4. The Longest Journey, Part I: The Fracture

Title: 4. The Longest Journey, Part I: The Fracture [Intro] [No drums.] [Sub-bass drone.] [Distant harmonic overtones.] [Clean guitar with slow reverse delay.] [One note pulses like a failing beacon.] [Vocals soft, controlled, and distant.] Before breath Before blood Before the first division Before eye Before tongue Before the wound of vision I was not awake I was not asleep I was folded underneath [Long pause.] [Tribal toms enter in 7/8.] [Bass enters in 5/4 against the drums.] [Verse 1] I watched the body from above Like borrowed meat in borrowed light The nervous system sparked and sang A crown of wires burning white Every cell remembered fire Every vein became a stream Every name I ever answered Fell away from me [Pre-Chorus] [Drums tighten.] [Guitars swell but do not fully enter.] [Vocals grow colder and more deliberate.] And something behind the silence said: There is no death There is no door There is no self Worth dying for [Chorus] [Heavy guitars enter.] [Wide layered vocals.] [Tribal toms under crushing downbeat.] I am the fracture I am the seam I am the hand inside the dream I am the witness I am the flame I am the thing that wears my name Break me open Pull me through Unmake the one Reveal the two Then fold the two Back into one The longest journey Has begun [Post-Chorus] [Everything drops except bass and toms.] [Vocals low and ritualistic.] Down Down Down Into the root of light Down Down Down Past the parasite [Verse 2] [Odd-meter riff in 9/8.] [Dry, close vocal.] [Guitars darker and more percussive.] I met a god with hollow eyes Carved from absence, dressed in skin It wore the face I call myself And begged me not to enter in It showed me grief It showed me pride It showed me every alibi It showed me fear With perfect teeth Still grinning from the other side [Pre-Chorus 2] [Whispered doubles widen left and right.] [Pressure increases slowly.] Are you the jailer? Are you the key? Are you the thing Pretending to be me? It answered only: Look again Look again Look again Look again [Chorus] [Heavier than before.] [More aggressive vocal delivery.] [Low octave vocal stack.] I am the fracture I am the seam I am the hand inside the dream I am the witness I am the flame I am the thing that wears my name Break me open Pull me through Unmake the one Reveal the two Then fold the two Back into one The longest journey Has begun [Instrumental] [Polyrhythmic breakdown.] [Drums in 7/8.] [Bass phrase cycles in 5/4.] [Guitars answer in 10/8.] [Middle Eastern-tinged lead motif.] [Riff mutates every four bars.] [No vocals.] [Verse 3] [Clean guitars return.] [Percussion becomes hand-drum-like.] [Vocals soft, wounded, and intimate.] In the chamber of reflected thought I saw a thousand versions kneel Each one holding up a mask Begging me to call it real Child of hunger Child of shame Child of anger Child of blame Child of silence Child of bone Child who learned to die alone [Build] [Heartbeat kick enters.] [Tom pattern accelerates.] [Each line grows louder.] I gathered them into my arms I named them without fear I pressed their faces into mine And whispered: You are here You are here You are here You are here [Bridge] [Massive riff enters.] [Aggressive, percussive vocals.] Face the wound Feed the fire Climb the spine Cut the wire Name the serpent Name the chain Name the hunger Name the pain Break the altar Burn the throne Kill the idol Made of bone Tear the veil Open wide Meet the god You keep inside [Outro] [Sudden drop to near silence.] [Only breathing, drone, and distant guitar harmonics.] [Vocals nearly spoken.] I thought the truth would lift me But it opened like a mouth I thought the light would save me But it swallowed north and south I thought that I was rising But direction had dissolved I thought that I was dying But the dying was the wall [Long silence.] [One enormous tom hit.] Only this [End]