CD and Cassette
Cling Recordings, 1996

PLAYERS:
Julio Rey: guitar, vocals
Marc Golob : bass, vocals
Alex A: drums

GUEST
David Clo: synths

Produced by Julio Rey
Engineered by David Clo, Marc Golob and Julio Rey
Recorded at Capstone Music and Recording and Blue Smoke, Miami, 1997

1. I Think (Rey, 3:02)
2. Human Reich (Rey, 4:40)
3. Imbecile Factory (Golob/Rey, 2:07)
4. Cannibalized (Rey/Valdes, 2:01)
5. Uncalled For (Golob/Rey, 3:04)
6. Torturer (Rey, 2:10)
7. Inevitable (Rey, 2:29)
8. Cauldron (Rey, 2:57)
9. Hanging On A Tree (Rey, 2:24)
10. In Answer (Rey, 7:33)
11. Stephen Hawking Walked Away (Golob/Rey, 4:34)

The arrival of the final product is the culmination of nearly a year’s endeavor for the band and record label. Recording began at Blue Smoke Studios in January, and moved to Capstone in March. “This was truly an example of living by faith. I didn’t always have that much of it either,” said guitarist Julio Rey. “I’m used to having all the money squared away for a project before it starts. This time, I demoed the songs at home not knowing how we were going to get it done. I expected to simply record piecemeal until we had enough for the project. We really thank God for (Cling owners) Mark (Hodges) and Scott (Busbee), and I just hope enough people like this to make their investment worthwhile.” (original press release 12.12.1996)

I THINK

A somewhat shocking beginning. This is a re-recording of an acoustic ballad that closes the 1992 demo QOHELETH. The demo version featured Julio on vocal and acoustic guitar. The CD version features the classically trained voice of Marisol Deus (drummer Alex A’s girlfriend), accompanied by Julio on the acoustic guitar, with additional sounds (actually noises) added later. “I kind of browbeat everybody into putting this in first,” said Julio. “In reality, (bassist) Marc (Golob) and I almost came to blows over this one.” An introspective interlude inspired by Ecclesiastes. (12.12.1996)

I think I know what to do now
I think I know why
It looks like I’m where I thought I’d be
The day that I die
Hard to believe could it be so
So much more left to go

I’ve been told where I’m going
But I still get scared sometimes
Remembering the past that didn’t last
And how I died sometimes
Didn’t care for one or all
In the disease of the fall

What I see around
It brings tears to my eyes
If I do nothing about it
What right do I have to cry
Just save the tears
For the dawn of the eternal day
Stand uselessly before God
With nothing to say

I’ve been told the right things
It’s hard to do them anyway
I just can’t account for
All the blessings in my way
Tomorrow they may go
It can’t change what I know

11/13/92;11/16/92

HUMAN REICH

After the acoustic intro, Frank’s Enemy in its full incarnation explodes out of the speakers. This song, a basic dissertation on the ills of the system, was based on “The Human Reich” which appeared on Julio’s first solo Frank’s Enemy demo, 1992’s FINAL ABSOLUTION, featuring the Lead’s Robbie Christie on drums. Robbie’s appearance on that version was due to the fact that the recording was originally a Lead demo for their ill fated, never-recorded project: NOT SILENT. The original song was 9-12 minutes long, with a mountain of verses. “We were going to record it in its original form, but then I saw the looks and attitudes Marc & Alex had at having to flail away for that amount of time, and I realized I felt that way, too. Maybe it would have worked in 1990, but now it was simply overblown. I went back to the drawing board.” The result: four minutes and forty seconds of blinding speed punctuated by time changes and a dizzying progression of riffs (note the death-meets-funk riff midway though the song). It has been a highlight of Frank’s Enemy’s shows in 1996. “And Marc and Alex like it now, too!” said Rey, who fully embraces the Cookie Monster-style grindcore vocal style in this song, riding over an ocean of downtuned (B-flat) guitars, setting the stage for the rest of the CD.

