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Crossing the Divide

by The Benzene Ring

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1.
A tap at the window But no one was there Again at the other window But no one is there either S U R P R I S E , S U R P R I S E . . . .
2.
Strangers, what are you doing here? Why don’t you just go home? I don’t want you here Because you will break things, upturn furniture, burn the curtains down What of me would remain if I pursue what I entertain? Get out of my house! The incessant babble The cloying prattle Packed like a crowded elevator, cable severed, careening into the ground Run the bath until nothing but dust and rattled rusty barks and groans escape Return to a dying cold world (SOMETHING SOMETHING) LONG GONE CANYON WALL I need a trap, a ruse, a cleaning cataclysm, wind and sound to smoke you out Your welcome has been overstayed You can’t understand what I’m trying to say Demons, no more holiday The waiting room in the Obsolaire, where all the faceless stay What of me would remain if I pursue what I entertain? My sleep is troubled by dark voices That I can’t believe begin within my own mind PIED PIPER PLAN LEAD THEM ON LEASHES LAZY LITTLE ANIMALS LURE THEM INTO A CAVE MY UNSPEAKABLE MILITARY CAMPAIGN
3.
Descension 01:41
Detached or severed My tongue looks so small On the dust-covered floor Separated from my thoughts Down in the basement This pulse fades away Like marching claws Match their steps and chase what you’ve lost
4.
I try to to talk to myself as I fall asleep I try to escape the confusion of my old friends They don’t understand a word I say Well you think you know, but you don’t You think my mind has come unglued But it all makes sense in my head I just can’t seem to get through to you Unless I scream it So I’ll scream it I open the door But no one comes in This rabble forces a rout, besieges, and quickly proves That a mind encircled by doubt It freezes and can barely move Like an ocean shelf in the dark You can’t feel it ‘til it falls away You’ve shot miles past the mark Don’t believe them when they try to say there’s nothing left to lose ‘Cause I’m losing it I open the door But no one comes in I read out the words But no one listens Weighed down by everything Break out in a smothered scream Spaced out and sundering Laid down but never seen [unintelligible] I open the door But no one comes in I read out the words But no one listens I’ve lost it now It’s forever gone Forever gone And I find that I I can’t go on I can’t go on
5.
Alarms 08:26
i. Alarms (Panic) Escape into the darkening day Where shadowed voices congregate Wander by the beating drum Where echoed sadness mocks you from Running and running and running from The frothing, foaming commotion Barking at the helping hand Fearful of the gypsy band Run into the darkness Disappear into the woods Don’t look back You won’t see what you think you should What is before me? What do I fantasize? Is this real? It can’t be real. I just need to rest my eyes ii. The Clearing and the Old Man “I’m glad you found me here (In my broken air balloon) It’s been a thousand years (A hundred thousand times I’ve played this game) “I can explain myself Stay with me, play with me I have the answers here Stay with me, please stay with me “I can explain myself Stay with me, have a drink Oh God, it’s my last birthday here “‘Ooh ooh ooooooooh!’” iii. Alarms (Escape) Spinning, spinning, can’t stand still If the man won’t die, the fire will Running down the path, the bend And wondering where the road will end… iv. The Path Ends Run into the darkness Disappear into the woods Don’t look back You won’t see what you think you should Whoa — fate No way back, no way back Running downhill
6.
:xx: 01:52
7.
Could I be gone? This must be how it ends And yet the scratch draws blood And my breath fogs in the dim I can’t recall what I was running from Did it catch me and leave me in the dark? Hard cold stone How far am I beneath my star-lit home? Will someone come for me? Broad spaces expand beyond my sight Should I follow the stream Running voiceless through the night? The dim light grows in size Doorway comes into sight I hear a ghostly noise inside Under this stone I’ll hide
8.
The sky is as grey as the pavement Meaningless ugly and vacant I don’t know if I can take it I don’t know if I will survive All of my wasted devotion Emptied out over the ocean No one will recover it It’s gone, it’s gone, it’s gone No one can help me I’m far too confused So isolated, lost, and refused A priest in the marriage of fear and despair I thought that I could trust those words That they wouldn’t let me down Now that I am caught adrift They will watch me drown, drown… Scream into the mouthpiece But I’ve severed the cord Uselessly railing against and toward A foregone conclusion A dead-bolted door I tried to navigate this fog I thought I could find my way Chasing every unshaped wraith Lured and led astray I thought that I could trust these words They wouldn’t let me down Now that I am caught adrift They will watch me drown All of my words sputter out into dust now that it’s gone I can’t even make sense of page one It may as well be written in an ancient tongue That no one can decipher and no one can remember and no one even wants to figure out So take a deep breath if it helps to But no one’s coming back to explain it all to you You will die a hapless mess Nothing will make any sense It won’t add up to anything at all No one can help me I’m too confused So isolated, lost, and refused Blinded by this endless fog Never to reach the shore Spectres of this long-gone world Wait for me on the ocean floor
9.
i) Vermin (Revealing) Waking up is hard to do when they’ve covered you with dirt... ii) Forward to the Great Hall! Lay low Follow the animal tracks I will sit still I won’t make a sound Every single muscle relaxed In the stillness of my mind I will perceive what I cannot see Dark shapes on the wall Something lurking behind me Where did it go? Where did it come from? Where did it go? Where did it come from? Footsteps, echoes, the smell of moist earth Become one with the mold and the flowers of the rotting soil Must lay ready to strike Like an asp, in the alley, coiled Must learn to follow the signs and learn how the others behave Follow the earthen path through the valleys of the curving cave Where does it go? Where did it come from? Where does it go? Where did it come from? Whispers, magic, animal fur Pathways, dark caves Open the door iii) Window to the Night Sky Straight up Like a drill dug into the earth Window on high out to the night sky The rope to climb, the lever to pull So fucking beautiful Moonlight, starlight Moonlight, starlight iv) Vermin (Reveling) Become one with the mold and the flowers of the rotting soil Must lay ready to strike Like an asp in the alley, coiled Must find a way inside to the throne room of the king Must find a way to show that I don’t know anything Where am I now? Where did I come from? Where am I now? Where did I come from? Footsteps, echoes, the smell of moist earth Whispers, magic Open the door
10.
i. Story of the Rats “Thousands gathered there The last remaining plain Fractious and weak and gnashing our teeth Choosing to leave or remain “I was one that ascended then The poisoned air thinned as we flew The strange man refused to show methods he’d use to vanish us into the blue “We were twisted by the distance Our skeletons all rearranged Our frantic escape altered our shape While the storm dissolved all that remained Can we change what we’ve become? Should I have stayed in the fire? “We were fools to believe in him Trust blindly his strange device He talked a lot, said we’d turn back the clock Were we men or were we mice? Our friends remained below Consumed by angry storms Horrified shrieks faded into the deep Hazy and translucent forms “We were twisted by the distance Our skeletons all rearranged Our frantic escape altered our shape While the storm dissolved all that remained Can we change what we’ve become? Should I have stayed in the fire? The pathway back has crumbled to ash Am I trapped in here until I die? “The machine comes to life Screaming with sparks and fire Blinding shafts of rain Levers and dials, arcs of electricity We’re crossing the divide “The machine comes to life Screaming with sparks and fire Blinding shafts of rain Levers and dials, arcs of electricity We’re crossing the divide ii. Reflection in the Darkened Pool “Whose paws are these? Whose claws, whose teeth? What strange disease infects us? Crawl up to the darkened pool What twisted form is reflected? “Fragmented voices cry Confessed from lowly vantage Our storied shrives Our pasts, our lives By paths above they vanished iii. Crossing the Divide “You must have seen him where you’re from It must be why you came to tell us what you know He said he would come back, return, save us, change us Bring us back to where you must have come from Tell us why you came to save us Did you know? He said he would come back, return, change us, bring us home “Can we change what we’ve become? Should I have stayed in the fire? The pathway back has crumbled to ash Am I trapped in here until I die? The ground, shaking, collapses into the boiling sea The poisoned air thins as we rise How can we say our goodbyes?” Lift my head up to the ceiling Thoughts start crawling through my mind Like rats scratching at the threshold I’m crossing the divide Lift my head up to the ceiling Thoughts start crawling through my mind Like rats scratching at the threshold I’m crossing the divide Story of the rats! Rats! Rats! Rats!
11.
Ascension 09:15
Walls tower above me They’re bearing in The snarling rabble’s patience is wearing thin Rusted rivets groan Spiral into the blackness to my way home Scratch and claw up against the wall Like a cornered animal with one unlikely escape route With twice the strength of an anguished choir Splice the length of language wire Complete the circuit, speak the words true Parallels of past and present tense I know it’s not coincidence It has to make sense Now I know how to escape Yeah! Yeah! Back in a game we played, he gave away the path he had laid Scratch and claw up against the wall Like a cornered animal with one unlikely escape route With twice the strength of an anguished choir Splice the length of language wire Complete the circuit Speak the words true I finally hold my hands against the roof! Hold out, hoping, screaming, opening Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh Aaaahhhhh Blistered hands scratch rust from words inscribed in thick metal Rumble and groans from above As the door opens No one here to help me But I’m breaking through Clawing through the dust and dirt I’m breaking through Maybe Flashes of light Could I see the sky?
12.
(...) 14:22
How can we say our goodbyes?

