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Track 1 off the new album, "Calculating An Escape Plan". Started life as a song I wrote about getting out of my one horse town when I was young, but now has morphed into a song about issues of today, and how I wish I could just go to a smarter timeline.
Track 2: "Messiah".
This is a Rick song, an homage to Judas Priest and NWOBHM-style metal about a science-fiction messianic character.
Track 4: "Sleeping Forever"
We don't usually do ballads, but I really liked how spacey and dreamy this one sounded. Rick wrote the music, I wrote the lyrics and sang it. It's about having lived through 2020 and beyond, and wondering if it will ever just be okay again. (Also sideways about agoraphobia.)
There is a through line with this album, and how I placed the songs (I'm usually the guy who puts the songs in track order/set list order). "Calculating" was about seeing how fucked everything is and wanting to escape, "Sleeping Forever" is realizing there's nowhere to run and being frozen by that (in this case, literal cryogenic stasis), and the closer is about conquering self-doubt and finding the strength to face what's coming next.
Track 5: "Johnny Bullsh**"
A short punk song about Jair Bolsonaro (the ex president of Brazil) and his 2023 coup attempt. Eff that guy, eh?
Track 8: "Too Far From Nothing"
Rick twists and turns his way through this snakey alt rock song about...nothing?
Track 9: "The Winter Song"
A tune about Rick's time in North Dakota (not a great time, tbh, but kind of a great song; dude has something here). Mike busts out the mandolin and does some solos.
Track 10: "Run You Through"
Mike does a pirate wrong, and has to battle the pirate ghosts in his head. He also uses an Octavator pedal and I get to play the part of said pirate ghosts.
Track 11: "Doom Scrolling"
It really sucks we wrote this in 2020 and it's getting more relevant by the minute. (Also hope I don't have to resurrect "Quarantine-Age Angst" either, but You Never Know.) Mike wrote this one, and, of course, it's a Sabbathy Doom metal song.
Track 12: "Strangled, Crushed, Stabbed, Detonated, Shot, Bludgeoned and Pureed (But I'm Still Running)"
This song is kind of my personal anthem. It's about overcoming self doubt, depression, agoraphobia...a lot of things I was dealing with that ate my 20s and 30s alive. Now, I can honestly say I'm past that, and this is the time to start living my life.
It is possible to end the war inside. You can overcome. Use this song as encouragement.
Also, I've had that song title kicking around since 1997. Glad I finally got to use it!