Adds Rey: “Along with “Destroy” and “Psychic Pain” (both featured on Frank’s Enemy’s self titled 1994 CD), “The Human Reich” was slated to appear on that last Lead album in 1991. And it probably would have been the last, because we were growing apart, besides the problems that were going on. I would have accepted the breakup fully if it had come after we made that last CD, because I wanted to get those three songs off my chest. In fact, I dare say that if it weren’t for those three songs, Frank’s Enemy may never have happened. I was 31, I had cut my hair, I had met my wife-to-be, I’d played Cornerstone three times and put out a few projects. But God is wiser than me, and He’s bigger too. The last 4 1/2 years I’ve had with Marc and Alex have been the happiest ever for me as a member of a band. I’ve enjoyed the shows, the tours, making the records, rehearsing, and even hanging out with these guys. So I praise God it took this long to get those last three songs out, because of the great time I’ve had. By the way, now I’m 36, my hair is longer than ever, I’ve married my wife, and I’m going back to Cornerstone in 1997-hopefully as a performer. (12.12.1996)

—-

This started as a 12-minute Lead song called “The Human Reich” in 1989/1990. It was for the CD we never got to make in 1991, but that’s another story. You can hear the full 12-minute version on Frank’s Enemy’s 1992 cassette Final Absolution (if you can get hold of a copy) with Robbie Christie drumming- that recording was originally a Lead demo.

Fast forward to 1995: I tried to get Alex to learn the 12-minute version, and we did get through it a couple of times. But it suddenly started to sound tired to me (and Alex A was getting tired physically), so I pared it down to 4 minutes and added some blast parts in the end. It gave the song a good kick in the butt. (03.25.2001)

You say right and you say wrong
You’ve got nothing to stand upon
Germ that kills you is more right
Along with you your morality dies
Under your rulers that measure so well
But what they measure no one can tell
New totems and taboos for humankind
Don’t know what to do with your mind

A condemnation of condemnation
Abolish all black and white insinuations
Your version becomes the text
Of a human brotherhood sect
Have faith only in what computes
A number’s strength is its truth
Pocket adjustable moralities the norm
Man and its hero the conqueror worm

Cut the Truth off from its Source
Ritual masses disguised as discourse

Suckling on the pleasures you love so much
Shiny coin before a touch
You bring up the children and then you betray
As your flowers of life dessicate
See your offspring deathly pale empty eyes
As your holy tenets reveal themselves as lies
Calling mother father as you spit them out
Reach for a kiss as you strike them down

The new discrimination the human reich
The new wrong the new right

Your only truth is that all is true
No mind for what mutually excludes
Punishing enemies for hypocrisies
No absolutes determined no authorities
Search for aliens out in space
Hoping for a better place
Send a satellite out that far
Find a planet destroyed by war

Cut the Truth off from its Source
Ritual masses disguised as discourse
The new discrimination the human reich
The new wrong the new right

edited 9/23/95

IMBECILE FACTORY

Marc Golob’s initial piercing scream begins even before “Human Reich” ends, and that song’s closing blast beats collide with this song’s relentless pounding groove. Miscredited on the sleeve, Marc wrote all the music for this song and sings in an emotionally charged hardcore-influenced voice (which will become his calling card on the rest of the CD) for the first half of the song. Lyricist Julio Rey closes in his death growl. This song is a musical microcosm of the band, and of NEOBLASPHEMIES: the hardcore and grindcore styles clashing and coexisting. “I wrote these words as the story of Christina Holt, the 7-year old girl killed by her mother and stepfather, was unfolding on the news. Hence the line about a dead child behind K-Mart,” said Julio. (12.12.1996)

Every song I’ve written
Every attempt to dissect
Of what’s all around me
My heart still can’t make sense
As I’m hit with the reality
Dead child behind K-Mart
Years ago I could have pushed the button
But that makes me one more part

Used to carry signs
Propagating my beliefs
But only in my mind
Was there any relief
Battle is one on one
24-7 time
I am one of a priesthood
Life is more than a rhyme

And the imbecile factory churns on
And the imbecile factory churns on
And the imbecile factory churns on
And the imbecile factory churns on

Load up my ark as I fly above
I am imperfect but no pillar of salt
I can see the fire rain down it is not for me
I tried to warn the fools but they would not see

