"Scrutiny"
 
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
Days go marching by.
There and back, I never wait
For a confident reply.

Yeah, truth is stark and leaves its mark
As limited constraints.
And the most difficult part is accepting what the future may bring.

It seems like a lifetime of scrutiny.
Wither the path, whether worth the fee.
A lifetime of scrutiny.

And it seems as though I can't be sure of anything
Anymore.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
Years go flying by.
No one seems to hesitate
Or cast an earnest eye.

Yeah, judgment comes in many forms
But never scarce or shy.
And the litany is long as the confidence is strong in their delight.

It seems like a lifetime of scrutiny.
Prejudicial waters wash over me.
A lifetime of scrutiny.

And the words just don't equate with sense or sanity
Anymore.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
Faces and the names.
Shattered hopes and stolen dreams
And no one left to blame.

Yeah, is it possible to win
This pointless mortal game?
'Cause when death comes it's swift and, my friends, we end up all the same.

Oh, it feels like a lifetime of scrutiny.
Wither the path, whether worth the fee.
A lifetime of scrutiny.

And it seems as though I can't remember anything
Anymore.

"Prodigal Son"
 
Oh, can't you feel the nostalgia?
I wonder about ya, Modernistocrat Horatio Alger.
Clever, never hesitating in the baiting,
Ever waiting for the canticle of manacles abating.

Did you ever forget, you had a regret?
And what you only guessed at
Might still be waiting?

When the prodigal son, with a caroming shadow of hate,
Comes to land at home,
Well he's a mourning star with a champagne heart
At his curtain call.

And Father never understood the way the work gets done.
Don't look at me; no, I ain't one.
No prodigal son.

Don't look at me; no, I ain't one.
No prodigal son.

When everybody about
is ready to bout y'all about controversial values,
Don't you think you'd better readdress the level
Of the cowardice rising to drown you?

Did you ever connect or come to reject,
Or even inspect
The dreams that hound you?

When the prodigal son, with a caroming shadow of hate,
Comes to land at home,
Well he's a mourning star with a champagne heart
At his curtain call.

And Father never understood the way the work gets done.
Don't look at me; no, I ain't one.
No prodigal son.

Don't look at me; no, I ain't one.
No prodigal son.

When you least expect it he's going to run,
Like the blood-red path of the western sun, oh yeah.

The prodigal son is waiting,
Waiting for his moment to come.

Well hell no, don't look at me.
Can't you see? I ain't one.
No prodigal son.

It ain't me; no, I ain't one.
No prodigal son.

"The Grand Delusion"
 
If I could only get the tools, the stimuli and the molecules,
Frozen moments in time,
I could be the archetype, a credit to the genotype,
Reprogram your mind.

But the storybook sages
Fill their pages,
Hiding from the warming sun.

Limitless distractions
Give no pause
To distort a precious delusion.

Delusion.
Precious delusion.

Yeah, did you see the moralist retort and raise his fist?
"You can't make man a machine!"
I can see the edifice crumbling in foggy mist,
Razed by discovery.

But the storybook sages
Fill their pages,
Hiding from the warming sun.

Limitless distractions
Give no pause
To distort a precious delusion.

Delusion.
Precious delusion.

Delusion.

"Lost Pilgrim"
 
Pilgrim, those are dry and bitter tears,
And lonely eyes look way beyond your years.

Pilgrim, did you drink the mercury?
Your lips turned blue and you're struggling just to see.

You were too far gone to carry on.
Now your life has stalled,
As you march ahead yet go no place at all.

Pilgrim, when you left them all behind,
The loneliness destroyed your able mind.

Pilgrim, see the writing on the door?
It's taking you back to a place you were before.

And the next in line paces your stride,
Waiting for your fall,
With a hope that lies in a hidden master's call.

Pious eyes,
Ignoring passersby.
Headlong to their grave.

Don't despair
This world of toil and care.
This pilgrim lost his way.

Pilgrim, will you ever find your call?
Is truth so pure that you're willing to risk it all?

Pious eyes,
Ignoring passersby.
Headlong to their grave.

Don't despair
This world of toil and care.
This pilgrim lost his way.

"Submission Complete"
 
Dedication's the price you pay.
The initiated are coddled and caged.
Before you walk, as soon as you crawl.
Hope is pointless when you're stuck in the trawl.

Fuck the freshman lectures and brandishments.
They just betray impoverished accomplishments.
The puppet masters fear originality.
They tighten up the tethers and they shackle your feet.

Submission complete.

Young recruits never have a chance.
Enticed to the drill, admonished to dance.
Early to rise and early to shine.
Life is long, but the end is nigh.

Break the guilty trammels from yesteryear.
Remember how rejuvenation conquers all fears.
Lowly opportunists take commanding roles
And hawk ultimatums so their weakness won't show.

The sad reflection
Of dead ambition.
You live for nothing, submission complete.

