Official Bio from thevioletburning.com

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The Violet Burning - The Story of Our Lives:
Liebe über Alles, Black as Death and The Fantastic Machine
by Jocelyn Aucoin

It's that ache in your heart.
That place inside you where all the stuff collects and collides like junk in a drawer.
Except it's not junk. It's real and it matters and it's the matter that makes you. It’s that ache that makes you want to fight and surrender, scream and sigh. It's decaying and it's beautiful and it's full of these awkward opposites. So full that sometimes you don't understand. You can't understand.

But then someone or something comes along to give it shape, a voice. Someone whose ability to capture this space is so pure, so precise, that it springs hope within us and legs to stand on.
Something like The Violet Burning.

The Violets (affectionately called) have been making music under the direction of creative mainspring, Michael J Pritzl, since 1990. A prolific songwriter, Pritzl's story is one of endurance, endurance manifested in a plethora of albums and relentless touring throughout the US and Europe. Endurance resulting in an absolute rabid
following of fans. Though Pritzl has surrounded himself with different musicians through the years, the music has never been compromised and the fans keep coming back for the powerful, guitar-driven rock The Violets never fail to deliver. This time that rock is enlivened with the drumming virtuosity that is Lenny Beh. A stunningly emotive addition.

Nothing proves The Violets bring the rock better than their latest effort, their 9th full-length studio album, The Story of Our Lives: Liebe über Alles, Black as Death and The Fantastic Machine, an audio triptych of sorts. The album's 34 songs are divided into three parts: Liebe über Alles, Black as Death and The Fantastic Machine. Although asunder, the album rages with rock and drips with beauty, all the while shaking it's figurative fist at a digital age wherein, despite the abundance of material available, artists still feel beholden to the 10-song album format restrictions of the past.

The Violets didn't feel this restriction and because of that, The Story of Our Lives is not just an auditory experience, it is a multi-sensory aesthetic experience. These songs didn't take a week to write or two days to record. The artwork wasn't thrown together in an hour in Photoshop. This is a complete body of work that began as a spark of an idea and has now been seven years in the making. In this way, it defies the unspoken and mediocre standards of today, offering up an incredible sonic experience in addition to a riveting lyrical journey.

And the journey is a familiar one. In fact, it reads like some of the greatest novels ever written. The Fantastic Machine sets the tone for this journey as "Where It All Begins" climbs from a pensive, pretty melody to an all out blur of frantic guitars, over which "my heart and soul are wired in!" it screamed wild and breathy. It's the definition of epic, and songs like “Machine Beat Sabbatha” and “Imminent Collapse” follow suit, allowing the listener in on the chaos that's brewing in the heart of our character. “The Letting” and “Leaving” tell a quieter story, one that will course through your veins with their beautiful sadness. And in the end, our character leaves The Fantastic Machine behind, giving up on a life that has been selling him lies.

Black as Death picks up where this sadness leaves off, descending on ears like a bat out of hell--an almost mindless storm of sound and distortion. “My Name is Night” is case and point of this, heavy and teeming with Sabbath-like drumming. “Maelstorm” expands into this chaos, the entropy of its opening guitars hitting like the explosion of tides. Pritzl's delicate falsetto dancing atop the water. And then there is “Rock Is Dead”, which exists not only as the definition of pop song perfection, but shows our character gaining strength. Shivers run down your spine when he screams, "I'm going on, going on!" "In Ruin" leaves a sweet taste in our mouths with it's swirly delays, rhodes bells and sweeping cello.

Enter Liebe über Alles, The Story of Our Lives' graceful and exquisite counterpart. Our character has chosen death, but now lives to continue his journey home. A beautiful relenting, “Mon Désir” is honest in both melody and lyric as Pritzl’s broken voice sings, "All I want is you." "Arc" has a driving rhythm that climaxes with an explosion of spirited strings. "I am coming home!" The dreamy and romantic ballad, "I Caught Fire", is encased in a haze of fuzz guitar, pulsing drums and the descending piano, "…in all the songs of men and angels, if I have no love, I'm blank." And finally “through a life, blessed and cursed, love and only love goes on and on…” the true rest of “Liebe über Alles” and the final acknowledgement that our character has made it home.

This is not just another album by another band. This is a realization. A realization that this story--the struggle and the heartache, feeling lost and so alone--belongs to each one of us. It’s the way we feel when we are sad and broken and it’s the way we feel when we are so complete and content, at home and at rest within ourselves and with others and with “The Lord of Song.” It’s knowing we’re not alone in this big, messed up machine of a world. It’s the hope of “every corner of our heart and soul” being made for someone who loves us more than we will ever understand.
This is the story of our lives.

