason or another, and Nature reasserts herself with grass and trees among the ruins. But the longer her hour is postponed, and therefore the more exhausted by man's irreligious improvidence the natural resources of the soil and sea become, the less merciful will she be. - Robert Graves, 1948

If we turn from Life, we have only Death.
From the minute we humans started building fires to cook our food, we have been aware
that we must revere the source of our lives and all life on this planet.
And we have named that source "Mother of Life".
She is kind, sometimes cruel, always indifferent to sacrifice except for those who came in their time -
fertility rites, the celebration of birth, of the new year, thanks for the harvest.
But she is capricious and aloof.
Her manifestations: Serene, Ferocious, Willful, Cruel, Wise, Lustful, Mysterious,
Wanton, Loyal, Scheming, Jealous, Cool, Greedy, Dreaming.
She responds to arrogance by withholding her favors and sometimes by destruction.
Her weapons are overwhelming, myriad, awesome: Winds, Water, Lightning, Fire, Ice, Heat, Earthquake and Tidalwave.
If we worship and revere male gods, we ignore Gaia's ultimate power over us.
Turn from the Goddess of Life, and there is only Death.
Turn form the Mother of Life, and there is only Death.


Fell To Regret

And when the Hunter saw what he had done to Her,
He feel to his knees in Regret.
Is this a new Dark Age?
Are these the blackest days?
All fell to regret.

Do you have nothing to say?
While they ignore the Modern Slave?
All fell to regret.
Horror at the hands of elders breeds a new crop of monsters
The soulless profit-makers.
In the name of their Savior.

The Patriarch Conspiracy sold me off for pennies
All world religions united to keep the women obliging
Wandering the brothelways we scream through nights and sleep the daze
They cage us like tigers to use for their desires.
Sell and trade us like a drug that can be used again and again.

Predator trained as prey.
Socialized to be meek and obedient.
The anger in woman is dangerous.
Traditional Values, the modern passive Witch Hunt.
A fifties fabrication that never existed
Repressed Fundamentalist seeks a sicker decadence
Am I the mother of Harlots - the younger the better

Now self-esteemless Glamour tarts flaunt their sexuality
In the name of Girl Power,
They'll lose the fight forever.
Selling and trading themselves to the game again and again.
Is this a new Dark Age?
Are these the blackest days?
All fell to regret.
Is this a new Dark Age?
While they strip your freedoms away?


Like Animals

From the original Dr. Doolittle movie.

Why do we treat animals like animals?
Animals treat us so very well
The devoted way they serve us and protect us
When we're nervous they really don't deserve us
All we give them is Hell

Why do we treat animals like animals?
How can people be so inhumane?
What do we do we neglect them we do nothing
To protect them we reject them
Don't expect them to complain

When will we stop treating them like animals?
How can human beings cause so much pain?
We ignore them or we beat them
When we're hungry then we eat them,
It's appalling how we treat them - it's insane

I do not understand the human race
That has so little love for creatures with a different face
We humiliate and murder and confine them
We create their wretched status
Then we use it to malign them
When you dress in suede or leather
Or some fancy fur or feather

Do you stop and wonder whether for a Fad
You have killed some beast or other
That you're wearing someone's Brother
Or perhaps it's someone's Mother in which you're clad
We've made the whole world a zoo,
For Man is an animal too.

Thanks to our friend MpinelikoMistress, we present today a very interesting album by the multitalented artist Monica Richards, a pagan follower, a believer in an ancient Matrist culture that has been displaced by male patrism and Mother Gaia and animal rights supporter. All of these ideas are developed in her personal album “Infrawarrior": Exploitative Treatment of Mother Earth and attitude towards animals is parallelized with the prevalence of patrism, sexism, violence and slavery in human history
We read in Amazon.com some interesting reviews about thiw album:

About song Gaia: The opening "Gaia" is, ironically, written and spoken by Monica's *father* (and Renaissance man) Lloyd Richards. It's a fitting start, the premise that the earth itself is a Mother entity. The CD isn't an anti-male screed, but it clearly states the brutality women and animals have suffered for millennia at the hands of men. While sexual slavery is more aptly applied to women, the term *slaughter* is sadly interchangeable between women and animals.

About song Like animals: At least 1/3 of those who listen to this will cry. Solemn, gorgeous vocals with no music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse. Ten bucks says PETA and The Animal Liberation Front will feature this in some manner.

……..

The album speaks of unity, of empowerment, of animal rights, of the earth and our impact. Insofar as genres, the record is overwhelmingly tribal. Again, the best way to describe this album is "Pagan." The deep drum beats secure its Pagan identity, and elements of darkwave, Gothic, ambient, rock, and chant secure it as quite Neopagan. InfraWarrior has few musical limits; it covers a broad spectrum of musical expression and, unlike many who attempt this, blends genres with a successfully brilliant transition from one sound to the next. Additionally, a number of vocal distortions grace the album; I feel this echoes the many faces of the divine, particularly the Great Mother, of which Monica Richards is a conduit. Initiatory status and the like notwithstanding, Monica Richards is a high priestess of our age--a statement I personally would never speak nonchalantly.

This album is raw Pagan spirituality. It is powerful, inspiring, brutally honest, and makes the heart of any listener beat faster as Monica's magick weaves awakening into conscious thought. Indeed this album is a bridge between the conscious and the unconscious, and has a profound effect on the awareness of any person who hears it. InfraWarrior shatters our often-comforting illusion of the state of the world, and reminds us that it can remain a beautiful place. It reminds us that our influence on this earthly plane is grand, and not something to take lightly. It reminds us that our time here is too short not to do good and reclaim our spiritual inherencies.

You can hear some songs from this album in her myspace

You can visit her personal site for more information about her multitalented work (music, artwork, poetry, studies, etc). The photos above were picked from her site and consist a small sample from her pagan/naturalistic artworks.