"We ride into the atmosphere / And leave the world behind / Ride because the end is here / No force on Earth can hold us down." -- Becoming the Archetype, 'Path of the Beam'

"The title of the song is drawn from the 'Dark Tower' series by Stephen King," guitarist Seth Hecox recently told Noisecreep. "In the story, the main characters follow the Path of the Beam to the Dark Tower, which is the center of everything. The Dark Tower is at the axis of all possible universes and represents the eternal constant... that stays consistent through the infinity of possibilities that could possibly exist." If that reference to 'the constant' rings a bell for you, yes, Hecox and the band are also big fans of the show 'Lost.'

'Path of the Beam' -- a song which Noisecreep had the pleasure of premiering this week -- appears the band's new album, 'Celestial Completion.'

At least two of the band's members are avid book readers. "Jason writes all the lyrics," Hecox said about bassist and vocalist Jason Wisdom. "But he and I are very close and we have lots of conversations about what each song will be about lyrically. A lot of Jason's lyrics are drawn from either particular theological precepts that he and I both subscribe to, or from books that we've both read."

Those familiar with the Atlanta-based progressive metalcore band's previous effort, 'Dichotomy,' know that the band is no stranger to science fiction fandom; the lyrics for that album were heavily influenced by C.S. Lewis' 'The Space Trilogy.'

'Celestial Completion,' like all of Becoming the Archetype's other albums, is also heavily influenced by another rather popular book called the Bible. The first line of 'Path of the Beam' is a quote from the prophet John the Baptist, who was quoting another Biblical prophet, Isaiah.

"There is a light at the center of the universe that's calling us to itself," Hecox explained about the new album's general theme. "And as we ride together toward that light, we become that light. No need for sleep, that old brother of death, and no need for darkness or dimness. No human needs to follow any longer the crooked path set by that black rider.

"We all know who he is. We, however, are the living, breathing body of light, and no force on earth can hold us down. We will keep on riding till we transform completely into that pure light and become what we were meant to be."

Becoming the Archetype will be touring through this spring in support of 'Celestial Completion.'

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