In March of 2007, 3/4 of Act of Defiance (Troy, Dave, and me) and drummer Bobby Schatz released an album titled "Conspiracies of Thieves". We printed up 200 copies, sold most of them, gave some away, and now they're gone. Well, they've been gone for quite a while. That being said, since Dave's return to Act of Defiance in June, we have resurrected a few of those songs.
So, I posted them for free download here:
Since I had started doing the "About the song" series for the new Act of Defiance material, I figured I might as well do the same for the 7th Seal songs that are once again available. Here's the rundown:
Veracity: Veracity was the first song on the album Conspiracies of Thieves. I wrote the music for it mostly before 7th Seal was started; around 2004. I presented it to 7th Seal some time in 2005, but original drummer Jim Detenancour was having trouble with it, so it hit the back burner until Bobby Schatz joined in 2006. It was actually part of his audition. Troy and I trade off solos throughout the song. I did the first, third, and fifth solos; he did the second, fourth, and sixth solos. The big harmony section was kind of halfway stolen from Detroit Rock City by Kiss and She Wolf by Megadeth. Lyrically, it's about a combination of two acquaintances of mine who seemed to lie almost incessantly.
"Your constant bragging makes you sound just like a fool. Nobody cares nor even believes that what you say is true."
Genocide: The music for Genocide was written early in 2005. Like Veracity, it was added when Bobby Schatz joined the band. I did the solo on this one. Lyrically, it's pretty much about the tyrannical rule of dictators, and somewhat loosely based on Saddam Hussein, although it would have worked nicely for Mummar Gaddafi.
"The prideful tyrant meets his end like every man, a withered body returning to dust."
Dusk: Dusk was also written in 2005. The music was written fairly quickly, but our original drummer thought it was boring, so it wasn't until Bobby joined that we got it learned. It was first released on a Northern Edge magazine sampler, with a fairly bad recording. The album version was a lot better, but I had some problems with the tracks that I had put together for the drummer to play along with, so he wound up doing the last part of the song in free-time with me playing along. Consequently, it speeds up at the end. I did the solo in this one as well. Lyrically, it was about an acquaintance of mine who could find the bad side of everything, and did so at every available opportunity. It's also where the title "Conspiracies of Thieves" came from. A lot of people liked this song, as I remember it.
"So many times I've seen the light, then turned and walked away. A dozen hopes are a thousand lies. Why should I stay?"
Original Sin: The music for Original Sin was mostly written in 2003. The weird phased middle part, and solo section were actually written on a Jackson Soloist played through one of those Randall module amps when Troy had recently opened for business at Broadway Guitar (2004). I do the first solo, Troy does the second solo. 7th Seal played this song at every show. When Jim was in the band, it was the only original song we did, so it got to be called "the Original". That title was tweaked into "Original Sin", partially so we wouldn't have to stray too far from the working title (trust me, that's a problem). Lyrically, it's a study of the concept of Original Sin.
"Pushed to self-deification, living for gratification, is there no amelioration 'til I reach my dying day?" It's the $25 word song.
Spitting Lies: This was also mostly written in early 2005, shortly after the death of Dimebag Darrel, although some of it dates back to 2000. The riff was sort of "Dime-esque" (at least in my mind). Troy did a great job on the solo in this tune, but he had written it on the day that we were going to record it and it wasn't under his fingers yet. That's the closest I've ever seen him to throwing one of his guitars. He eventually got it down, and it came out well. Lyrically, it's the most political song on the Conspiracies of Thieves record, basically expressing disgust at the 2-party system and the way American Politics is more like the Super Bowl than a system of governance.
"They're spitting lies with that fire in their eyes, and we believe them without thinking twice."
Out the Door: Dave wrote the intro riff and another part that became the chorus of this song. I wrote the rest of it, and while I think it's a good song, it never really quite meshed with the rest in that collection. I'm not going to blame that on Dave, because I wrote the lion's share of the song. That said, it's not a bad tune, just sort of out of place. Troy was originally going to do the solo on this, but he ran out of time to work on it. He actually only ever played the song once in his life. I did all the guitars on the recording, and we played it once live at the CD Release party. Lyrically, it's about sort of a workplace backstabbing in which I had a supervisor that quit, I was semi-promoted, did my former supervisor's job for 10 months for no extra money, and then the actual promotion was given to somebody else. So, I quit, and the person who shafted me (former boss) was let go within the year.
"I never got what I wanted, but they got the best out of me. Maybe it was what I needed; a silent kick out the door."
Seventh Seal: If Cecil B. Demille had been in a local Fargo metal band, this is the song he would have written. It was pieced together with a pile of riffs that I had written going back to 2000. I did the main solo on this one. Lyrically, it is about cults; mainly the Branch Davidians and the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project (Jonestown). The middle section of this song was impossible for us to nail live...I could never hold a feedback loop together, and it just killed the momentum of the song. Still, it was pretty fun to play. It also apparently started the inadvertent trend that I guess I have where the band and a song share the same name (see the "Defiance" entry).
"He says he's Christ returned again to build his kingdom here on Earth. To show the power that he wields, he hopes to break the seventh seal."
I hope you enjoy these recordings. For me, they're kind of a fun little trip down memory lane to what I was writing when I was in my mid-late 20s. "Genocide" and "Spitting Lies" have been played at the last couple of AOD shows. "Veracity" and "Dusk" are being played in rehearsals. "Original Sin" and "Seventh Seal" are on the docket to be learned, although a condensed version of "Seventh Seal" is pretty likely.
And...in case you missed the download link: HERE YOU GO
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