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To Sin Against Our Mercies

by Project Nightscape

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  • T-Shirt/Apparel

    The fabulous artwork from To Sin Against Our Mercies on a black Gildan Ultra Cotton Tee. This standard crew-neck t-shirt is made of great quality 100% pre-shrunk cotton. Digitally printed to last!
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  • Poster/Print

    Show off your exceptional taste in progressive rock with this glossy 12" x 18" poster of the To Sin Against Our Mercies album art by famed Argentine surrealist Santiago Caruso. Shipped in a poster tube. If desired, the poster can be signed by David W. Edwards & Tony Gaglio.
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    This limited edition CD comes in a dual-pocket case with wraparound art by Argentine surrealist Santiago Caruso.

    Includes unlimited streaming of To Sin Against Our Mercies via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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    edition of 500 
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1.
Spoken word intro: Abide with us o’ living deep 'Til the hour we meet our end Ere we sink to sunless sleep Without the promise to ascend Verses: We live our days in service To the far rush of your sea The tides deliver mercies That no one else perceives Nothing hurts as it once did With death so close at hand Your gospel is a blessing Though it raises up the damned Lyrical refrain: Chaos, cosmos Cosmos, chaos The stars, they cannot hold Verses: Natives of the living deep Full straight before the storm Islanded by oceans rough Where more is hid than found Mysteries of death misnamed In silence see the sounds Of winding sheets and suffering A phantom earth beyond You give us sense and soul The wisdom that is woe Breaking and unbroken Like a wave upon the land Nothing hurts as it once did With death so close at hand Your gospel is a blessing Though it raises up the damned Lyrical refrain: Cosmos, chaos Chaos, cosmos The stars, they cannot hold Verses: We live our days in service To the far rush of your sea The tides deliver mercies That no one else perceives Mysteries of death misnamed In silence see the sounds Of winding sheets and suffering A phantom earth beyond Nothing hurts as it once did With death so close at hand Your gospel is a blessing Though it raises up the damned Chorus: My dreaming god of wonder My lonely god of pain You crush me to the earth Just to lift me up again (repeat) Just to… lift me up… Chant: And cosmos from chaos And chaos from cosmos And cosmos from chaos And chaos from cosmos Cosmos Chaos Verse: And still nothing hurts as it once did With death so close at hand Your gospel is a blessing Though it raises up the damned
2.
Only Reason 05:20
Intro: I ride rough from town to town Tending to the deaf and blind Once counsel to the English crown Now doctor to the left behind Verse: Man must take care of man While God attends to matter If He has a master plan It’s scattered on the darkest water Chorus: Only reason—can take us farther Only reason—can take us higher Only reason—can make us stronger Rational angels, better, brighter The gospel of science on our lips Verses: Oh, this seaside town offers me A chance to try my cures For knowledge is a mercy Where ignorance endures Despite my good intentions They put me to the test Distrusting my inventions To help their dispossessed Bridge: Nature acts by general laws Grounds for love and hope Echoes of a heavenly Cause Beyond the telescope Living is the miracle So common we forget The sin is to be cynical Before the sun has set Know what you are Chorus: Only reason—can take us farther Only reason—can take us higher Only reason—can make us stronger Rational angels, better, brighter The gospel of science on our lips Outro: Modes of action and causation Effects captured in sensation Predicted chemical reaction Laws of order and connection Nature balanced to perfection Only reason Only reason
3.
4.
Now Silence! 04:53
Verses: The boy is like no other More living spell than flesh Even to his mother Who receives each word afresh His eyes are crystal white Like salted tears a-frozen A mark, a sign, a wondrous blight First among the chosen Installed upon an altar He entertains their prayers His devil of a psalter Lifting up their cares I test him with all caution I test him in some fear They say he is awash in The ghosts of yesteryear Damn this wrong and damn this town and damn its superstitions Verses: This box of mine alone Can scope the depths of sound It registers a tone That strikes me as profound Though far outside the range Of normal human hearing The boy not only hears it change But fears it disappearing The wind from out the cay Might cause hallucinations In a child so wrought to pay Heed to these vibrations Alas, of all I know This cannot be misread Could the wind below Be a siren to the dead? Chorus: Please, now silence Please, now silence Please, now silence Please, now silence Damn this wrong, damn this town and damn its superstitions Outro: As silent as the deep
5.
Intro: We alone of Nature born Are alive to mortal blackness It comes to us, awake, asleep A whisper unto madness Verses: Undone by the boy I shrink from my disgrace There can be no rest for me ’Til I understand this place In my bolted room, alone I try again my science Test the box upon myself Wracking up the silence The sea, over and over And the world, it disappears The sound of breaking waves Becomes my beating heart The shadows take on form And reason falls apart The sea, over and over And Hell, it bodies forth Chorus: The die seems cast The future past What can death mean Without finality? Verses: Pandora would be jealous Of this infernal box The visions it releases Both plague and paradox Ghosts of what’s gone before Memory as fix and pain Lingering love transformed Madness to make you sane I can see, I can see, I can see your soul Chorus: The die seems cast The future past What can death mean Without finality? Time out of mind Oh, carrion kind What does death mean To your divinity? Breakdown verse: My Lucy, sweet Lucy, come and take my hand Unnatural or not, help me understand Verses: Can this be you at last? Something more than memory? My godforsaken love Reborn in wayward energy Blind past blindness ’til aware The dead are buried in the air I can see your soul Verses: Am I dead, unknowing? Has my life turned full about? I have to keep believing The truth of things will out Blind past blindness ’til aware The dead are buried in the air I can see your soul See your soul…
6.
7.
Occulted 03:40
Verse: Mad or sane Wax and wane I struggle to resist The gale of siren song Trebled black Echoes back Drawing out the fear We never will belong Mad or sane Verse: Born to die Truth or lie Trapt inside the pages of A mad trist yet untold Hand in hand I understand Heaven’s midnight mirror Hides the secret you uphold Born to die Chorus: The sound from out the cay Jolts me with its thunder Who am I and who are you? What good is it to wonder? Nature seems a liar now Its laws a devil’s dream That fools us into thinking Our reason is supreme Breakdown verse: Mad or sane Wax and wane I recoil in despair And for the first time pray Shamed by disbelief ‘Til my nightmare fades away Outro: The thunder out of time Echoes in my head Who am I and who are you But dust among the dead? The gospel of science Broken by silence (repeat)
