Derived from Cannabis Satanas And Cannabis Infernalis Compact and compressed Consistent in nature High above Mediocrity Superior, no compromise Hashishatan rise Unrivaled potential Manipulated and controlled Forced into growth Improvement ensured High above Mediocrity Superior, no compromise Hashishatan rise Strength in numbers Increasing powers Raise the stakes A promising future Hashishatan rise 'Around the release of the weed inspired POTROCKER debut STONED ELITE UNDERGROUND in March 2019 I already had plans of creating a hashish themed follow-up. November 4, 2019, I came up with the title HASHISHATAN, but it would take some time before I started working on new songs. The music and words for opening song Hashishatan Rise were written in August and September 2021, with some minor yet important lyrical changes in early January and early February 2022. The song is about the rising percentage of THC in hashish, caused by bigger competition and the development of new hybrid plants. The fictional subspecies Cannabis Satanas and Cannabis Infernalis mentioned in the lyrics refer to Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica.'

Left of the East And its brown golden fields To the realm of the beast Between the northern seas Right from the North From a centuries old source To the trading ports Along the endless shores Left of the East Right from the North To the realm of the beast Along the endless shores Traditions from Kush And the plains of Nepal To the Ketama coast North of the Libyan desert lands Horns of the North provide Half of the world’s supply Obscured Red Lebanese pride East of the Sea of White 'I came up with the main riff of this song on October 21, 2018, but in September 2021 decided to slow it down to give it more of an ambience and added a new up tempo riff for the second part. The first verses were written late August 2021 and completed by mid September. The lyrics were the final ones written for this POTROCKER release. They deal with North and East in various ways. Such as the historic hashish export from the East, the later relocation of the traditional hashish production centra from Nepal and the Kush region in the North of Pakistan and Afghanistan to the Ketama region and town of Chefchaouen in the North of Morocco which in turn is situated in the North of Africa (or Libya as it was called in the ancient past). By the way, Chefchaouen means “look at the horns”, reflecting the two mountain peaks overlooking the area where the town is located. The North in the title and lyrics also indicates the continent of Europe and the Northern parts of Europe. The Realm of the Beast is a reference to Scandinavia being the birth place of Trve Black Metal in the early 1990s as well as it being one of the markets for Moroccan hashish. Toward the end of the song Lebanon on the Eastern Mediterranean shore is mentioned -- which was the origin of Red Lebanese hashish that was popular especially in the 1970s and 1980s, but since has been overshadowed by hashish from Northern Morocco. The Sea of White is a historic name for the Mediterranean Sea, and served as the counterpart to the Black Sea. Finally, East is right of the North and North is left of the East. Right from the North in this context means straight from the North -- be it the Kush, Ketama or Chefchaouen region or the Second Wave of Black Metal.'

Solid and dark Crumble to fragments and dust Embed in strands Descend to ascend Highly concentrated Nighttime consecrated Blacker than coal Yet easy to mold Night of the dark hashish Drug-fueled harvest moon feast Night of the dark hashish Full moon high unleashed Burnt offering ordained Initiated by the flame Illuminated sky Clouded vision and mind Solid and dark Crumble to fragments and dust Embed in strands Descend to ascend Night of the dark hashish Drug-fueled harvest moon feast Night of the dark hashish Full moon high unleashed Full moon high unleashed 'The lyrics to this song were the first written for the HASHISHATAN release. I came up with the words in late August 2021 and inserted the second verse mid September 2021, in which I changed one line for the better in early January 2022. Writing the lyrics took me back to some gigs in Croatia with the doom stoner band TONER LOW that I play guitar for. The hashish that organizer Alan of the band STONEBRIDE provided us with was black as coal and left coal-like stains on our finger tips. Besides, the lyrics are influenced by common fictional descriptions of drug-fueled Satanic rituals. The riffs were created in August and September 2021 and originally meant for Left Of The East, Right From The North. However, the chorus riff was rewritten in early October 2021 and the main riff of Night Of The Dark Hashish changed about four times until I composed the one that ended up in the recording somewhere in November or December 2021. Because I had so many reworked main riffs that all sounded kind of similar and that I therefore couldn’t put in any future songs, I decided to use what I think was the third version for the ending the song.'

Blood from the Netherworld Born to burn Summoned throughout history Ancient eternal underground mysteries Rooted in the Earth Predestined from birth Horizon ablaze Distant arcane subterranean rays Otherworldly desire Sanguis Infernalis Blood dripping fire Sanguis Infernalis 'Like the POTROCKER debut STONED ELITE UNDERGROUND I wanted to close HASHISHATAN with a title in (pseudo-)Latin. I came up with the words Sanguis Infernalis and most of the lyrics in late August 2021, rewrote the first verse in early October 2021 and changed some words in early January 2022. The lyrics compare the resin that hashish is produced from to blood from Hell and touch on the historical use of hashish, but otherwise are about nothing in particular. Although most of the riffs were written in September 2021, some of the music dates back to October 23, 2019. In November 2021 the up tempo first riff got changed to a slow floortom driven one. The chord progression for the verses was influenced by the song Pardosa Lugubris of the 2009 Gravvtakkhe album by SLAUGHTER TOWEN, a local necro black metal one-man band that I played guitar for when from 2010 until 2013 (the final years of its existence) some gigs were done. There's also a NECROPHAGIA inspired death metal vibe going on, while the riffs that ultimately make the song come to a halt remind me of something that could be in a TONER LOW song. Coincidentally SLAUGHTER TOWEN’s Gravvtakkhe album was partly inspired by TONER LOW as well.'