1. Overkill Exposure

I watched them murder and kill / Plot against the destroyed will
I watched a man ripped to shreds / Stench of rot does not offend
Create a theme, sell it how / Promiscuous, no consequence
Think of ways to shock us now / Good luck, I’ve seen it all

I will pay for this death and destruction / Just to know such things exist
I will pay for this death and destruction / Knowledge of evil paralysis
Overkill exposure

Cannibalistic destruction / Fanatical debauchery / Glorified infidelity
Show me death, show me lies / Show me unthinkable darkness
Programmed perversion of the worst kind

Show me death, show me lies / Show me unthinkable darkness
Show me death, show me lies

I will pay for this death and destruction / Just to know such things exist
I will pay for this death and destruction / Knowledge of evil paralysis
Overkill exposure

Guard my heart, guard my will / Think of ways to shock us now
Guard my heart, guard my will / Keep your death and lies

Guard my heart, guard my will / Think of ways to shock us now
Guard my heart, guard my will / Keep your death and lies

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2. Rules of Engagement
(feat. guest vocals by David Bunton of The Showdown)

Expectations of actions – that conform
Foreign beliefs – put in position to be killed
You have to go – you have to fight
There’s no one else that’s capable
No one else would even dare

Put your life on the line without a word
Silent and stealth / Just like you were trained to kill

Your hands are tied / You’ve been compromised
As the bullets rain down on your hide

Twenty yards and counting / The ememy rears his head
Black eyes glaring hate / In his heart

Blood and sweat mixed with earth / Bloody mess, stench of death
Blood and sweat mixed with earth / Searing flesh is what you’re worth

Your hands are tied / You’ve been compromised
As the bullets rain down on your hide
Your hands are tied / You’ve been compromised
As the bullets rain down on your hide

Engage...

Sent to defend / Trained to kill by the ones who called you an animal

Your hands are tied / You’ve been compromised
As the bullets rain down on your hide
Your hands are tied / You’re gonna die
By decisions made in someone elses mind


[From an interview with NoiseCreep.com] "A lot of music videos in the recent years – particularly since troops were deployed to the Middle East – have addressed the war, and Living Sacrifice’s video for ’Rules of Engagement’ from their forthcoming album, ’The Infinite Order,’ does just that. What sets ’Rules of Engagement’ apart, however, is how it deals with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder [wikipedia] and how the psychological syndrome deeply affects young men in military service.

"This song has to do with the impossible situation that some of our military are put into these days. They are fighting an enemy that looks like the civilians they are also trying to protect," guitarist/vocalist Bruce Fitzhugh told Noisecreep. "There are no uniforms, and you cannot trust anyone. It is just hard to help a people when you have to be suspicious of them at the same time. The video treatment by Robby Starbuck has to do with an institutionalized young soldier ... that is dealing with [PTSD]. I think the ending is a bit metaphorical, when the soldier, who is running from the pressure that seems to be crashing down, breaks through to the open air and freedom, to see the sun setting. And then he has peace."
 
The video not only features a plot but performance footage, as well. Performing the song in multiple takes certainly kicked Living Sacrifice’s butt! "I really like the live performance shots that Robby did with a Red camera, I think," Fitzhugh said. "The final colorization looks killer, in my opinion. Performance-wise, this video nearly killed us. Fake playing and fake singing the song 25 times was way worse than playing a show. And I kept ’singing’ under my breath without realizing it, which totally jacked my voice. But all in all, it was a great experience with talented dudes."

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3. Nietzsche’s Madness
(feat. guest vocals by Joe Musten of Advent (formerly of Beloved)

Moral laws do not apply / The mind is capable to justify
The madman has come / The madness attacks my mind
Cannot comprehend a purpose in randomness
Where is God? Have you killed him?

Self aware observation / Thousands of years
Finite greatness, finite cruelty
Which is the standard of man without God? Meaningless
Which is the standard of man? No rationale for what exists

The madman has come / The madness attacks my mind
Cannot comprehend a purpose in randomness
Where is God? Have you killed him?

Liberation of no law / Exhilaration of no God
Justified in the mind / Leads to horrors of every kind

What if there was a gun to your head? Would it not matter?
What if there was a gun to your head? No meaning in your death

The madman has come / The madness attacks my mind
Cannot comprehend a purpose in randomness
Where is God? Have you killed him?


