This one goes out to my uncle!

It’s strange to realize that I was attracted to this music already at the age of around 15. Progressive and almost meditative music that feels like being part of an uncontrolled psychedelic trip.

Around this age, I started searching for strange sounds that put me in uncomfortable places to eventually get comfortable with them. I continuously decided to go for non-conventional music, consequently, I often got confronted with not being able to identify with other people’s music tastes. That means, I usually listened to music by myself.

I’m glad that I followed my own path. That, of course, was the case in the beginning. Nowadays, I’m happy when people introduce me to music that I might like. And it’s not that I always pushed back the modern pop culture. It’s more that I genuinely was more interested in other stuff and thought it was cool to have another perspective. I believe that my non-conventional taste in music has enriched my life and allowed me to appreciate different genres and styles.

This particular album was one of my biggest inspirations and the first song is already incredibly powerful. The gentle intro followed by the aggressive guitar riff gives me a sense of strength. The voice has something unique, both delicate and fragile like glass, yet at times angry and intense like a raging animal. The Noose is a particularly great track from the record. I adore the meditative mood this track has. Is it the clean guitar melodies or vulnerable vocals? It’s awesome, really.

So glad to see you well
Overcome and completely silent now
With heavens help you cast your demons out

When I first discovered this album, I didn’t pay much attention to the lyrics. Now, as I read through them and understand part of their meaning, I’m relieved that I wasn’t too caught up with them at the time.

“Thirteenth Step” explores themes of addiction, recovery, and personal transformation. Apparently, they draw experiences of the lead singer, who was recovering from an addiction. I read that the album’s title is a reference to the 12-step program commonly used in addiction recovery, with the “thirteenth step” representing the difficult journey beyond recovery into a new way of life. Yeah I know, that’s heavy…

An album that lets me travel back in time. Thanks for that!

Some other crazy shit lyrics to finish up:

Disconnect and self destruct, one bullet at a time
What’s your hurry, everyone will have his day to die
If you choose to pull the trigger, should your drama prove sincere
Do it somewhere far away from here