Hey Nicky,
This is something we came up with for Specs on giving some insight to the lyrics. Luckily I saved this.
The Falcon's Cry
Troy/ZH While I was in Oregon Shawn Ames and I drove to the top of these beautiful green mountains. We had to drive up this steep and narrow trail to get to the top. Once we did we got out of the truck and looked over the edge and the view was breath taking. It made us feel small and we were scarred to get to close to the edge. After the long drive back down the mountain we went back to Shawn's house and started working on the lyrics. We actually started working on the clean part of the song first. I started singing "At last I can breath, At last I can see". From there the song took shape. The story begins with an old man's hike up to the top of the mountain. Along the way he battle predators and becomes more and more tired and cold from hiking throughout the night. Eventually he makes it to the top of the mountain and falls down to his knees in awe from the beautiful view surrounding him. He closes his eyes and raises his hands to touch the sky as the water runs below the falcon cries.
My buddy Manuel's father has been dealing with Parkinson's disease for years. The shaking got worse and worse and before all of this he use to love riding his motorcycle up the mountains. One day he decided to buy a motorcycle so he can take a ride up the hill again. He wanted to prove to himself that he could still do it. He took the ride and when he made it to the top he started to cry. He was so happy that he was able to make that ride one more time.
Evidence of The Unseen
The lyrics to Evidence of the Unseen were written by Shawn Ames. I would say the lyrics are based off to his commitment to his wife and two boys. With a spiritual connection tied into the lyrics (Shawn is very much into his religious beliefs). The impossible dreams of giving the ones you love and care about most the World. To let these feelings inside drive you everyday of your life by just believing.
Embrace
Embrace Is an exotic instrumental that has a great mix of many structures to create its sound. The acoustic guitar chord structure gives you a middle Eastern vibe and is layered with a Chinese scale, harmonized with a Pentatonic that extends into an octave inversion of these scale formats. For me using these different styles into one song creates a beautiful melody that goes deep into my ears and all my attention is directed to the music. Chris brings another element later into the song with his chanting. With a song that already has so much movement, Chris brings another wave with his voice to circulate the highest point. I'm very proud how this came together.....Jasun Tipton
Zero Hour
Zero Hour: This is something Troy, Mike and I jammed out in the studio and really wrote itself. Troy and I start out with an exotic pattern and halfway through the segment Troy bounces out to follow the drums. The 2nd to the last part Mikey follows the double muting segment that Troy and myself provide with an amazing twist of patterns that are very articulate, separated and in sync. The very last segment the guitars provide an awkward harmony while Troy rolls out two octave Arpeggios on the bass, tapping the sixth and seventh intervals....Jasun Tipton
Specs Of Pictures Burnt Beyond This song was actually the first to capture my imagination. Specs of Pictures is meant to be parts of memories Burnt beyond means lost and forgotten, maybe to unbearable to remember or the mind blocks them out. I went through a very difficult time in my marriage right before I joined Zero Hour. I almost lost it. That is where the inspiration for this song came about. I love the power this song puts out both musically and vocally.
FACE THE FEAR
Face the Fear is a song Troy and I got together and collaborated on. This song is basically about facing your fears in life. However difficult they may be. Everybody runs into a road block in there life eventually. This song is about that. About the difficulty of overcoming this fear. In two days it was dialed and ready to record. This song will always remind me of picking Troy up at the airport in San Antonio and the cool time we had working on this song. Metal.
I Am Here
Growing up in my late teens I discovered I had a condition. It was anxiety. I had my first attack when I was nineteen and let me tell you, Its no fun. You feel like the world is ending, Its so terrible. I have struggled with this since then and dealt with it. But it was a fight. When Jason and Troy said this is your song bud, have fun wit it this is what I came up with. Such beautiful guitar tone and simple melody, It brought out these smooth simple vocal melodies. So I write about it and here it is. A battle I will not lose.
I love the lyrics and concept for our CD "The Towers of Avarice". That would take a lot to explain and Erik did an amazing job putting that together. I hope to give some titles and maybe some insight to our upcoming 2008 release.
METAL!!!
Jasun
