"Haunted Heart"
Ghost Blood EP
Modern Ritual

LYRICS:

So listen to my words, a "once upon a time"
It was before my rise, when I was in a bind
You trapped me bright eyed and enslaved me with your word
You only told me lies, so that was all I heard.
Words of Poseidon, that you thought could hold the seas
I never lied or cried or weakened at the knees
Shifting from then to now, you're right in front of me
I stood the tests of time, and now I hold the key

My colors fade in sunlight, my bones begin to bleach
My haunted heart is counting time though its out reach
The promise of eternity, is right in front of me
My haunted heart is counting time just screaming to be free

You couldn't see me leaving, when I held your stare
They put me in the ground and you don't seem to care
I left my skin and bones, to wake you in your sleep
Gave you my haunted heart, but now it's mine to keep
I falsified a feeling, lives inside of me
I lost my vital signs; can't feel my body heat
Groove to the silent scene you painted in your art
So take me by the hand and heal my haunted heart

(My colors fade in sunlight) My bones begin to bleach
My haunted heart is counting time though its out reach
The promise of eternity, is right in front of me
My haunted heart is counting time just screaming to be free

Heal my haunted heart (repeat)

Written, produced, recorded, and mastered by Dean Surdis & Emily Ellis
Album Artwork by Dean Surdis & Emily Ellis

Haunted Heart

"Limbo"
Ghost Blood EP
Modern Ritual

LYRICS:

Shadows lengthened in the valley of the damned
As the sun began to set for the first time in 22 years
The girl had been attracted to the stillness of the pond
A hallowed place where the mists swallowed up the sounds
Thin rays of dusk pierced the green roof
Revealing the gold dust in the air
Everything in its right place
Even Monet's water lillies found life here
So, eager to taste the liquid mirror... she fell in
Her ripples ignited the waters around her
Light and warmth danced upon the broken stillness
She felt the grip of legions as
Colors bloomed from unknown depths and she was pulled ever downwards
The lights tickled her ears and for the first time she heard her own soul scream
In its struggle, the scream drowned and all that was left was music
Her body detached itself from the soul, writhing in ecstasy
And suddenly... There was nothing

Sticks and stones can't break these bones
And I can't find my way back home
No prison cell can hold my skin
Your padded rooms can't keep me in
My aching joints now turned to dust
My memories have turned to rust
No prison cell can hold my skin
Your bleeding heart can't keep me in

What is this place that I'm in
Don't know quite where to begin
All around me faces, I'll disappear
Starting over, vacant, but I'm still here

No more chains to hold me still
Fill my veins with man's good will
And up I'll go straight through the mist
I still don't know if I exist
The things I've done all this time
Leave me now like thoughtless crime
There's been no judgement for my sin
Your bleeding heart can't hold me in

What is this place that I'm in
Don't know quite where to begin
All around me faces, I'll disappear
Starting over, vacant, but I'm still here 

As the pressing black bound her hands and feet
She realized that this darkness was some new kind of animal
It seeped into the cracks in her mind and left her numb
It blinded her and deafened her
She fought against the pressure, but to no avail
Time ceased to exist
All that remained were the memories
And with these memories she was left with the task of rebuilding
She was lost in limbo

I'm not falling anymore (repeated)

Written, produced, recorded, and mastered by Dean Surdis & Emily Ellis
Monologue written by Dean Surdis and performed by Dr. Joanne Dames.
Album Artwork by Dean Surdis & Emily Ellis

Limbo

"Sonar"
Ghost Blood EP
Modern Ritual

LYRICS:

Sounds can be deceiving
When notes become your soul
And what you've been receiving
Leaves you less than whole
I thought that I could reach you
But you left without trace
All I hear are pieces
Filling empty space

Sending sonar out to spaces, crawling with your inner graces
I know, that I can't let you go
And all your photos started fading and you can't here the sounds I'm making
I know, that I can't let you go

