1. Though its earliest ech… Read Full Bio ↴There are multiple artists named Pharaoh.
1. Though its earliest echoes ring back to 1997, American heavy metal act PHARAOH released its debut album via the Cruz del Sur Music label in 2003. Paradoxically entitled After the Fire, the album’s robust and resilient songwriting caught the ears of selective metal fans worldwide. Three years later in 2006, The Longest Night fell and was an immediate underground favorite. As modern and hi-resolution as it was pure and orthodox, The Longest Night also boasted a substantive production that allowed all ten songs to resonate in full splendor.
Once again inspired by the fans’ response to their hard work, the songwriters of PHARAOH laid plans to make yet another leap forward, and by the middle of 2007, a third album was ready for production. Returning producer/engineer Matt Crooks and the band set to work without hesitation, starting in July and continuing for the remainder of the year. The band had already agreed on titling the album Be Gone several months before entering the studio, because a singular theme emerged early in the songwriting process. Songs such as the radiant "Speak to Me" and the bottomless epic "Buried at Sea" examine the inherent flaws of mankind, pitted hopelessly against the seemingly omniscient and unwavering power of nature. Similarly, the soaring strains of "Dark New Life" and sinister waves of "Telepath" offer narratives from a world where the human race is blazing paths to literal and emotional extinction. The inevitable disappearance of mankind is the overarching theme embodied in Be Gone’s musical storytelling.
Musically, Be Gone features songwriting that is at once complex and compact. Matt Johnsen’s now-trademark layering of guitars creates a rich and fertile backdrop for master-vocalist Tim Aymar’s powerful and arresting expressions. The rhythm section of bassist Chris Kerns and drummer Chris Black keeps the momentum high, deftly supporting all of the multi-layered melodic invention happening at every turn. Always mindful of not only the genre’s traditions but also its own, the band this time invited Riot guitarists Mark Reale and Mike Flyntz to contribute hard-cutting solos to "Dark New Life", and regular guest guitarist Jim Dofka performs a dazzling spot on "No Remains". Because the four bandmates form various songwriting combinations, PHARAOH’s albums have a characteristic diversity and depth that few other bands achieve.
PHARAOH’s songwriting and studio performances have reached greater heights with each successive album. Grandiose and inviting, Be Gone out-classes its predecessors, and few heavy metal groups have ever sounded as erudite as PHARAOH does, ripened from a decade of intense work together. Like the albums before it, Be Gone is the band’s invitation to all free-thinking heavy metal loyalists to join them at the edges of the genre’s collective imagination. PHARAOH’s steadfast dedication to its album-making craft has delayed its live debut, which will finally come in the form of select shows during 2008. Aiming high as always, PHARAOH will deliver every bit of its majestic energy onstage, performing songs from its entire history. Indeed, 2008 may deliver PHARAOH unto the heavy metal mainstream, thanks to the band’s long-awaited live debut and of course the release of Be Gone, a future classic of American heavy metal.
Mid-2010 PHARAOH released a 7" split single along with Canvas Solaris as a Tribute To Coroner, featuring a melodic rendition of Coroner's "Tunnel Of Pain", a new E.P. being slated for early 2011 celebrates 10 years of Pharaoh with several special renditions of cult favorites and various PHARAOH-esque arrangements fans would normally not expect.
2. A doom/sludge metal band from New Jersey. Since 2009, Pharaoh have been playing and touring throughout the East Coast and Southern United States. The Demonstration was released in 2011 on A389 Recordings. This spring, Pharaoh releases This House is Doomed, our 2012 7". They are for you. They are going to be available for digital download when you purchase a copy as well.
3. A sleaze rock/glam punk band from Washington State released in 1991 EP "On Your Knees".
4. Russian hip-hop artist representing Dead Dynasty coalition. He used to be part of YungRussia, a association created by Boulevard Depo in 2014, which ceased to exist in 2016. In the past, he adopted other pseudonyms, like Leroy Kid and Castro The Silent. He is very influenced by Rammstein, Kid Cudi and Kurt Cobain, and has been described as a mix of "Justin Bieber" and "Kurt Kobain". About this, he said: "if I'm being compared to Kurt Kobain, it means I'm doing everything right."
Graveyard of Empires
PHARAOH Lyrics
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To those it fails
The mighty, still falling, so muster their armies
And set the sails
In the burning twilight glow
Can't you see your sun goes down for you?
