INQUISITOR: The album kicks off in truly epic aggressive style with INQUISITOR a story about medieval torture and religious fanaticism set in Spain, during Thomas De Torquamadas reign of terror. An Atmospheric intro sets the mood of the piece before a no holds barred heavy metal onslaught. It is a story of inhuman cruelty from the inquisitors perspective. No remorse... Much has been written of the inhuman cruelty of Thomas de Torquemada. Llorente computes that during Torquemada's office 8,800 suffered death by fire and 9,654 were punished in other ways. Even the Jewish historian Graetz contents himself with stating that "under the first Inquisitor Torquemada, in the course of fourteen years (1485-1498) at least 2000 Jews were burnt as impenitent sinners.". Torquemada's ways of ferreting out and punishing heretics seemed justifiable by his order and seemed not barbaric with the penal standard of the fifteenth century. The preservation of Christian Spain was all that mattered and Torquemada was called "the hammer of heretics, the light of Spain, the saviour of his country. He died peacefully in his sleep. Religion has always been an excuse for genocide. One man's murderer is a martyr, when at the end of the day murder is just murder. The end doesn't justify the means. In the present day dangerous climate of Sept 11th, Nothing changes... Evil still has its face. 

WHORE OF BABYLON: I had that intro riff in my head for the longest time. It sounds vaguely eastern modally, but took me a while to get around to picking the correct subject matter to incorporate it. Lillith a Sumerian demoness is the subject of the song, legend has it that she was the first woman, created by god at the same time as Adam, unlike Eve who was created from Adam's rib. Lilith refused to submit to Adam's will and left the garden of Eden and was subsequently cursed by god. The "first Eve" story of Lilith first appeared in medieval times, although Lilith herself existed before the middle ages, all earlier descriptions of her were demonic. Lilith's true origins are obscure, but both her Sumerian and Babylonian predecessors were also all evil. Originally she was purely the mother of all demons who feasted on newly born infants at night and copulated with unwary mortals who she possessed the souls of after seducing them.

ABSOLUTE POWER: Absolute power is an observation on the inequality that exists in the world today between the have's and have nots. Man's greed is all consuming and power and wealth corrupts absolutely as the chorus indeed states. This urban segregation has created a gulf that is getting larger every day, and history has shown time and again what dangers can result from a wealth at all cost mentality... Poverty, famine and death. In a climate such as this extremists can often find support by manipulating the frustrations and emotions of the masses breeding revolution and anarchy. Politicians often forget the population at large only obey the law by consent of will, because it is supposed to represent the values held by the greater majority. When the fabric of this is eroded by power mad individuals who treat the views of the common man with contempt, that is when the fuse will be lit and all hell could break loose... That day may be very near at hand?

ANGELS IN HELL: Multi time changes, blistering riffs, this epic track has all the CLOVEN HOOF trade marks. It deals with the last great battle between the forces of good and evil. The book of Revelations is put to music starting with the brooding prophesy that sets the scene before the carnage commences and the great beast rises out of the sea. The devil holds reign over the Earth working great signs and wonders till the final confrontation, when the forces of light emerge triumphant over Lucifer and his minions. In many ways it is a return to grass roots for the band, with demonic subject matter being tackled with power and passion.

KISS OF EVIL: Gothic horror has always been a source of interest for the band, and Kiss of evil is a story about Vampires set in the modern age. The film Lost boys was a movie favourite of the band, and it was a big influence to this numbers content. This song is written to the memory of a very special lady nicknamed Buffy, whose real name must remain a mystery. She died at the age of 26 and she was captivated by Vampires and all things gothic. This one is for you!

CYBERWORLD: Computers are dominating our daily lives to a frightening extent. Technology is progressing to the point that science fiction becomes science fact on an almost daily basis. Therefore it isn't too difficult to imagine a super artificial intelligence growing to take over and ensnare it's hapless flesh and blood creators. The staple diet of ever evolving computer games provides the back ground metaphor for machine triumphing over man sometime in the not too distant future.

EYE OF THE SUN: Eye of the sun is a track about Aztec ritualistic human sacrifice! In Mesoamerica, the most obvious practice of human sacrifice was found in the Aztec Culture. Under the leadership of Montezuma and others before him, sacrifice became a key element in their ritual and worship to many gods. The Aztecs were constantly at "war" with neighbouring tribes and groups. The goal of this constant warfare was to collect live prisoners for sacrifice. The Flowery Wars began with a mutual agreement between the Aztecs and the Tlaxcalans to capture live men for future sacrifice. The Aztecs worshipped a war god called Huitzilopochtli, who took on the likeness of the sun over time. It was thought that in order to insure the sun's arrival each day, a steady supply of human hearts had to be offered in holy sacrifice (Hogg:43). They believed that the sun and earth had already been destroyed four times, and in their time of the 5th sun, final destruction would soon be upon them. In order to delay this dreadful fate, the practice of human sacrifice became a major element in Aztec society and livelihood. The most common form of sacrifice was performed outside, on the top of a great pyramid. The victim was spread-eagled on a round stone, with his back arched. His limbs were held, while a priest used an obsidian knife to cut under the rib cage and remove his heart. This method was used when honouring the sun god, Huitzilopochtli.

KING FOR A DAY: King for a day is a song about self-reliance. It tells of a drifter who will not be told what to do by anyone or anything. He makes his own mind up and never settles in one place long enough to be dictated to. Too many people follow like sheep, and are manipulated by the media or politicians etc. In this story our hero calls no one king.

GOLGOTHA: Golgotha is a song that I approached with the notion of so what if Jesus Christ really was the son of God or not? Crucifixion was a barbaric way of execution for a man not guilty of any serious crime. Military imposed government and religious politics conspired against him to make him the ultimate holy martyr. I focused on the last moments of his life when he uttered the words "Lord why hast thou forsaken me?". This sentiment of doubt about his purpose, and did he see himself as just a mortal man and not the messiah, is very evocative. I merely set this to music along with a snapshot of Christ's exploits.

EYE OF THE ZOMBIE: Voodoo swamp witches and zombie flesh eaters abound in this tale about a Louisiana backwater village where no one will go out after dark.