I tried to help you baby
In more ways you could know
Now you've left me wasted
And there's no afterglow
My sound is made for healing
You're nowhere to be found
I listen for the feeling
My ears pressed to the ground

Sending sonar out to spaces, crawling with your inner graces
I know, that I can't let you go
And all your photos started fading and you can't here the sounds I'm making
I know, that I can't let you go

Written, produced, recorded, and mastered by Dean Surdis & Emily Ellis
Album Artwork by Dean Surdis & Emily Ellis

Sonar

"Ghost Blood"
Ghost Blood EP
Modern Ritual

LYRICS:

I'm a mind without a head
Surrounded by the dead
But I'm in good company
 
Scrapes, love, earth, and bones
Summarized on headstones
What more could you ask from me?

Truth, I now find relative
You get back all you give
Reject this illusion

Feel the weight of your time
A victimless crime
A ghost blood transfusion

I tried so hard to stay awake
When seconds seem hours and courage beginning to break
Lost in the fog and forgetting the sun and the waves
Losing our minds writing the signs on our graves

Feared by men we thought we were
Although we might prefer
To haunt in seclusion

Speak to loves lost and gone
As night kisses dawn
And writes its conclusion 

Feel the weight of your time
A victimless crime
A ghost blood transfusion

Written, produced, recorded, and mastered by Dean Surdis & Emily Ellis
Album Artwork by Dean Surdis & Emily Ellis

Ghost Blood

"Monsters (feat. Alma Rosae)"
Ghost Blood EP
Modern Ritual

LYRICS:

Monsters in your closet,  there's monsters in your bed
Monsters digging deeper they're living in your head
Monsters in your doorway and monsters from a hole
Monsters digging deeper, they're digging in your soul

You gotta run away or risk your fate or risk your life
Or try to meditate, evict those demons from your mind
But if you falter now, you know they'll take what you love best
Grab your revolver, vow to keep safe all the rest

Monsters in your closet,  there's monsters in your bed
Monsters digging deeper they're living in your head
Monsters in your doorway and monsters from a hole
Monsters digging deeper, they're digging in your soul

My mind is playing tricks
Smokin' weed don't seem to help
Paranoia like this, I've never felt
I try to tune out, but it don't work
And I'm stuck with the same melody in my head
Sound like these demons are singing to me
And they sing in perfect harmony
Why these monsters come for me?
So wrongfully?
I didn't think they'd come back for me

So take your Novocain, and numb your wounded memories
Speak to your aching brain and put your darkest thoughts at ease
Welcome the monster love you've conjured in your beating heart
This is no place to stop, but its a place to start

Monsters in your closet,  there's monsters in your bed
Monsters digging deeper they're living in your head
Monsters in your doorway and monsters from a hole
Monsters digging deeper, they're digging in your soul

Written, produced, recorded, and mastered by Dean Surdis & Emily Ellis
Album Artwork by Dean Surdis & Emily Ellis

Monsters (feat. Alma Rosae)

Here's the single off our newest EP, Mimicry!  Our boy, Archaeologist, lays down some savage vocals and seething guitar on this one.

ARCHAEOLOGIST: https://www.facebook.com/Archaeologistmusic

Album art by the illustrious Leone Simonetti (of São Bento do Sul, Brazil):  www.leonesimonetti.com

BLACK GOLD
MODERN RITUAL X ARCHAEOLOGIST

[VERSE 1]

I could see the wells on fire
Burning off the bones from the murk and mire
Black gold, my replacement for blood
Raining from the heavens or the demons above
So drive slow, or it just might pass
High octane infusion though the speed never lasts
Tied to the pump though the speed never lasts
the speed never lasts

[CHORUS]

I can get from A to B
Long as there's black gold for me
I can run on cruise control
I am filled with liquid soul
I can run the quarter mile
Pushing into red zones, sticking all the dials
And I know you can feel the heat
But I get the feelin that you just wanna [drive me]

[VERSE 2]