Eternal survival walk the golden streets alone
Reading the names on uncountable tombstones
The fellowship I once enjoyed has left me betrayed
I hand them all to Satan so they may have their way

And the imbecile factory churns on
And the imbecile factory churns on
And the imbecile factory
Imbecile factory
Imbecile factory
Churns on

10/30/94;4/11/95

CANNIBALIZED

With lyrics written upon hearing of human fetuses being used for food in communist China, this song propels the band back into grindcore territory. The “death reggae” part in the end was lifted from a song written by Julio’s collaborator from his days in King James and the Concordances back in 1987-1990: Alberto Valdes. “The Reverend Alberto Valdes, no less! He was good enough to let me have the riff,” said Julio, “it was once a nice quirky keyboard part.” (12.12.1996)

—-

This lyric is really quite symbolic, but I’ll spell out the inspiration right here: it’s based on reports of aborted fetuses being used for food in Communist China. Now, read the lyrics again.

My occasional partner in musical crime, Al Valdes, gets a credit (that he may wish he didn’t have) on this tune because I took the riff (with his permission-I didn’t tell him much at the time) at the end from a song he wrote for King James And The Concordances called “Summer Camp Vamp.” I’ll explain someday. The other riff at the end is what I like to call grind-reggae.

The “solo” is me at the height of my infatuation with the DOD Buzz Box, the most demented effects pedal ever made at least up to 1996. (11.02.2001)

Put them in the jars
Stomach will not turn
Waste raw factory matter
Chewed instead of burned

This is rage

Usable resources
The trains will run on time
With coal of placenta
Food of the gods of the mind

This is rage

Toothpick bones in the goo
Eggshell cranium blue
What you eat you were

There is no place for tears
After all that’s been cheered
What you eat you were

Pain or no pain
There is a face and name
What you eat you were

The imagery has been played with
Non-points well-made
Illustrating lack of purpose
Win by denying the game
It will take landing in back yards
And stomachs being cut open
And questionnaires filled out
At one’s own dying moment

9/23/95

UNCALLED FOR

Heralded by subsonic blasts from his bass guitar, this is Marc’s second vocal contribution to NEOBLASPHEMIES. A simple and straightforward hardcore song about the tough questions in life. “Any complaints about damaged stereo equipment should be directed to DOD,” said Marc, in reference to the company that manufactures a pedal called the Meat Box, which is used on the bass throughout this song. (12.12.1996)

I blame you for how I am
Or else I wouldn’t understand
All I know is survival all is hell
Bottom of the hole through which I fell

Answer the question to end them all
Why did the doctor make this house call
Every day sun sets no sunrise
Lines of rage around my eyes

I can’t stand up I only fall
I am here but I am uncalled
I can’t stand up I only fall
I am here but I am uncalled

Got something to say then tell me
I am all ears
Got a word of reassurance let me know
I am all fears
Got a little comfort what is it
I am all tears
Got the parking brake in your hand then pull it
I am all years

Tumors bursting on my back
My rainbow’s seven shades of black
I’ll steal back what I own
Fall further down this hole

I can’t stand up I only fall
I am here but I am uncalled
I can’t stand up I only fall
I am here but I am uncalled
For

1/94

TORTURER

Driven by Alex A’s off-time drumming, this is the band’s choice for the first single. Seemingly another grindcore song at first glance, the introduction of exotic rhythms without eschewing the brutality takes the band into new territory. The words describe a Christian in daily struggle in stark terms, arriving at a peace “beyond all understanding” at the knowledge of the upcoming Hope. (12.12.1996)

—-

Possibly Frank’s Enemy’s best-known song, due to its appearance on a compilation released by Rowe Productions in 1996 entitled Massive Frequency Overload, as well as on Frank’s Enemy’s second CD, Neoblasphemies. I also admit it’s probably my favorite Frank’s Enemy song, too. It’s heavy but catchy-to use one of my pet phrases: “a pop song in disguise.” I’m a lot better at writing short blasts as opposed to long epics. The lyrics are the typical depressing stuff I was writing back then, dealing with the Christian life in a fallen world.