8.
Exorcised 01:53
9.
Verses: Are these ghosts a music Complex enough for matter? Limbs the stab of violins Bodies pitch and pattern? Or, might they be a dream As transient as breath? An imprint on my sleep Sly counterfeits of death? So help me apprehend What was and might have been Where the laws of Nature stop And miracles begin You failed to heed our warnings Never asking why Too late you see we have no need Of science from on high Our laws preceded Nature’s A wisdom that will last As long as we bear witness To our ancestral past Though we blaspheme to believe We have no need to grieve Chorus: Our song of ghosted silence Music of rebirth Ushers us from death to life Like seasons of the earth What was and what shall be Bridge: For your sin against our mercies We will cast you on the sea To drown or break upon the shore (repeat) To sea, to sea and believe Verses: It was a simple charity To aid your deaf and blind Nothing I did warrants A judgment of this kind I can keep your secret On this you can depend If naught else, but out of fear Your dead would take revenge Knowing something of the world It would be naive To trust you with our secret And let you take your leave The sea is vast and open It cannot be denied Its currents are uncertain No matter time or tide Resign yourself to this Fate as second chance Better than a sentence Decided in advance Chorus: The beauty of the sunset Heaven all aflame I fear to see it close Upon my mortal frame This light it is a lie Do not be deceived The black of mourning comes For more than the bereaved When the stars align Verses: I did my best by you By the light of reason Following Aquinas With no idea of treason The boy led to the silence Silence to the seas The seas to dire phantoms And hurtful memories I can keep your secret On this you can depend If naught else, but out of fear Your dead would take revenge Knowing something of the world It would be naive To trust you with our secret And let you take your leave We will chain you in a boat Bereft of rowing oars And push you past the tide Where the middle ocean roars Chorus: The very earth turns dark Beneath my trembling feet At the thought of going down And drowning in defeat What lies beneath the surface Waits until the wave That makes a stone of us All within one grave God parted night from day In the middle of the sea He bade the darkness rise I pray the same for me Our song of ghosted silence Music of rebirth Will call the heavens down Return the night to earth Outro: May the son of God receive me Raise me up above the wind Though bound, I am no captive Though condemned, I have not sinned Things above and here below All black uncertainty Blind past blindness ‘til the end What was and what shall be
10.
Hard Drift 04:09
Verses: What you don’t know Your soul must answer to Out in the drift Your course is set, the judgment due Wanting to breathe Lungs too full for screams Stars in your head O’er the darkness of your dreams Lyric break: To sea, to sea and believe Verses: We walk with ghosts Never to be forgot The past shines out From prophecies and plots This is our home An island of the blest Loud roars the sea And damns your science like the rest Chorus: The sea is rolling mountains Your boat a paltry thing Best surrender to the weather And pray the sun is king Be the stillness In the quickness Bear witness To the wildness Be fearless In your blindness Seek forgiveness Partial chorus: The sea is rolling mountains Your boat a paltry thing Best surrender to the weather And pray the sun is king Breakdown verse: What you don’t know Out in the drift Wanting to breathe Stars in your head Restated chorus: Be the stillness In the quickness Bear witness To the wildness Be fearless In your blindness Seek forgiveness From what you don’t know Outro: The sea is a dark reflection And there our world begins When the dreaming god arises To grant us mercy for our sins
11.
For man, by the fall, lost at once his state of innocence, and his empire over creation, both of which I thought could be partially recovered, the first by religion and faith, the second by the arts and sciences. But creation is entirely and utterly rebellious. She resists our labors to understand and renders us mute watchers on the world. Perhaps that is our motive task—shared by the faithful, the artist and the scientist alike—to bear witness, in wonder and with a merciful spirit, no matter the scale or scope of this life.
12.
Verses: The sea takes me where it will Changeful and demanding The hope behind me still Behind me still The waves come on and on Turning and returning To wreck me by the dawn By the dawn What a mortal weight to know The end before it comes To die undreamed of far below Far below I spill into the raging sea Knowing and unknowing What this world can never be Never be Chorus: In spite of name and honor No matter how well known The silence of the deep Comes to each of us alone Us alone Verses: No need now to pretend Every life’s a lesson Let my story be its end Be its end There’s something after this A world-to-come of dreams Called up from the abyss The abyss Chorus: The waves overrun the stars My rest, far off and near The sea holds one last secret If only I could hear Outro: All hours clapped together A reckoning of weather In thunder, foam and spray Your wake the Milky Way Breaking and unbroken Like a wave upon the land It’s a wave A black wave A black wave Oh, the day will come When we don’t see the sun
13.
Starlost 10:08
Verses: Born as hapless strangers Lost, separate and apart Our souls like distant stars Defeated by the dark Orphaned into life We sense we don’t belong Seeking hope, seeking rest Revelation from beyond Chorus: Broken, black and blind Life leading us astray How do we find The wings to fly away? We love and hurt and wait For better times to come Adrift on seas of Fate Stars gone deaf and dumb Chorus: This evening of our days Reveals a vast unknown Forsaken and for always Lord of earth, alone How small our hours have been Surrendered to the cold Why believe in sin If the stars, they cannot hold? Bridge: Know what you are—wake up Know what you are—wake up Know what you are—wake up Verses: Born as hapless strangers Lost, separate and apart Our souls like distant stars Defeated by the dark Orphaned into life We sense we don’t belong Seeking hope, seeking rest Revelation from beyond Despite the fear and pain We pray to dream it all again Dream it all again Despite the fear and pain We pray to live it all again Live it all again Outro: Know what you are--stardust Know what you seem--starless Know what you dream--starlight Know what you are--starlost Know what you seem--stardust Know what you dream--starless Know what you are--starlike Know what you are (repeat)