Rest your eyes on this 4 wheel drive
You're drowning at a job working 9 to 5
Ditch the tie and break down that stare
Blowing out the tires, but i've got another spare
So, pin the throttle and drive me fast
You'll siphon the diesel though the speed never lasts
Glue the pedal to the floor though the speed never lasts
The speed never lasts

[CHORUS]

[BRIDGE]

Sound off the alarm bell
I don't have a soul to sell
Not a single soul to tell
I'm drinking from an oil well

And I could use a smog check
I don't smoke no cigarrettes
Slow to watch my burning wreck 
I'm hanging, watch me break my neck


Rust became my new disease
Blacking out on anti-freeze
Got locked out, but swallowed keys
No praying man, but on my knees
 
Can't slow down, I've gone too fast
Can't slow down, I've gone too fast
Can't slow down, I've gone too fast
But, the speed never lasts

[GUITAR SOLO]

[CHORUS]


Black Gold (feat. Archaeologist)

Here's our take on what has now become a classic!  We absolutely fell in love with this song back in the day and we wanted to make it personal.

Album art by the illustrious Leone Simonetti (of São Bento do Sul, Brazil): www.leonesimonetti.com

Such Great Heights
[The Postal Service]
Recorded and produced by Modern Ritual

I am thinking it's a sign
That the freckles in our eyes
Are mirror images and when
We kiss they're perfectly aligned

And I have to speculate
That God himself did make
Us into corresponding shapes
Like puzzle pieces from the clay

And true, it may seem like a stretch,
But its thoughts like this that catch
My troubled head when you're away
When I am missing you to death

When you are out there on the road
For several weeks of shows
And when you scan the radio,
I hope this song will guide you home

They won't see us waving from such great heights,
"Come down now," they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away,
"Come down now," but we'll stay...

I tried my best to leave
This all on your machine
But the persistent beat it sounded thin
Upon listening

And that frankly will not fly.
You will hear the shrillest highs
And lowest lows with the windows down
When this is guiding you home

They won't see us waving from such great heights,
"Come down now," they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away,
"Come down now," but we'll stay...

They won't see us waving from such great heights,
"Come down now," they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away,
"Come down now," but we'll stay...

They won't see us waving from such great heights,
"Come down now,"
They won't see us waving from such great heights,
"Come down now,"

Such Great Heights (Cover Of The Postal Service)

"Matches + Gasoline"
Perception is in the Echo EP
Modern Ritual

LYRICS:

Take another little hit
And after that you'll quit
The devil's on your shoulder, he's screamin for more
You try to read a mind
That's locked itself inside
You're blinded by the high and you're screamin!

You don't even know my name
It's not some kind of game    
You're playing with your matches and gasoline
You're a liability
You're bursting at the seams
You're playing with your matches and gasoline

I can swim
But I know I can't breath at the bottom of the sea
Try to win
But no amount of money, could keep me from my honey

Wash the venom from your veins
Break out from all your chains
You've opened up the lock with the golden key
You have yourself to blame
You tried to make it rain
You're high up in the haze, ride the lightning!

Walking hot coals
means burning soft souls
Blind me, heal me
melt me, fear me

I don't know why you
can't just live life through
No one hears me
No one's listening

Written, produced, and mastered by Dean Surdis & Emily Ellis
Album Artwork by Cody Howell: http://www.cody-howell.com/

Matches + Gasoline

"Crime of Passion"
Perception is in the Echo EP
Modern Ritual

LYRICS:

I met a man who said he’d lost it all
His head was spinning from the force of the fall
The year was ’65 when he lost his little boy
And for 47 years he’s been tripping on his toys
So I don’t blame the man for what they say he’s done
He didn’t use a knife and he didn’t use a gun
Instead he took a match to the bridge to enter town
And walked away without a word as he burned that fucker down
 
