predator
Predator
H.M.S.Q
Arrakis
Full Frontal Assault
FTW
Overkill
Predator
Streetwalker
Running Blind
Traveller
Foxholes
all lyrics by Guy
© 1988-2023 Vengeance Incorporated used by permission
click song title to view lyrics/ liner notes
I know you’re lonely
For something deep inside
I’m gonna open you up, and
Take you for a ride
You’ve got the look,
That’s drivin’ me out of my mind
Do you mind if I drive you
From behind
I don’t care,
Whether I die or go blind
HMSQ you’re a heavy metal slut queen
HMSQ you’re a heavy metal slut
NOTES:
First song Curt and I wrote together, first one recorded for the Predator sessions, we used it to open the set for years. Also the first one Chuck played on. The lyrics pretty much say where my head was at the time. Basic bogus metal tropes, really stupid stuff, reading it now.
The music was solid however. This song, like most of our first compositions, was based on a riff Curt came up with jamming. He was always coming up with great licks like this and I would seize on one and start writing around it. I think almost all of the music on this is based on licks he came up with. The drum stop on the second verse was because on a very early demo I accidently erased the drum track trying to punch something else in right at that point, but it was kind of cool so we kept it in all version from then on.
The lick during the break is reminiscient of Savatage’s Sirens, and I used to sing “SIRENS” during that break as a goof. You can hear me doing it at a gig we played with Savatage here: HMSQ 92.06.13 Rocket Club with Savatage: A Farewell to Jon Oliva.
Arrakis
Desert winds burn at my skin
Sands cut at my eyes
Spinning Corialis whirling
Day into the night
Al-lat glows through raging seas
Of desert dust and dune
Beyond the walls of Arrakis
The Jihad spells their doom
The god’s are smiling on our cause
Our hand shall smite them down
A child slays the Harkonnen beast
The Sardukar we surround
Arrakis, sweet desert land
Burn with fervor of vengeful man
Arrakis rule the universe
Green shall bloom, this sere desert
The Emperor’s ship is blasted clear
It fills with drifting sand
Static lightning flashes from the cloud
Frames Shaddam’s pointing hand
Out of the haze come shadowy shapes
Great curves with crystal spokes
From backs of worms come flashing blades
That kill with shining strokes
Keep your back to the door
Thufir warned the Muad-dib
The universe is filled with doors
Behind one death is hid
He has known billions and billions of lives
The pain and wisdom of his race
Burns blue within his eyes
He cannot deny his Fatilah
He must live it out to the end
He senses death by treachery
Betrayal by a friend
NOTES:
Based on the Dune trilogy by Frank Herbert, I certainly outdid myself sticking in references to the book, and using Herbert’s pseudo-Arabic names and words.
Heavy Iron Maiden influence (they had covered “Dune” in “To Tame a Land”, but being a Dune aficionado, I didn’t think they’d done a very good job, lyrically, so I thought I better improve on their version. Since I’d been kind of forced onto bass, I wanted it to be as dominent and fun to play as possible in the songs I wrote.
This had a big Steve Harris influence, and first song I wrote on bass. I approached writing on bass much the same way he did, using all the strings at once to make a kind of layered bass approach, as opposed to single note runs. This was also Mike and my first foray into trying to stack vocals really big, Queen style, no mean feat when you only have eight channels to work with. They are pretty primitive, but it’s a start and we were still feeling our way around. Later we would become much more proficient at it.
The sound quality is not too bad throughout the album, for all its experimental devices by amateurs in the studio. It was a little compressed, but it was out of necessity due to the technical limitations and we were ping-ponging stuff on 8 tracks with no noise reuduction system, meaning I couldn’t afford to have any quiet passages, everything had to be fully saturated at all times.
Before this we were on four tracks, so we felt like we had room to branch out a little, stacking guitars and vocals. The drum sound suffered, though, done on one channel and run through a stereo reverb to give it ambiance and width. We were always a little ahead of ourselves compositionally and what we wanted to do production-wise in relation to our technical and hardware limitations.
You strain and you pound me
Forces surround me
Legs tight around me
My swollen forces mass
For a full scale advance
Pre-dawn insertion into enemy territory
Plunge deep into sector G
Push ’til I hit the spot
Full frontal assault
Attack forces spent
The trenches are filled
Overflow to the hilt
NOTES:
Written in the AC/DC tradition-come up with a title, then fill in lines to fit the idea. Another in my sex and violence series. I find these lyrics truly hilarious now, I wonder if I got the humor then, I forget now. I think I may have been dead serious.
I got a lot of the lines straight from a TV news report about a war, I was struck immediately by the double entendre possibilities of some of the lines. I had even more but even then I could figure out it was getting ridiculous, and since I’ve seen Carlin (RIP) do a bit about the same subject.
NOTES:
Instrumental written over a drum fill pattern Chuck came up with. One of the few we really cranked out just jamming in the studio. We overdubbed the toms for a big sound. Named after one of Chuck’s several tattoos. He eventually got a “Vengeance Inc.” tattoo.
