As Above

As Above

As Above... was an album released in 1982 by Þeyr, an Icelandic new wave and rock group. It was issued through the Shout record label on a 12" vinyl record. Consisting of 12 tracks, As above... contained English versions of the band's hits. A song that stands out from the rest is "Killer Boogie", a work which has been considered an attempt by the group to break through on the international market. "Killer Boogie" and "Rúdolf" are featured again in Rokk í Reykjavík (Rock in Reykjavík), a concert compilation released in 1982 with the presence of other renowned Icelandic bands. There is also a video for this compilation which was edited on VHS format only. "Rúdolf" contains a sample of Hitler saying "Around us is Germany. In us Germany marches. And behind us Germany follows". It was a fragment taken from Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will), a propaganda film directed by Leni Riefenstahl in 1934. However, the record inserts credit A. Schicklgruber as the impersonator of Hitler’s voice. The title of the album is thought to be inspired by Killing Joke's What's THIS For...! from 1981. It sarcastically refers either to the band's name or to their previous works (in the sense that "as above" is written on application forms). It is sometimes also considered to be half of the occult maxim "as above, so below," which originates in the second line of the medieval alchemical text called the Tabula Smaragdina or Emerald Tablet. The remaining songs of this album were never reissued since the masters are believed to be lost. By 2001 Þeyr’s members and friends released a CD titled Mjötviður til Fóta which included songs from their second album, Mjötviður Mær and the single Iður til Fóta, both releases from 1981.

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