After The Noise

[VERSE 1 — deep baritone, almost spoken; clean guitar harmonics and distant bass] I thought I'd feel different. I thought something would shift. Like saying it out loud would loosen the grip. But morning came quietly. Same room. Same choice. Nothing waiting for me— **after the noise.** [LONG INSTRUMENTAL — bass pulses beneath eerie clean guitar; irregular drum pattern slowly enters] [CHORUS — clean melodic vocal, haunting rather than huge] **What comes after the noise? When anger loses its voice? When you've broken everything and still have to make a choice?** I thought silence meant peace. Turns out silence is void. And I can hear myself breathing— **after the noise.** [INSTRUMENTAL — low-tuned guitar enters with a slow irregular riff; bass moves independently] [VERSE 2 — restrained clean vocal] No revelation came. No sudden change of name. No hand reached through the ceiling to pull me from the flame. Just a room without an enemy. Just a man without a choice— but to finally hear what's left of him **after the noise.** [EXTENDED INSTRUMENTAL — progressive guitar solo; begins clean and fragile, gradually becoming distorted and dissonant] [FINAL CHORUS — stronger clean vocal, heavy guitars underneath but no screaming] **What comes after the noise? When anger loses its voice? When you've broken everything and still have to make a choice?** Maybe silence isn't peace. Maybe silence is a choice. Maybe this is where I meet myself— **after the noise.** [INSTRUMENTAL — entire band abruptly disappears; bass continues alone for several measures]