I’m in it now
Right up to my wrist
You burn me out
With your acid kiss
Overkill, you go too far every time
Overkill, lust is making me blind
Overkill, gonna make you a whore
Overkill, can’t get enough you want more
You’ve gone too far
You’ve played your last card
You waste my time
Your love is a farce
Make me bleed
That’s your fantasy
You can’t be happy
’til I’m down on my knees
NOTES:
Along the lines of Full Frontal Assault, this one appears to have some pretty disturbing references to fisting. I remember Curt had brought his then-gf along to watch me lay down the vocal tracks to this. I used to sing in the control room so I could run the tape-deck myself, usually through necessity, but I always liked to lay down vocals all by myself and do countless takes, plus I would be too impatient with someone else running the deck, I knew where I wanted to punch in and out, it was just quicker and easier.
Anyway, she was apparently unaware of the style of music he played and was horrified, not only by the lyrics and my singing (screaming) but by the fact that he played such a (she thought) hopelessly un-commercial form of music. We were very serious about getting a major label contract at this time and she (perhaps rightly) thought he was nuts playing power metal.
Until they parted company she tried to get him to quit the band, or, failing that, start writing more radio-friendly stuff. She was the inspiration for the song Whipped, and a lot of the lines are literal takes on shit she would pull, like trying to get him to skip practice or to come to the phone during practice, or leave practice early.
Curt of course co-wrote the music to this, along with all these except Traveller, which I wrote, and Running Blind, based on an idea I came up with jamming with Bruce Batton of Brat, so this was his music, not some music we were trying to force upon him, but she could never see that. Curt was actually a fan of really dark and sludgy stuff like Priest’s Metal Gods, or the German influence, like Michael Schenker, Yngwie of Ritchie Blackmore.
Predator
Death casts a shadow and it’s passing o’er the mountainside
It spots its prey, crawling below
There’s a rush as it gathers all its strength inside
The hunted shudders under the blow
He gathers his prize to his breast as he flies
To his stronghold high in the sky
It’s always the same in this game it’s the weak who dies
And the hunter returns to his lair
Predator strikes like a switchblade he cuts through the night
Like lightning he burns blue white
As he rises and blinds the light
Now you’re stumbling through the dark maze of life
You feel like the hunted, alone
You sense his eyes and they’re burning deep inside of you
You feel death in your bones
At every turn you’re unsure of the proper path
You’ve lost your way in the maze
Behind ev’ry wall there’s a shadow that falls
You just can’t shake off this craze
Someday you’ll be free of the black snare of life
Someday you will laugh at your fears
The only hunter that you need escape is the Reaper of the years
All of the time you were running from Death
And Death is what has set you free
It’s only after you’ve left life behind
You can open your blind eyes and see
NOTES:
One of the few songs on this album with somewhat worthwhile lyrics, still cliché ridden, but some nice lines here. Still getting my feet wet, this is probably the second song we wrote, after HMSQ, and it was a highlight of the live show ’til the end, played with Reign of Terror as an intro, as I wrote on the notes for that song.
We had been working on this since Curt’s brother Dave was playing drums for us and had done several versions, sort of as a recording exercise, even as far back as with the 4-track. I remember bringing a cassette of it around everywhere with me and torturing people by making them listen to it. We were quite proud of not only the song, but our increasing recording ability, which was very slight at that point in time.
It didn’t really get to poing I’d call “quality” until Bad Crazy. Beside sound quality, dynamic range and frequency range was a problem with slow moving (8ips, or 15ips, but tape was expensive) thing (1/2 inch) tape. Even on Malicious Intent, we couldn’t get the bottom end we wanted, forcing us to make a midrange heavy mix so that we could get decent volume.
I remember Curt said he played it for his Dad, and he remarked it sounded “brassy”, which was an apt description.
Streetwalker
Blonde in the corner with a pagan smile
She’s far gone enough to lose her style
Give me a reason to move her way
Got a freeze on and it makes me stay
I can’t think straight anymore
I can’t see straight past the door
I need air to clear my head
Those sweet lips on my head
Leave this place get away from here
Into the night, gonna grind her gears
No more excuses, no reasons why
Give it up, take it in, gonna make her cry
I can’t stay hard without you
Lie back down I’ll push it through
I can’t leave you ’til it’s done
I can’t go if you won’t cum
She can’t refuse another round
My pulse, her hips begin to pound
Her eyes cut like a laser
Sharp eyes, bite like a razor
Streetwalker, look into my eyes
Big talker, spread those velvet thighs
Nightstalker, give it all you got
Devil’s Daughter, wet and smooth and hot
Back to the beginning and start again
I’ve been this high can’t remember when
Down on her knees gonna make her beg
My love runs wasted down the back of her leg
NOTES:
Based on a true story. the names were changed to protect the guilty. The back of her leg line is especially picturesque. Some of these lyrics are cringingly bad to read now, but the style was standard for the time. You either wrote about sex or violence, and we cover the gamut here from S to V.