about

Reviews of Crossing the Divide:

• “A true masterpiece that true connoisseurs of "progressive rock" just have to hear! Highly recommended!" Igor Gorely, Recyclable Sounds, recyclablesounds.blogspot.ru/2015/12/the-benzene-ring-crossing-divide-2015.html

• 9.5/10 "Enormous, truly enormous prog-epic!" Björn Backles, Power Metal, powermetal.de/review/review-Benzene_Ring__The/Crossing_The_Divide,28049.html

• "4.5/5 (Amazing)... this needs to be up in my 2016 list in the top five." Callum Doig, Supernovadose, supernovadose.com/2016/03/04/album-review-crossing-the-divide-the-benzene-ring/

• A "gorgeous piece of experimental rock/metal." Progarchy, progarchy.com/2016/02/26/review-the-benzene-ring-crossing-the-divide/

credits

released November 13, 2015

Jeff Aldrich - vocals, drums, guitars
Eric Hertenstein - keyboards, piano, guitars, vocals
Hwarg - guitars
Daniel Gunnard Beamish Gibson - bass

Mastered by Joe Lambert

Artwork by Adam Rokhsar and The Benzene Ring

Special thanks to Eric B and Erin Barlow for their contributions

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The Benzene Ring New York

The Benzene Ring is a Brooklyn prog-rock band. They explore lush textures and intricate, ambitious compositions. Their music appeals to fans of Yes, Sunny Day Real Estate, Hum, The Mars Volta, Porcupine Tree, and Kayo Dot. Crossing the Divide, called “a true masterpiece,” and an "enormous, truly enormous prog-epic!", features Jeff Aldrich, Eric Hertenstein, Hwarg, and Daniel Gibson. ... more

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