Image

Deities is Chamber Band's 2013 album inspired by The Dungeon Master's Guide by Wizards of the Coast.



This album came to life over the course of two turbulent years - from the spring of ’11 to the spring of ’13. Most of the songs were written by Chris at his apartment in Los Angeles during an atypically rainy week. They developed as the band grew, in the basement of a Bushwick Opera House; upstairs at the Greenpoint Gallery; onstage at Spike Hill; the Dragon’s Den in Chinatown; 2 Egg Studio in Williamsburg; and finally: Bass Hit Studio in Manhattan.

There are too many people to thank. First off: everyone who threw money at our first (failed) Kickstarter and then again at our first (successful) PledgeMusic. Liz Berger and Mark Scheppe and Kenny Lewis and Zack Akers were our earliest adopters. Deb Oh leant her voice and street smarts early on, as did Lydia Berg-Hammond and Emma Koenig. Mark Scheppe bailed us out of a real bad spot. Andrea Finlayson is the band’s Godmother for connecting us all. Charlene Kaye was and is forever our Den Mother. Allie Scully and James Francis are Chamber Family. Bryan Kane and Brian Penny put us through recording school and we’ll forever be thankful for that. Lauren and Luis at Twenty Sided Store gave us our first community. Comedian and Canadian Mike Myers should be thanked for offloading a good share of his music gear to us. Katie Bainbridge opened up her home and heart to us. Mike Flannery talked us down from a bad place, then made not just this album but a totally unnecessary (and amazing) 8 Bit Version of it. Aaron Nestor made incredible art for us, as did Jasmine Wigandt. Our parents thought we were crazy but we were still in our early twenties and it was cheaper than grad school. George Bronos snapped hella good shots. Ken Breese was the original hype man. All of these people cradled this project and this band when it was at its most fragile and explosive and for that we are forever thankful.

Chamber Band is Anthony Cerretani, A.Sarr, Chris Littler, Sam Monaco, and Ellen Winter.


LYRICS


LYRICS


LAWFUL NEUTRAL
she was crawling across the kitchen floor
I was sleeping dreaming of the war
harpys singing
she don’t know the song, no
and I saw the sorry scribble in surprise
she was wrong in trying to be right
she was lawful to be neutral unaware that she was evil unaligned
malefactor
ally to herself
roguish actor
plus 10 to her stealth
nothing missing that she couldn’t bear
set traps for rigging
and I saw the sorry scribbles in surprise
she was wrong in trying to be right
she was lawful to be neutral unaware that she was evil unaligned

CONSTITUTION
to bravely attack the wight
to lose oneʼs head but not to lose the fight
my baby, she wait at home
a trusted warlord delivers my bones
she take my remains to the local priests
she offers silver and fall to her knees, pleading
she loves me
she loves me so
wonʼt let me go
and I awake whole again
lit by the soft warmth of the bedroom window where within
she and I lie so peacefully
I once was dead
now I am not
what is happening?
Baphomet, the Horned King,
a stubborn goat ainʼt got nothing on me
gotta get loot
gonna get paid
gotta skill up
gonna come back if i get killed today
my baby, she wait for proof
her constitution going through the roof
the minotaur can be a bullish breed
but they grow weary when they start to bleed
not me
oh Wee Jas
I pray on you to brace my lover for my loss
she couldnʼt know that loving me would have such costs
she didn’t know to think such thoughts
she couldnʼt know her heart would be in knots
oh, my little Jasidin
as selfless as she wanna be
sheʼs scooping up whatʼs left of me
and I awake whole again
lit by the soft warmth of the bedroom window where within
she and I lie so peacefully
I once was dead
now I am not
what is happening?

