This is an album that truly amazes me. It’s bold, and it’s real. It’s so real. A lot of bands try to be very complex, cryptic and metaphoric with their lyrics. This isn’t a bad thing – it can be quite wonderful, but it can also go very badly if it’s not done well. The lyrics on this album are straight up. They tell it like it is.
The album tells a bit of a story – a story about how the earth and society are deteriorating, and everything, every reference, every observation is spot on.
The language they use is direct. Straight to the point. The first verse of opening Track “Dust to Dust” says:
“The only reason that we progress technology
is to live long and surplus complacency”
Which is exactly true. Advances in technology, while often quite incredible, generally tend to serve only to allow our lives to become that much easier, that much lazier. The album is full of stuff like this – real problems facing the world today.
“People ask what happened to music
It ran away when money tried to rip out its heart”
This line comes from the last track on the album, entitled “Pack Up, We’re Moving.” This honestly couldn’t be more true. I think this often – and here they are putting it perfectly into words. The music industry truly is in shambles, and they’re not afraid to talk about it. “Artists’ are putting out “music” all in the hopes of making money.
While the language is simple and direct – it is still very poetic. Instead of using complex metaphors and a huge vocabulary, they instead use rhyming patterns to achieve rhythm. I would say that most, if not all, of the songs, could be read as poetry.
While the album tells a destructive story of society working against itself – it is peppered with little bits of hope and faith here and there, and I think this is where the band truly shines. Their Christian faith is very obvious.
Probably my favourite line on the album comes from “Sneaking Chair’
“The rocks are crying out from the sky”
I believe this is a reference to Luke 19:40
“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
Here God is saying that if all of mankind were to forget Him and not a single person is worshiping his name, then the stones will take over. This is a very iconic verse and a well-known idea – it’s talked about a lot, in my Church at least, as a reminder to never lose sight of the Lord and to always praise Him.
The title track, Algorithm, is especially powerful.
“It’s difficult to write a song against
A new paradigm of selfishness
When I know that it will never change”
“It takes many men to build a home
But only a boy and a match to burn it down”
There are many dark lines and some with more aggressive overtones, but there is one line that demonstrates that silver lining.
“My God, brotherhood, and heavy music
These are the only things real to me”
There’s no pretense here. No riddle, no metaphor. His God, brotherhood, and heavy music are the most important things to, perhaps the author of the song, or maybe a character in this world they’ve created within the album, but it’s a powerful sentiment. In a world so full of hate, you have to be able to look to God, your friends and family, and of course, music is an incredible outlet for a lot of people.
“The Witching Hour Pt II” off of Algorithm has a music video, which is actually a sequel. I suggest you also check out “The Witching Hour”
You can read more about My Heart To Fear HERE
Conclusion
I just really, truly love this album. The authenticity of the whole thing, and the direct, yet poetic approach they take to telling their story. They’ve depicted a world that is basically turning upside down on itself, and all that’s left to do is look to God and pray that things get better.
This is, essentially, reality. I imagine that if you do not believe in God, or perhaps you believe in a different god, then you would disagree with me. However, as a Christian, this album really speaks to me.
As a lover of metal and all forms of heavy music, this album is an absolute joy to listen to. The energy is amazing and the headbang factor is on point.
My Heart To Fear have done an exceptional job with Algorithm.
Want To Listen?
It is available for purchase on Amazon:
This seems like something I would enjoy listening to. Have you already heard the song? What did you think? I have always wondered if the the sites that auto-tune other songs would be good. From my experience, they are decent enough to listen to.To be honest, I enjoy quite a few of the different songs they produce Thank you for the information.
It’s a whole album I’m talking about here actually – and yes I’ve heard the whole thing 🙂 I like it a lot, I do hope you check it out!