Infantry in the Middle Ages heavy toll on the English invaders of their lands. Adapted by the English, the longbow was nevertheless a difficult weapon to master, requiring long years of use and practice. Even bow construction was extended, sometimes taking as much as four years for seasoned staves to be prepared and shaped for final deployment. A skilled longbowman could shoot 12 arrows a minute, a rate of fire superior to competing weapons like the crossbow or early gunpowder weapons. The nearest competitor to the longbow was the much more expensive crossbow or Arbalest, used often by urban militias and mercenary forces. It required
Weapon (album) number of superimposed, ghostly sounds. "Glowbel" (stylized as "gLowbeL") acts as a microcosm of "Weapon" at large, containing equal parts of sinisterly conveyed aggression and optimistic melody. "Solvent" (stylized as "solvent"), the album's midpoint, remains compositionally unchanged from its original 1984 incarnation, but the version on "Weapon" is much sharper and more professionally recorded, with notably refined vocals and improved production. The second half of the album is darker and more introspective than the first. "Weapon" sixth track, "Paragun" (stylized as "paragUn"), features an overpowering chorus and a danceable rhythm, while the following song, "Survivalisto" (stylized as "survivalisto"), is slow