This track by Between Earth & Sky is exclusive to the At Both Ends compilation.
Bloodshed / to see you tremble before me / satisfies a lifelong urge / to dominate / to annihilate / to stand above a sea of corpses / surveying the vanquished dead / to be the one who’s impulses dictate / who should be followed / and who is led / recoiling from humiliation / and the transference of condescension / deepens an abyss which beckons and with a life of its own / could absorb us at any time / do I dare to feel and soothe the wounds created on this search for absolution / or will I cross that distance / that shortest distance / between vulnerability and aggression... / bloodshed / for as I tremble before you / smothered by a shadow of a human as god / I quench your thirst for vehemence with my blood / we write history in skin and stone / on pages carved of steel and bone / and from my veins the ink which flows / archives a subplot of revenge / intolerance: the noose that chokes these final words from my throat / "I’ll make sure that I'll never be a victim" / scars burn / the eyes of strangers reveal a surface of despair / reflecting skinned knees / and desperate pleas / amid hopes for clemency as we become the enemy / you see me trembling / I soothe my soul by breaking yours / you create evil where none existed before / I make you feel less than you are / you ignore me / I always expect a different outcome / we are unable to fathom that in our shared terror is the true redemption / to deny you / to absorb you / to embrace you / to destroy you.
from
At Both Ends Compilation,
released May 6, 2020
Alexei – drums / Blair – guitars / Greg – vocals / Happy - guitars, bass, keys / Sean - guitars.
Produced by Between Earth & Sky / Recorded, edited, mixed, and mastered by: Blair Calibaba / Additional recording by Paul Forgues.
Recorded at Vogville Recording, Coquitlam, BC / Aero Music, Vancouver, BC / Lemonloaf Recording, Burnaby, BC (R.I.P.) / The Barley Room, Vancouver, BC. Mixed at: Vogville Recording, Coquitlam.
Assistant engineers Nels Breutigam / Nick Engwer / Thad Maximus (Vogville) / Clair Balibaba (Lemonloaf) / Ji Young Yoonicorn (The Barley Room) / Oliver Conway (Aero Music).
It seems to be difficult for the individual to realize that there exists a division between one's spiritual and purely human needs, and that the satisfaction or fulfillment for each has to be found in different spheres. As a rule, we find the two aspects hopelessly confused in modern relationships, where one person is made the god-like judge over good and bad in the other person. In the long run, such symbiotic relationship becomes demoralizing to both parties, for it is just as unbearable to be God as it is to remain an utter slave. -Otto Rank, Beyond Psychology