Before I get into the descriptions of the individual tracks I'd like to take a moment to talk about the CD in general and some of the early feedback. Overall the responses are very favorable with the consensus being that while it is another great Fireaxe epic it is not quite as good as "Food for the Gods". I can understand that for the most part seeing as how it is impossible for a single CD to measure up to the epic nature of a concept work nearly three times as long. However, I do think that "Eternal Devotion to the Dark Goddess" is better than any single CD from the previous work considered by itself, so please don't be disappointed. My intention was to create an eighty minute story, similar to the fourteen epics on "Food for the Gods", and specifically one that contained a more in depth look at the modern world than I was able to portray in "Waiting for Tomorrow". So, in essence, the new CD is more like a part of the larger themes explored in "Food for the Gods" and so it naturally can't be as epic, but I feel that it is certainly more refined, profound, and well produced than any previous Fireaxe work.

Also, there is a difference in the feel of the two projects. In "Food for the Gods" there were a lot of aggressive "testosterone driven" style tracks, like "Chariot", "My Name is Joshua", "Where Eagles Fly", etc., where the protagonist is a highly motivated and ruthless conquering hero. In contrast, on the new CD only "Masters of the Universe" contains that style of music, although "Viva la Revolucion" is close to imitating that form. Instead, the new CD is more subtle with the protagonist doing much more suffering and much less winning than the protagonists in the previous work. While that may be a let down, it is by design. "Eternal" was intended to be a long descent into a personal hell that ends in a type of triumph that only a nihilist could love. But the protagonist doesn't have a "Sum of All Fears" or "Cut or be Cut" moment at the end of the new CD which is what some of you might have been expecting. However, I intentionally avoided putting such a moment in the CD because that was not the direction that I wanted to go. In "Eternal" the protagonist has been denied triumph and glory all his life. His victories as an executive are tainted and incomplete, the woman he loved was defiled before he could win her hand, and his "revolucion" was merely a cynical ploy to help him exact his revenge. There is no big bang at the end, just a number of defiant verses and an initially confusing final passage. When the last track draws to a close you might find yourself asking "what just happened?" but upon closer examination, and I'd like everyone to examine Fireaxe music closely, you will see that his plan was a carefully orchestrated ruse intended to draw the antagonist into making a terrible blunder using the principles discussed in the previous tracks. I'll go into further detail in later editions of the Burning Blade, but I did want to point out the reasons why the CD is how it is for those of you who have already had a chance to listen to it. Anyway, on with the song descriptions.

The second and third tracks of "Eternal Devotion to the Dark Goddess" are what I like to call my one-two punch, where I lay siege to the ideologies of our modern world on both the left and the right. As much as the CD, and all Fireaxe in general, may sound like a typical antiwar leftist screed, the more that you look into it the more that you'll see it is a balanced attack along a number of different fronts. Ideology in general, or at least the inevitably corrupted versions of them, was, is, and always will be the primary target of Fireaxe both in music and in writing. The new CD is no different, and this theme is clear in the second and third tracks.

"Masters of the Universe" is a scathing attack on cutthroat capitalism with numerous and often vulgar references to various deceptive, unethical, and brutal business practices which have once again risen to prominence in the modern corporate culture. The arrogance of the protagonist saturates the song as well as his extreme aggression in the pursuit of profit. I've got a lot of favorite lines in this song but perhaps the one I like best is the spoken part where he says, "R.O.I. Look it up." For those of you not economically literate, the abbreviation stands for Return On Investment, which is another way of saying "profit". It's simply the amount of money that is returned to you when you invest in a particular project, asset, or company. I like the line because it captures the protagonist's attitude so well, as if he is saying, "If you don't understand what I'm talking about then you're an idiot and you deserve to be poor".

That attitude personifies the modern right wing, although there is little which resembles true conservatism in today's version of economics. The protagonist's harsh attitudes towards bleeding heart liberals, the poor, and the working class are shared by many "conservatives" and find sympathy in the halls of right leaning institutions. And although he does attack organized religion it's only to point out that it's all a big scam, just like the ones that he runs with his business. The critique here is that organized religion isn't about morality, it's really all about power. And while there are a few stabs at leftist ideas here and there, the song mainly assaults the right by showing the extreme side of that perspective and how corruption has turned it into a voracious monster.

