Recording on the next Fireaxe CD, "Food for the Gods" is moving along steadily. The digital studio is working out very well and the sound quality is another major step up from that previously attained in "Lovecraftian Nightmares". The fifteenth and probably final preview track is now available as an mp3 for free.

The name of the fifteenth preview track is "Welcome to my Realm" and it is a cut of demonic power metal at its finest. Like many of the other songs on "Food for the Gods", the rough cut is only a part of a larger epic work, and since it is the finale for the entire three CD project, it is the most epic work of them all. In the last newsletter I asked the question, "Where can I possibly go with the final remaining track?", since in the next to last track the entire earth had been destroyed. The answer is to hell and to heaven, well, at least to the more popular versions of those places referred to in Christian mythology. The truth be told, you can always find someone who claims to be a Christian who holds their own novel ideas about the afterlife, or any other part of the belief system for that matter, which will conflict with my portrayal. So to them I would say, "Don’t bother to tell me that I’m wrong. I can find a million Christians who disagree with you too. Besides, it’s all bullshit anyway so lighten up."

The final epic work, "The Flame Extinguished", begins with a descent into hell. The cries and moans of sinners will fill your ears as they are roasted in the fires of hell for breaking what amounts to an entirely unclear set of divine rules. The guitar kicks in along with a chorus of screams which subsides as I get to vocalize as Satan himself. The music is a dark and heavy and it burns like molten metal. It’s very cool. If it sounds anything like the soundtrack in hell then we’re definitely going to enjoy ourselves down there. The verses describing the suffering, and the Christian God’s role in it all are poetic and profound and give way to a powerful refrain. Satan cries out, "What is our crime?", to which the billions of tortured souls answer, "We will not obey!", "We will not be slaves!", and "We do not believe!". It’s an excellent sing-along and I entice you all to join in so that you can get some practice. After the chanting, Satan promises that God will suffer for what he has done to everyone in hell and rest assured that in the remainder of the song, the promise is made good upon.

Some of the words I put into Satan’s mouth are these:

"It’s far better to burn in hell than to serve a tyrant, demanding and cruel."

This is my take on a famous quote which Satan utters in Milton’s "Paradise Lost". Any believer is going to have a problem with my depiction of their god as a cruel tyrant, but the more that you think through the whole idea of eternal suffering and torment for such "offenses" as imagining having sex with a woman, not believing that Jesus was the son of a god, or not being read your last rites by a priest, the more you realize that if such a thing was true then the Christian god belongs in the company of Genghis Khan, Joseph Stalin, and Saddam Hussein. A believer can argue that the offenses listed above aren’t the ones that get you into hell and then propose a list of only the most gross moral violations that almost all people would agree upon as being "evil" as being the ones that get you thrown into the lake of fire. This kind of rationalization is required by believers in order to prop up their concept of a just god. However, when it comes to the punishment fitting the crime, it is impossible to justify eternal damnation. Imagine sentencing a murderer to a year of torture. Every day, all day and all night the prisoner is subjected to whatever form a torture is most painful up to the absolute limits of his physical and mental endurance: electrocution, thumb screws, beatings, anal rape, the rack, anything, and every day the prisoner is made to scream and beg for mercy or death louder and more sincere than the day before. Does that sound like just punishment? For anything? Such a thing is beneath even the most depraved dictators, who usually tire of such meting out such treatment for more than few weeks and end it with release or death, but for the Christian god the torture that violators get sentenced to isn’t just for a year, it’s a sentence for all eternity, and all for not obeying his commands. That is the definition of tyranny, yet such a god has no end of apologists who will try explaining the basic tenets of their religion in any way they can to make him sound just, reasonable, and right. Christians love their divine dictator, and condone his tyranny, his cruelty, and his indefensible concept of justice.

Here on earth we know that all dictators, no matter how cruel or ruthless, always have a number of people loyal to them who will overlook and rationalize their gravest atrocities. These loyalists are rewarded for their service with power and privilege while those who are disloyal suffer under the dictator’s reign. Just as a dictator wields total power over his subjects in reality, in mythology the Christian god wields total power over the entire universe and everyone in it. All other monotheistic religions follow this pattern as well as most polytheistic religions which are centered around a single "all father". In all of these myths, the universe is a dictatorship. Big Brother is watching you all the time and you cannot escape judgment no matter what you do. Your only hope is to obey the will of the gods. That doesn’t sound like freedom, and there is no hope of being liberated from an all powerful divine dictator.

