There are at least three bands with the name Penance:

1) A doom meta… Read Full Bio ↴There are at least three bands with the name Penance:

1) A doom metal band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
2) Band from London.
3) A punk band from Perth, Western Australia

1) Penance was born from the ashes of Dream Death, when several members decided to pursue a more traditional doom direction. Dream Death existed during mid eighties and played speciphic mixture of doom, hardcore and thrash metal.

Founders of Penance were drummer Mike Smail and guitarist Terry Weston (both previously a members of Dream Death) and they were the core of the band from its early days to the disbanding. The band changed various line-ups, and one of their most notable members were Mary Bielich (Novembers Doom).

Penance's debut The Road Less Travelled was released 1992, under Lee Dorrian's label Rise Above Records. Alongside with Revelation's debut, it was a first doom metal album released on this label. They would embark on a European tour in support of doom legends Cathedral and Sleep.

Their second album, Parallel Corners, was released 1994, by the European metal label Century Media. Many fans consider this the band's best album, and it's also considered one of the classics of 90s (traditional) doom metal. On the next releases Penance adopted a slight range of psychedelic influences, but still remained fairly closed to their traditional doom roots.

Spiritualnatural (2003) would be the band's final album. They embarked on a European tour in 2004 partnered with Well of Souls and Orodruin. They split that same year. The Road Revisited was released posthumously in 2005, which is the unreleased original recorded version of the first album.

Mike Smail went on to join Internal Void and Pentagram.

2) Penance Last Rites From London: "From the ashes of a dead God, the remains of a broken society and through the fires of creation, we were formed to absolve the world of sin and usher in a new age of man.
To know our name is to know sacrifice,
for we are many, we are eternal, we are the alpha and the omega.
WE ARE PENANCE!"
www.penance-band.com

3) A punk band from Perth, Western Australia. Penance began jamming mid-2013 and have since released a 7 track demo.

Words To Live By
Penance Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

[Music: Weston/Smail]
[Lyrics: Smail]

Cosmic pillars stand I'm my way
Shooting stars soon fall
Airtight blackness everywhere
You cry and I'm appalled

Vortex spins
Without fear
End of all
Is drawing near

Screaming shards rip into me
Others I can't feel
Lookin' 'round parallel corners
Distorting what is real

Hear your call
In the night
Right is wrong
And wrong is right

You talk in riddles I speak in rhyme
But yet the sun that never sets still ceases to shine
Reality fades in dreams of regret
I cannot remember but will never forget

The past is my present, the future's a lie
These are words to live by

Overall Meaning

The song "Words To Live By" by Penance is a deep and introspective look at the nature of reality and perception. The lyrics suggest that there are obstacles, represented by "cosmic pillars," that stand in the way of personal growth and progress. These obstacles are daunting, represented by the "airtight blackness" that seems to surround the singer. However, despite the overwhelming nature of these challenges, the singer still finds the strength to fight back.

As the song progresses, the imagery becomes even more surreal, with "vortex spins" and "screaming shards" ripping into the singer's psyche. The lyrics suggest that reality itself is disintegrating, as "right is wrong and wrong is right." In the face of such chaos and confusion, it becomes difficult to hold onto one's sense of self and purpose.

Line by Line Meaning

Cosmic pillars stand I'm my way
Challenges and obstacles are abundant in my path

Shooting stars soon fall
Everything that rises must invariably fall, including those that take the form of shooting stars

Airtight blackness everywhere
A sense of suffocation and restriction is felt as darkness covers everything completely

You cry and I'm appalled
The sadness of those around me affects me deeply

Vortex spins
A whirlwind of events is underway

Without fear
Despite the chaos, I remain resolute

End of all
The conclusion of everything is approaching

Is drawing near
It approaches at a pace that cannot be stopped

Screaming shards rip into me
Pain and anguish cut through me like a sharp object

Others I can't feel
I am numb to the suffering of others, perhaps because of my own trauma

Lookin' 'round parallel corners
I seek answers in unexpected places, going beyond the normative modes of inquiry

Distorting what is real
My grasp of reality, hitherto firm, is gradually slipping away

Hear your call
The voice of those closest to me reach me through the silence

In the night
It is easier to hear these voices in the stillness of solitude

Right is wrong
Notions of right and wrong blur together in the messiness of life

And wrong is right
Similarly, there is no clear demarcation between the two concepts

You talk in riddles I speak in rhyme
There is a disconnect in communication with those around me, and I struggle to make myself understood

But yet the sun that never sets still ceases to shine
Even things that have once been considered as unchanging and always present may, in fact, eventually come to an end

Reality fades in dreams of regret
The harsh nature of reality becomes less impactful as nostalgia creeps in

I cannot remember but will never forget
The psychological memory of events lingers within me, even if I cannot consciously recall them

The past is my present, the future's a lie
I am stuck in a moment that has lingered for too long, and any conception of 'future' remains elusive

These are words to live by
These are the principles that underlie and inform my being in the world

Contributed by Parker S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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