Metal Mondays - As I Lay Dying's "The Blinding of False Light

Rarely do metal groups have such a great marriage between mechanical technical precision and beautiful brutality as does As I Lay Dying.  What they do that is powerful is that they understand not only what they are doing in a lyrical sense but also are masters in understanding their medium.  What I mean by this is heavy riffage and machine-gun double base drums are meant to illicit an uncomfortable emotion.  They are one of the champions at making you feel uncomfortable but this is precisely where they shine.  This is one of those groups if you are a Metalcore fan you must bathe in the greatness of this band.  Arriving on the scene in 2001 with an emphatic bang they have yet to go out with a whimper.  The song I will be keying in on is the last track on their 2010 release entitled “The Powerless Rise” entitled The Blinding of False Light:

I was unable to find a YouTube video for it but here is the song embedded:

“I see now... I see through the veil of expectation.
I see now... I see that conformity is betrayal.

Betrayal of those who are forgotten, yet vision alone furthers our blame.
Unless followed by transformation, it is pointless to be given sight.
Without the hope of our reaction, we overlook the purpose of our eyes.

Now is our chance to breathe without tyranny, released from the blinding of false light.
(blinding of false light) Now is our chance to breathe without tyranny.
In weakness we are freed...

I see now... I see that conformity is betrayal.

With empty eyes I looked ahead (ahead), with clarity I now look back...

Now is our chance to breathe without tyranny, released from the blinding of false light (blinding of false light).
Now is our chance (our chance) to breathe without... without tyranny.
In weakness we are freed... Yeah...

I admit my failure. Opacity has dulled my senses.
Conformity (conformity) controlled by lifeless vices. Oh... Yeah...
Covetousness (covetousness) disguised as ambition.
But now it ends... But now it ends... But now it ends...
But now it ends, not with defeat but determination... We are freed... Yeah...

Now is our chance to breathe without tyranny, released from the blinding of false (false) light (light).
Now is our chance... Now is...our chance... In weakness we are freed...”

Much like I did last week and in true Baptist preacher fashion I will offer three points that I find to be striking

1.       There is a real sense we get what it means to be reborn in the John 3 sense that as a part of the new birth we are given new eyes.  However, it is such the case in the Christians life where we have the new eyes but as the song goes we completely ignore the purpose of them.  The purpose of our new eyes is to see things as God sees them.  We are to then see our sin for what it is namely a blatant offense of God.  Also we are to see the people of this world in the redemptive sense meaning that as Christ was sense on mission so we should be in the world.  This is grace upon grace that we can begin to see things in the way that God does.  Also that we might be able to see the Saviour as who he truly is.

2.       False doctrine is tyrannical.  There is a darkness disguised as light out there.  There is a light that takes us captive and like light to the flies we are attracted to it which ultimately leads to our death.  The reason is that it takes us captive as wants us to turn from the real teachings of freedom in Christ into slavery to sin.  All false teaching is bondage to idolatry which is flows from our pluralistic coexisting society in which syncretism is the norm and Diversity is strutted about as a virtue.  Christian let this be a lesson to you if the world views something as virtuous it is above all else a damnable vice. 

3.       This song has empowered me to employ a sanctified rebellion against the things of this world.  The line in the song where it says “But now it ends, not with defeat but determination... We are freed... Yeah” coupled with “In weakness we are freed”  has really encouraged me because in order to employ that sanctified rebellion against the world it starts off in humble admiration of our King and being in submission to what he has to say.  Then going forth from the decree of God we go, because we have determination because we know that for us death has been defeated so what do we have to fear. 

Metal Mondays – Demon Hunter “Deteriorate”

For those of you who know me know that one of my loves is the musical genre Heavy Metal.  What I want to do is every Monday highlight a song that has helped me along the way.  I know that this is an often misjudged and misunderstood genre but believe me there are some bands out there that are doing great things for the Kingdom and are speaking to a subculture in this generation that needs the light even more.  So without further ado here the first song that I will be discussing and that is Demon Hunter’s “Deteriorate”.  

 

Here are the lyrics to the song so that you can follow along

“Time has had it's way with me.
My broken tired hands cant build a thing.
The wires that have held me still embedded now in flesh to find my will.
The idle of my days is won, the empty I have fed has made me numb,
Despite what you will find in me.

The failures of my past just swirl beneath.

[Pre-chorus:]
I need a heart that carries on through the pain
When the walls start collapsing again.
Give me a soul that never ceases to follow,
Despite the infection within

[Chorus:]
Our careless feet leaving trails
Neverminding the fragile dirt we all end in.
Our careless feet leaving trails
Neverminding the fragile dirt we all end in.

This is where I find my fall the cares that held me alive don't work at all.
And every step away from here is closer to the plague I hold so dear.

I need a heart that carries on through the pain,
When the walls start collapsing again.
Give me a soul that never ceases to follow despite the infection within

Awaiting my end breathing in the day that finds me new.
Redemption begins bleeding out the flaws in place of you.
Awaiting my end breathing in the day that finds me new.
Redemption begins Redemption Begins.”

There are three things that I would like to highlight in this song that have struck me as very powerful:

1.       The first is the pre-chorus because that is a battle in which I fight every single day.  I pray that the LORD will give me a heart that never ceases to follow despite the infection within.  This is such a great reminder that I need the Gospel on a daily basis because without it I would be going astray.

2.       The chorus is a powerful reminder of what happens when we don’t travel the narrow road.  We are as the old hymn goes “Prone to wonder lord I feel it/Prone to leave the God I love”.  This proclivity arises because we are so focused on the here and now and what makes us feel good.  This YOLO mentality keeps us from understanding that we know not the number of our days and it is in this ignorance that we do not have the end in sight.  So we do need to be reminded of our fragility not in a fearful way but as reverence for the One who has created us

3.       There is a story in Luke 11:24-26 where the one demon is swept out of the house and it comes back finding it clean it returns with it seven more.  This is the case in our lives when we try and get rid of a particular sin but do not replace it with Grace.  An example is that I might combat my sin of low-self-esteem with gluttony and the gluttony might be in fact worse.  The line is the song that I really like is where they say “Redemption begins bleeding out the flaws in place of you.”  So true Redemption on a daily basis is cruciform meaning that we die to ourselves because in doing so we find real Life.