They are also veterans of festivals across Europe and America – including Bloodstock in the UK.
Now they’re back with powerful new frontman Matt Oakman – and ready to rip it up.
Shadow Keep were formed in 1999 by guitarists Chris Allen and Nikki Robson. That October, with vocalist Rogue M, they recorded a six-track EP at Thin Ice Studios, produced by Threshold guitarist Karl Groom. Their opus Dark Tower became the opener on a German mag’s CD for unsigned bands – and gained them a record deal with Limb Music Productions in June 2000. Two albums, Corruption Within and A Chaos Theory, followed to huge acclaim. The band soon gained support slots with Ronnie James Dio, Halford, Symphony X, Dream Evil plus Flotsam And Jetsam. These major shows led to appearances at festivals in the UK, America, Germany and Holland. Their touring had one benefit – the arrival of Texas bassist Stony Grantham. But other line-up changes held things up. Undeterred, ShadowKeep started work on third album The Hourglass Effect – again with Karl Groom at Thin Ice. The sessions produced some of Chris and Nikki’s most creative songwriting.
Cast Out
Shadow Keep Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The craftsman of torture and pain
But without reason the will to hurt has gone
And your lust for torment in the sea of time has drowned
You're standing there, facing me
Braving your peers gathered here
As the sun goes down on me
As the sun goes down on me
You're cast out, It sets us free
I'm taking back the crown that I've once supplied
To a rebel angel that had made his time
But as the wind blows the leaves of the Eden tree
We'll fix our machine then carry on our deeds
They're everywhere, begging me
They've got nowhere but here
As the sun goes down on me
You're cast out, I set you free
As the sun goes down on me
You're cast out, It sets us free
The situation could not be solved
By any other means you had to leave
Your reef, this place and your memories
For you've been unworthy
To carry on the divine tragedy
As the sun goes down on me
You're cast out, I set you free
As the sun goes down on me
You're cast out, It sets you free!
The lyrics of Shadow Keep's song Cast Out suggest that the subject of the song, presumably a powerful figure, has lost their desire to cause pain and inflict torment on others. The singer sets this person free by casting them out, even though they were once considered the "king of the burned plains," suggesting they held great power and destructive capability. The singer then takes back the crown that they had previously given to a rebel angel, seemingly implying that this individual will take up the mantle of power that the recently-cast-out person no longer wants.
The lyrics also suggest that the singer is being begged by others to take action, but they are determined to carry out their plan to cast out the former king, illustrating that there may be a divide between the singer and those around them. The last stanza suggests that there was some kind of divine tragedy that the recently-cast-out person was unworthy of carrying out. The lyrics are somewhat cryptic and open to interpretation, but they seem to suggest a story of the changing of power and allegiances within a higher power structure.
Line by Line Meaning
I thought you were the king of the burned plains
I used to think you were powerful and in control, but now I see that you're not
The craftsman of torture and pain
I believed you were skilled at causing people to suffer
But without reason the will to hurt has gone
Now you no longer have a desire to hurt others for no reason
And your lust for torment in the sea of time has drowned
Your desire to inflict pain has been erased by the passage of time
You're standing there, facing me
You're present and confronting me
Braving your peers gathered here
You're being brave by facing the group of people who have gathered here
As the sun goes down on me
As the day comes to an end
You're cast out, I set you free
I'm removing you from this place, freeing you from this situation
I'm taking back the crown that I've once supplied
I'm reclaiming the power and position that I once gave to you
To a rebel angel that had made his time
To someone who had rebelled and had their time in power
But as the wind blows the leaves of the Eden tree
But just as the wind moves the leaves of the tree in the Garden of Eden
We'll fix our machine then carry on our deeds
We will repair our situation and continue with our plans
They're everywhere, begging me
People are all around me, begging for help
They've got nowhere but here
They have nowhere else to turn but to me
The situation could not be solved
The problem could not be resolved
By any other means you had to leave
There was no other solution but for you to go
Your reef, this place and your memories
The place where you used to belong and your memories of it
For you've been unworthy
Because you haven't been deserving or qualified
To carry on the divine tragedy
To continue with a grand and terrible plan
You're cast out, It sets you free!
Being removed from this situation frees you
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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