"Fireaxe is a channel for my emotions. I play what I feel"
Of Eternal Devotion to the Dark Goddess
The Saga of "A Dream of Death"
Band History
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A Dream of Death
- Brian Voth, creator of Fireaxe
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Food for the Gods |
Eternal Devotion to the Dark Goddess
The Meaning of Fireaxe
"Although I'm battered and defeated, my sinful dream returns,
and now becomes a weapon, a blade which cuts and burns."
The origin of the name "Fireaxe" is one of a symbolic weapon that is born out of conflict between a person and their environment. The quotation above comes from the song entitled "Fireaxe" which provides an accurate description. In the song I have a "sinful dream" which is symbolic of a new and different idea which conflicts with the current established ideas of those who are in power. I am punished for my ideas and challenging the status quo. It is then that this dream becomes a weapon, for if the idea cannot be accepted, it must defeat the old ideas in a battle for truth. Armed with this weapon, and prepared for the inevitable conflict, I and the powers that be clash once again.We all come into conflict with our society at some time or another, some of us more than others, and forge our own weapons with which we do battle. These weapons are not physical ones, but rather are social skills, influential techniques, and many other methods unique to ourselves that define who we are. In essence we are all warriors inside, doing battle in the social arena when circumstances demand it. It is a struggle for survival, for freedom, for justice, and all else we need or want. Too often we are told to throw away our weapons and do what others wish us to do in exchange for the fulfillment of some of our needs. It is here where we are vulnerable and powerless, and in being so we have no control over what receive, what we do, and even sometimes of who we are.
You must always remain forever vigilant against those who wish to exploit you if you hope to realize your dreams. Always ask questions and make others earn your trust. Know what you are giving up and what you are getting in return for it. Be wary of the dreams of others, especially of those who have convinced themselves. And take only those chances you can afford to take.
I will never relinquish my Fireaxe, nor my willingness to wield it.
Of Eternal Devotion to the Dark Goddess
"Eternal Devotion. Dreamless sleep flowing forever"
"Eternal Devotion to the Dark Goddess" is the heart-warming tale of a man getting tortured to death. Sorry about that... just a little dark humor to go along with this very dark CD. Told in nine parts "Eternal Devotion to the Dark Goddess" is the story of a man's life, of his naive and hopeful beginnings, of his disillusionment and drive to succeed at all costs, and of his fall and quest for retribution. The setting is recognizable as the United States in the present day although the events described could have taken place in the echelons of power of just about any dominant world power throughout history, especially those whose ideals have become corrupted in the pursuit of empire. The protagonist's tale is a journey through a world where sadism, deceit, and exploitation lay waiting behind every shining promise. It is a tale of cut-throat capitalism, of torture and abuse of power, and of the desperate struggle to preserve love and purity in a world of lust and debauchery, but mostly it is about lies and how they are used to create and destroy.In the first part of the opening track, "I Used to be Young", the protagonist sits in his jail cell, lamenting the loss of his youth, power, and dreams, which have given way to hatred, degradation, and death. He recounts the things that were promised him if he lived up to his end of the social contract only to discover that the promises were lies in a world rife with corruption. In the second part of the track he is brought into the torture chamber where he is softened up and prepared for interrogation by the antagonist. In the following six tracks the protagonist tells the story of his life, the truth as he sees it, and reveals the reasons for why he is where he is.
In "Masters of the Universe" the protagonist, frustrated by his inability to get ahead by doing things the "right way", forsakes his idealism and embraces the aggression, greed, and ruthlessness that characterize the successful, eventually becoming one of the most powerful men in the firm. In "My Angel" the protagonist clings to the dream of a storybook romance and struggles to make it happen, only to see the object of his desire defiled and discarded by smooth-talking liar. His experiences destroy his faith in the system and he becomes a jaded, uncaring monster. The firm however, has a place for a man like him and has him do their dirty work in "The Evil Men Do", at least until he is no longer useful.
In "Death's Angel" the protagonist finds himself in a third world hellhole, albeit loaded with money, where he indulges himself with suicidal abandon until he hits rock bottom. His ideology, capitalist-democracy has chewed him up and spit him out, but it isn't until he is kidnapped and abused by a band of "freedom fighters" that he finds something new to serve. After freeing himself and slaughtering many of his captors he rediscovers the source of his power and embraces a dark ideology of death and retribution, using the pain of a lifetime of broken promises to fuel his vengeance. In "God is Pain", the protagonist reveals how ideologies, or "gods", enslave the masses, how they are complicit in bringing about the pain which their lies are well crafted to alleviate, and how their followers come to prefer lies over truth. Being fluent in lies from his years with the firm he turns the remaining freedom fighters against the system in "Viva la Revolucion", destroying its coveted symbols of wealth and power and threatening to bring it all crashing down. In that respect he fails, however his plan was never to overthrow the system, but to provoke it into destroying itself, sacrificing himself in the process.