Yeah, break the guilty trammels from yesteryear.
Remember how the taste of failure makes it all clear.
Lowly opportunists take commanding roles
And hawk ultimatums so their weakness won't show.

The sad reflection
Of dead ambition.
You live for nothing.

Expectation.
Indoctrination.
Life's damnation, submission complete.

Dying on your feet.
Submission complete.
A total defeat.

"Fields Of Mars"
 
In the garden, where he was cast out by the Lord,
Flames an omnidirectional sword,
For he as ever failed to gather up the fruit
And thus was banished with his loot.

He cantered aimlessly through endless permutations of night,
Seeking a purpose and the meaning of kin.
And when it finally came to him,
You could've mistook it for the meaning of sin.

The women wished him well (women wished him well)
Every time he cast off marching to hell.

Now, if you've never seen a terrible sight,
Stroll the garden of earthly delight.
Maybe we can make it right.
Someday, I'll see you high above the Fields of Mars.

High above the Fields of Mars.

He knelt down before the unholy mob
And cried, "War is God!"
Gleaming outwardly with great pride
And prepared to die.

The women wished him well (women wished him well)
Every time he cast off marching to hell.

Now, if you've never seen a terrible sight,
Stroll the garden of earthly delight.
Maybe we can make it right.
Someday, I'll see you high above the Fields of Mars.

High above the Fields of Mars.
High above the Fields of Mars.
High above the Fields of Mars.

Who cannot fight anymore
Will never love any less.
That kid inside of murder
Must be committed...

To live a life of hostility,
Never asking what it means...

When mother nation,
Blood and religion
Sanction killing
Upon the Fields of Mars.

High above the Fields of Mars.
High above the Fields of Mars.
High above the Fields of Mars.

The Dissent Of Man (2010)



1.   The Day That The Earth Stalled
2.   Only Rain
3.   The Resist Stance
4.   Won't Somebody
5.   The Devil In Stitches
6.   Pride And The Pallor
7.   Wrong Way Kids
8.   Meeting Of The Minds
9.   Someone To Believe
10.   Avalon
11.   Cyanide
12.   Turn Your Back On Me
13.   Ad Hominem
14.   Where The Fun Is
15.   I Won't Say Anything
16.   Finite / Bonus Track

"The Day That The Earth Stalled"
 
Do you remember when
We were young, adventure had no end?
Those were the days, my friend.
But I'm not talking about that at all.

Do you remember when
You marred my future with a sickly parasitic pall?
That was the day that the earth stalled.

That was the day the earth stalled.
On the day that the earth stalled.

Friction, bonds and gravity,
All harmonic motion ceased.
Life itself could not maintain
From that singularity.

Try to withstand a magnetic storm
With no one to keep you warm.
Waiting for the rest to fall,
Since the day that the earth stalled.

That was the day the earth stalled.
Since the day that the earth stalled.
That day that the earth stalled.
On the day that the earth stalled.

"Only Rain"
 
Hey scientist, please save us from our rainy days,
Because your counterpart in the magic art is manufacturing judgment day.
There's a fell wind blowing out of the east, bringing famine, drought and plague.
Well now, at least that's what they say.

Rain fell like judgment across my windowpane.
Said it fell like judgment, but it was only rain.

Well I know what's wrong and I know what's right.
And I know that evil exists, sure as the day turns into night.
When a man gets down on his knees to pray, you know he'll find what he is able,
But chances are he'll find it either way.

Rain fell like judgment across my windowpane.
Said it fell like judgment, but it was only rain.
It fell like judgment across my windowpane.
Said it fell like judgment, but it was only rain.

Oh Lord, have mercy on a humble man,
Lost in the wilderness without a guiding hand.

Rain fell like judgment across my windowpane.
Said it fell like judgment, but it was only rain.
It fell like judgment across my windowpane.
Said it fell like judgment, but it was only rain.

"The Resist Stance"
 
Seeds of rebellion lay outside your front door.
If you nourish them and water them they'll grow into a healthy what for?
And if revolution isn't what's in store,
How can you care anymore?

It's a dangerous slip, a conscientious shift.
In the spirit of resistance, you gotta hold your grip,
Lest the state of your resolve makes you quickly devolve
To a fundamentalist, yeah.

You're an archetype they can pin to the wall.
When you cling to your convictions like a farm animal in its stall,
Never thinking of the bigger world outside,
As they take you for a ride.

It's a dangerous slip, a conscientious shift.
In the spirit of resistance, you gotta hold your grip.
Because passion unabated can be readily conflated
As belligerence; go.

It's a dangerous slip, a conscientious shift.
In the spirit of resistance, you gotta hold your grip.
And the verdict won't be kind 'cause they're desperate for a viable alternative.

Take a stance (take a stance), the resist stance.
Take a stance (take a stance), the resist stance.
Take a stance (take a stance), the resist stance.
Take a stance (take a stance), the resist stance.