Merciful - New Metal song, all clean vocals this time!

hey there.
a new tune, this one is again in the folky/post BM style of the last one, but is a bit more mellow, mostly, and all clean singing. It is also the first overtly Christian song I have done (if one discounts The Dream of Gerontius epic i did last year...) - i wrote the lyrics this morning whilst listening to the already recorded tune!

 I have tried to get the drums more in the mix, the guitars more upfront, and listening back i should really redo the second verse, but i can't be bothered! Let me know what you think...

Merciful

The weeping man sits by the fire
Staring into the sky
The stars above glitter
As they silently go by.
The man he cries
A wordless chant of woe
He voices endless despair
I am powerless to know.
what could be his grief?
And what should i say?
The man now staring
Staring into my soul

Forgive me
All of my sins
I am not wicked
But I am weak
He cannot truly know
But he knows
opened bare to him
Stripped and nowhere to hide

He has seen it all
Seen it all before
A cycle of selfishness.
We want, therefore we take
what truly is not ours.
Consequence be damned
I believe it should be mine...
Oh yes, he knows the human mind.
And so, another soul
Tries to be lost,
Lost for eternity.
You have made your own choice,
I gave you the power to choose

Forgive me
All of my sins
I am not wicked
But I am weak
He cannot truly know
But he knows
opened bare to him
Stripped and nowhere to hide

"You have been judged by the Great One,
and you have been found most wanting."

"Truly it is easier for a poor and humble man
To enter the Kingdom of Heaven, than for a rich and proud man."

Forgive me
All of my sins
I am not wicked
But I am weak
He cannot truly know
But he knows
opened bare to him
Stripped and nowhere to hide

Sweet dissonance.  At first I thought you were on drugs and then it clicked for me.  Nice!!!  Well done, Mark.  Some interesting lyrics.  you know, I think of dissonant things like that but the autotune in my head doesn't allow it.  I'm glad yours was turned off.  I think this is a song you can either lover or hate.  I love it!  A bit long for my taste.  Rik's post is what made me go through farther.  I'm glad I did.  Nice twist when the acoustic comes in.  The player kept freezing up on me if I tried to move the line a little so I didn't hear the ending.  I'll go back.  good work, Mark.

Sometimes it's easy to forget that guys like you, Rick, JamesYoyo, Robby etc are doing ALL the parts on your tunes..this sounds like a band, and a good one. Awesome.

Cool tune Mark - very creative and really well played.

You're really good.

The guitars astonish me as do the lyrics.

But the matured-subconsciously derived vocals need pitch work in the 1st couple of verses (as they rant sketchy for such an epic piece.)

I mean, the guitars blend and harmonize perfectly with the other orchrestrations.

This is lulling and inviting, much much more than the last piece I heard.

Something at 5:45 captures my soul in an ascension.
8:50 does it again ... it is wonderful.

The devoutness, maturity, directness, multi-harmony, majesty, hope-groans, etc. (there are oceans of it here) ... make this my fav of yours to date.

Also, this is sweetly and sensitively mixed.  I really love this and am consumed and blessed by it.

Hey, Mark,

Very cool and unique piece of dark metal music!

I like the sound of the bass during the intro, the vocals are great, and the guitars thicken everything up really nicely.  The drums are perfect for the genre, and I really love the acoustic changeup before the up-tempo change around the six minute mark.  The harmony guitar fills sound cool before and after the chant at 7:30, and the final solos are perfect.

Very nice work, buddy!
Bob

Rik - cheers for checking this out! believe me, this is in no way as dissonant as many modern BM bands - check out these dudes! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkGuapcwxOA for example

Warren - cheers for sticking with it. i know the autotune is turned off all the time, but i occasionally hit a right note! yeah, it's 10 mins but i think it doesn't drag particularly...hopefully...

Robby - where i go next...who knows? i seriously have a modern Christian pop song ready to record, but also a few death metal riffs urging to come out to play...like you and others i am a chameleon!

James - good point - no midi loops and such like used anywhere in here...not that that matters...i am honoured it is described as sounding like a band...i think this one gels quite well too! thanks!

Enjoyed it Mark - lots going on there - liked that acoustic sections. Sounds like a Maiden and Floyd influence.

-Doug

Hi Mark, just listened to that link you provided and you're absolutely right about dissonance in Black Metal, wasn't expecting that. Maybe I should try to play some Black Metal on my classical guitar  .


Greetings, Rik

Mark, it was good to hear you singing.  Like others I didn't expect the dissonance, but that is probably due to my lack of familiarity with the genre.  As with all of your material that I've heard the composition and execution are excellent with some genuinely interesting chord structures and changes.  The mix seemed to be spot on to me.

I had a quick look at the lyrics before listening, and thought that they were really good.  The only thing I found troubling (and this could just be a matter of taste or lack of familiarity with the genre) was that I felt like some of the long pauses between words, especially in the first verse, broke the flow of your message and detracted from the power of some fine lyrics. 
 
I just noticed your comment to Philip that you were now 'doing what you want,' and I think that's great.  You have a great deal of talent, and I look forward to being an observer on the journey.

Nice job Mark.

Very dark/moody but I like it.

gnarly. dark & twisted... guitars sound huge... I like the lyrics too...
well done Mark...

Sean - Arcturus, huh? yeah, they have a good mix of mellow and heavy. I'd say more Primordial and ...in the woods for this tune though ;-) Thanks for listening.

Bob - thanks for listening. i used the IKM Ampeg Uno plugin on the bass, and for me it sounds much better than the GR4 bass amps. clean at the start but thickens up nicely for the heavy bits.

Radio - dark metal boots?! what have you been eating?! glad you enjoyed it, as ever none of you are really (extreme) metal fans on here but you always give things a go. Cheers!

Tom - aloha! Mad guitars, oh yes, well i dunno, but i like to keep you on your toes.

Doug - you liking the acoustic bit - who da thunk it?!! sorry it was only 30 secs out of 10 mins!