Another aspect of the song that I like is the similarity between the world of cutthroat capitalism and the domain of street gangs. This track compares well with the typical egotistical machismo and disrespect for others that can be found in a large number of "gansta rap" songs. From the rhyming to the profanity to the rapid-fire lyrics the rap and metal genres merge in what I believe is a completely unique way. Although the musical style is all metal, the influence of the rap culture and its reflection in the modern business culture come together to reveal that high brow and low brow are not necessarily two completely different things. Both the street thug and the young executive can embrace similar strategies and attitudes towards rivals and have the same success in their rise to the top. Add to that the fact that both corporations and gangs are highly motivated to sell product and eliminate competitors and one can see that the "law of the jungle" applies similarly to both cultures. The closer that you look, the less of a stretch comparisons between the two become.

Now, the depiction of corporations in the song is extreme and I do not believe that it is typical of what goes on in the average company, large or small. Likewise, "gangsta rap" music isn't an accurate portrayal of a typical day in the inner city, but both do a good job of capturing the part of both cultures that is pulling them in a sociopathic direction. There have been many times throughout history where the cultures of the boardroom and the mean streets have turned from civil to brutal and back again and these days it appears that egotism, greed, and a win-at-all-costs attitude has pervaded too much of our society. But beyond just pointing a finger at all that is wrong with cutthroat capitalism, "Masters of the Universe" delves deeper, unearthing the driving forces behind the madness. The song reveals how the protagonist began humbly, trying to play by the rules in a culture where backstabbing, cronyism, and deal-making are the preferred methods of advancement. It doesn't take him very long to realize that he is going nowhere and so he puts his drive to succeed ahead of his personal ethics and grabs for the brass ring. Who can blame him though? If breaking the rules and chucking one's morality have no consequences then aren't the rules really that there are no rules? The protagonist is merely adapting to his environment.

In the middle of the song there is a slow part which digs further into the issue of how the protagonist got to be where he is. His success bore great fruit, even though it came at a price, but we find out that it is not his personal ambition that drives him as much as it is his desire to be a success in the eyes of his parents. His inner conflict rages as he sees how happy he has made his mother and father, hiding the fact that he had to use methods that they would not approve of to attain his position. But were their expectations reasonable given the ends that he had to go to in order to achieve them? The great moral questions of our age abound here, especially when the protagonist utters the following lines:

"This is what you wanted.
This is what we dream of.
This is what we worship.
This is what brings us closer to God."

Capitalism has become the dominant ideology in the west and indeed the entire world, replacing democracy which had made all religions subservient to it. Capitalism is more than a monetary system though, it has become a system which assigns value to things beyond that which are considered commodities and services. At this point in history it should be obvious to even the most pro-growth proponent that the excessive and growing consumption by the vast majority of the world's inhabitants is evidence that the many values systems of a variety of cultures, traditions, and religions have been supplanted by what can be measured in monetary terms. Success is defined by terms like "bigger", "better", and "more" rather than by more aesthetic qualities. This is not to say that we are focused entirely on getting rich, but rather that wealth is the measure by which we evaluate too much of our world. If someone is rich we assume that they did something right to become that way, and if they are poor we assume that they made mistakes or did something wrong and deserve their status. Thus, wealth becomes a measure of morality as well as success. Also, we judge ideas, talent, skill, and a great number of things by how easily those things are translated into wealth. The mark of a good idea or a good performance is revealed by how many people are willing to pay for it since money has become the measure of quality. One dollar equals one vote in the "democracy" of capitalism.

Think about how you see the world. If someone says that they have a good idea, is your first thought that they should try to market it or that the proof that it is a good idea is how well it sells? Such a standard makes Fireaxe an utter failure. When someone says that they graduated from a prestigious university do you assume that they will be able to land a well paying job or think that something is wrong with them if they do not? Do you see your job more as a way to make money than as a way to do your part in our society? And if you became rich, would you quit working? Most people would argue that while they do enjoy material things that their values system is separate from economics, but after the grotesque spending and consumption spree that I've witnessed over the last decade or more all that I can say to that is that most people are completely full of shit. If our values were strong we would laugh at advertising rather than embrace its irrational context. No, instead we have been sold a make-believe world of achievement, enjoyment, and self worth defined in monetary terms that is every bit as virulent and absurd as any dogma put forth by any of the world's religions. Our ideology has become capitalism, or perhaps more accurately, Consumptionism, which is a heresy of overindulgence that lacks the discipline of the notion that debts must be repaid and the tenet that a stable and well regulated money supply is essential to social well being. Thus, when the protagonist in the song declares that becoming rich "is what brings us closer to God" he is referring to the worship of a new religion called Consumptionism.

