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The Cicada Tree (ALBUM)

by Byzantine

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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      $9.99 USD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    6th studio album by WV groove metal band Byzantine.


    Official Release Date - July 23rd, 2017
    Courtesy of Metal Blade Records
    RED/CEN Distribution a division of SONY Music

    Track Listing:
    1. New Ways To Bear Witness
    2. Vile Maxim
    3. Map of the Creator
    4. Dead as Autumn Leaves
    5. Trapjaw
    6. The Subjugated
    7. Incremental
    8. The Cicada Tree
    9. Verses of Violence
    10. Moving in Stereo *
    11. Servitude *

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Cicada Tree (ALBUM) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
    ships out within 7 days

      $10 USD or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    6th album by WV groove metal band Byzantine
    Official Release Date - July 28, 2017

    Track Listing:
    Side A
    1. New Ways To Bear Witness
    2. Vile Maxim
    3. Map of the Creator
    4. Dead as Autumn Leaves
    Side B
    5. Trapjaw
    6. The Subjugated
    7. Incremental
    8. The Cicada Tree
    Side C
    9. Verses of Violence
    10. Moving in Stereo *
    11. Servitude
    Side D
    Etched

    Vinyl Features:
    + Gatefold Jacket
    + Peach/Orange Marbled Double Vinyl
    + Etched Side D
    + European Import

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Cicada Tree (ALBUM) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
    ships out within 7 days

      $20 USD or more 

     