[From an interview with NoiseCreep.com] [...] Guitarist and screamer Bruce Fitzhugh takes aim at atheism on the track ’Nietzsche’s Madness.’ "Nietzsche was a 19th century German philosopher and atheist, who is most famous for declaring ’God is dead,’" Fitzhugh told Noisecreep. "The song references the ultimate outcome and rationale of atheistic thinking, where life is random (by pure chance) and has no meaning."

The lyrics were inspired by a book by Christian writer and lecturer Ravi Zacharias, titled ’Can Man Live Without God?’ Fitzhugh believes that man might be able live without God, but it doesn’t seem to turn out very well.

"[Nietzsche’s] philosophy eventually influenced Hitler and the Nazis," Fitzhugh went on to explain. "Part of the lyrics are influenced by a parable that Nietzsche wrote called ’The Madman,’ specifically the line in the song ’Where is God? Have you killed him?’ The parable reads, ’Whither is God? I Shall tell you. We have killed him – you and I.’ Ironically, toward the end of his life, Nietzsche showed signs of insanity himself, and that is where the title of the song came from, along with the title of his parable."

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4. Unfit to Live

Product of some enlightenment / Cheapening a life once lived
The feeble and degenerate / Deemed unworthy living burdens
Social engineering / Genetic playground of the elite

Rationalize these thoughts and processes
Sterilize – Conclude who can live and die
Selective breeding – Racial hygiene
The extreme survival of social Darwin
Social engineering / Genetic playground of the elite

Who decides who lives and dies?
What is the cost of life?
The intellect of a Mini-God

Selective breeding – Racial hygiene
No compassion in this process
Only pseudoscientific notions

Who decides who lives and dies?
What is the cost of life?
Who decides who lives and dies?

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5. The Training

Broken down one by one / They’ll take your pride and crush it
The fall that comes is real, by pure degradation
Amputate – Humiliate / Who can take this punishment?
Create something new – A warrior where there once was nothing

Destroy the body and mind – Behold the spirit can survive
Destroy the body and mind – Today is a good day to die

(Broken mind) – Face down in the sand
(Spirit) Spirit – (Rise) Rise

Destruction comes only once in a lifetime
Cannot be great in your mind
This is the time to say your last prayer
If you desire peace, then prepare for war

Destroy the body and mind – Behold the spirit can survive
Destroy the body and mind – Today is a good day to die
Destroy the body and mind – Behold the spirit can survive
Destroy the body and mind – I am ready for mine

(Broken mind) – Face down in the sand
(Spirit) Spirit – (Rise) Rise

(Broken mind) – Face down in the sand
(Spirit) Spirit – (Rise) Rise
Prepare for war – Rise / Prepare for war – And rise

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6. Organized Lie
(feat. guest vocals by Drew Garrison of Little Rock Police Department / Ecomium)

Subvert the conscious mind of us all
Become the one who is the fraud
Deny the evil that pervades
Deny the sin that fuels the way

Pull down the blinders, rip down the shades
See the world as it has been made
The laws of life point the way
The ordering of every thing

Deny the conscience of righteousness
Paint broad strokes of piousness
Everyone believes in something, everyone believes
Just because you don’t call it God does not mean belief’s not involved
Just because you don’t call it God does not mean belief’s not involved

Random - Organized lie
Random - Organized lie

Pull down the blinders, rip down the shades
See the world as it has been made
The laws of life point the way
The ordering of every thing

Random - Organized lie
Random - Organized lie

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7. The Reckoning

Infamy – you lost your way again
This was the day, the day that you resigned
Infamy – this was not His design

I was yours, you were mine, cannot describe
I was yours, you were mine, this pain inside
Now I’ve turned to look – only a shadow remains
My land has been laid to waste / A drop of hope is all I taste

This is a reckoning of love / The calculation of my heart
This is a reckoning of love / The calculation of my death
No hope for return / You have brought infamy
No hope for return / Speaking grace solemnly

Depression – sets in
The serpent – stakes its claim
Losing faith – what it means to be alive
The shadows all around me dance for sorrow