The Violet Burning is Michael J. Pritzl, Daryl Dawson and Lenny Beh. THE STORY OF OUR LIVES: Liebe über Alles, Black as Death,and TH3 FANT^5T1C MACH1N3 was written and recorded by Michael Pritzl at Nowhere, CA studios (various closets, garages, entry ways, and bedrooms in Southern California) and features Eleanor Beh on Cello and Jeff Schroeder of Smashing Pumpkins (lead guitar on 3 songs).
The Story Of Our Lives was released digitally at thevioletburning.com March 5, 2011. The triple album will be coming worldwide one part at a time via iTunes, Amazon, and other online digital resellers throughout 2011. The triple album will also be available in it’s physical, beautiful, limited edition, 80-page packaging via thevioletburning.com beginning April 4, 2011. The Violet Burning are now planning US and European tour dates.

-Jocelyn Aucoin – 2011

The Killing
The Violet Burning Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Can you feel the pain he feels
As the nails go through his hands?
Driving them in deeper
Bloody red hands
A crown of thorns on his head
"Come down from there!" they cried.
"You saved others, can't you save yourself?"

Blindfolded, the soldiers demand prophecy
"Who is hitting you now?"
"Who is hitting you now?"
"Why don't you tell us? I thought you were the Son of God"
"Who is hitting you now?"
"Take him away!"

Oh they're killing my Lord
Oh oh they're killing my Lord
Like a lamb in the slaughter is sheared
So he never spoke a word
Oh oh they're killing my Lord

By the power of God
Day became as dark as night
The curtain torn in two
"It is finished!"
They spit on him and mock his name
Very much like the world today
Beat him, laugh at him
"Ha ha ha ha"

Oh they're killing my Lord
Oh oh they're killing my Lord
Like a lamb in the slaughter is sheared
So he never spoke a word
Oh oh they're killing my Lord

Can you feel the pain he feels
As the nails go through his hands?
Cause they're driving them in deeper
Deeper deeper deeper

Can you feel it?
Can you feel it?

Overall Meaning

The Violet Burning's song "The Killing" is a powerful and graphic depiction of the torture, humiliation and death of Jesus Christ. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of the physical pain he endured, as well as the emotional suffering of being mocked and ridiculed by his captors. The first stanza describes the actual crucifixion, with references to the nails driven through his hands, the crown of thorns on his head, and the taunting cries of the crowd below. The chorus repeats the phrase "They're killing my Lord," emphasizing the brutality of the act and the helplessness of the victim.

The second stanza shifts focus to the verbal abuse inflicted upon Jesus by the Roman soldiers. Blindfolded and beaten, he is asked to prophesize about his attackers. When he remains silent, they taunt him again by referring to him as the Son of God and demanding to know who is hitting him. The mocking tone of their voices is emphasized by the repetition of the chorus.

The final stanza brings the song to a close with a reference to the moment of Jesus' death. The darkness that fell over the land, the tearing of the temple curtain, and Jesus' final words ("It is finished") are all mentioned. The final lines of the song bring the focus back to the pain of the crucifixion, with a repetition of the first stanza's description of the nails being driven deeper and deeper into Jesus' flesh.

Overall, "The Killing" is a powerful and dramatic musical meditation on the Passion of Christ. Its vivid imagery and emotional intensity make it a perfect choice for Good Friday services or other occasions when the faithful are called upon to reflect on the events of Holy Week.

Line by Line Meaning

Can you feel the pain he feels
Are you able to empathize with the agony that he experiences?

As the nails go through his hands?
When the nails pierce through his hands?

Driving them in deeper
Thrusting them even further into his flesh

Bloody red hands
His hands are now covered in his own blood

A crown of thorns on his head
He is adorned with a wreath of sharp and painful thorns

"Come down from there!" they cried.
They demand that he descend from his position on the cross

"You saved others, can't you save yourself?"
They taunt him, asking why he cannot rescue himself if he supposedly helped others

Blindfolded, the soldiers demand prophecy
The soldiers covering his eyes, command him to prophesize

"Who is hitting you now?"
They inquire who is striking him at the moment

"Why don't you tell us? I thought you were the Son of God"
They question why he is unable to reveal such information since he is believed to be the Messiah

"Take him away!"
They order his removal

Oh they're killing my Lord
They are murdering my Savior

Like a lamb in the slaughter is sheared
He is being killed like a helpless animal being prepared for sacrifice

So he never spoke a word
He does not utter a single sound throughout the ordeal

By the power of God
Due to divine intervention

Day became as dark as night
The sky turns pitch black during the crucifixion

The curtain torn in two
The veil in the temple is ripped apart

"It is finished!"
He declares the completion of his mission

They spit on him and mock his name
People disrespect him by spitting on him and ridiculing his identity

Very much like the world today
This relates to the current state of the world where people still exhibit such behavior

Beat him, laugh at him
They thrash him and derive pleasure from causing him pain

Can you feel it?
Can you sense that excruciating pain he is undergoing?