Only on Traveller did I try to break out a bit. It would take several more albums before I’d totally get past that trope.
Running Blind
I try to live life on the run
But I never pay the price
I’m always running from the gun
But I can’t give up the fight
Don’t try and take it like a man
You better get it while you can
You know you’re running far behind
You’re only running blind
Another road’s led me no where
I’ve wasted precious time
If I look down I’m bound to fall
No place left to climb
I’ve hit another dead end
But I’ll start it all again
I’d rather break than bend
I’m running blind again
I’ve never asked you for a thing
No help from any man
And if I do it on my own
Alone is where I’ll stand
I’m gonna run and never stop
Gonna fight until I drop
Now you’re stumbling through the dark maze of life
You feel like the hunted, alone
You sense his eyes and they’re burning deep inside of you
You feel death in your bones
At every turn you’re unsure of the proper path
You’ve lost your way in the maze
Behind ev’ry wall there’s a shadow that falls
You just can’t shake off this craze
Someday you’ll be free of the black snare of life
Someday you will laugh at your fears
The only hunter that you need escape is the Reaper of the years
All of the time you were running from Death
And Death is what has set you free
It’s only after you’ve left life behind
You can open your blind eyes and see
NOTES:
This one breaks the mold of most of the other songs; it is actually about something personal, the frustrations of trying to get a contract, beating your head against the wall, even in these early days of our “career”. Flows very nicely, I recorded this one by myself in the studio with Chuck on drums.
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, its based on an idea I came up with jamming with Bruce Batton of Brat. We wrote a song together, but I discarded his portions of the song and wrote this, and he discarded my parts and wrote his own for Brat. They did relatively little recording over their career compared to us (nearly 100 released songs, altogether, with compiliations), and never they laid it down, as far as I know.
Traveller
I have always been a Traveller
Afraid to stay too long
Living life a gypsy, playing one night songs
Never had a reason I could understand
Living life and island, a solitary man
But lately I’ve been wond’ring where I’m gonna go
Running from a future I don’t wanna know
I look around in darkness, tomorrow’s turned to grey
Look back upon my golden years, empty tarnished days
Now I feel I’m on my knees
I need somebody, who won’t wanna leave
I need a woman, to make me feel alive
I wanna live again before I die
Set me free now, release me from this cage
I don’t want to live forever
I’ve reached a desperate age
Set me free, give me another chance
Let me be what I could be
If I’d walked another path
I need to hold you, I need to feel you near
I need to know that you’ll always be here
Where is the lover who won’t make me run away
That’s where my future lies
That’s where I wanna stay
I need my freedom but I’ll share it with you
NOTES:
Probably the best song on the album, lyrically, even when I was a kid I seemed to have been obsessed with time passing and not accomplishing what I wanted, or thought I could do, a theme that recurs in songs like Goodbye ’89. On the break I did my first real stacked guitar work, although I had been experimenting with it on songs that never saw the light of day. This final product still stands up, very nicely done I think.
Foxholes
She gives me a shock like a heart attack
Brings me to my knees like a stab in the back
Gnaws at my bones like the wolven pack
Claws at my eyes makes my senses go black
She is the nightmare I can’t escape
Twist me so hard that I bend ’til I break
Ravage my soul with her feline hate
Exposing my heart to here feral rape
A burning desire I cannot ignore
I explode inside with a savage roar
Consuming her flesh like a mad carnivore
Impaled on my tusk like a wild boar
Your eyes hold me tight in a black embrace
Your fire so hot that it lashes my face
I’m pushing so hard into every space
You drain my life’s blood, disappear with no trace
You’ve taken my body, digested my mind
You come with no warning and leave me behind
Searching for answers, afraid what I’ll find
Inflamed with desire, the virulent kind
Trapped in a dark foxhole
Lust that I can’t control
Deep in a dark foxhole
Lost by the Hell Patrol
I am a victim of cruel circumstance
A slave to the monster that lives in my pants
Can’t break away fro this hypnotic trance
I’ll never escape this carnal romance
Engulfed by a fever that takes hold from within
I live out your commands
I’m held sway by our sin
Tasting your nectar, fulfilling your need
Spawning new evil with demon seed
You hold out your hand and you beckon me home
Reason decays like a hot rabid foam
I plunge into battle, no hope of reprieve
Interred in a grave that I’ll never leave
NOTES:
And here we are back to form lyrically with Foxholes, a song name that speaks volumes. The title came from a porn flick, and the song holds true to that ideal.
Actually this one is a little better than the other crotch rockers on the album, I particularly like the “slave to the master that lives in my pants” line, it was a catchphrase for our friend Bobby “Deacon” Gibbs, with whom Mike, Chuck and I recorded an album in a contrived band called Deacon. This one is pure speed metal, our old encore before we started doing Action. Altogether not bad for a first album, other than vocally. The vocals are so bad and so frightening and embarrassing to me that I seriously doubted I’d convert them and upload the mp3s unless my sense of personal shame makes allowances for this early stage.
As a completist, it does hurt me not to add them, I only wish they were better.