Clamavi de Profundis (Latin for "I called from the depths") is a music group inspired by religious and classical music but expanding beyond those genres as well. They compose their own music and also perform classic songs. Their music is usually placed on their YouTube channel. Clamavi de Profundis' music is most often either Christian hymns or fantasy music inspired by Tolkien and other modern fantasy writers. They have a particular focus on fantasy dwarves with many of their songs being based on the stories around them. They also often perform songs and poems written by J. R. R. Tolkien, but with their own musical compositions.
Many of Clamavi de Profundis' songs take place in constructed fantasy worlds of their creation. They have two worlds they currently write songs about. One is a world called Erna ("Irna" in the dwarven language) created by mysterious Guardians. The second world of theirs is currently unnamed but the tales from it are centered around a mighty dwarven fortress called Hammerdeep and the people who live there.
Clamavi de Profundis' YouTube channel can be found here
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Works of music by Clamavi de Profundis with their own page
Clamavi de Profundis provides examples of:
- Alien Sky: Irna's sky contains nine moons.
- All for Nothing: Mordaar is slain and the Vordan claim Negankerdak meaning Rilfar accomplished nothing except destroying five dwarven kingdoms.
- Always Chaotic Evil: Subverted and Deconstructed. In the world of Clamavi de Profundis' music, most orcs are violent raiders, but it is possible for them to be good in the right circumstances. Also, it's implied most end up so bad because as children they were beaten and tortured to keep them in line. On the other hand, demons are implied to actually be this.
- Action Girl: The fairie Elwyn is half the size of a normal person but still manages to kill a powerful and evil ogre by shooting his single eye.
- An Aesop: Boic Bravesoul ends on the message that wealth has no value on its own, and thinking it has leads to suffering and greed. Material wealth serves only to serve a greater purpose. True wealth is found in a person's soul.
- April Fools' Day: On April's Fools, they sometimes release song covers that are... a tad less serious than usual, though still on theme and performed with all the gravitas they always provide. Examples include Heigh-Ho, When There's A Whip There's A Way, or Diggy Diggy Hole.
- Ascended Meme: On April's Fools day, the group released a cover snippet of Heigh-Ho as a joke. Due to popular fan demand, they eventually released a full version of the cover.
- Black Swords Are Better: Negankerdak, the treasured weapon of dwarven kings in Erna, is a sword made of indestructible black diamond that was created by the earth goddess herself.
- Badass Boast: The demon gives one of these before trying to kill Boic.I am death and I am gloom
I am everlasting doom
This chamber gapes to be your tomb - Bolivian Army Ending: At the end of "Oshrjad Bonebreaker", the other orcs find Oshjrad and it's unclear whether they will kill him or if he'll be able to escape again. He does!
- Bowdlerise: Their cover of "Diggy Diggy Hole" changes "suckled from a teat of stone" to "molded from a heart of stone."
- Cain and Abel: "The Battle At World Stone Keep" features two minotaur brothers: Korivar who is the leader of the six heroes and Gerkesh who kidnapped the princess setting the whole quest in motion.
- Cherubic Choir: Fitting with their religious inspiration, they do this often in many of their songs.
- Cliffhanger Copout: The Battle at Worldstone Keep picks up where Oshjrad Bonebreaker left off without explaining how he escaped the other orcs.
- Colossus Climb: In order to fight the demon who's taken over Hammerdeep, Boic jumps onto its back and holds on before driving a diamond into its skull.
- Connected All Along: Inverted. Many fans assumed the world of Erna introduced in "The Loss of Negankerdak" was the world which Hammerdeep is in. Clamavi de Profundis later revealed they are actually two different settings.
- David Versus Goliath: Boic Bravesoul, a small dwarf, challenged a great demon to single combat. Boic wins by climbing the demon's body, then pierced its skull with a jewel.