There is one more bullet left in "Masters of the Universe" and that occurs in the very next verse. Before we hypocrites do our customary "tsk tsk" dismissal of the protagonist's perverted values system, which of course we do not share, the protagonist reveals two very inconvenient facts about why we accept things the way that they are. The first is that most of us have few issues with someone doing immoral things so long as they are serving our interests, especially when it is our leaders doing those immoral things. Instead we make excuses for them and don't try to reign them in like we do others who break our code of ethics. This type of moral relativism is practiced by many and especially by those who claim to have strong morals. The second inconvenient fact is that even if we don't suffer from moral relativism, we must still align ourselves with someone whom we may not approve of so that we do not suffer under the rule of an even more malevolent leader. This is not to say that all leaders are despicable tyrants, but in the absence of an ethical standard which keeps the ruthless out of power there inevitably manifests a "race to the bottom" where sins committed by one ruler effectively permit other rulers the leeway to do the same. And so, down, down, down we go.

Now, about the music on the track. "Masters of the Universe" was the most troublesome song that I've ever written as far as getting it to sound and feel the way that I wanted it to. Over the course of the writing and recording of the CD I changed the tempo of the song at least twice, reworked the drumming several times, altered the guitar parts more times than I care to remember, and recorded the vocals in a number of different styles before finding something that I liked. For some frustrating reason the song just kept coming up flat. I'd record it one way and then on subsequent listens it would sound lifeless. So I would make some changes and think that I had it rocking and then discover later that it still hadn't gelled right. I could have given up and stayed satisfied with what I had at any time, but my perfectionism took over and the end result is what you are hearing on the CD, which is pretty much exactly the feel and flow that I wanted when the lyrics were first written.

The end result is fantastic. The music is aggressive and relentless, matching the protagonist's approach to business. The thrashy guitar work and syncopating rhythms scream "Fireaxe" at the top of their lungs and I am glad that this song is well liked by many a faithful listener. I now know for a fact that all my work putting this song together was worth it. I love just about everything about it, including the style, which is reminiscent of the formula that worked so well for metal bands of the eighties. Yes, the solo, the breakdown into the slow part, and the ABACAB format aren't exactly breaking new ground, but given the unique directions taken in the rest of the CD it's not a bad thing to have a well placed throwback to the era of foot-stomping, head-banging metal as part of "Eternal Devotion to the Dark Goddess".

Regarding the lyrics, Octavio Ramos and I teamed up to co-author this song and I feel that it contains some of his best and most brutal analogies to date. What can I say about my friend Octavio? He was truly inspired when he wrote this song, and the vast majority of the lyrics came from his hand. Not unlike the way that the music went, the lyrics also took several iterations before they reached a final form. Octavio would send me something and I'd slice it and dice it and send it back and then he'd work on it and send me back something which was even better than before. The final product is simply filthy. It's sharp, vicious, and oh so very corporate. The age of modern capitalism is well represented by "Masters of the Universe".

Which brings me to the final question to be answered about this track, what exactly is FUD anyway? In the song there is a line about "gonna FUD you in the ass" and you might be wondering if that's a typo or that I meant to write another word beginning with 'f'. The answer is no, I meant to say FUD and it is very much a euphemism for the corporate version of sodomy. FUD is an abbreviation which stands for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. It is a tactic that originated in the software industry a few decades ago and takes advantage of the fear, uncertainty and doubt in computer users about whether or not a new application, game, upgrade, or download will work with their system or potentially screw things up beyond repair. A lot of people have a least one horror story about how when they installed something on to their computer that something else stopped working or that their computer would crash or lock up on them at inconvenient times and as a result they did not want to re-experience the pain of reformatting their computer or paying the expense of having someone else fix it ever again. Thus, people will tend to want to buy only reliable software and equipment. This is where the FUD strategy comes in. If a large corporation, like say, Microsoft for instance, wanted to sell its applications over those of its competitors, it could do so by implying that installing non-Microsoft products on a Microsoft operating system might result in compatibility issues and other problems, while using Microsoft products for everything ensures that everything will work perfectly. Then, out of fear of a computer crash, uncertainty that third party software would install correctly, and doubt that tech support would be able to help them fix any problems, users would be more prone to choose Microsoft. Voila! FUD! Of course, in reality Microsoft went much farther than simply implying that there might be problems when using third party software. In fact they were caught altering the way that their operating system supported certain applications so that their competitors' products would not work correctly while Microsoft products would. This strategy was named "embrace, extend, and extinguish" and in essence allowed Microsoft to wield its position of having a monopoly on operating systems as a weapon against those who tried to write software that competed with their products.

In any event, that is just a taste of the some of the unsavory tactics practiced at some of the largest corporations in the world. Investigate others at your own risk as you might lose faith in the system and in humanity in general as a result.