1.
1. New Ways To Bear Witness Violence imposed with max severity Plagued by misery we can’t give up the ghost When all you know in life is partiality You flee so easily from pillar to the post We’ll hold the line as beatings grow And possibilities of fatalities One day those victimized will revolt Against a world that views them as less Exposing all they know through a lens the stories told Viralized with no end Silent eyes awake to see official crime By those that we rely, deceiving their own kind Whispers once low, now they shout what matters most Streaming evidence confirms what we have known They tow the lies, it’s no surprise Dividing us in hopes of disharmony One day those victimized will revolt Against a world that views them as less Exposing all they know Through a lens the stories told My children live in a different world And I hold myself to blame As they redefine accountability How can I ever know what’s good for you When our faces are obscured by a screen We need to touch, we need to feel, we need to hear Or is it all just a dream My children live in a different world And I hope it’s not too late As they’re taught to love with humility
2.
Vile Maxim 04:09
I will accept no more Heirloom of hate has run its course The result of our cowardice A culture that educates Through mass hypnosis I know the strife it breeds Toe the line or cut the strings If you riot for change or Look the other way and concede They punish equally Once more the instinct of disdain Will feed their zealot ways And they believe in nothing Once more the instinct of disdain It seems that nothing's changed Vile maxim the masters of mankind I won't weep for those Relic of shame deserving burial An out of date legacy That has run afoul Scheduled for castration I walk to carry the load Shoulder the burden For the broken home A weakness from within You will not perceive Give no quarter, no reprieve Once more the instinct of disdain Will feed their zealot ways And they believe in nothing Once more the instinct of disdain It seems that nothing's changed Vile maxim the masters of mankind Now is the time we set the fires alight I can't take anymore This cult of intolerance
3.
You mustn't cry for me This is how it's meant to be What I must do won't be forgotten A million miles away We're isolated by the space between The Map of the Creator We must inscribe the way Hieroglyphic life contained The more I learn The more that I know nothing Now you wait in the wings The dynasty of all beautiful things Designed by the Maker My mind attempts to wane and wander All of my thoughts in vain Detachment washes over me It's never over I won't return unscathed from this Astounding futility Isolation takes its toll, subtly Mother Earth has earned her challenge Never to emerge the same Cradling humanity It's never over I am tempted by thoughts of death To crack the serenity Contact has broken away This is my reward
4.
I lie alone in silence Of what will never be A cry alone, empty silence Dead as autumn leaves We'll weave the truth Crawling through rubble and combing The wreckage for lies Binding those you've victimized All behold the hollow vacant eyes When the dawn of the morning comes I lie alone in silence Of what will never be A cry alone, empty silence Dead as autumn leaves Resent what you became We seek the truth Pausing the cower I lay bare your unblemished guise When the fire engulfs And light wind blows Stoking the pain consumed to purify When the dawn of the morning comes I lie alone in silence Of what will never be A cry alone, empty silence Dead as autumn leaves Resent what you became I lie alone in silence Of what will never be A cry alone, empty silence Dead as autumn leaves Pretend that you could change
5.
Trapjaw 04:36
Pulling weeds of doubt and guilt Clearing the path to clarity Now my mind is free to think and ponder No more squandering of time Man will always try to surrender his free will I have chosen never to obey Wolves of the forest awake to a fresh kill And you will always follow take the bait I explore the inconceivable The world is waiting at my door Vicious tools of mass consumption A trap we must ignore Man will always try to surrender his free will I have chosen never to obey Wolves of the forest awake to a fresh kill And you will always follow take the bait I have put away belief in God And Hell is now an afterthought Shed myself from these restraints And now my path is clear again You trade the here and now for everlasting lies Just a barrier to divide those side by side They seek to define Man will always try to surrender his free will I have chosen never to obey Wolves of the forest awake to a fresh kill And you will always follow take the bait
6.
We've come prepared Suspending all benevolence You've bathed in arrogance Our retribution we will bring She flies on unforgiving wings Your children in Heaven shall weep and grieve As holy gates open and nothing leaves So down the cattle chute you will move And die for him who's died for you Blinded by our pride we've missed the signs We now beg of you, Lord, hear our cries The scars you've made altered the plan Our end will never be ushered by man So down the cattle chute you will move And the burden of Earth will be removed You are quarantined to the abyss With all life forms deleterious You have lost all that you will ever lose Your request to be saved by God, refused Blinded by our pride we've missed the signs We now beg of you, Lord, hear our cries
7.
Incremental 04:52
The lessons are severe The pains of growth are needed I do not posses the knowledge By shielding myself from the rain We bloom above the thorns we need From the onset we ripen and rot We know the bitterness of the soil From intertwining long ago The sign of things to come The pleasure inside the suffering Now guide the broken compass Back to the point where you most learned We bloom above the thorns we need From the onset we ripen and rot We know the soil's bitterness From intertwining long ago No more shall the weeds choke me In increments I expand my horizon
8.
A calendar underground A life of slumber we won't be found So new to wings and to flight Our stuttered song a proof of life to be Overwhelmed by the instinct of the chime Death is near and we waste no time We are the prophets of Spring Sound of the drums we lull to sleep We magnify under trees Our chorus hangs upon the breeze to hear A calendar underground A life of slumber we won't be found We magnify under trees Our chorus hangs upon the breeze to hear
9.
I never thought of you a friend On whom my trust depends You are a snake in all the tales Where men went wrong I never swallowed the lies Or need them by my side I can anticipate the darkness in the light We never benefit from silence It drags us down And now our bearings are unknown We'll never understand Verses of violence Dragging us down And I run forever From the glory and the praise And I run forever Till the end of my days As we retrace where we went wrong Gazed with wayward eyes for far too long And now I look deep inside To find words for the wise We must eliminate the veil to see the face And now we live in frightened times With hearts ablaze As we navigate this never-ending maze We never benefit from silence It drags us down And now our bearings are unknown We'll never understand Verses of violence Dragging us down And I run forever From the glory and the praise And I run forever Till the end of my days As we retrace where we went wrong Gazed with wayward eyes for far too long My coffin dripping black With pitch sealed by the sun Dead flowers grip the outside Weighing me down by the ton The wisdom laid down At my feet I will never receive I'm pulled down by the body Of my own machinery
10.
Life's the same, I'm moving in stereo Life's the same except for my shoes Life's the same, you're shaking like tremolo Life's the same, it's all inside you It's so easy to blow up your problems It's so easy to play up your breakdown It's so easy to fly through a window It's so easy to fool with the sound It's so tough to get up It's so tough It's so tough to live up It's so tough on you Life's the same, I'm moving in stereo Life's the same except for my shoes Life's the same, you're shaking like tremolo Life's the same, it's all inside you [Instrumental Break] Life's the same, I'm moving in stereo Life's the same except for my shoes Life's the same, you're shaking like tremolo Life's the same, it's all inside you
11.
Servitude 05:25
Who, who do you serve? For whose empire and for whose whims? Is your honor judged by men? Will you lie? Will you lie if they say it's their will? Will you die or continue to kill? Until the generals all have their fill Craven cowards Armchair warriors You will serve them well What, what will you write? For whose pleasure, for whose delight? Will your readers see your light? Will you say that the singer can't blow you away That we hate people just 'cause they're gay Women and children all stay away To whom, whom do you pray? Do dollars wash your sins away Does God love cold hard cash? Do you say, if we all just continue to pay All our ailments will go away And our souls all will be saved God's not with you "Holy Roller" Your heart dwells in hell Why, why do you run? Our awareness has spoiled your fun Our eyes see you too clear Will you hide from the joy of expressing our pride For the leaders and people who've died While combating your genocide Chains are breaking Minds are waking Soon we'll serve no more

credits

released July 28, 2017

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Byzantine West Virginia

Formed : 2000
Origin: West Virginia
Signed to Prosthetic Records 2004-2007.
Disbanded 2007.
Reformed in 2012 and released 2 albums independently.
Signed to Metal Blade Records in 2016. "The Cicada Tree" due out Summer 2017!

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