PROPHETIC HEART
itʼs been two days, weʼre in love
she fits me like a +2 glove
how could i tell her at the start?
my blood’s pumping through a prophetic heart
itʼs been two weeks carrying on
she left her sister with her mother and she quit her job
how could I tell her at the start?
my blood’s pumping through a prophetic heart
and when we go down to the river for a summery day
I already know everything that sheʼs gonna say
but I play pretend
my nodding never ends
oh, raven queen remove from me the gift you gave
no more prophecy
itʼs been one year since we met
sheʼs with child, I regret
how could I tell her?
no black art could compel my prophetic heart

YEENOGHU
Yeenoghu, destroyer
destroy me for turning from you
a maiden, a beauty,
a love no abyss could undo
oh master of mine,
please give me a sign
oh grant me the strength
to go into town and steal the one that I love away
oh Yeenoghu
I want her so badly
her magic I cannot resist
I have to be with her
to have her is my only wish
oh master of mine,
please give me a sign
oh grant me the strength
to go into town and steal the one that I love away
oh Yeenoghu
and her bitter blessings blow my heart away
I’m at your feet, on my knees I pray
for a favor from you
Lord Yeenoghu
I tremble
I whimper
I fumble
I lose my mind
my words have no meaning
I need her, she will be mine
oh master I plead
please fulfill my need
or grant me the strength
to go into town and steal the one that I love away
oh Yeenoghu

SHAPESHIFTER
oh, ehlonna
I don’t know what I should do
I don’t know my own heart
I don’t fit in my skin
I feel so askew
she says she loves me
why she asking me to change
in familiar form
into size not my own
into a beastly shape
I was the raven who scouted her skies
(she feel my blackened feather)
finding her flowers with my nimble eyes
(we look so good together)
but when I changed back I gave her such a fright
I was once her shapeshifter
but I won’t be tonight
give me the wisdom to know what I can’t understand
why my own lover don’t love me when I’m my own man
why I’m coerced to become
a companion
ehlenestra,
hope you hear my sylvan song
I’ve been sleeping inside
I’ve been burning the earth
to make myself feel right
and I was the raven who scouted her skies
(she feel my blackened feather)
feeding her berries and cawing my lies
(we look so good together)
but when I changed back I gave her such a fright
I was once her shapeshifter
but I won’t be tonight

HOLD ONTO US
we had set out
packed all our clothes and things,
adorned with rings, alive with life,
to a place by the sea.
you’d had a dream
said there were “places to go”
places to go
places to go within reach
so we set astride,
with the compass my father had with him the day that he died
with a feeling inside us there was nothing to fear
as long as we hold onto us
the future is clear
the place that we found
a little different for me
A difference for me
indifferent to me
indifferent to everyone
but that’s how it goes
living in foreign lands
customs and rituals
I don’t know
I won’t know
I can’t know
so I won’t
but we said okay,
we’ll stay until Sehanine Moonbow steals us away
we won’t run home because there is nothing to fear
as long as we hold onto us
the future is clear

OH IO
home for the day
I wouldn’t know it
home doesn’t feel the same as it once did
home is a place
far from the current
far from my heart
it doesn’t lie anywhere but where my baby’s gone.
home is where my lover is
though she currently ain’t telling
home is where she rests her head
even with a different fellow
home is where her body lies
not that I am even asking.
home is where I’ll only be if I used the Orb of Seeing
oh, leave your lover unseen
leave her memory clean

PETITIONER
she was born in plane
walked the land from birth
turned her face from sun
lost all sense of worth
she was born to die
a petitioner
this kingdom of men
steeped in castle wall
as it’s always been
watch the women fall
she was born to die
a petitioner
she lost her will
she lost her way
she gave in to the evil things that serve to tempt you
she made her mind
she made her bed
she made up mine
pleading for her life
as the sunlight spies
hear the boatman’s bell
giving word to wise
never had a chance
a petitioner

