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
The Will or the Way
Cephalic Carnage Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The ignorant man they envoy, promising eternal life.
Wise men have the answers to the afterlife, heaven, hell, or a planet in the sky, in the ground to rot in a box, where do we go when we die.
They think the sun is our god, without it, we could not survive.
Pious souls, rectify our differences, years of unrest, the gods are depressed.
Why pretend these wars will ever end, religious disease, a never ending trend,
Religious anomaly salvation is hate.
Kicking people is bad people should never do it. The will or the way.
The lyrics to Cephalic Carnage's song The Will or the Way talk about the religious conflicts that occur due to differences in beliefs, and how these conflicts often end in violence and death. The first line, "Do what you wilt, yes I am the way, trust in me and I'll heal your pain" seems to be the voice of a religious leader, who promises salvation and healing if people follow his/her teachings. However, soon after, the lyrics suggest that this promise of salvation leads to hate and conflicts among different religious groups. The line "Religious anomaly, salvation is hate" hints at the idea that religious salvation leads to hatred towards those who do not follow the same beliefs.
The lyrics also touch upon the fact that there are often no clear answers to the questions about the afterlife. Wise men may have answers about heaven, hell, or reincarnation, but there is no concrete proof of where we go after we die. The line "where do we go when we die" is a reminder that death is the great unknown, and that religions often try to fill this void with their own beliefs about an afterlife.
Ultimately, the song seems to be a commentary on the destructive nature of religious conflicts, and how they are often fueled by a need to be "right". The line "the will or the way" could refer to the idea that people must choose between their own personal desires (will) and the teachings of their religion (way), and that these two may clash if they lead to conflict and hatred towards others.
Line by Line Meaning
Do what you wilt, yes I am the way, trust in me and I'll heal your pain.
I am claiming to be the answer to all your problems. Follow me blindly and I will make everything better for you.
Religious anomaly, salvation is hate, Yet people die every day, religious conflicts for their right to pray, going to their grave, dead from their faith, Kicking people is bad; people should never do it.
It's strange that religion, which is supposed to bring salvation, causes so much hatred and death. People fight and die for their right to worship, but all it does is lead to more violence. It's wrong to physically harm others.
The ignorant man they envoy, promising eternal life.
Some people are taken advantage of because of their ignorance, and are promised eternal life in exchange for their blind faith.
Wise men have the answers to the afterlife, heaven, hell, or a planet in the sky, in the ground to rot in a box, where do we go when we die.
Some believe that there are wise men who have the answers to what happens after we die, whether it's going to heaven, hell, or another planet. But in reality, we don't know for sure where we go when we die.
They think the sun is our god, without it, we could not survive.
There are people who worship the sun as their god, believing that without it, we wouldn't be able to survive. While the sun is important for our survival, it's not a deity.
Pious souls, rectify our differences, years of unrest, the gods are depressed.
We hope that those who are devout in their religion can help resolve our differences, as we've been struggling with unrest for years. We wonder if the gods are unhappy with how we've been treating each other.
Why pretend these wars will ever end, religious disease, a never ending trend,
We shouldn't pretend that these religious wars will ever come to an end. It seems to be an ongoing issue, a sickness that never goes away.
The will or the way.
You have the choice to follow your own desires or to follow me as the way to salvation. It's up to you.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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