Track 1:  Who Is This Man?  (heavy doom metal with heavy, smooth vocal)

I wrote this song based on 1 Samuel 17 and the battle between David and Goliath.  Not only does it make a great subject for a heavy metal song, but it seemed appropriate to launch this album that borrows its focus on warfare from the metal band Sabaton.
 

Thunder
And lightning clash
His voice booms
Across the field
 
Weapons
Of bronze flash forth
Saul’s men
In terror yield
 
Who dares
Who will face me
Your weak
God I defy!
 
Who is this man
Who would oppose
The strength of the living God?
Soon all will hail
The heavenly host
For the Lord rules with
An iron rod
 
A boy
Scoffs at men’s terror
I’ve fought
Both lions and bears
 
With God
I’ll slay this giant
His strength
Will answer prayers
 
Who is this man
Who would oppose
The strength of the living God?
Soon all will hail
The heavenly host
For the Lord rules with
An iron rod
 
David
Hurls forth a stone
Straight for
Goliath’s head
 
He draws
The giant’s sword
Lops off
That head now dead
 
Who is this man
Who would oppose
The strength of the living God?
Soon all will hail
The heavenly host
For the Lord rules with
An iron rod
 
Who is this man
Who would oppose
The strength of the living God?
Soon all will hail
The heavenly host
For the Lord rules with
An iron rod
 
Soon all will hail
The heavenly host
For the Lord rules with
An iron rod

Track 2:  Principalities (heavy metal with deep, baritone vocal)

It would have been easy to write an album of songs completely based on biblical battles, but I also wanted to draw attention to the battles that all of us face each day, and so I alternated songs about historic battles with songs about those you and I confront.  The King James Version of Ephesians 6:12 powerfully states, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high  places," which is what this song is about.

 

We wake up and we face our day
And think we know what lies in store
Our tasks are not our enemies
We’re in a world at war
 
Behind the veil of what we see
The demon troops fall into line
Their sights are set on us but we
To what is true are blind
 
We wrestle not
With flesh and blood
Not with the things of sight
But with the powers
That rule above
And spirits of the night
 
We think the ones with whom we live
Are those with whom we fight as foes
While unseen hell makes its attack
On us as well as those
 
We wrestle not
With flesh and blood
Not with the things of sight
But with the powers
That rule above
And spirits of the night
 
The Holy Ghost leads us to truth
So follow Him and not your ways
Pull back the veil and you will see
The demons run away
 
We wrestle not
With flesh and blood
Not with the things of sight
But with the powers
That rule above
And spirits of the night
 
We wrestle not
With flesh and blood
Not with the things of sight
But with the powers
That rule above
 
And spirits of
 
The night

Track 3:  Jericho Falls (heavy doom metal with heavy, smooth vocal)

The sixth chapter of the Old Testament book of Joshua describes the fall of Jericho.  I have to admit, this is one of my favorites!
 

The stamp of armies marching
The shaking of the ground
Sends fear to all who hear it
Death’s unavoidable sound
 
Yet one sound was far worse
Not the clash of sword on shield
But the war cry God ordained
That made a city yield
 
March
You soldiers
Priests, blow the trumpets of horn
Speak
Not one word
Jericho falls to the Lord
 
Six days did Joshua
Just as the Lord decreed
The men all held their tongues
To God’s word paid close heed
 
March
You soldiers
Priests, blow the trumpets of horn
Speak
Not one word
Jericho falls to the Lord
 
Then on the seventh day
They did as done before
But as they marched they let loose
A shout with def ning roar
 
March
You soldiers
Priests, blow the trumpets of horn
Shout
With power
Jericho falls to the Lord
 
The city’s walls fell flat
And Joshua’s troops marched in
The city had been taken
With a thun dring martial din
 
March
You soldiers
Priests, blow the trumpets of horn
Shout
With power
Jericho falls to the Lord
 
Shout
With power
Jericho falls to the Lord
 
Jericho falls
 
To the LORD!

Track 4:  Armed to the Teeth (heavy metal with deep, baritone vocal)

Returning to our own daily warfare, I based this song on the famous passage about the armor of God in Ephesians 6.

Lies
Sickness and death
Broken hearts and rage
Life
Is a battle
Not a play upon a stage
 
You
Do you have it all
The equipment to survive
God
Has provided
The weapons, lift up your eyes
 
Fasten your waist with the belt of truth
The righteous breastplate wear
Shoe your feet with the gospel of peace
The shield of faith boldly bear
Salvation’s helmet, let it guard your head
In your hand is the blade of the word
Securely armed, take your stand on the field
And hold your ground for the Lord
 
Why
Would you go forth
To face the day unarmed
Do
You just like pain
Want to suffer Satan’s harm?
 
Fasten your waist with the belt of truth
The righteous breastplate wear
Shoe your feet with the gospel of peace
The shield of faith boldly bear
Salvation’s helmet, let it guard your head
In your hand is the blade of the word
Securely armed, take your stand on the field
And hold your ground for the Lord
 
Fasten your waist with the belt of truth
The righteous breastplate wear
Shoe your feet with the gospel of peace
The shield of faith boldly bear
Salvation’s helmet, let it guard your head
In your hand is the blade of the word
Securely armed, take your stand on the field
And hold your ground for the Lord

Track 5:  Take Not the Glory (heavy doom metal with heavy, smooth vocal)

In Judges 7, we read about the famous battle of Gideon against the Midianites.  God reduced his troops through a rather a strange method so that it would be clear the glory belonged to Him and not to the strength of any man.
 

