Lyric discussion by Syco 

Cover art for Melting City lyrics by Between the Buried and Me

BTDAN, I agree, this could be the case. The "burning smell" portion of the song makes me almost believe it to be true.

However, in previous songs on the album, we know that the "black box" is a machine built by the night owls that will destroy the planet.

I feel like the "burning smell" is him remembering the fall of his own planet, and maybe he is drawing parallels from that.

My Interpretation