We recorded this for Marc’s sound recording class at the local community college. He used a Neumann mic on my Marshall 4 x 12 to achieve the titanic guitar sound. “Imbecile Factory”, also from Neoblasphemies, was recorded the same night. (02.26.2001)

Things I’ve assembled
To be torn apart
It seems the essence
This lava in my heart
The same old story
Handed by a woman and a snake
Jokes about purgatory
Seems a long wait

One more day with the torturer
One more day with the torturer

Love is a mask
Donned by many things
Fighting juggernauts
Destroying everything
A life of retreat
With its outstretched hand
Slapped down by me
That rule-playing man

One more day with the torturer
One more day with the torturer
One more day with the torturer
One more day with the torturer

Wrinkles where there were pimples
Grey and gone hair in my brown
Soon I will be muzzled
Soon I will die down
Years between me and God’s face
As fleeting as dust and smoke
Every day be good in this place
If only for the hope

10/30/94;3/8/95
3/16/95

INEVITABLE

Old style hardcore, but heavier. Julio Rey gives up the grind for one song and screams out his lungs. Alex A contributes a gloriously inept lead guitar that breaks down into feedback. Written three weeks before the Lead’s final break, the song documents the author trying to come to terms with what is around him. (12.12.1996)

It was inevitable in your heart
And in your mind and in all your being
So here we are sitting and staring
Arguing and glaring and you’re not seeing
That nothing’s working out anymore
And we’ll all walk through our appointed doors
Praying for God’s Light to be beyond
And bright enough to get all this behind

It was inevitable as you knew
You tried it on listened to Bill Gaither
It wore out quick clouds didn’t leave
Back to the quick fix things you weren’t too late for
As I made excuse upon excuse
Feeling trapped in a cage that I choose
Praying for God’s Light to be beyond
And bright enough to cut through my wrongs

It was inevitable guess I knew
When I got changed and it was time to move
This web so fragile torn apart
With broken heart and nothing left to do
And I feel I’m stranded and I will die
But I’d gladly take it if also I could cry
Knowing that God’s Light will be beyond
And bright enough to judge my every song

5/7/91

CAULDRON

Left/right bouncing guitar intros give way to a surging wall of grind. The ending is probably best left undescribed. “I know its another negative lyric,” said Julio, “but I’m of the opinion praise-type lyrics aren’t best interpreted through this kind of music. I don’t mind it. Selling the Solution is easy, it’s harder to sell the problem!” (12.12.1996)

—-

When an mp3 file of this song was at the old Mp3.com, I wrote this in the description: “not meant to be prophetic.” I really put a lot of brutal imagery at the end. I was just reflecting on what the world was heading towards without the true moral compass of the God of the Bible. The rest of the lyrics describe the struggle of the Christian artist in a world where his slightest misstep can give the game away.

The screeching at the end is my guitar rig set to my solo patch with the volume knob down on the guitar: it’s pure rack noise. (11.02.2001)

Heat rising
Isolation
In midst
Of sacred fight

Quiet jihad
Slips so fast
No easy
To be right

Not clever
Nor precocious
No fancied flights
On idiot wind

Stand for life
Style of death
Call the wrongs
In style of sin

Surrounded
As advertised
Readying
Slings and bows

Good intent
Honest errors
Never enough
To show

A march for evil on the capital
Flying in on leathery wings
Dig mass graves, blow things up
All will know there is no love

Pine for evil on the capital
Affect the legislation
Claim the angels turn and flee
Dictate reality

A march for evil on the capital
Dismembering children’s bodies
One million strong stand side by side
Sing a song and commit suicide

4/28/93;6/16/95;
6/29/95;9/23/95

HANGING ON THE TREE

Frank’s Enemy at its most accessible, with a positive lyric bringing the death of Christ right to the listener’s doorstep. Marc and Alex keep up a driving groove punctuated by odd accents in the chorus. Marc’s voice is at the forefront, with shouts from the rest of the band in the choruses. (12.12.1996)

—-

I had visions of trying to crack into modern/alternative playlists with this song. It never made it in (I was discouraged by the Cling people), but it didn’t do too badly in Pure Rock Report’s loud chart.