- Downer Ending: While they have plenty of stories that end on happy notes, Clamavi de Profundis has a surprising amount of songs with sad endings, including "Oshrjad Bonebreaker", which ends with a Bolivian Army Ending as the orcs catch up with Oshrjad, "The Loss of Negankerdak", which ends with the loss of the dwarves' prized treasure, and "The Battle of Sauron and Finrod Felagund", which ends with Finrod falling to Sauron's power.
- Dug Too Deep: In "Boic Bravesoul", the dwarves' greedy, excessive mining for wealth ends up leading them to the home of a demon that promptly enslaves them.Our fathers sinned through avarice; the open hand became a fist
And greed: a miser's drunkenness.
The dwarven treasure trove increased, incessant mining roused a beast
The eldest born of fire released. - Elves Versus Dwarves: At the end of their rendition of "Diggy Diggy Hole," an elf comes to fill in that hole.
- Eye Scream: How the monstrous ogre of Worldstone Keep meets his end courtesy of Elwyn's arrows.
- Expy: The demon who temporarily takes over Hammerdeep before he's driven away is clearly inspired by the Balrog from The Lord of the Rings, being an ancient, fiery, horned monster who lives deep beneath the earth and brings ruin to the dwarves when their mining breaches its lair.
- Failed a Spot Check: No one at the tavern notices Oshrjad is an orc until he points it out.
- From Bad to Worse: First the legendary treasure Negankerdak is stolen by a Guardian that they mistook for a demon, and then wars break out amongst the dwarves the end with every one of their heroes being killed.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Oshrjad Bonebreaker began life as a stunted, abandoned orphan, but eventually grew to be a feared and powerful warlord leading a great horde.
- Genre Shift: The Battle at Worldstone Keep switches from classic, Tolkien-inspired High Fantasy to a more Dungeons & Dragons-styled Heroic Fantasy complete with a party of adventurers in a place referred to as a dungeon, powerful magic weapons, an elf paladin (one of the classic D&D classes) and an epic quest to save a princess.
- Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Every male hero uses a melee weapon while the fairy uses a bow to great effect.
- Good All Along: The "demon" who stole Negankerdak was actually one of the Guardians.
- Good Costume Switch: Subverted, Oshrjad keeps his pelt and animal skull belt even after he turns good.
- God Is Good: The Guardians who create Erna are presented in a very benevolent light.
- Good Is Not Soft: The dwarves of Hammerdeep are friendly, but violently fight and destroy their enemies who threaten them.
- Guilt-Free Extermination War: Defied. The suggestion of wiping out the orc species is treated as being so awful that even the background music becomes more somber when it's brought up. Though, orcs in Clamavi de Profundis' story aren't actually Always Chaotic Evil, they just have an extremely brutal culture.
- The Hero Dies: Mordaar falls in battle and Negankerdak is taken from him.
- High Fantasy: Most of their songs that aren't Christian hymns have this aesthetic. They've even directly composed music for many of J. R. R. Tolkien's songs and poems.
- Holy Is Not Safe: Negankerdak, the sacred unforged sword created by Irna, states that its true wielder could use the sword to either destroy the world or save it.
- Last Disrespects: After taking over Worldstone Keep, the evil creatures and demons go out of their way to defile the graves of the heroes buried there.
- Made of Indestructium: Black diamond cannot be cut, broken, melted, or shaped in any way whatsoever. Whatever shape it happens to take when forming in the bowels of the earth, that's the shape it will keep. The dwarves of Irna refer to it as "the Humbler" as a result. The sword Negankerdak is considered their most precious treasure because, by either sheer coincidence or direct divine favor, it's a chunk of black diamond that just so happened to set in the form of a perfect, keen-edged sword, making a weapon both utterly unbreakable and utterly unique.
- The Magnificent:
- After defeating the demon and freeing the enslaved dwarves, Boic becomes known as Boic Bravesoul.
