POISON OF AGES [2007] Sativa Records / Universal Distribution 01 Emancipate 02 Thumbs, Eyesockets, Love 03 We the Termites 04 Exeunt 05 Crosses for Eyes 06 Pirates and Capatalists 07 The Great Western Cliff-hanger 08 For the Birds 09 Napalm Existence

Bass tracks on Poison of Ages performed by Brent Fox
Drumming on Poison of Ages performed by Stefan Westerberg
Guitar solos on 'Crosses For Eyes' and 'For The Birds' performed by Petri Kuusisto
(Stefan Westerberg & Petri Kuusisto appears courtesy of Carnal Forge and Century Media)

All music by 8 Foot Sativa
All lyrics by Ben Read

Produced by Pelle Saether and 8 Foot Sativa
Co-Produced by Stefan Westerberg

Recorded at Studio Underground, Vasteras, Sweden
Engineered and mixed by Pelle Saether welcome.to/studiounderground

Mastered at The Mastering Room AB, Sweden

 All layout design and artwork by Jamie Saint Merat www.prehensile.orcon.net.nz

emancipate

bitter semen, rotten and putrid
to hand down all imperfections
cloned and shat upon
rancid vomit upon the canvas
all the makings for a needed abortion
the time to sever the head is long overdue
to fell the family tree
to still your filth encrusted tongue
with axe in hand and blade in head
this shall be your undoing
be still your poisoned tongue
bite and swallow
spew forth wretched disease
and drown in your blood
contrived by those depraved
contracted and spread by fools
cure yourself, for soon it will be you
the sheep among the wolves

There is no excuse for bigotry in any form. Racism, sexism, homophobia - all of these things are far too prevalent in the world today and they should not be tolerated. Thinking less of someone based of their ethnicity, using someone's sexuality as a derogatory term, reducing a female to mere body parts. all of these things work to make the world a more uncomfortable place for the majority of people. And for what? So some insecure, narrow minded individual can feel better about themselves by making others feel worse? That is pathetic.

thumbs, eye-sockets, love

i've got you in my sights you fucker
your days are numbered and we're down to single digits
you've had your fun but the end is neigh
i can't sit idly by and watch my heart be devoured
so heres how its gonna be
your head in my hands
my thumbs versus the windows to your soulless existence
and we all know who'll be champion
with every breath I can muster
with every ounce of my love
i will squeeze the very life from you
until all that remains is a sour taste and rainbowed skies
bruises to smiles
so just remember
i'm marking the days from my calendar
and d-day is almost here
this one is for my love
this one is for my life

This song is for the love of my life.

we, the termites

parasitic frenzy, sanguinary
our greatest legacy, a total fallacy
steel to tissue, cut, repeat
robotic mounds of flesh, blood and shit
we the termites
wood to blood
macabre tradition
we, the termites
wood to blood
our infliction
despondency
immeasurable misery
devoured sentience
rabid smiles, avert your eyes
too scared to face consequence
freedoms negated as jaws clench shut
saline to soil, fallen to forgotten
blood spilt in your absence still leaves a red stain on your hands
mass immolation, for what purpose?
to dig graves (our and theirs) with our teeth
the time will come when history will end
quite a fitting reward for a job well done

There is no reason or justification for us to needlessly kill animals to satisfy our taste buds. There is even less justification for the way we imprison, abuse, torture and generally mistreat them for their short and miserable lives. It is safe to say that all 'meat' on your dinner plates comes from animals that have never experienced life outside of a factory farm, battery cage, sow crate etc. We seem to be ignorant to the fact that animals are living, thinking and sentient creatures. They are as capable of feeling pain and misery as humans are. And with the way we treat them, it seems as though that is all they will ever get to feel. Over 300,000 animals are slaughtered DAILY here in New Zealand alone. That is truly mind boggling. It is all so needless. Humans can survive and be healthy without animal products as part of our diet. If you are interested in finding out more about this horrific industry and what you can do to reduce the suffering of animals, visit www.goveg.com

exeunt

there will be a time when there will be too much to fit
so I will make room
hammer in hand
as blood and bone fall away
like rain upon the deepest ocean of nothing
the filth will drip from entry wounds
to turn to mush upon the floor
with eyes shut tight as I make silent apologies
reflecting on black hours and skull in hands
as the gold falls into the abyss
so will the red
and i will crawl beneath the soil to understand
my gift to you
just make sure to follow my lead

This is a song of self loathing and sorrow. I am a hypocrite. As much as I try to minimise the negative impact I have on this world and its inhabitants, there is always more I could be doing. This is about the guilt I feel for existing, the hypocrisy that taints my every action and ultimately the depression that accompanies the feelings of futility.

crosses for eyes

heads buried within the clouds, sickening white
rotting corpses at your feet
maggot infested
devouring greyed out dreams, forgotten
devolving into this nightmare reality
but the dead shall rise from the sea of excrement in which they dwell
to claw at your feet
scraping tender flesh from polished bone
to awaken as you descend
to fall to join their ranks
screams to choke
as the filth fills your lungs
drowning
incision and
separate eye lid from face
now you can see
but its still too late
those below will dismember
and pluck your averting eyes from your once crowned skull
throw your remains on the heap
just another body in the pile of the benighted