But then, freedom is another myth as defined ideologically today. In the west, people like to believe that they have the freest societies, but in reality the most freedom attainable can only be had in a dictatorship as an elite member of the ruling class. True freedom is having everything taken care of for you so that you can do whatever you want. It is having all your responsibilities disappear, having all barriers removed, and having the world at your beck and call. Such is the life of a king, a queen, a member of a royal family, or being members of a very wealthy or influential family. As long as someone is providing you with a life sheltered from all demands, you are living as free as you can be. What we call freedom in the west generally amounts to what you do with the few hours you have to yourself given the money that you’ve earned and the connections that you have made. If you’re poor and working two or more jobs, it isn’t much. Freedom in the west also allows you to vilify the leader of your country in the hopes that it might change things but seldom does. But the more influence and wealth you have, the freer you are no matter what the form of government, and the yearning for more freedom leads many to seize more power for themselves, or to follow someone who will add to their freedom. This is the way that dictatorships arise and once they gain momentum they are difficult to stop. The desire for more freedom can be addictive and it is often gained by depriving others of it. Very few people ever experience true freedom or can attain it, but if you are a Christian, you can enjoy true freedom in heaven after paying a price of suffering on earth. All you have to do is become one of your god’s toadies, pray to him, and follow all his rules, and you will be taken care of when you die. Even if you can’t find it on earth, freedom will be yours in heaven.

Toady is a good synonym for Christian, but there is a far more appropriate term to describe anyone who would bow to a ruler or concept, real or imaginary, in the hopes of gaining favors and avoiding punishment: coward. Like it or not, if you believe in an afterlife where you are rewarded or punished according to a set of divinely determined rules, you are a coward. And like it or not you have been and are being manipulated by people into serving their interests out of fear. The acquiescence of large numbers of people to the will of a man or an ideology is the root of dictatorships and the tendency towards bowing to those in power stems from a sycophantic dependency ingrained in people during their childhood. When a child is brought up believing in an ideological worldview, they become dependent on a powerful figure, whether it be a god, a dictator, a messiah, or any charismatic figure. Such dependency is maintained through periodic conditioning and the dependency on an authority figure can last a lifetime. Also, the figure upon whom a person is dependent can be changed to anyone who wields power given the right words, arguments, aroused feelings, or other methods of transference. In other words, children are taught to be cowards and toadies who are dependent on powerful figures, real or mythical, and the more the dependency is reinforced in childhood, the greater the extent to which they will follow any leader who they see as being similar to those figures. Religious beliefs, nationalistic feelings, and any other ideological leanings are evidence of this conditioning. If the conditioning is strong enough, a person is capable of doing anything asked of them by their leader no matter how atrocious, and they can forgive any immoral act their leader commits since anything their leader does can be defined as moral. Thus, ideological upbringing paves the way for fascism, and democracies are not immune since the children in democratic countries are often raised to stand in awe of their country’s ideals, history, and flag. Citizens enthralled by nationalism are akin to fanatics kneeling at the feet of a god-king. Any country, even the most enlightened societies, when faced with threat or hardship can fall victim to the spells woven by charismatic leaders and can wreak unparalleled destruction and suffering upon the world. Though they may claim to be courageous, their minds are ruled by fear.