- During his time as a warlord, the orc Oshrjad is referred to by the moniker Oshrjad Bonebreaker. After deserting his people's warlike ways, he becomes Oshrjad the Unchosen One.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Rilfar hid Negankerdak partially to protect it from the Vordan. Him later entrusting it to Mordaar means that a single one of the Vordan is able to kill the lone dwarf and take it instead of having to fight through the entire dwarf nation to steal their most sacred treasure.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The evil minotaur Gerkesh kidnapping the princess leads to the evil creatures in Worldstone Keep being destroyed or driven out after the High King rallies a group of heroes (including Gerkesh's brother) to save his daughter.
- Only the Chosen May Wield: While Mordaar can use Negankerdak, he isn't The Chosen One so he can't use it's true power meaning even with such a sword he stands no chance against a far more skilled opponent.
- Our Demons Are Different: Demons are typically depicted as ancient, powerful and unspeakably evil beings, often found deep underground.
- Our Dwarves Are Different: The dwarves of Hammerdeep and Irna are fairly typical fantasy dwarves — they're short, stout folk with a preference for flowing beards, a great love of wealth and craftsmanship and rowdy natures prone to conflict. They also have a tendency to be brought to grief by their excessive greed.
- Our Fairies Are Different: Fairies are present in the world of Hammerdeep, where they're short, insect-winged women who inhabit wild forests.
- Our Orcs Are Different: Orcs are present in the world of Hammerdeep, where they're a barbaric, warlike people whom other species fear and hate. They're almost invariably evil and destructive people, but it's implied that this is something instilled in them by a cruel upbringing rather than innate nature.
- The Paragon Always Rebels: Inverted. Oshrjad Bonebreaker, one of the strongest and most feared orcs, is the one who turns good.
- Party of Representatives: In "The Battle At World Stone Keep", the warriors who brave the titular fortress to defeat the evil within it are a dwarf, a minotaur, a faerie, an elf, an orc, and a human.
- Pelts of the Barbarian: When he was still a warlord, Oshrjad Bonebreaker wore a massive pelt as a cape.
- Poor Communication Kills: Negankerdak was taken from the dwarves by the Guardian Rilfar. He never actually told the dwarves this, and they assumed it was a demon who had robbed them of their great treasure, leading to much strife and warfare as they tried to find it.
- The Power of Hate: The Dwarves of Hammerdeep defy their race's aversion to the sea because their desire for vengeance against the dragons is just that strong.Dwarves detest the sea,
We hate these dragons more! - Quest to the West: "Vinland Saga" depicts the journeys of Erik the Red and Leif Eriksson as they push progressively farther west from Iceland, then the westernmost point of Norse civilization, to braze storms, ice and the unknown seas in their quest to discover new lands to settle.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Boic can't destroy the demon who had taken over Hammerdeep, so instead seals it underground again.
- Skeletons in the Coat Closet: When he was still a warlord, Oshrjad Bonebreaker wore an animal skull on his belt.
- Standard Fantasy Races: Dwarves get the most focus, but the world containing Hammerdeep also has humans, elves, orcs, fairies and minotaurs as civilization-building peoples and dragons, ogres and demons as monstrous races. Also, it's mentioned that when the High King asked for heroes to save his daughter only the fairies, elves, dwarves, minotaurs and humans sent a champion which implies there are even more races who haven't appeared yet.
- Talking Weapon: Negankerdak speaks into the mind of Mordaar, telling the dwarf that he is chosen to guard the weapon until its wielder is revealed.
- Token Heroic Orc: Oshrjad is currently the only known good orc, though it's heavily implied that there could be more.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In "The Secret of Negankerdak", it's revealed that the Guardian who stole Negankerdak was genuinely trying to help the dwarves get over their massive egotism, but taking the sword set off wars that ended with every dwarven hero dying.
- Vikings In America: "Vinland Saga" is a dramatized account of the Norse westward expansion, starting with Erik the Red's expedition towards Greenland and continuing into Leif Eriksson's exploration of the American coasts.
- Voice of the Legion: The demon in "Boic Bravesoul" speaks with a strong reverb effect, making it seem as though multiple voices are all droning at the same time when it speaks.
- When Trees Attack: They covered "The Ents' March," where the living trees (ents) attack the orc stronghold of Isengard.
