1. NEW WAYS TO BEAR WITNESS

Violence imposed with max severity
Plagued by misery we can’t give up the ghost
When all you know in life is partiality
You flee so easily from pillar to the post

We’ll hold the line as beatings grow and possibilities of fatalities

One day those victimized will revolt against a world that views them as less
Exposing all they know through a lens the stories told
Viralized with no end

Silent eyes awake to see official crime
By those that we rely deceiving their own kind
Whispers once low now they shout what matters most
Streaming evidence confirms what we have known

They tow the lies it’s no surprise dividing us in hopes of disharmony

One day those victimized will revolt against a world that views them as less
Exposing all they know through a lens the stories told

My children live in a different world and I hold myself to blame
As they redefine accountability

How can I ever know what’s good for you
When our faces are obscured by a screen
We need to touch we need to feel we need to hear
Or is it all just a dream

My children live in a different world and I hope it’s not too late
As they’re taught to love with humility


2. VILE MAXIM

I will accept no more
Heirloom of hate has run its course
The result of our cowardice a culture that educates
Through mass hypnosis
I know the strife it breeds
Toe the line or cut the strings
If you riot for change or look the other way and concede
They punish equally

Once more the instinct of disdain
Will feed their zealot ways
And they believe in nothing
Once more the instinct of disdain
It seems that nothing's changed
Vile maxim the masters of mankind

I won't weep for those
Relic of shame deserving burial
An out of date legacy that has run afoul
Scheduled for castration
I walk to carry the load
Shoulder the burden for the broken home
A weakness from within you will not perceive
Give no quarter no reprieve

Once more the instinct of disdain
Will feed their zealot ways
And they believe in nothing
Once more the instinct of disdain
It seems that nothing's changed
Vile maxim the masters of mankind

Now is the time we set the fires alight
I can't take anymore this cult of intolerance


3. MAP OF THE CREATOR

You mustn't cry for me
This is how it's meant to be
What I must do won't be forgotten
A million miles away
We're isolated by the space between
The map of the creator

We must inscribe the way
Hieroglyphic life contained
The more I learn the more that I know nothing
Now you wait in the wings
The dynasty of all beautiful things
Designed by the Maker

My mind attempts to wane and wander
All of my thoughts in vain
Detachment washes over me
It's never over

I won't return unscathed from this astounding futility
Isolation takes its toll subtly

Mother Earth has earned her challenge
Never to emerge the same
Cradling humanity
It's never over

I am tempted by thoughts of death
To crack the serenity
Contact has broken away
This is my reward


4. DEAD AS AUTUMN LEAVES

I lie alone in silence of what will never be
A cry alone empty silence dead as autumn leaves

We'll weave the truth crawling through rubble
And combing the wreckage for lies
Binding those you've victimized
All behold the hollow vacant eyes

When the dawn of the morning comes

I lie alone in silence of what will never be
A cry alone empty silence dead as autumn leaves

Resent what you became

We seek the truth pausing the cower
I lay bare your unblemished guise
When the fire engulfs and light wind blows
Stoking the pain consumed to purify

When the dawn of the morning comes

I lie alone in silence of what will never be
A cry alone empty silence dead as autumn leaves

Resent what you became

I lie alone in silence of what will never be
A cry alone empty silence dead as autumn leaves

Pretend that you could change


5. TRAPJAW

Pulling weeds of doubt and guilt
Clearing the path to clarity
Now my mind is free to think and ponder
No more squandering of time

Man will always try to surrender his free will
I have chosen never to obey
Wolves of the forest awake to a fresh kill
And you will always follow take the bait

I explore the inconceivable
The world is waiting at my door
Vicious tools of mass consumption
A trap we must ignore

Man will always try to surrender his free will
I have chosen never to obey
Wolves of the forest awake to a fresh kill
And you will always follow take the bait

I have put away belief in God
And Hell is now an afterthought
Shed myself from these restraints
And now my path is clear again

You trade the here and now for everlasting lies
Just a barrier to divide those side by side

They seek to define

Man will always try to surrender his free will
I have chosen never to obey
Wolves of the forest awake to a fresh kill
And you will always follow take the bait