about

A progressive hard rock concept album inspired by the Nightscape series of supernatural thrillers by writer-film director, David W. Edwards. Over ten musical tracks and three dramatic interludes, "To Sin Against Our Mercies" chronicles the plight of an itinerant, 19th century doctor who encounters a blind boy alleged to have the power to communicate with the dead. Each track has been carefully crafted to both stand on its own and contribute to the overarching narrative. The album creates a unique sonic dreamspace that engages the emotions and the imagination in equal measure.

The album ties into the action-adventure/horror novel, "Nightscape: Early Darkness." Visit www.nightscapeseries.com to sample other entries in the Nightscape series.

credits

released November 9, 2016

Concept, arrangements and lyrics by David W. Edwards
All songs composed and arranged by Tony Gaglio, except "Exorcised" by C. Bidondo, D. Coniglio, D. Edwards & T. Gaglio

Produced by David W. Edwards & Tony Gaglio

Holland Andrews / lead vocals (tracks 1, 9, 10, 12, 13)
Rich Ray / lead vocals, line readings (tracks 1-7, 9, 11-13)
Tony Gaglio / lead, harmony & bass guitars (tracks 1-5, 7, 9-13
Tobin Sprout / guitar duet with T. Gaglio (track 2)
Pete Trewavas / guitar duet with T. Gaglio (track 9)
Vinny Appice / drums (track 7)
David Coniglio / drums (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 8-10, 12, 13)
Craig Bidondo / piano, Hammond organ, synths (tracks 1-5, 8-13)
Mirabai Peart / violin, viola (tracks 3, 5, 9, 11, 13)
Anna Fritz / cello (songs 3, 5, 9, 13)
John C. Savage / flute (track 5)
Chelsea Barnes / backing vocals, line readings (tracks 1-7, 9, 11-13)

Recorded & mixed by Josh Powell at The Map Room, Portland, Oregon USA

Mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk at Stereophonic Mastering, Portland, Oregon USA

Strings on "Interlude I," “Inmortuorum Memorias,” “To Sin Against Our Mercies,” "Interlude III" and “Starlost” arranged and conducted by Mirabai Peart

Raw sound effects for “Now Silence!” and “The Middle Sea at Rest” supplied by Jason T. Edwards. Refined and mixed by Josh Powell and David W. Edwards.

Album art by Santiago Caruso
Album designed by Ryan Peinhardt

© 2016 Imperiad Entertainment. All rights reserved.

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Project Nightscape Portland, Oregon

Project Nightscape is the brainchild of writer-film director, David W. Edwards and guitarist extraordinaire, Tony Gaglio. Childhood friends, they've paired their talents to create a uniquely compelling progressive hard rock album inspired by some of their favorite artists, notably, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Rush. It's classic rock with a fresh, modern twist. ... more

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