Becoming the Archetype Singled Out Week: The Magnetic Sky

The Magnetic Sky stands as one of the most melodically interesting, stylistically mature, and genuinely heavy songs that we have ever written. It was the first song that we ever jammed when we were writing our new album. I had the riffs rattling around in my skull for a long time. I even sung them into my cell phone to keep a record of them. When I finally got a chance to sit down with Daniel and his guitar we knew that we had something great. The crazy pinch harmonics that open the track, the weird alternating rhythms in the bridge -- everything just fell into place. Once we had the music down, I added my vocals to it. Some of the most fun we had in writing this album came when we were crafting the clean vocals for the "chorus". We were on tour and all we had was a rough demo of the song. We all crammed up into the front of the van. I gave Daniel and Seth the lyrics and we started listening to the first riff over and over again. Singing out loud and taking turns sharing ideas, we were able to come up with a melody that we all liked. We must have spent hours singing and driving, coming up with harmonies and trading parts. That's right, we're a bunch of nerds. But it was a stinkin' blast!

As the opening lyric of the song suggests, "Here at the end of the world...", the song is about Armageddon. Pretty cliche for a metal band, right? WRONG! It is my own, ultra positive, take on the end of life as we know it. The theme is this: just as the universe starts to disintegrate, the sky emits a unique form of magnetism that attracts human souls. Bodies are lifted into the air and saved from the ensuing destruction. The hook, if a BTA song can be said to have a hook is: "Planets fall and we are rising, soul and sky are magnetizing."