Very few concept albums have caught my interest throughout the story. Discovered this band earlier at a message board I post at. I rarely take recommendations, but this is an exception. When I started listening, the first track sucked me in. As each song continued, I read the lyrics, following this narrative along. The premise is very intriguing and flows very well unlike a lot of concept albums.
Basically, this album is about a story of a man from his birth to death. He deals immediately with the rejection and abuse of his father, alcoholism, debt, his dying mother, sibling rivalries, and things I won't spoil for you. For a hardcore album, this is pretty fucking amazing.
The musicianship perfectly complements the emotion being laid out. This is why I prefer emotional and melodic hardcore over the tough guy shit. Heavy yet melodic, and raw yet polished. I also found it really clever that in one of the songs, the narrator sees a transient playing a guitar on the street and at the last 2 minutes, it transitions to the acoustic song the man is playing. The end track "Cowardice" has some of the most dramatic build ups I've ever listened to in a hardcore song. Very fitting for the conclusion of this narrative.
If you're a fan of MLIW, Verse, and The Carrier, check this out. I think "Travels" replaces "Songs to Scream at the Sun" by Have Heart as my top hardcore album of '08.
"No judgment cast down this day, will set you free. You are forgiven my son, you are blessed and redeemed. You've found absolution here son, but only from me."
Summary for those who won't read the lyrics.
1. Blessed Burden
Birth of the protagonist in the family's run down apartment. The mother feels blessed while the father immediately rejects the son. He is an abusive drunk towards the mother, and while she prays for him to stop, he tells her that "god can't hear you, not down here. no one will save you because no one cares".
2. Everything went quiet
Fast forward to the man's childhood. He's with his older brother at the train tracks. He dares him to play chicken with an oncoming train. He tries, but bails out, and is basically shunned by his brother as " [he] can never live up to [him]". The train tracks will play a part later on.
3. Nameless Streets
The boy is wandering the streets of his broken town. He sees the homeless, thinking himself that will never be him. He remembers his addict mother, praying to her god and telling him to never leave her as the beatings continue from the drunkard father.
4. Forgiver Forgetter
The protagonist is a teen now. He awakes hearing yelling around the house. The father is saying the mother can't pay the rent because of her drug abuse. He comes to his mother's defense saying, all she did was raise him when his father was to drunk to. The father is offended, telling him he has nerve. The protag responds with "I never wanted to kill a man, like I want to kill you man." A fight ensues, with the protag killing his father. His mother screams in horror and his brother swears revenge. The protag abruptly leaves and his mother is now in God's hands.
5. The City By Dawn
The protagonist hops on a train to leave the city. He is trying to start over with nothing in his name.
6. Prophet in Plain Clothes.
The man has become homeless, something in the past he said he would never be. Wandering the streets in the snow and hopping from place to place, he is constantly barely getting by. He then sees a vagrant playing a guitar, singing "home is never home". This is something that will stick in his mind for the rest of his life.
7. Carrying Weight
Now wandering the country side, he is "carrying his own weight" around. Sleeping anywhere and everywhere possible, he still thinks about his mother. He is then taken up by a bunch of good Samaritans, telling him "redemption lies in an old farm house".
8. Moon Shine
They give the man words of wisdom. He is told he is not a man if he's always running from his problems. If he's got a battle back there, it's no reason to stay here. He decides to go back for his mother, telling himself he is not a "wicked man" and "don't you be like me".
9. The Blues
He hitches a ride with a local, and with a new found attitude, his "blues are dead and buried".
10. Debts.
He arrives at the slum he used to call home. Everything looked the same as before - broken and run down. He furiously goes back to his house, looking for his mother. His brother then appears and confronts him, telling him his addict mother is dead. The brother swears his revenge and calling the protag a selfish fuck for running away. He wants his life as pay back. With a gun to his head, the protag is lead back to the train tracks from his childhood. This time, things would be different as the protag would get the upper hand, throwing his brother into the oncoming train.
11. Cowardice
The man, now thinking to himself that there is no where left for him and is filled with regret, approaches the church. He confesses his sins to the priest, who says he has found absolution from him, but only him. Still distraught, the man goes on top of the bell tower, overlooking the city. He carves his name on the bell, so he can hear it when he goes straight to hell. With his final words filled with regret, "I ain't no wicked man", he jumps off the ledge, subsequently ending the story.