In "My Reflection" the antagonist's character is explored, revealing how he is a mirror image of the man whom he is interrogating. The antagonist's former ideology has failed him too, but instead of revenge he seeks to purify the system, purging it of evil and transforming it into a capitalistic theocracy. The two characters clash in the final track, "Black and Black", as do their ideologies. The protagonist sees the antagonist's beliefs as his weakness and attacks his tormentor's faith and self-image even while being interrogated and tortured. In the end the protagonist turns the tables on his nemesis, provoking his anger and softening him up for the final blow: the delivery of a simple lie, one that the antagonist deeply wants to believe.
The story ends there, with the protagonist dying, but his plan has worked. He has convinced the antagonist that a rival power is behind an insidious plot to assassinate him, take over the firm, and seize control of the state. The antagonist is also led to believe that a "package", perhaps a small nuclear device, has been smuggled into the country to be used as blackmail. The antagonist's fears and paranoia get the better of him and he is consumed by the righteous cause of defending his ideology against the forces of evil. In the name of a greater good he justifies imposing a police state, interrogating and torturing suspects, and starting "defensive" wars. Thus in the pursuit of ridding the world of evil the antagonist ends up unwittingly doing the protagonist's bidding, destroying the system which brought the protagonist so much pain. And so what was built with lies is destroyed with lies. The world is not black and white, it is black and black.
We are Food for the Gods
"We are enslaved to a world in flames.
We tremble in fear and kill in their names.
We bow to their will as they promise us glory.
We go to our graves lifting them up to the sky.
We are food for the gods."
"Food for the Gods" is fourteen epic tragedies set to music that take the listener on a journey from the ancient past, through the present, into the future, and beyond the grave. Many themes run in and out of these epic works, tying them all together into a cohesive whole. In it I examine the evolution of religion, love and hate, divine abandonment, ideological purification, psychological enslavement, dreams of glorious triumph, the need for justice and revenge, and how our gods are taking us down the path of self annihilation. When I refer to gods I am not invoking the conventional definition of supreme beings who have omnipotent qualities and cannot rationally exist, instead I see gods as being emergent systems, manifestations of our collective needs, desires, and neuroses, that create and exploit our weaknesses and make us act in ways that spread their influence. I see gods and ideologies as being interchangeable concepts and see no distinctions between gods as supreme beings such as Assur, Ishtar, and Jehovah, and gods as ideals such as, Freedom, Equality, and "the workers revolution". All these "gods" are the basis of laws, dictators of proper behavior, and entities which we kill for and sacrifice our lives in the name of. Darwinism rules in the realm of our gods and thus we are constantly at war against those with different ideologies. We fight for our beliefs in all arenas to ensure the survival of the systems with which we identify ourselves. I see our conflicts as continuously escalating, and which will not be pacified by the specter of total annihilation since humans believe that their gods exist beyond the bounds of reality and will reward them for their servitude in the afterlife. Thus, our wars will continue, and build in magnitude, until there is no one left.This concept is huge so I handle it in small chunks. Each epic song in "Food for the Gods" is intended to show one piece of the puzzle which are gradually assembled into a terrifying whole. In many of the epics I tell the tale in the first person so that you feel what the characters are going through and see the world from their eyes. I used their own words as much as possible, from proclamations carved into stone, passages written in the bible, historians' accounts of the crusades, and memorable quotations from the most admired and reviled men in all of history. I didn't want this work to be merely my personal "take" on history, but an honest and scholarly examination of the forces which created our modern world. "Food for the Gods" is not propaganda, it is pointed social commentary, and I strongly feel that such profound questioning of deeply held beliefs is not only permissible in countries that honor the right to free speech but is in fact the life's blood of open societies.
The music breathes life into stories that are generally found only in history books and will pull at your heartstrings as you see reflections of ancient kings and warriors in yourself. Although many of the characters lived and died thousands of years ago, you will see how relevant their struggles are to those of today for things have not changed as much as we would like to believe. That is why over two hours of "Food for the Gods" is spent telling stories from long ago. When you hear the words of our ancestors and substitute the ideals we fight for: Freedom, Liberty, and Equality; for the ones they fought for: Assur, Aten, and Jesus; the echoes of the past ring loud indeed. To understand the present you must understand the past.
