Now to a female far less wholesome than Anne! Illyria was a character who appeared near the end of the tv show Angel’s run. She was born out of a regular, much-loved character called Winifred Burkle, mostly from a need to beef up the character on the way to the show’s finale. She was sexy, cool and evil – but not too evil, mind. As newly ‘human’ she struggled with the concept of humanity and her new place in the world and ultimately sided with the good guys – namely, Angel and his team. I always thought there should be a cool heavy metal song about her, and in the absence of one, I tried writing my own.
I came up with the main riff and the ‘solo’ riff (after the second chorus) a couple of years back when I was trying to do some Sabbath-style doom tunes. The solo riff is basically a rip-off of an old Led Zeppelin riff from the song Out On The Tiles. The riff at the end is obviously from Sabbath’s War Pigs. I kept hearing it in my head as a continuation of the main riff, so it seemed right to include it – especially since, just before it, there’s the line “She used to lead her pigs to war”. The chorus riff is actually something I came up with during a year 7 music class while relief teaching at school!
The music’s mostly me, but the drums are actually a sample from the rather Zeppelinesque song Watching The Skies, by The Bangles, believe it or not. The spoken word stuff is from various episodes of Angel’s last season, particularly the last episode, Not Fade Away, when Illyria and team Angel gather in the alleyway to face a horde of demons. By the way, this is the first track where I used my new bass guitar! You might notice a couple of show-off plunks I did on it during the second chorus.
Illyria, 4:30 mins
Illyria, by Russell Forden
…A dark queen of the ancient realm
Imprisoned in a mystic cell,
Escapes and takes a human form
To wreak destruction on this world.
But time has passed, it is too late
To seek revenge on those she hates.
The ancient realm from which she came
Is just a devastated dimension.
…A crisis on Team Angel fell
When chrysalid of human shell
Grew out from one for to be born
And wreaked destruction on her form.
It killed the one they loved the most,
Found her a most deserving host.
But deep within it could not kill
The spark of her humanity.
Its true, she has gone away.
The Old One is here to stay.
It’s come from a realm so far.
Queen of darkness, Illyria.
This mortal world treats her unwell,
She’s lost the power that she held.
The army that she had once lead
Has turned to dust a long time dead.
Now left to wander through this earth
She seeks a test of her true worth.
She finds it when she helps the team
To fight and then defeat the Black Circle.
Its true, she has gone away.
The Old One is here to stay.
It’s come from a realm so far.
Queen of darkness, Illyria.
She’s learning about humanity,
It feels just like insanity.
The mortals fight a losing game,
A struggle that will end in pain.
She used to lead her pigs to war,
She wishes she could kill some more.
They gather in the alleyway
And wishes they are horses today.