Elaboration song by song
Heaven And Hell
The song “Heaven And Hell” which opens the album, has a sample of the film Apocalyps Now in the beginning. Supported by a slow paced melodic and iterative piece of music, we hear the following words.
Colonel Walter E. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now
Horror… Horror has a face… and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not, then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies!
Apocalyps Now is a movie that shows the absurdity of war and the horror that comes along with. But mainly shows humanity getting off track during wars. Kolonel Walter E. Kurtz speaks these words when Captain Benjamin L. Willard arrives at the stronghold in the deep jungle to eliminate the derailed kolonel. The words he speaks are displaying the two ways to cope with the horrors of war.
Who of the two (Kolonel Kurtz or Captain Willard) is to blame or who has got it by the right end is a though ethical dilemma. And so is the mindset written out in this song. It’s an ethical and introspective mindset. A mindset that weighs the pros and cons of sinful human behaviour. A mindset that deeply reflects about human actions. A mindset that tries to cope with the moral terror that is seen or experienced in life. A mindset that questions it all, in fact.
Also the strong and full voice of Stephen Bessac that starts off screaming while the drums make a faster pace create tension and suspense. Just like horror and moral terror do.
“Heaven And Hell” is a well-written and clear description of what is going on inside. Disbelief protects against the lies of other people in this world. The struggle between emotions of pleasure and pain interchange while seeking the path of wisdom. It’s like heaven and hell are imprisoned inside and trapped into human flesh. But eventually there are no gods and no masters that can dictate what’s good and what’s wrong. You won’t find definitive answers, there’s no salvation. No one that can guide you. In the end you are on your own and responsible for your own actions.
Forever War
“Forever War” immediately fully kicks in musically. It is one of the angriest songs. Sometimes it feels like only thoughts are free. And that the only place of freedom is inside the mind. The mind is free and the only weapon a person has. The lyric writer says that people can’t really tell what’s going on inside of each other, let stand understand each other fully.
This implicates that people can not judge each other as well. And that what people tell about each other is mostly projection or prejudiced. It’s merely perception and a vague or false image, so if you act with or against the person you perceive, it actually does not matter.
But then also about the inner consequences of being misperceived and misunderstood. The lyric writer does not like this and feels furious anger when this happens or people are mistaken. But also understands that these misperceptions lead to many interpersonal troubles as well and that this is a part of human nature forever. Hence the title of the song.
Fists of Fury
“Fists Of Fury” deals with the dark side of life. And how life can be difficult and hard to live. And darker thoughts and emotions can take the upper hand. Again the inner pain and struggle is described in this song. But also the will to get out of this spiral and to stand up without being dragged back in.
Winter Ends
“Winter Ends” is as the figurative title suggests about the end of the dark episodes a person can experience. Winter stands for the bitterness, solitude, emptiness that is experienced and the fight to get out of it. The distinct separation between inner and outside world is a recurring theme. Also the disconnection with the world or society is present.
Like The worms
“Like The Worms” The lyric writer compares several facets of the human earthly existence with worms that crawl the earth. We are no more than crawling and creeping creatures that are afraid and live in fear. Crawling without comfort inside, without love. Things are effectively as sad as they seem, he says.
As you can read the nihilistic side of live is described here. But in the same breath also the primitive side of humanity is pointed out. Mainly the worthlessness of life and the aimlessness of everything that happens. Searching for meaning and aim in human actions is what’s going on inside.
Kingdom
“Kingdom” again starts describing a surrounding emptiness that is perceived and felt. But now the lyric takes a turn into absolute darkness. Unleash the fiend that lies within you. Unleash the beast inside. And even consciously thinking about ways to hurt others. Reflecting about pure vengeance. Fight others with their own weapons. Give in.
Stephen Bessac
Better to reign in hell
than to serve in heaven
Nothing
“Nothing” is the consequence of disappointment in someone or something. An old emotional wound reopened to see what is left. But it’s all gone and lost. Witnessed right before the lyrics writer’s very own eyes. Solitude and nothingness is all that is left.
False Fame
“False Fame” is something totally else than the previous elan of this album, lyrically. It’s about crews and cliques that the lyrics writer sees right through. He sees the ties between members of a certain crew are weak and won’t last long. But also places certain or several crews in a perspective of time. And says that earlier in times the streets were even harder, meaner and tougher. And that back in the days this crew would have never have survived the violence. It would have drifted them apart. Alone against everybody else. Or ‘Seul contre tous’ in French.
Triumph
“Triumph” is felt when someone who did wrong gets what he or she deserves. This is justice and justice is thriumph. When someone puts people down by doing wrong and justice was laid upon them, then the victim’s honour is restored. So the victim of evil arises from the ashes and resurrects. And is triumphant.
No One Gets out Alive
“No One Gets Out Alive” deals with the Thanatos that might be in every human being. After trying to resist with countless efforts to such intentions. In dreams, the ultimate deed of aggression; killing them all has taken place.
Stephen Bessac
Cornered and trapped in the depths of my mind
I stand alone at the crossroads of my life
with nowhere to turn
and no one to trust
The album closes with a long outro. It’s a soundscape they create with noise. A haunting and devastating landscape that leaves you petrified, afraid and sharpens your senses. It is called “Nightstalker”. That’s the name of a serial killer that terrorized California in the eighties.
Conclusion
time perspective
This album is pivotal in the delivery of the band. The interest of the lyric writer shifts from introspection (mainly the content of the first full length Cornered) to studying the mindset of serial killers. Driven by feelings of pleasure and pain. Torn between the good and the bad. Stephen finds inspiration in books, movies, art that involve serial killers and even the work of Marquis De Sade is influential. And so the following album will be called ‘Les 150 Passions Meurtrières’.
Musically
The music of this album is more inspired by Metal than their earlier work and their later work as well. This album has an unequalled musical delivery, impossible to capture in written language. And the album in its entirety is considered the magnum opus of the band by many.
Album artwork
The album cover shows a masked man fighting deformed creatures. More or less the same theme as the on the album cover of Cornered but now more abstract and disguised. And without the women on the fighting man’s side. But also the first seven inch of the band shows the same theme in the cover art. A man fighting a heap of others. In the inside of the compact disc booklet, there is an excerpt taken from the Triumph Of Death painting by Pieter Brueghel.
Interpretation
This album is flirting with the thin line between healing and hurting. Being interested in the madness, the sinful nature and the dark side of mankind is sometimes necessary to comprehend your surroundings or to comprehend certain mechanisms inside your self. Or maybe even to train your ethical brain. And give you the power to judge human behaviour. To learn you make distinction between right and wrong. And to bless yourself with a moral compass. Out of darkness comes forth light! Although this album might have another influence with other people as well. Many people perceive this work differently. Who am I to claim that this is the only correct interpretation?