More than one theme runs through the work and the themes appear in several songs, tying them all together. Songs later in the work shine light on those earlier and vice-versa, giving you a better understanding with each listen and becoming more powerful over time. If it has this effect on you, then I have succeeded as an artist. The works that I have the most respect for are those that caused me to question my beliefs and that changed me deeply as a result. My purpose is not to destroy your belief system, as much as it may seem that way at first listen, but to make you think harder that you've ever thought before. I know that doesn't sound like what you'd expect from a metal album, but metal is supposed to be all about artistry and rebellion, and "Food for the Gods" rebels against all modern notions with power and elegance. It is like nothing that you've ever heard before.
The final song, "The Flame Extinguished", is the most controversial of all the works in "Food for the Gods" and I feel the need to explain it in more depth. In "The Flame Extinguished", I apply the theme of total war to the afterlife of the Christian mythology. Although the setting and characters are those from the myths, plus one character of my own, the song is an allegory for an apocalyptic revolution that may one day sweep the earth, a revolution that I implied, but did not describe, in the final part of the previous song, "On Earth as it is in Hell". Setting the song in heaven and hell made it far more epic and brought an intensity which could not be matched if I had been describing earthly events. I feel that it is a more realistic depiction of the afterlife (should there be one) for if the afterlife is populated with the spirits of dead humans you can rest assured that it will very much resemble life on earth. Do not expect any god to bring peace, for those who had godlike power on earth failed as well. Even in death the madness continues.
The Crafting of a Nightmare
Lovecraftian Nightmares began about 7 years ago as a single poem put to music. Fireaxe creator Brian Voth, armed with a 4 track recorder and the bare minimum home studio turned the one-hundred line H.P. Lovecraft poem "Nathicana" into an epic, 15 minute long song. Although it was long and contained few musical changes, this song became a favorite among many who heard it despite their having very differing musical tastes. The hard to forget melody and the hypnotic nature of the song made it stand out despite the poor recording quality. The positive feedback and success of that song led Fireaxe to record an entire 60 minute demo tape using Lovecraft's poems as lyrics for the songs. Poems such as "Nightmare Lake", "Nemesis", and the 8 line fragment "Beyond Zimbabwe" were set to music and added to the tape which explores the dark depths of Lovecraft's imagination.H.P. Lovecraft's poetry is much like his prose in that his main emphasis is the generation of atmosphere. He put a great deal of effort into word selection, meter, and vivid descriptions which, if the reader dares try, generate a picturesque and often grotesque vision of what his poetry is about. Lovecraft brings together all manner of things to complete the atmosphere of his poems, emotions, motivations, scenery, and terrifying turns of phrase among them. And although his poems lack nothing, music adds a new dimension to the atmosphere within them, and serves to emphasize and embellish the horrors revealed within. It is toward this noble purpose of emphasizing and embellishing horrifying images that Fireaxe strove with the release of "Lovecraftian Nightmares".
"Nathicana" shows that a hypnotic and beautiful poem set to hypnotic and beautiful music becomes twice as powerful as either medium could create alone, and the effect is made even more powerful as the music matches changes in the feel of the song. In "Nathicana" as the "lovely lost gardens of Zais" becomes the "cursed season of Dzannin", the music turns from being warm and inviting to cold and uncaring. The melodies remain the same, but distortion added to the guitar sound colors the music in a 'redness' much like that which Lovecraft describes in the poem. These changes in atmosphere occur frequently throughout the songs on the CD. In "Nightmare Lake" the music flows from peaceful to haunting to panicked and fearful and over and back again. In "Whispers in the Night" the music captures the author's descent into madness. And in "Despair" as the author struggles with a reality that has fallen apart, the drums and cymbals slowly tick away the moments of his life, and the music rises and falls like a dark tide washing him away.