I was yours, you were mine, cannot describe
I was yours, you were mine, this pain inside
Now I’ve turned to look – only a shadow remains
My land has been laid to waste / A drop of hope is all I taste

This is a reckoning of love / The calculation of my heart
This is a reckoning of love / The calculation of my death
No hope for return / You have brought infamy
No hope for return / Speaking grace solemnly

This is a reckoning (reckoning) / This is a reckoning (reckoning)
This is a reckoning (reckoning) / This is a reckoning

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8. Love Forgives

Through the raging gates of hell / He has shown redemption
He has opened up the skies / And made up for my losses
Who can make dark the purpose of Yahweh?
Who can take away the hand of compassion?

The air is blessed and my house is full
I was destroyed but Your hand brought beauty
My sin had overcome me but Your hand brought mercy
I am lifted by her love / Through the cracks of my despair
Each day is made new in Your hands forever

This is a call to the weak / These are the words we proclaim
Piece by piece I have gained a part of myself
My dreams are one again / Let me take you
Beauty – Your majesty / Love forgives travesty

This is a call to the weak / These are the words we proclaim
Piece by piece I have gained a part of myself
My dreams are one again / Let me take you
Beauty – Your majesty / Love forgives travesty
Love forgives / Love forgives / Love forgives

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9. They Were One
(feat. guest vocals by David Bunton of The Showdown)

At first site, dreams fulfilled / You were love and love was the answer
A covenant, bound by words / A covenant bound by blood

Your plague has ruined me / Made a mockery / Your tongue is the spear
Your plague has ruined me / Made a mockery / Your secret is no more

A door was opened – the other was un-shut
My heart withering every secret
I have looked into the room / I have seen Judas

A serpent’s day and they feasted / Your dream was eaten
Your heart has become a grave for robbers
Love turned to hate – justified by fate

Your plague has ruined me / Made a mockery / Your tongue is the spear
Your plague has ruined me / Made a mockery / Your secret is no more

A serpent’s day and they feasted / Your dream was eaten
I looked in the room – she was gone / The world has changed
My heart has remained

A serpent’s day and they feasted / Your dream was eaten
Your heart has become a grave for robbers
Love turned to hate – justified by fate

Your plague has ruined me / Made a mockery / Your tongue is the spear
Your plague has ruined me / Made a mockery / Your secret is no more

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10. God Is My Home

Abandoned – Left for dead / Kept outside, ostracized
Unwanted in your eyes / Cut me off, thrown aside

Is this why I was born? / Is this what I come from?
This world has been lost long ago / God is my home

Estranged, bastard I am / Never had the reasons why
God has taken me in / Healed my wounds, loved me in my sin

Is this why I was born? / Is this what I come from?
This world has been lost long ago / God is my home

God has taken the one you never wanted
My home – God is my home

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11. Apostasy

You have a new way / Is it a better way?
Once I saw you proclaim / Now there’s slight disdain
Why keep that title, what has changed? Is God so different?
Why keep that title, what has changed? Is He not the same?

Love is present, grace abounds
What happened here? Was the world so enticing?
Denial is treachery hard to reconcile
Call it for what it really is / Don’t make excuses
Call it for what it really is / Go ahead apostasy

Tepid waters do not run / Stagnation breeds disease
Flies surround / Multiply maggot parasites
Why keep that title? Why redefine?
Lord of the flies / Apostasy, Apostasy

Love is present, grace abounds
What happened here? Was the world so enticing?
Denial is treachery hard to reconcile
Call it for what it really is / Don’t make excuses
Call it for what it really is / Go ahead apostasy

Do not conform to one man / God is clear on who you are
Love, grace and mercy are there / Do not pretend apostasy

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12. Of My Flesh, Of My Heart [Hidden Bonus Track]

Wisdom – keeps you safe
Discretion – opposes sin innate
His Truth – guides and reveals
The One Sacrificed – striped to heal

Protection – only comes from God
Entrusted – to provide His love
Responsible – for this heart
Impartation – a Grace on fire

You have a part – of my heart
You have a part – of my heart

You have my heart always forever
You have my heart always forever... forever

I would die to protect you, but I cannot
I would die to protect you, gift of God

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