But then we are all cowards, at least a little, for we are all obedient members of a larger whole governed by those who owe our views little consideration if any. Our companies and our governments run our lives without our consent for the most part and alternatives to this arrangement are in short supply. It is easy to rebel against all authority, to quit your job, not pay taxes, and declare your individual sovereignty, but such an act would quickly result in you being dumped into one of many "hells on earth" surprisingly quickly. And there are thousands of others willing and able to take your place and serve the system while being thankful for the opportunity. The leagues of the scared and suffering are hardly united in the struggle against those in power and will sell you out as fast as if it were a reflex. So we are forced along, fed through a system which we hope will treat us well if we obey, occasionally fighting the system when we think we can get away with it, and doomed to an existence which is mostly out of our control. And though we may deplore and fight to abolish the hells on earth to ease the suffering of others and provide a softer landing if we stumble and fall, they remain because they supply the fear that drives the machine. If you live in a hell on earth, do not expect those living the good life to pay your cause any more than lip service since they aren’t going to risk all for you. And if you think fighting your way up through the system is difficult, fighting to change the system is far harder. It may involve using the most horrifying tactics and making the greatest sacrifices that anyone has ever seen for the weapons at the disposal of the powerful are fearsome indeed. For in reaching up for heaven you are dragging the ones there closer to hell, so expect them to fight like demons to try to stop you.

In "The Flame Extinguished", I apply the theme of total war to the afterlife of the Christian mythology. Although the setting and characters are those from the myths, plus one character of my own, the song is an allegory for an apocalyptic revolution that may one day sweep the earth, a revolution that I implied, but did not describe, in the final part of the previous song, "On Earth as it is in Hell". Setting the song in heaven and hell made it far more epic and brought an intensity which could not be matched if I had been describing earthly events. Another powerful reason I decided to set "The Flame Extinguished" in the Christian afterlife is that simply destroying the world did not bring about the finality that I desired to depict. Although most Christians do not think that the end of the world is a good thing (and some are actually anxiously awaiting it), they can all rest easier believing that an eternity of peace and rejoicing await them no matter what happens to the world around them. Thus, the problems that we face on earth can become of secondary importance to Christians, as disturbing as that may sound. Do you still feel safe with President Bush’s finger on the button? But if the afterlife is fraught with the same issues and problems that we face in life, and if we are created in a god’s image then it is easy to imagine that it would be, it is naive to expect that all will be well forever after we die. So in essence I am trying to deny Christians their escapist alternative by destroying their cherished afterlife beliefs. I have chosen to do this not just because Christians believe that helping to solve all our social problems aren’t their number one priority, but because their beliefs are actually making those problems worse. Will hearing this track help to reform them? Probably not. I think that it will just enflame most of them. But I feel that the destruction of such dreams is essential to the pursuit of truth, which is where we might find our solutions, should they exist.

Also in the final song, but not on the rough cut, are several other stunning tracks. Following, "Welcome to my Realm" is a truly monstrous powerthrash anthem titled "Storm the Walls" which depicts an assault on heaven by an army of demons. This is one of the heaviest, fastest, and most powerful riffs I have ever written which matches the track’s theme perfectly. It is absolutely brutal. The angels get their due in "Aflame", which contains another powerful riff as well as a slow part with a choral accompaniment. It is truly divine. I wouldn’t be surprised if Christians ripped the first three tracks of "The Flame Extinguished" off "Food for the Gods" to burn on another CD so that the ending is more to their liking. But in my portrayal, "good" does not triumph over "evil", and an old character returns from the first CD to wreak havoc in "The Sum of All Fears". That track contains a long hellish rock-out section riddled with graphic depictions of horrific events and infused with screaming guitar solos. It’s a ferocious orgy of powerthrash. After that comes a track which needs no additional description beyond its title: "The Rape of Heaven". Enough said.

The final track ties everything together. I’m not going to spoil the ending until you’ve had a chance to hear it yourself. I’m only going to say that it is meant to be disturbing to the core of your being. It will make you think, think a lot, and think hard, which was my intent for the whole project.

You can download and listen to the new tracks at the Fireaxe IUMA site

Fireaxe has worked hard to create an environment free of external influences in which to create "Food for the Gods". No recording contracts were sought, no demands by outsiders were acknowledged, and no attention whatsoever was paid to what was popular, novel, or critically acclaimed. Standard industry practices were thrown out, the one CD limit was shattered, and the artist was given full creative control over everything. Evolution thrives in isolation and "Food for the Gods" is unlike anything which has come before it. However, it would not have happened without the support of people like you who are not prejudiced against underground music and who can overlook the shortcomings of self-produced CDs. So pat yourself on the back and enjoy this work when it comes out. You’ve earned it.