But on the original demo tape the sound and recording quality unfortunately took a little too much away from the overall atmosphere, and since atmosphere is so important to the songs, Brian always wanted to re-record them. So years after the original tape was released, and equipped with a much better home studio, work began towards perfecting the Lovecraftian Nightmares project. All eight original songs were re-recorded from scratch, some with changes, and two new works were added to the CD. At first, these were to be two more of H.P. Lovecraft's poems set to music, but noticing that there were so many talented authors on the internet who could write poetry that rivaled Lovecraft, (one of whom had already sent in an excellent work which would later be added as the sixth track of the CD) Fireaxe held a contest for the final poem to be added to the project. In "The Burning Blade", the Fireaxe newsletter, Brian asked his listeners to send in any Lovecraftian style poems that they had written with the best one eventually becoming the last remaining track of the CD. The poem that won was penned by the same author who sent in the poem for the sixth track of the disc. That author's name is Octavio Ramos and he has the Lovecraftian touch, which puts him in a select and prestigious group of poets. With his elegant style of writing and his use of powerful words and imagery, Octavio creates an insidious horror style which has distinctly Lovecraftian influences but which also has a deliciously modern feel. Octavio contributed the poems "Whispers in the Night", and "Hounds of Tindalos" to the CD to go along with the eight original H.P. Lovecraft works. Octavio's style is more aggressive then Lovecraft's, and the music which accompanies it reflects that energy, but his works and Lovecraft's sit comfortably side by side.
Whether H.P. Lovecraft would approve of his poems being turned into songs remains to be seen....perhaps...however, I'm sure that someone, or something out there will appreciate this effort.
The Saga of "A Dream of Death"
"At the dawning of the mind's eye, in a maelstrom of pain.
Tortured into consciousness, on the rack we are trained."
"A Dream of Death" begins with the harsh reality of our awakening into consciousness. Although many believe that consciousness is some kind of divine gift or metaphysical property of the soul, it is merely a necessary state of hyper awareness that is demanded by a hostile environment. Childhood is pain. The child must be broken from it's animal instincts and taught it's proper place in our fast paced industrial society. The child must be taught to absorb the pain and stress of living and is given only a modicum of pleasure and release. This teaching is done on what I call "The Rack". All children, one way or another, are broken on the rack.To cope with the pain, a person will dream. A dream is an image of a future reward which makes all the pain and suffering worthwhile. While believing the dream, a person feels less pain and will sacrifice more to achieve it. To make people work very hard, you need a powerful dream for them to work toward. Eternal salvation in heaven is a perfect dream as are other Utopian dreams because the prize never has to be awarded. The dream is sold and the people will work hard to bring it to fruition. If they realize the dream will not come true, they often run for the cover of another dream. The pain of living all but demands that people have a dream to make them feel good.
The protagonist in "A Dream of Death" discovers that all dreams are just facades for covering up pain and decides he must kill all of his dreams. It is pain and pleasure at the same time as he destroys his most precious dream in order to save himself. This powerful mix of emotions is what I have dubbed "Unholy Rapture" since it is intense conflicting emotion - exaltation and damnation. I describe this feeling more in the following section.
After annihilating his hopes and dreams, he realizes that destroying dreams is what he does the best. He has seen through the lies of the dreams and is now immune to their charms. He proclaims himself to be "The Destroyer of Dreams" and declares war on the world. He shows all the dreams of civilization to be lies but is eventually struck down by a society in denial. The dreams may be lies, but they are strong enough to destroy him. Judgment is passed and he is sentenced to death.
In his prison cell the protagonist laments his fate. He sees his pitiful situation, what a waste his life has been, and how he has been denied the simple pleasures of living. In the darkness he meets the "brain of the social machine", a thinking computer created to run the world. He is told by the machine that he was all part of a grand plan to make the world run more efficiently. History shows that progress cannot take place in a static environment. When the computer ran things, society was efficient, but had no conflict, and thus the people would never be discontent enough to strive for more. So the machine decided to create a man (the protagonist) who was discontented by heaping upon him more pain than the dreams of society could pacify. The man would rebel, find all the flaws in the dream, and destroy it. The destruction of the dream would pave the way for the creation of a new, more powerful dream that would make people work even harder. The computer would remain in control by being the champion of that new dream.
In the last scene, the protagonist is being executed for his crimes. It is the practice of that society to give the condemned one last dream before death by giving him an injection of a powerful narcotic. The drug takes effect and the protagonist experiences all his most wonderful dreams flooding back into his mind. Even his most precious dream which he thought that he had destroyed returns to comfort him in his final moments. But as his earthbound goddess approaches, all he can see is the image of the machine pulling his strings. He recognizes the dream as yet another lie to cover up the pain. The dream dissolves and all the pain in his life descends upon him. His agony is spectacular and all the executioner can do is put a quick end to his horrible death. In his final moments he utters his last words, "There is no pleasure, only release from pain. There are no happy endings."