See them cowered in fear
Say you've come to redeem them, but still they don't know
Just why you’re here
In the empty starless black
Don't you know your sun is never coming back
The graveyard of empires is calling you
Calling you, it's calling you
It's calling you to conquer
The graveyard of empires is calling you
But will you live to see it through?
Over mountains,
Over deserts and over the fields
Crossed the oceans
Crossed the heavens and still no one yields to you
Days and months and years turn to decades
What power you had left is rapidly fading
Alive in the tomb are you laid
"Save us! Save us!
The savage betrayed us!
Save us! Save us!
We're too great to die," you pray
For the red of the day
Topple mountains
Clear the deserts
Burn the fields
They still won't bow to you
Grab your chest, and clutch at the gaping wound
Your bloody shame
Your body will rot with the others before you
It ends the same
At the blinding break of dawn
In the foreign sun you pass forever on
The graveyard of empires is calling you
Calling you, it's calling you
It's calling you to conquer
The graveyard of empires is calling you
But no one lives to see it through
The lyrics of "Graveyard of Empires" by Pharaoh speaks about the rise and fall of an empire in the hands of power-hungry leaders who continually lose their strength and fall despite their efforts to conquer. The song describes the gradual decline of an empire in the hands of a once-powerful leader who has continually lost power as his people fear him. The graveyard of empires calls him, but it seems like his people won't bow to him anymore. He has lost everything; his power, his strength, and ironically, his life.
The lyrics also show the leader's desire to conquer and rule while showing pity on people less powerful than him. He promises to redeem them, but they don't trust him, and he is left alone with his armies feeling his weakness more eminent by the day. The song ends with a sad realization that the leader, like those before him, will lay in the graveyard of empires, with all his previous achievements worth nothing.
In conclusion, "Graveyard of Empires" speaks deeply about the fall of past empires, cautioning the world about the desire for power and control leading an empire's defeat. It teaches us to surrender to time, and like everyone else, death comes to us all.
Line by Line Meaning
Waning strength feels always more eminent
The weakening of strength becomes more noticeable to those it affects over time
To those it fails
Referring to those whose strength is waning and fading away
The mighty, still falling, so muster their armies
Even the powerful continue to decline, but they still gather their troops to fight
And set the sails
Embarking on a mission with great willpower and determination
In the burning twilight glow
A moment of realization when everything is coming to an end
Can't you see your sun goes down for you?
Are you not aware that your power is fading away and the end is coming?
Look with pity on people less powerful
Observing the weak with sympathy and compassion
See them cowered in fear
Noticing the fear and intimidation in the weak
Say you've come to redeem them, but still they don't know
Even if you claim to be helping them, they do not trust you or understand your true intentions
Just why you’re here
Their fear and insecurity often leads them to question your true motives
In the empty starless black
A feeling of emptiness and darkness
Don't you know your sun is never coming back
Your power and influence is never going to return
The graveyard of empires is calling you
The place where powerful empires go to die is summoning you
Calling you, it's calling you
The call to meet your downfall
It's calling you to conquer
The graveyard is daring you to try and conquer it, as so many have before
But will you live to see it through?
Are you strong enough to take on the graveyard and survive?
Over mountains,
Across incredibly high and treacherous terrain
Over deserts and over the fields
Across vast stretches of arid landscape and fertile agricultural lands
Crossed the oceans
Navigating through treacherous waters and unknown territories
Crossed the heavens and still no one yields to you
Even the power to control the heavens cannot compel others to follow you
Days and months and years turn to decades
Time goes by and decades pass, bringing new challenges and accumulating weakness
What power you had left is rapidly fading
What little strength remained is quickly disappearing
Alive in the tomb are you laid
Although you are not yet dead, you are already interred in the grave
Topple mountains
Attempting to overcome even the greatest obstacles
Clear the deserts
Effacing the vast, empty deserts and what they represent
Burn the fields
Destroying the fertile lands and everything they provide
They still won't bow to you
Even if you destroy everything around them, they will not submit to you
Grab your chest, and clutch at the gaping wound
Feeling the physical and emotional pain of your defeat
Your bloody shame
The embarrassment and humiliation of your loss is apparent to all
Your body will rot with the others before you
Your body will decompose the same way others before you have
It ends the same
Despite your attempts to avoid it, the end will come just like all the others
At the blinding break of dawn
In the dazzling light of a new day
In the foreign sun you pass forever on
In a place not your own, your demise is final
But no one lives to see it through
No one can survive the journey to the graveyard of empires to try and conquer it
Contributed by Allison O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.