the mercy cage's debut album from 1999.
Wire
November 1999
numb/benign
Cat: NUMB002
out of print
download for free at bandcamp
Lords Of Ascension
Resurrection Complex
Misericordia
The Destiny Rides
Wire
Absolution Danse
Trauma/Skin Chamber
Dimmer (Hours Between Daylight mix)
The Burning Girl
Apathy: Welcome To The Corporate Machine
Resonance (Theme)
Violet
Another New Machine
Children Of The Underneath
Resonance
Written, produced, performed & mastered by The Mercy Cage
At Virus Event Theatre Labs
Tauranga
New Zealand
“Gothic atmospherics envelop you while rumbling basslines and shivering melodies stalk your every move. If you haven’t heard the Mercy Cage yet – what are you afraid of?”
– Digital Blade [U.S.A]
“The group’s song “Misercordia,” a thrillingly gloomy swatch of danceable despair, hit the top spot on mp3.coms industrial charts early this month and seems primed to hold the spot for a while. The popularity of the track is well-deserved; it possesses everything a solid darkwave tune ought to: danceable beats, cascades of dark electronics and just a hint of self-centered despair. Finding the song (and the band) thrilled me and reminded me how rewarding it is to uncover a gem like “Misercordia” amidst an unfiltered pile of potential rubbish… meticulously programmed electronics…”Wire,” the title track from its CD plays at march tempo… I’m racking my brain for another march-tempo darkwave song, and can’t come up with anything, so I’ll just say that this is a real stylistic coup. “Trauma/Skin Chamber” manages to stay dark and unsettling despite its inclusion of soothing female vocals… and the song’s rhythmic foundation — restrained hip-hop beats underlying a soul-music vocal sample. I can stomp to it; I can appreciate stormy weather to it; I can picture myself wearing black leather and drinking alcoholic beverages with names like “snakebite” to it. In short, this is grade A independent dark-electronic music… As the Mercy Cage proves, the system can work. In a marketplace devoid of advertising and public relations, sometimes the cream really does rise to the top.”
– RadioSpy.com [U.S.A]
Resurrection Complex
These days of suffering & regret
I know, you're insular in the extreme
When 20/20 hindsight fails
I know, you're insular in the extreme
You play the martyr once again
To play the martyr once again
To play the martyr once again
& I'm thrown away...
Complex
Relevance
Frailty
Resurrection
Complex
Elegance
Fealty
Resurrection
To strike this ego-centric pose
These days of suffering & regret
It's a sin, I'm a fake, you knoe I'm a liar
These days of suffering & regret
You play the martyr once again
To play the martyr once again
To play the martyr once again
& I'm thrown away...
Complex
Relevance
Frailty
Resurrection
Complex
Elegance
Fealty
Resurrection
(I'm sorry now, that you are not as whole)
(I'm sorry now, that you come off as vain & stale)
(I'm sorry now, that you are not as whole)
I'm sorry now...
Complex
Relevance
Frailty
Resurrection
Complex
Elegance
Fealty
Resurrection
I know you search for something else
I know that this is not the end...
(I'm sorry now, that you are not as whole)
(that you are not as whole)
(that you are not as whole...)
The Destiny Rides
Embrace the nothingness
Call this exhaustion
You are the brightest star
So why do you lie?
It's not so elemental
No force of nature now
I'll feed you gravity
So you won't float away...
Another Razorblade
Another Heartworm
You know the truth will out
So why do you lie?
It's not too relevant
You're not so instrumental
Your new mistake leaves scars like nothing else
You're not the only one...
Absolution Danse
Something subtle out of the corner of my eye
Under the glass in this charade
While we were underneath this fawning summers sky...
flesh elastic
We dance unguided through the death of the new machine
Absolution's a kiss away
Kill the queen, kill the guards, bring out the guns...
I'm so impressed by this twilight
I'm overawed by the touch of you
Flesh elastic
I'm so impressed by this twilight
I'm overawed by the touch of you
You are the sword
You are the gun
You are my weapon
You are the one...
Trauma/Skin Chamber
Something else
Something never there
Something overground
Something to feel numb to
Lately I've been contemplating
It's only skin...
Inside this breathing cage
This bleeding chamber
machine punches through
Like e, like "wire", the fist that moves
These chains define me
Lately I've been contemplating
It's only skin...
The Burning Girl
You said suffrage, Was not the end
You said celibacy, seemed a worthy but flawed & impossible
dream
Here we sit, guests at the wake, conducting our own post mortem
Here we sit, lying that we all feel cormfortable with this...
I'm sorry
I miss you
I'm sorry
I missed you
The world seemed brighter with you around,
Why did you go?
Another New Machine
Never could ever be anywhere straight...
You were in that fight again
Don't think that I'd complete you
You were in that fight again
Equate this suffering with the heart
You were in that fight again
Never let the world defeat you
You were in that fight again
Knew you were damaged from the start
It's my Release, It's my addiction
Let the fun & games begin
It's my relief, It's my religion
Don't say anything at all
You're only halfway closer to god
If I though that you were unstable
A new world of skin & hurt & love
It's insane, It's comtempt, Let it all fall apart...
Let it all fall apart.
You were in that fight again
Behind this broken battered sun
You were in that fight again
So, pristine, although I'm flawed
You were in that fight again
Falling down is almost fun
You were in that fight again
I can't help it if I'm flawed..
It's my Release, It's my addiction
Let the fun & games begin
It's my relief, It's my religion
Don't say anything at all
You're only halfway closer to god
If I thought that you were unstable
A new world of skin & hurt & love
It's insane, It's comtempt, Let it all fall apart...
Let It all fall apart
NO LIFE
Let it all fall apart
NO LOVE
Let it all fall apart
NO INNOCENCE
Let it all fall apart...
all songs © 1999 josh wood