The epic saga ends with the final destruction of the dream. The people's faith in their beliefs is shattered when they see that it no longer delivers as promised. In his final act, the protagonist triggers the social revolution which the machine had created him to cause. The rack upon which all of society is placed is cranked another notch. Another cycle is completed, and humans are worked harder than ever.
What is Unholy Rapture?
"When your god is truth, and that truth is considered evil
by others, your God becomes the devil, and you are cast out into the
darkness. You feel pain with pleasure, sanity with madness, exaltation
with damnation, it is Unholy Rapture"
Unholy refers to that which is not religious or holy. It does not specifically mean "evil", "Satanic", or any other religious term, despite the fact that ideologically to that particular religion, unholy and evil are one and the same. Whereas "Satanic" may apply to only a few religions, unholy is counter to all faiths.Rapture refers to a feeling of emotional ecstasy of a spiritual nature. The term is generally used to describe an event where truths of the universe are revealed to an individual in a manner which confirms their faith. However, rapture is not limited to just religious reinforcement. It applies to any deeply moving emotional experience.
Unholy Rapture is the feeling of emotional ecstasy derived from discovering truths counter to one's faith which drives them away from their former beliefs and toward a darker reality. It is not a feeling of sheer joy, nor is it one of crushing agony, but an overwhelming combination of both. The incredible wonder of discovering the truth juxtaposed with the damning horror of the destruction of what one used to believe, and what others still do. It is the excitement of discovering a new direction mixed with the awful knowing that you can no longer go back, nor be pure again, no matter how strong your desire to do so. It is the awful price of knowledge.
It is this emotional state that lies at the heart of the music of Fireaxe.
Lovecraftian Themes
I thoroughly enjoy the works of H.P. Lovecraft, so beautifully written, yet portraying such profound horror. Lovecraft's style is quite unique in the horror genre, instead of shocking the reader with graphic images and monsters attacking without warning, he insidiously insulates the reader from the horror, providing only the occasional glimpses until all is revealed. The reader becomes engrossed instead of grossed out and this makes the effect of his stories all the more powerful.The frightening revelations in Lovecraft's works strike on a very profound level. The common theme in many of his works is that there exists a truth about the universe which is directly at odds with the beliefs and dreams of the human race. We humans often place ourselves at the center of the universe in ptolemaic egotism. We fashion ourselves to be the most highly evolved creatures in the galaxy. Our gods exist to take care of us, to love us, and to give us eternal rejoicing when we die. Lovecraft attacks these notions and writes of other races from beyond the stars who plan to "clear the earth off" and use it for their own designs. Lovecraft created his own "pantheon" of gods who are neither aware nor care about the lives of humans and who quickly devour those mortals who bravely seek the secrets of the universe. And most importantly, the characters in Lovecraft's tales are never victorious over their adversaries, they merely survive and escape a horrible fate only to live on with the knowledge that their security is only transient state in an unfriendly cosmos.
I have long desired to capture the feeling evoked by Lovecraft in music. The wonderful elegant style with an underlying terror is a difficult thing to capture, and I have tried hard to stay true to that goal. His poetry makes for smooth flowing lyrics which are gentle at times and ferocious at others. It is a contrasting style which I enjoy to play.
Fireaxe is the culmination of eighteen years of dreaming, practicing, and relentless pursuit of the goal to create the music I wanted to hear.
I got my first real taste for metal when my brother took me to see the movie Heavy Metal. When the '58 vette dropped out of the lander and Radar Rider started blasting throughout the theatre, I was hooked on metal for life. Metal bands abounded and I quickly became a fan of Judas Priest, Dio, Iron Maiden, and Accept. It wasn't long before the desire to write and play the things that I wanted to say had me down at the music store buying a used guitar and amp. I played about every day, learning whatever I could out of books and watching the pros on eMpTyV. It took years before I sounded halfway decent, but the weekly improvements kept me hanging in there.
I started playing when I was in high school and I wasn't good enough then to get into the gig playing scene. In college it became a hobby and a great stress release. I have fond memories of blasting screaming solos and thunderous riffs around the large basement of my dad's house. I really wanted to play songs though, and finding guys who liked metal and could spare the time was tough, so I bought a 4 track tape player and a drum machine and did it myself. The results were unspectacular at first, but eventually I got to the point where I liked what I played, and my friends thought it was pretty cool.
After college I hung it up for a while, tied up in other things, but after reading H. P. Lovecraft's poem Nathicana I was inspired to put it to music. I used lots of reverb and chorusing to capture the mood and felt I did a pretty good job. When others remarked about how much they liked it I was inspired to do Nemesis and Festival. Since then I have been writing and recording both Lovecraft poems and songs of my own creation (some of which I had been kicking around for 10+ years) on a continuous basis.
