The trilogy of episodes dealing with Paramaecium's "non-Forest" lyrics concludes with the final album, "Echoes from the Ground". Once more this is a full-blown concept album, which follows a fictional 19th-century theologian's journey to Palestine in order to uncover the hard facts about the Biblical narrative. It has been a lot of fun to revisit these lyrics as well as the accompanying prose narrative in the CD booklet. I conclude with thoughts about whether there is an overarching theme to all of Paramaecium's lyrics. Blooper: I have no idea why I read out the word "magnificent" with a [k] sound ("magnifikent"). Weird!

This time we take a deep dive into the lyrics to Paramaecium's third album, "A Time to Mourn" from 1999. A lot of the songs seem to be about religious hypocrisy, personal growth and maturity. Revisiting these lyrics was quite an intense emotional experience for me... Blooper: I once said "Ian Arkley" when I meant to say "Andrew Tompkins".

A rather impressionistic reaction to Paramaecium's early lyrics. While the lyrics to "Repentance" (a.k.a. "Silent Carnage") are largely turn-or-burn Chick tract material (and - side note - include a backward-masked message), "Exhumed of the Earth", often seen as one of the greatest death-doom metal albums of all time, tells of the life of Jesus in a gory and somewhat obscure manner, at times involving a heavy dose of medical terminology. Errata: I made mistakes about the order of songs and the meaning of the name "Ephrath", and I slightly mispronounced the words "propitiation" and "vermicular".

In this episode, we apply Joseph Campbell's concept of the Hero's Journey to "Within the Ancient Forest". - Segments of "I Am Not Alive" and "Gone Is My Former Resolve" by Paramaecium: Written by Andrew Tompkins. Used with the writer's permission. Additional vocals by Christina Domene.

In this episode, we apply Joseph Campbell's concept of the Hero's Journey to "Within the Ancient Forest". - Segments of "I Am Not Alive" and "Gone Is My Former Resolve" by Paramaecium: Written by Andrew Tompkins. Used with the writer's permission. Additional vocals by Christina Domene.

Dé-nyl is at the end of his quest. A song of life and fire is sung as he enters a pool of water and thus comes full circle. - Segments of "I Am Not Alive" and "Gone Is My Former Resolve" by Paramaecium: Written by Andrew Tompkins. Used with the writer's permission.

Dé-nyl is at the end of his quest. A song of life and fire is sung as he enters a pool of water and thus comes full circle. - Segments of "I Am Not Alive" and "Gone Is My Former Resolve" by Paramaecium: Written by Andrew Tompkins. Used with the writer's permission.

After trying in vain to resuscitate those dead in life, Dé-nyl runs off to face his darkest hour under the ground. - Segments of "I Am Not Alive" and "Gone Is My Former Resolve" by Paramaecium: Written by Andrew Tompkins. Used with the writer's permission.

After trying in vain to resuscitate those dead in life, Dé-nyl runs off to face his darkest hour under the ground. - Segments of "I Am Not Alive" and "Gone Is My Former Resolve" by Paramaecium: Written by Andrew Tompkins. Used with the writer's permission.

The Kindle edition of "Within the Ancient Forest" is now available on Amazon! In today's two chapters, his Falcon's sudden death leads Dé-nyl to an unexpected discovery in a fossilized part of the forest. - Segments of "I Am Not Alive" and "Gone Is My Former Resolve" by Paramaecium: Written by Andrew Tompkins. Used with the composer's permission.