We, the masses - trudge through life without giving thought to the countless injustices which take place around us. We live in a globalised world in which we can no longer ignore the plight of those who may be a thousand miles away. Our lives are all entwined and we are all responsible for the actions which are taken. From the passive consumerism of the west to the contrasting poverty of the east, to the hypocritical world 'leaders' who make decisions on our behalf, and the absolute misery of the animals we confine and consume - purely for self gratification. One could be forgiven for not being aware of the complete and utter misery which surrounds us - the complex systems which exist to keep the masses ignorant and distracted are very effective. I do feel that people are slowly (unfortunately too slowly!!) starting to take notice and are becoming aware of the plight of animals, the earth, and those less fortunate than ourselves. However to be passively aware is not enough. We must act to make change.

pirates and capitalists

like a drunken crew on a sinking ship
we are ill fated and at fault
trampling our brethren
in a self induced stupor of selfishness
panicked and narcissistic
plump faces stricken with terror
regrets bite like the sting of salt in wounds
foretold, mocked and ignored
never has a punishment been so deserved
as the waves lap at your feet
and your breath turns to gasps
a million 'I told you so`s' will weigh upon your shoulders
as the spite drips from my tongue
I will curse your very existence
and as the water fills my lungs
I shall reflect on all
a civilisation founded on dead consciences and hearts to match
the anger seeps from me into the black
sadness consumes as I try to forget
and I will drift beneath the darkness
finally accepting the fate you have decided for us all
and mother earth will lay her head down for the last time
exhausted and defeated
this is the end

Capitalism - as far as I am concerned, is the single most destructive force in existence. It is the force which drives almost all despicable acts which are carried out against the Earth and its inhabitants. Capitalism must constantly re-invent itself to survive- tailoring itself to whatever demographic it needs to. Within the capitalist system, we are all set against one another. Neighbour against neighbour, husband against wife. Whether it be competing for jobs in the volatile labour market, or involvement in conflict which has arisen due to market forces - it is inescapable. Capitalism employs countless techniques to capture consumers. Mediums such as Television, magazines, radio etc - exist with one purpose and one purpose only - to deliver an audience to an advertiser. The survival of capitalism also ensures that resources are exploited and overused. With the Earth's natural resources being depleted at an astonishing rate, it is apparent that the reversal of such damage is now virtually impossible.

the great western cliff-hanger

diamond white versus charcoal black
a thousand faceless souls worth less than one soulless face
this is our daily standard
and it makes me sick to my stomach
forgetting all we have learnt
this is a new dawn
the birth of things to come
something has got to give and this time i think it should be you
as you sit there mouth agape
shocked by this pixelated distant reality
the press of a button to erase them all
the fecal pacifier in the mouth of the drooling infant
i won't swallow this shit
mere dollars for the fortune teller
to tell them they are worthless
but given the chance
for less I will give them a gun and your signed confession
uh oh, looks like you are shit out of luck

Everyday we are bombarded with the misery of other on the news. Natural disasters, violent conflicts, famine, environmental catastrophes, outbreaks of disease. but do we really care? It's too easy to just change the channel, go to the sports section, just switch off and forget about the misery of others (bear in mind, mainstream media is more often than not biased and filtered - for REAL news go to www.indymedia.org, www.scoop.co.nz or www.guerrillanews.com). It seems like peoples concern for others extends to a point where it affects them, and no further. It seems to be that people like to think of themselves as compassionate, as empathetic. but really, what do we do to demonstrate our 'humanity'?

for the birds

to close my eyes
reduce you to black
nothing more than a insignificant shadow among the vultures
i will walk away
and take with me everything you will never understand
for this belongs to me
and my time for sharing is through
your words have cut deep for the last time
and mine will fall on deaf ears no longer
with a line drawn in the sand
these differences they divide
on the one side, all the hope in the world
the other, putrid flesh and yellowed bones
i tire of forgiveness
and I am sickened by regrets
so this is your fate
my silhouette will shrink and fade against the horizon
as the birds begin to devour your already rotten carcass
i will smile and laugh and dance and sing for the first time in years
joyful as I hear your muted cries in the distance

This song is about feeling let down or being betrayed by those close to you. Once close 'friends', absent family, whoever you placed trust in and were let down by. But its also a celebration of new beginnings, of making the most of those you love and what you have, and being proud of who you are.

napalm existence

this is my promise to you
the broken, who bleed silently, outlined in sickly red
their masters, with glazed eyes and numb hands
when skies fall, burning with disease
to eradicate
and reverse the error of everything
this fucking mess
i shall smile
as the flesh drips from my face I will be laughing
laughing at my reflection
and at this misfortune undone
this is your plague
i hope you'll enjoy it as much as I will

There are many similarities between the way we treat animals and the way we treat ourselves. We imprison animals for our 'benefit, keeping them in cages and stalls, exploiting them as much as humanly possible to maximise profit, and when production slows or the animal is past its prime (that is if it hasn't been killed already for its flesh), it is slaughtered and replaced. For most of Earth's population, the parallels are easy to draw. Living within the capitalist epoch requires the individual to sell his or her labour in exchange for a wage. Companies derive their profits from the exploitation of the worker. We must do this merely to survive in today's cutthroat world. In most cases, we are working in positions which require us to perform inane tasks for endless hours. Within these jobs there is NO fulfilment. There are many different ways in which the world could operate, however that might bring about a more equal distribution of wealth and a better standard of living for many. This is not in the best interests of the elite. We only get one life to live, and I for one am not willing to waste the majority of it merely to increase profits for some heartless corporation.