ASMODEUS
I went walking one day to the edge of my claim
where forest meets plain
worried words whispered low in the taverns of town
thereʼs evil around
I took a shortcut through the woods and heard the cultists singing out
i heard a voice amidst the crowd: was it her?
her family barn burned to the ground on the night of St. Cuthbertʼs Day her mother got sick and her brother got bit by a Lycan stray
could this be?
she saw things a little differently from me
now I go to her house all covered in moss and reflect on the loss
who were they to lure my love from me?
and I hear her people pray all night to that heathen god of hate
Asmodeus
I will not join
I will not cave
I will be strong
i will be saved
I will not be one of them
with her

GOD OF GREED
treasure called to us across the hemisphere
a party of five formed
the village elder warned, “Only four of you will return here.”
still we set out on a foggy morn
two elves and a dragonborn,
me and my baby left our homes in the care of a friend
who was sure we’d meet our end
in the mouth of a manticore
how could he know?
oh, no
that’s tiamat, the god of greed, in tow
oh, no
pick your feet up
we have got to go
my baby’s fast but she ain’t that fast
I hear her calling out my name
attack the world with everything you got
don’t pause to question none
you’ll beat the world by one
you must keep moving while you’re hot
in the dark led by a holy horn
two elves and a dragonborn
death follows where my baby goes
she’s taking out them trolls
she’s making all high rolls
how could she know?
oh, no
that’s tiamat, the god of greed, in tow
oh, no
pick your feet up
we have got to go
my baby’s fast but she ain’t that fast
I hear her calling out my name one last time
she is so beautiful all wrapped up in her blanket
forget she’s all covered in blood
she says so quietly I almost do not hear her
go on, go on, go on, go on without me
we put her on the horse’s back and cross the river
she looked, to me, as white as snow
she says so quietly I almost do not hear her
go on, go on, go on, go on without me
you know I’m only slowing down the party
I make her travel so far I start to feel evil
her breath is fading fast and how
oh, she says nothing
but I know what she’d say,
she’d say, Go on, go on, go on, go on without me
you know I’m only slowing down the party
if only I had not been so greedy
my baby might be standing here beside me

SLEEP CHARM
olidammara
i live deep in the mountains, banished away
she is all that can get to me
she is friend foe and family
we exchange grumblings
we make tea
she don’t look at my ugly face
stands across and takes in the place
but I know why my baby comes to me
coz I can stick out my hand and say go to sleep
I can stick out my hand and say go to sleep
all go to sleep
all go to sleep
all go to
olidammara
there’s a place beside me you can rest your head
let a hundred winters pass you by
you are safe beside me in my nice warm bed
oh what a sweet little lie
i live deep in the mountains, there I must stay.
still she comes to see me.
still she comes to be beside me
I know why my baby comes to me
coz I can stick out my hand and say go to sleep
coz I can stick out my hand and say go to sleep
all go to sleep
all go to sleep
all go to
olidammara

and so we go to sleep beside each other in my little room
our bodies intertwined at last
then lo lo lo lo and behold
we woke up from our dream feeling oh so old
we scale the mountain and look down upon a city we don’t know
our hands are clasped so very tight
then lo lo lo lo and behold
we woke up from our dream feeling oh so old
how did we get so old?


LINER NOTES


Written and recorded by Chamber Band in the extended winter of 2012/2013. Produced and mixed by Michael Flannery at Bass Hit Studios in the neighborhood known to absolutely no one as “upper-Chelsea” New York City.

Co-Produced by Chris Littler and Sam Monaco with Chamber Band. Tracked by David Darlington and Michael Flannery. Mastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge, NYC, assisted by Rich Morales. Special thanks to Kyle Benson for appreciating antique lighting fixtures.

Cover image by Jasmine Wigandt, with script by Margo Dittmer. The original cover art and design, and minotaur image, by Aaron Nestor at Death to All False Metal. Painted minotaur image by Anthony Cerretani.

Chamber Band is Anthony Cerretani, Chris Littler, Sam Monaco, Andrew Sarrion and Ellen Winter. Lydia-Berg Hammond, Allie Scully and Kelly Tieger sing on select tracks.