6. THE SUBJUGATED

We've come prepared suspending all benevolence
You've bathed in arrogance
Our retribution we will bring
She flies on unforgiving wings
Your children in Heaven shall weep and grieve
As holy gates open and nothing leaves
So down the cattle chute you will move
And die for him who's died for you

Blinded by our pride we've missed the signs
We now beg of you Lord hear our cries

The scars you've made altered the plan
Our end will never be ushered by man
So down the cattle chute you will move
And the burden of Earth will be removed
You are quarantined to the abyss
With all life forms deleterious
You have lost all that you will ever lose
Your request to be saved by God refused

Blinded by our pride we've missed the signs
We now beg of you Lord hear our cries


7. INCREMENTAL

The lessons are severe
The pains of growth are needed
I do not posses the knowledge
By shielding myself from the rain

We bloom above the thorns we need
From the onset we ripen and rot
We know the bitterness of the soil
From intertwining long ago

The sign of things to come
The pleasure inside the suffering
Now guide the broken compass
Back to the point where you most learned

We bloom above the thorns we need
From the onset we ripen and rot
We know the soil's bitterness
From intertwining long ago

No more shall the weeds choke me
In increments I expand my horizon


8. THE CICADA TREE

A calendar underground
A life of slumber we won't be found
So new to wings and to flight
Our stuttered song a proof of life to be

Overwhelmed by the instinct of the chime
Death is near and we waste no time

We are the prophets of Spring
Sound of the drums we lull to sleep
We magnify under trees
Our chorus hangs upon the breeze to hear

A calendar underground
A life of slumber we won't be found
We magnify under trees
Our chorus hangs upon the breeze to hear


9. VERSES OF VIOLENCE

I never thought of you a friend
On whom my trust depends
You are a snake in all the tales where men went wrong
I never swallowed the lies
Or need them by my side
I can anticipate the darkness in the light

We never benefit from silence
It drags us down and now our bearings are unknown
We'll never understand verses of violence
Dragging us down

And I run forever from the glory and the praise
And I run forever till the end of my days

As we retrace where we went wrong
Gazed with wayward eyes for far too long

And now I look deep inside
To find words for the wise
We must eliminate the veil to see the face
And now we live in frightened times
With hearts ablaze
As we navigate this never-ending maze

We never benefit from silence
It drags us down and now our bearings are unknown
We'll never understand verses of violence
Dragging us down

Dragging us down

And I run forever from the glory and the praise
And I run forever till the end of my days

As we retrace where we went wrong
Gazed with wayward eyes for far too long

My coffin dripping black with pitch sealed by the sun
Dead flowers grip the outside weighing me down by the ton
The wisdom laid down at my feet I will never receive
I'm pulled down by the body of my own machinery


10. MOVING IN STEREO

Life's the same I'm moving in stereo
Life's the same except for my shoes
Life's the same you're shaking like tremolo
Life's the same it's all inside you

It's so easy to blow up your problems
It's so easy to play up your breakdown
It's so easy to fly through a window
It's so easy to fool with the sound

It's so tough to get up
It's so tough
It's so tough to live up
It's so tough on you

Life's the same I'm moving in stereo
Life's the same except for my shoes
Life's the same you're shaking like tremolo
Life's the same it's all inside you

Life's the same I'm moving in stereo
Life's the same except for my shoes
Life's the same you're shaking like tremolo
Life's the same it's all inside you


11. SERVITUDE

Who - who do you serve
For whose empire and for whose whims
Is your honor judged by men
Will you lie - will you lie if they say it's their will
Will you die or continue to kill
Until the generals all have their fill

Craven cowards
Armchair warriors
You will serve them well

What - what will you write
For whose pleasure for whose delight
Will your readers see your light
Will you say that the singer can't blow you away
That we hate people just 'cause they're gay
Women and children all stay away

To whom - whom do you pray
Do dollars wash your sins away
Does God love cold hard cash
Do you say if we all just continue to pay
All our ailments will all go away
And our souls all will be saved

God's not with you
Holy Roller
Your heart dwells in hell

Why - why do you run
Our awareness has spoiled your fun
Our eyes see you too clear
Will you hide from the joy of expressing our pride
For the leaders and people who've died
While combating your genocide

Chains are breaking
Minds are waking
Soon we'll serve no more