You say that you are with us, Lord
Yet why are we oppressed?
Your hand protected us before
Now we suffer like the rest
 
Trust not in your own strength
But put your trust in me
My ways are not your ways
As you will come to see
 
Then Gideon led soldiers forth
Against the Midianites
Prepared with thousands for the war
And countless bloody fights
 
Trust not in your own strength
But put your trust in me
My ways are not your ways
As you will come to see
 
God told his servant, “Send back home
All those who fearful quake
Lest prideful in your numbers you
From me the glory take.”
 
His ranks were halved and yet God said,
“Reduce your troops still more
Dismiss all those who kneel to drink,
Keep those who lap the shore.”
 
Trust not in your own strength
But put your trust in me
My ways are not your ways
As you will come to see
 
Three hundred Israelites that day
Marched forth with Gideon
In victory they left the field
At last the war they’d won
 
Trust not in your own strength
But put your trust in me
My ways are not your ways
As you have come to see
 
Trust not in your own strength
But put your trust in me
My ways are not your ways
As you have come to see

Track 6:  Ta Panta Christos (heavy metal with deep, baritone vocal)

The track with the non-English title on this album is "Ta Panta Christos," which comes from Colossians 3:11, where we find the phrase ta panta kai en pasin Christos, which means "all things and in all things Christ."  For the sake of the rhythm in the verses, I added the Greek word ho, which basically means "the."
 

For most of mankind’s history
To conquer was war’s goal
Yet when He conquered death and hell
Christ freed the human soul
 
And as the victor gave us all
A way to live new life
As one within His gracious realm
Set free at last from strife
 
Ta panta kai en pasin ho Christos
All things are Christ and Christ now dwells in all
He is the One from whom all blessing flows
Which in His blood restores us from our fall
 
Yet still we seek to wage our wars
For fame, security
And only keep our eyes upon
The paltry things we see
 
Ta panta kai en pasin ho Christos
All things are Christ and Christ now dwells in all
He is the One from whom all blessing flows
Which in His blood restores us from our fall
 
You say you are His follower
And so you think you are
Is Jesus Christ your all in all
Or do you wander far
 
To fight your battles on your own
With your own strength prevail
My friend, such wisdom leads to death
For you must surely fail
 
Ta panta kai en pasin ho Christos
All things are Christ and Christ now dwells in all
He is the One from whom all blessing flows
Which in His blood restores us from our fall
 
Ta panta kai en pasin ho Christos
All things are Christ and Christ now dwells in all
He is the One from whom all blessing flows
Which in His blood restores us from our fall

Track 7:  One Hundred Eighty-Five Thousand (heavy doom metal with heavy, smooth vocal)

I returned to a biblical battle for this song and based it on the war between Hezekiah, King of Judah, and Sennacherib of Assyria.  Once again, God gave a dramatic victory to His people.

Hezekiah ruled Judah
When Sennacherib mocked the Lord
“Don’t you know your God deceives you
That He’ll save you from my sword?”
 
“Gods of other nations failed them.
Where now are those conquered kings?
Lying dead, their kingdoms buried,
This is what such false faith brings!”
 
Hezekiah in the temple
Prayed to God and begged His aid
“Other gods have failed their people,
Gods that by men’s hands were made
 
Save your people, Lord,” he pleaded,
Save us from war’s conquering rod
Then will all earth’s kingdoms know that
You alone, O Lord, are God.”
 
Then Isaiah, prophet mighty,
Spoke to Hezekiah thus,
“God has heard your prayer, so in Him
You must firmly place your trust.”
 
In that very night there came forth
From the Lord one angel dread
With the dawn the foe was stretched out
 
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-FIVE THOUSAND DEAD!

Track 8:  Armageddon, Part 1 (heavy metal in the style of Dio)

I chose to end the album with a two-part song about the battle of Armageddon, revisiting a theme I first explored in the final song on Twilight of the Gods.
 

The heavens opened
He rode forth
With robe of blood
Upon a snow-white horse
 
This
Is
The battle
At the end of time
Christ
Is the warrior
Leading troops sublime
 
The angel army
Mounted high
Their steeds and garments
Like His were gleaming white
 
This
Is
The battle
At the end of time
Christ
Is the warrior
Leading troops sublime
 
The beast and earth’s kings
Marched to war
With madness wild
To kill at last their Lord
 
With His sharp sword
Christ slew His foes
Their flesh was meat
For the circling crows
 
This
Is
The battle
At the end of time
Christ
Is the warrior
Leading troops sublime
 
They captured the beast
False prophet too
Into the fire
Christ Jesus threw
 
This
Is
The battle
At the end of time
Christ
Is the warrior
Leading troops sublime
 
Christ
Is the warrior
Leading troops sublime

​Track 9:  Armageddon, Part 2 (slow, heavy doom metal with heavy, smooth vocal)
 

The wind blew
Across the blood-soaked fields
The banners snapped
Angels with swords and shields
Marched slow
From the fight where evil did yield
 
God’s throne
Appeared from the midst of the sky
From Him
All creation tried to fly
Slowly
There was opened the book of life
 
All souls
Returned from the land of the dead
Life’s book
By God the great Judge was read
Those who
Heard not their names then pled
 
There was
No time to make things right
God cast
The wicked from His sight
Waves of fire
Set their souls alight
 
For those
Found in the book of life
A new earth
New heaven with glory rife
Shone forth
With no more death or strife
 
No need
For moon or for the sun
God’s light
Blazed forth for everyone
True life
Eternal had begun
 
This scene
Is finished in time come
Though not yet
It is already done
Sealed by
The blood of God’s own Son
 
War’s peace
It is already done
Sealed by
The blood of God’s own Son