Marc was free to record his lead and background vocals as he saw fit. The guitar “solo” was my Ibanez going into the board through a Buzz Box. I seem to remember scraping my headphones on the strings to achieve some of the noises. I always called this song a “grind disco” song.

The song was originally written in 1994. The lyrics came as a result of reflecting on the Crucifixion as a personal act from Christ to myself. We can all think of it this way, right? (08.06.2001)

So easy to forget, honestly
So easy to forget this was for me
I was on His mind when I didn’t have to be
This was Someone with time for better things

Before my eyes the quiet battleground
Used to think my soul’s salvation was all I needed for a rout
It was as easy as a prayer, as hard as being sincere
I’ve got Heaven coming but it took hell to get here

Hanging on the tree–there He is
Nailed to the tree–there He is
Hanging on the tree–there He is
Nailed to the tree

How’d you feel if that was your mother
How’d you feel if that was your father
His mind on you in the midst of His shame
Like a lover who only calls your name

A love such as this I can’t imagine
Sometimes I miss the point even after it’s spelled out to me
I’ll carry on with my poor imitation
Of that walk between death and victory

Hanging on the tree–there He is
Nailed to the tree–there He is
Hanging on the tree–there He is
Nailed to the tree–there He is
Hanging on the tree–there He is
Nailed to the tree–there He is
Hanging on the tree–there He is
Nailed to the tree–there He is

3/10/94;3/11/94

IN ANSWER

After the seven short bursts of fury of the previous songs, a slow building doom metal ballad emerges from the wreckage. The embellishments make their appearances with each verse, and Julio’s “mellow” vocals are partially distorted. “This is a song that I wrote as a challenge, and it ended up being a blessing,” said Julio. “Alex was stressing to me, since I sometimes get way out there with the lyrics I write, the importance of presenting the salvation message in a clear way in one song in each of our records. So I took it upon myself to write such a song, and it came out well and without compromise.” “I hate it. I think it sucks,” said Marc (in reference to the music). “Of course he does” retorted Rey (in reference to Marc), “any trained chimpanzee could play his part in that song.” (12.12.1996)

In answer to your question i hope you have been asking
I’ll take off my fangs and stop all the scaring
I could quote John 3:16 pray for the best
That you’d grasp what it all means that we are in a test

To know what sin is is to know how it permeates
The day of coming justice for all of us awaits
Darkest of our deeds passes not unnoticed
Now we go free following paths we’ve chosen

O Jesus Christ bleeding at Golgotha
It took God dying price paid for all
Validation on day three stone moved from the tomb
Confirmation of deity New Life out of cold womb

The gracious Work that asks for our trust
Eternity in the balance deeds not enough

In your reach as it’s always been
To take and to open to look and taste and see

5/16/94

STEPHEN HAWKING WALKED AWAY

A somewhat shocking ending. Marc takes front and center in this song, which he produced and wrote most of the music for. Marc’s bass-driven funk groove, sample and scratch-laden production and manic vocals narrate Julio Rey’s eschatological-apocalyptic parade of personalities (including you). “It’s the end.” (12.12.1996)

And so Carl Sagan starts to pray
Stephen Hawking walked away
Everything led to today
The pogrom went the other way
It’s the end

Bertrand Russell bowed down
Syncretists fall to the ground
Silenced by the sound
True Face of Love melted them down
It’s the end

I’m sorry sorry
I’m sorry sorry
I’m sorry sorry
I’m sorry sorry

Politicians congregating
Standing in line and waiting
Measuring their love and hating
The resolution of all debating
It’s the end

No more bullets with your name
Left for anyone to take
Time to find out what you made
Through the wringer see what stayed
It’s the end

I’m sorry sorry
I’m sorry sorry
I’m sorry sorry
I’m sorry sorry
I’m sorry sorry
I’m sorry sorry
I’m sorry sorry
I’m sorry sorry

Karmic intents now revealed
Like incensed prayers unconcealed
Spelled out terms of the deal
No longer spins the wheel
It’s the end

And so Carl Sagan starts to pray
Stephen Hawking walked away
Followed by humanity
Everything led to today
It’s the end

10/4/93