The songs on "Unholy Rapture" and "Lovecraftian Nightmares" are all the work of one person working out of his apartment (with the exception of the poetic verses of H. P. Lovecraft) on a 4 track recorder. Back then I did it all, the playing, recording, mixing, dubbing, even the art and this website. For "A Dream of Death" I bought an 8 track recorder which really improved the sound quality immensely. I also needed a way to get it to CD so I had the tracks mixed at a professional studio. A friend does the CD duplication on his PC. He also prints off the CD booklets and stickers. It's a low budget operation, but the sound is really good considering the money going into it. I think the sound on "A Dream of Death" rivals that of professionally recorded CDs.
The drum tracks are done with a machine, but I put a lot of work into making them interesting with fills and changes. On some songs I filled the machine's memory to capacity and had to break it into two pieces. The bass was formerly a lead guitar played through an octave pedal which makes it sound one octave deeper. For the CD "A Dream of Death", I bought a bass guitar and learned how to play it. Through stereo reverb, it created an awesome opening to the song Unholy Rapture. The lead and rhythm guitar parts are the heart of Fireaxe. Heavily distorted, thrashy, and powerful they tell the tale of each song. It is with this weapon of choice that I am at my most creative. In Beyond Zimbabwe I used two complimentary rhythm guitar tracks to lay down the heavy riffs and a third to lay the wailing solo over top of them. The two rhythm style sounded so heavy and awesome on that track that I used two guitars for every song on "A Dream of Death" since I had more tracks available. The power of this sound is truly a treat for the ears.
In Godslayer I use two tracks to do dueling solos simulating a three-part battle between the Diety and the Godslayer. On "A Dream of Death", I put the solos on two tracks playing mostly identical parts. This created some fantastic sounding stereo solos, and I stumbled upon this quite by accident. With the new 8 track recorder I noticed I had an extra track left on my first song, so I used it to record the solo a second time whenever I thought the first track had a solo which was "maybe good enough". At some point I played the tracks back with both solos on at once, one left and one right. It sounded truly great. I decided to use this technique for all of "A Dream of Death" despite the fact it meant having to get all the solos right twice. In the early days I tried for pure speed in all my solos. Now I try to make each solo an extension of the music, adding to the song.
The vocal tracks have been the hardest to do. When I finally committed to practicing every day and read books on how to sing, I was able to get the power and range I needed to sing how I wanted. My voice sounded pretty good on the first two demos and so I stuck with practicing, getting better each day. Another year of work gave my voice more power and control, which I really needed for "A Dream of Death". I write songs with ambitious goals for vocals and I was able to meet them on the new CD.
As for the subject matter of the songs on "Unholy Rapture" I can only say that they stem from my personal beliefs and experiences. I have been the Forgotten Son. I have slain gods that others worshipped. I love my car and sometimes drive her a bit too fast. I am blind and can no longer see the lies that have comforted me. And I have felt the teeth of the DeathMachine bite into my heart and remind me that I am just one of its wheels. Light of day cannot shine on this dark page and the path through the jungle grows thicker with every forward step. The future holds discovery and death, that much is certain, but when I finally fall to the flame I will do so free from guilt and shame. I live in unholy rapture.
However, if reality is not what you expect from a modern band, I submit the following history/satire to fit with what would be controversial, provocative, and ever so marketable in today's music world...
Fireaxe was born in the underground metal scene in Marseilles, France. After attracting a cult following with their Lovecraftian adaptations, the lead singer/songwriter died of a drug overdose during what some claim was a black magic ritual involving the Necronomicon. The group disbanded for several years until the lead guitarist discovered lyric sheets written by their former lead singer which had been carefully hidden within the walls of his seaside apartment. The band was reformed and the search began for a new front man. Exactly three years after the death of their former singer, a young kid with a strangely familiar voice auditioned and won the job. Since that day it has been an uphill struggle for Fireaxe as the group has been surrounded in constant controversy. Rumors of black magic, satanism, orgies, and virgin sacrifices have been spread about the band and they have been hounded by religious extremists wherever they go. Protesters often outnumber their fans at many of their venues with violence breaking out on an increasingly frequent basis. In December, the song "DeathMachine" was officially banned by the French government because of its political content. No recording studio dares to cut a disc for the band for fear of economic and political repercussions, so they have turned to the internet as a last resort for musical freedom.