The day was dark and grey, and the rain was coming down
Mixed in with the motor oil and seeped into the ground
The wheels began to slip, the wheels began to slide
He closed his eyes, lost control, and drove over the side
The river shimmered, the fire made it shine
When years of metal riveting had started to unwind
The old man cried, as he burned away his chains
He’ll forever hold his little boy in the bloodflow of his veins

Written, produced, and mastered by Dean Surdis & Emily Ellis
Album Artwork by Cody Howell: http://www.cody-howell.com/

Crime of Passion

"Water Temple"
Perception is in the Echo EP
Modern Ritual

[LISTEN TO THE RHYTHM FLOW]

Written, produced, and mastered by Dean Surdis & Emily Ellis
Album Artwork by Cody Howell: http://www.cody-howell.com/

Water Temple

"Evolve With Me"
Perception is in the Echo EP
Modern Ritual

LYRICS:

You'd say, I can't hold on any longer
You keep on floating away
I know your somebody's daughter
And I will treat you that way

You'd say, I gotta outrun the smoking gun
You keep on running away
I know you're somebody's only son
And I will treat you that way

We'd say, we can't hold on any longer
We keep on floating away
But we're a son and a daughter
We can't forget how to play
We can't forget how to play

When I reached out to you
You offered me your hand
We left those frigid oceans
Finding hope on barren land
So when I exhaled, blowing letters, not just the o's
Scholars years ago labeled it the Rosetta Stone
So I credit you, for shaping the clay
That fabricates my muscles, and my matter that is grey
By linking up my molecules and put them on display
Cause evolution made me human, made the man I am today SO

We'd say, we can't hold on any longer
We keep on floating away
But we're a son and a daughter
We can't forget how to play
We can't forget how to play 

And old man once told that the fittest survive
Those with the wanderlust, the ones with the drive
So when I pack up my bags, start my future, set fourth
I'm heading back to the bay, my happy place in the North
Know that it's for a reason, it's been genetically coded
Like weather to a season, like the pistol's been loaded
Yea you're product your mother's smile, ecstatic with tears
You're the product of a journey that took millions of years

Written, produced, and mastered by Dean Surdis & Emily Ellis
Album Artwork by Cody Howell: http://www.cody-howell.com/

Evolve With Me

"The Crow"
Perception is in the Echo EP
Modern Ritual

LYRICS:

He's got 1 eye, no teeth, and they call him The Crow
He escaped from a prison down in Mexico
Now he's after your fortune, he's after your gold
And he won't stop a looking till your blood runs cold

So bury all your money at the center of earth
or else The Crow will tell ya just how much your life is worth
And when he comes a knockin, don't open up that door
Cause you know you'll find a 12 gauge, pointed at your core

He rides a black horse, black heart, he's loosing control
legend after legend, he's a 1000 years old
yea he's ridden with the mongols and he lives by the sword
His head is wanted cross the Earth for handsome reward

So when start I tell you that you'd better run and hide
He's got a 1000 years of darkness, bottled up inside
Never underestimate a man without a soul
Cuz he's here to take your life away and they call him the Crow

Written, produced, and mastered by Dean Surdis & Emily Ellis
Album Artwork by Cody Howell: http://www.cody-howell.com/

The Crow

This a cover of one of our favorite songs by some of our favorite people in the world.  Hope you enjoy it guys!

Modern Ritual

Lyrics:

There’s a quiver in my bones
Years of longing for the road
I’ve relied upon your love
Thank you so much for all you’ve done

Nothing sacred was ever made
By taking short cuts the easy way
It’s a hard road, the one I choose
No other way to sing the blues

All the classics I haven’t read
All the women I haven’t met
There is so much for me to learn
I’ve been patient, now it’s my turn

Check out Tumbleweed Wanderers @ their website: http://www.tumbleweedwanderers.com

Quiver In My Bones (Cover of Tumbleweed Wanderers)

Futurepop from the Central Coast of California. Electronic dreams and subsonic nightmares.

EMAIL: modernritualmusic@gmail.com

Modern Ritual

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