So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
Through silver in blood
We stand judged not by
Eyes of flesh, when
Transit times cross
Prey vision consumed
Bleeding one
Bleed alone
Breeding love
Windstorm promised
The teeth strained
Eyes see glory
Rings end in slow
Death wash out
Your wound, rings
End in slow death
Don't crawl seek his burn of war
When the fallout comes he is fire
We stand judged not by
Eyes of flesh, when
Transit times cross
Prey vision consumed
Bleeding one
Bleed alone
Breeding love
Windstorm promised
The teeth strained
Eyes see glory
Rings end in slow
Death wash out
Your wound, rings
End in slow death
Don't crawl seek his burn of war
When the fallout comes he is fire
Lyrics submitted by Disposition_987
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It's not that difficult. Nuclear apocalypse.
If it weren't for those final lines, this would be difficult, but it's easy here and it makes all the other lines make sense as well.
The storm gets louder over the first half, and then crashes down into the continuous riff and repeated phrase at the end as you suddenly figure out what happened.
Perhaps no one has put it better than this reviewer from metal-archives:
"Right from the introductory seconds of the album - which feature odd industrial sounds, tribal drums, and a menacing guitar progression that ripples with volume and distortion - you sort of get that feeling you'd get if you were to wake up in the morning, walk out into your front lawn, look up into the distance, and watch in horrified disbelief as the sky itself cowers under an encroaching shadow that is slowly spreading across the atmosphere. Before you can figure out what the hell is going on, your ears are shattered by a desperate roar - "THROUGH SILVER IN BLOOOOOOOD!!!" - marking the transition from a purely suggestive sense of dread to something far more immediate. Guitars swell, still subdued as they crawl along, gathering strength much like a tornado that sweeps across the countryside, gradually becoming bigger and stronger; the bass, slightly distorted, shakes the very ground you stand on; the drums continue to pound out relentless tribal rhythms; Scott Kelly's pained yells fill your head, backed by the guttural intonations of Steve Von Till. Soon, the storm reaches its peak. The earth begins to split before you, the bleak sky begins to rain fire, and the skyline in the distance slowly begins to crumble to the ground. With several bowel-shaking bass slides, the same guitar riff that was but a shadow in the corner of your mind six minutes earlier explodes into a roaring, indiscriminate wall of sludgy ruin. The drums transform from a hypnotic pulsing to a creeping, pounding onslaught reminiscent of a wrecking ball methodically crushing its victims into dust. The next thing you know, you're on the ground. Your vision is blurred, your head throbbing. Sitting yourself upright, you look off into the distance. The storm is slowly retreating, and you are finally made aware of the utter desolation around you. The tallest buildings have been laid flat across the now barren landscape, the oceans themselves have been set aflame, and ash falls from a sky that sunlight no longer seems to touch. As the drums resume their primal throbbing and the guitars send shockwaves of undulating distortion across the diminishing soundscape, you notice other people around you. They are cold, empty... mothers clutch their children as their lost eyes sweep over a homeland that has been turned into a post-apocalyptic wasteland in the course of twelve minutes. As a final show of power, the music briefly reverts to the opening motif of rolling tribal rhythms punctuated by industrial noise before finally dropping out for good.
...and that was only the first song."