In the Presence of Enemies
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| “In the Presence of Enemies The Heretic and the Dark Master” |
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| Song by Dream Theater | |||||
| Album | Systematic Chaos | ||||
| Format | CD | ||||
| Recorded | 2007 | ||||
| Genre | Progressive metal | ||||
| Length | 25:38 (Full) 9:00 (Part 1) 16:38 (Part 2) |
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| Label | Roadrunner Records | ||||
| Writer | John Petrucci | ||||
| Producer | John Petrucci Mike Portnoy |
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| Systematic Chaos track listing | |||||
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In the Presence of Enemies is a song from Dream Theater's 2007 studio album, Systematic Chaos. It is split into two parts at the nine-minute mark, with the first part becoming the opening track of the album, and the second part, the closing track. In the booklet, it is subtitled The Heretic and the Dark Master.
In a recent interview, Mike Portnoy stated that there were a few reasons for breaking the song up into two separate tracks, the main one being that as a whole, it was such a great way to open the album, and it was also a great way to close the album. It also makes the first track exactly nine minutes long, fitting for Dream Theater's ninth studio album. He stated, though, that it is still a single composition; he elaborated that the two tracks would be played live consecutively. This would make "In the Presence of Enemies" the second longest single Dream Theater song at 25:38 minutes, behind "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" at 42:04 minutes.
The first five minutes and fifteen seconds of this song are an overture, with James LaBrie not coming in until the first track is around halfway done.
The song was originally written under the working title "Pumpkin King" and parts of it were shown on the 6:00 video Mike Portnoy had distributed December 25th, 2006.
The song is predominantly written in D Dorian but does switch to the key of D minor, notably in the unisons throughout the song.
Contents |
[edit] Movements
Part I
- I. Prelude (instrumental)
- II. Resurrection
Part II
- III. Heretic
- IV. The Slaughter of the Damned
- V. The Reckoning (instrumental)
- VI. Salvation
[edit] Literal interpretation
The lyrics tell a story about a man who, at the moment of death, sells half of his soul to a "dark master" in order to gain power to stand in the way of the servants of an evil fallen angel, who are paving the way for their master's coming. The man is seeking revenge on the one who killed his beloved, and also seeks redemption for humanity. At the end he retains his own soul and does not fight for his master.
It is notable that the story told in the song is strikingly similar to the story of Ivan Isaacs told in the Korean comic Priest. Tokyopop, the publisher of Priest, provides a short résumé of the story that even shares certain expressions and phrases with the lyrics of In the Presence of Enemies. John Petrucci also said in an interview that one of the songs in Systematic Chaos was based on a manga.[1] The similarities have been listed here: [1]
[edit] Metaphorical Interpretation
According to Petrucci the characters and happenings are merely metaphors, and the song is in reality about the turbulence inside the main character, struggling with his darker side. [2]
[edit] Additional reference
- A part of the song called "The Slaughter of The Damned" cites a part of Psalm 23 in such a way as to twist the meaning to following the "Dark Master" rather than "the Lord" in the original.
[edit] Credits
- James LaBrie - vocals
- John Myung - bass guitar
- John Petrucci - guitar, vocals
- Mike Portnoy - drums, vocals
- Jordan Rudess - keyboards
[edit] References
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