In 1998, the band released their debut album, ‘Conforming To Abnormality’ and instantly hit the road in support of the album. The band laid waste to metal fans nationwide with crushing sets at the Milwaukee Metalfest, Dallas Grindfest, March Metal Meltdown, Ohio Deathfest, and the November To Dismember, stopping at nothing to bring their futuristic sounds to the masses.
Soon following, Cephalic Carnage joined the Relapse Records family. The band's initiation consisted of joining labelmates Soilent Green, Today is the Day, Exhumed, and Nasum on the 1999 Relapse Records Contamination Tour.
In December 1999, Cephalic Carnage recorded their Relapse debut, ‘Exploiting Dysfunction’. Shortly after, their U.S. tour with labelmates The Dillinger Escape Plan showcased some of extreme music's most forward-thinking and jaw-dropping live acts. Cephalic then amazed the crowd at the 2002 SXSW Festival in Austin, TX (alongside labelmates Mastodon and High on Fire, debuting new material in front of a crowd of unsuspecting music fans.
In 2002, the band unveiled 'Lucid Interval,' a high-impact dose of unique sounds combining various styles of heavy music with elements of jazz-fusion and an ultra-keen sense of progression. Recorded by longtime friend Dave Otero, ‘Lucid…’ accelerated their creativity while delivering a thought-provoking eye-opening to the musical status quo. Press accolades poured in upon the album's release (being described as “insanely gifted” by AP) and the band hit the tour trail yet again.
Cephalic Carnage hit the road as part of the 2003 Relapse Records Contamination Tour (with labelmates Mastodon) before joining up with Shadows Fall, Unearth, and Hatebreed for U.S. treks. Cephalic finished off the 'Lucid Interval" World Tour with European runs with Exhumed and Macabre.
Upon returning home, Cephalic Carnage began writing for what would become the ‘Anomalies' album. ‘Anomalies’ showed Cephalic’s skill for intermixing spine-tingling passages of hypersonic grindcore, slow motion doom metal and far-out rock and roll, beckoning listeners to enter their outlandish musical world.
With ‘Anomalies’, Cephalic once-again made an impression upon the press world with terms such as “progressive and pulverizing” (Revolver), “challenging” (Rock Sound), and “inventive” (Decibel) swirling around the album’s release in March of 2005.
’Anomalies’ was backed by endless touring from the band. Touring that included headlining North American and European tours and appearances at Independence D Fest (Japan), SXSW, New England Metal and Hardcore Fest, and many more. Cephalic was in the company of the up-n-coming metal-elite during these tours including Mastodon, Shadows Fall, High on Fire, Origin, Strapping Young Lad, The Black Dahlia Murder and more.
The first music video from ‘Anomalies’, for the track “Dying Will Be The Death of Me”, also exposed the band in the TV medium for the first time ever. Appearances on worldwide music television shows, including MTV2’s “Headbanger’s Ball”, the FUSE network's “Metal Asylum”, and more, exposed the band to legions of new fans.
Winter of 2006 saw the band completing work on their own Denver based recording studio, creating a very nurturing home to incubate ideas for their brand new full-length, ‘Xenosapien’. To record ‘Xenosapien’, the band called upon Dave Otero once again to produce and engineer the record. ‘Xenosapien’'s mind-bending, technical insanity/mastery collides head on with the band's brutal metal roots to form their most immediate, hard-hitting, and finest album to date.
‘Xenosapien’ is set for a May 2007 release date and sees these unconventional visionaries ready to lead metal well into the 21st century.
Cephalic Carnage:
Lenzig Leal: Vocals
Zac Joe: Guitar
John Merryman: Drums
Steve Goldberg: Guitar
Nick Schendzielos: Bass
Cephalic Carnage online:
www.CephalicCarnage.net
www.myspace.com/CephalicCarnage
www.purevolume.com/CephalicCarnage
1992
Sleeprace
Cephalic Carnage Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Awakening from my dismal slumber, I now see well in the dark, bodily dismorphia has crippled me, starving and dehydrated, I claw my way back to life.
Hibernate.
Somehow I did survive, the only man alive, spared from oblivion, extinction of man. A comatose being, living in a haze, fortitude slips away, dreaming to survive, inebriated life, sleep another day.
I now dwell this lonely earth in search for living things, breathing still while the world died, why death passed over me, to repopulate this dying race, rid the planet of hate!
The lyrics to Cephalic Carnage's song "Sleeprace" tells a post-apocalyptic story of a person who, on the brink of an apocalypse, is buried deep underground where they are exposed to high levels of radiation. The radiation bleaches their skin and turns them into an albino. The nuclear crucifixion caused by the apocalypse obstructs the sun, and toxic gas burns their eyes, causing them to asphyxiate on the poisonous air. The person is wounded and screams until they become unconscious, and they eventually go into suspended animation for six months.
When the person awakes from their slumber, they find themselves crippled and disfigured. The fortitude of the person gradually fades away, and they dream of survival, hoping to sleep another day instead of facing the harsh reality of their new existence. Despite being the only survivor of the apocalypse, the person is resolute to go on and find other living things, in the hopes of repopulating the dying race and ridding the planet of any hatred.
The song "Sleeprace" explores themes of survival in the face of adversity, the resilience of the human spirit, and the pursuit of hope and redemption in a world of darkness and destruction.
Line by Line Meaning
On the eve of the apocalypse, were entombed underground, radiation bleaches our skin, albino's we have become.
As the world ended, we sought refuge in the earth, but the radiation has left us pale and sickly.
Nuclear crucifixion eradicates, obscures the sun away, toxic gas burns our eyes, asphyxiates my lungs, wounded and screaming, unconsciousness gleaming, suspended animation over comes, six months go by, cataplexy it takes toll.
The explosion destroyed everything, blocking out the sun and poisoning the air. We were left injured, screaming and unconscious for months, only to be plagued by more physical and mental challenges.
Awakening from my dismal slumber, I now see well in the dark, bodily dismorphia has crippled me, starving and dehydrated, I claw my way back to life.
I woke up from my coma and while I can see in the dark, I am emaciated and disfigured, yet I force myself to come back to life.
Hibernate.
Lose consciousness and return to my slumber.
Somehow I did survive, the only man alive, spared from oblivion, extinction of man. A comatose being, living in a haze, fortitude slips away, dreaming to survive, inebriated life, sleep another day.
I am the only survivor on this planet left to slowly fade away into unconsciousness. As I struggle to hold onto life, I am consumed by dreams and alcohol, finding solace only in sleep.
I now dwell this lonely earth in search for living things, breathing still while the world died, why death passed over me, to repopulate this dying race, rid the planet of hate!
I wander this empty world in search of life, questioning why I was spared. Yet, I am driven to find others and help bring humanity back from the brink of extinction and change the world for the better.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind