We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Transcendental Circus

by Orpheus Nine

/
  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Our 75-minute debut CD in a 6-panel, full-color Digipak

    Includes unlimited streaming of Transcendental Circus via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days

      $15 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $12 USD  or more

     

  • T-Shirt/Apparel

    Black short-sleeve Gildan Ultra Cotton tee with O9 logo on front. Available in men's & ladies' sizes.
    ships out within 7 days

      $15 USD or more 

     

1.
2.
... I reliczu ich adilbycz shu es edu hyraskulm so edu est gwiln ... Up and down, you walk as a stranger here and hide your most charming fear underground, trying to see the truth right in front of you. Yet beauty has blinded you, kept you from discovery. Foolish man! Don’t ignore that there’s only one flavor more, just one step between you and six on your quantum crucifix. If you want to chase the tiny miracle that haunts you, then pick up your electron microscope and channel your deepest hope. Have I offended? Let me rephrase: See the top? The view looks so lonely there. Your method teaches you not to care — still, you can’t stop until you’ve saved mankind, squashed the plague, caused your own heart to break. What do you think you will find? No, three quarks for Muster Mark weren’t enough to lift the dark veil of elementary shame from the bottom of your atomic game. Look ahead, man: don’t you see that the legions of dead can remember your genius for centuries? All it takes is your novelty. Truth and beauty — so strange, so charming.
3.
Fetish 08:31
“I woke up and performed a miracle today Nothing much, really, just a game I like to play Helps me see a suffering world in a clearer view I walked among my enemies and showed them peace I cured the sick and granted dying prisoners release I sheltered them with powers of compassion rare but true Now suddenly the crowds are falling down on their knees Chasing me and screaming, ‘Healer! Save me, please!’ Save yourselves — I didn’t ask to be a hero for all of you” Every day the common people living private dreams Every night their faces splashed on prime-time TV screens Every channel battling for high ratings in the midst of war A hundred media circuses in one sensational ring A thousand fake reality shows all about the same damn thing A superficial quick fix of theatrics and nothing more Pull down the shade, turn on the set, let tubes destroy your mind Throw out your heart and leave your human intellect behind But deep inside, the fiber of your being will slowly die If you’ve got a shred of pride, then let it blind the public eye I call myself an artist and my work is mine alone I make myself an author and all words become my own But when I offer you some small salvation, you worship me I give myself to you and get fanatics in return I kill myself for you, and in your praise I fall and burn Redemption is your crutch — you cripple me with your indignity A crown of thorns, a bed of nails, I dangle on your cross My veins I open toward you as my infant blood is lost In my comedy I live, and in your tragedy I die Let me spit on social faces and scour out the public eye "Marilyn Monroe was an alien!" "New evidence proves that Oprah killed JFK!" "I slept with the Loch Ness Monster!" "Bigfoot married my great-grandma!" "Jesus ate my baby!" "Half-man/half-squirrel terrorizes town full of nuts!" "Unfrozen caveman steals nuclear codes!" "Bat Boy lives!" "I SAW ELVIS!" Strike down the world’s messiahs — no more heroes, no more stars Destroy your faith in idols and be true to what you are Keep the strength to recognize yourself before you die If creation satisfies your soul, then fuck the public eye
4.
Spotlight burns high definition onto my face Pull tight until the imperfections are all erased Nip and tuck, implant and suck Scrape me down and lift me up Give me what the world desires and take away the rest With fuller lips and smoother eyes I will be the camera’s prize A trophy everyone admires — prepare to be impressed! Watch me blossom like a flower so magical My body will morph into something supernatural Paralyze my furrowed brow Make me mightily endowed Relieve me of my human soul, but leave me with my youth Stretch away the old crow’s feet Staple me so I can’t eat The surgeon’s hand will render me whole, with artifice my truth I believe in becoming ideal A state where only my intentions are real To live without my vanity Would rob me of my sanity So carve me into being before I start to feel All those ordinary fools out there Choose wrinkles, sags, and loss of graying hair I’d laugh at them but I’m afraid Of the smile lines that would paint So forge me now before I pretend to care This is what I’ve waited for A look that cannot be ignored The envy of adoring fans All thanks to those angelic hands I’m perfect now, the very best But somehow I still feel grotesque So just once more I’ll be remade Crafted by that brilliant blade
5.
No Illusions 04:23
Every time I try to write My words go up in smoke Every time I try to sing I lose my voice and choke When I try to live up to my dreams To make myself come true, it seems The truth is a cruel and twisted joke Someday I’ll reconfigure the world To be the kind of place where I can free my soul And someday I’ll reinvent my life In a perfect paradise where I am whole Until then I have to tolerate Disappointments and confusions From the day-to-day existence I endure A life with no illusions If I could live a million years I’d still need one more day If I could be the richest man I’d still have hell to pay It’s not about security, wealth, or fame It’s about my destiny, and it’s a shame But sometimes I wish it would go away Come, take refuge in my head Imagine what an honest view you’d have of my insides And if I should turn up dead Imagine what the press would say when you turn up alive Someday we’ll reconfigure the world To be the kind of place where we can free our souls And someday we’ll reinvent our lives In a perfect paradise where everyone is whole Am I a fool for such a fantasy? Have I succumbed to my delusions? If it appears I’ve lost my sanity, rest assured I’ve got no illusions
6.
Once upon a time, everything was fine According to tradition Then somewhere along the way, we all were led astray — So claims your admonition You close your mind and tell us to respect you But not all people hold the same things dear Repeating void catch phrases won’t protect you And your trite, dogmatic message is unclear Why are you here? Who made you God? What drives you to curse the change of seasons? Don’t you consider it quite odd To hide behind stale rhyme while fleeing reason? You teach us that we ought to prohibit natural thought Forbid ourselves from feeling You condemn what lies within to shelter us from sin Yet it’s humanity you’re stealing Blinded by your “fundamental” vision You see us all as puppets to arrange Shamelessly distorting your religion Twisting it into something deranged Why are you here? What turned you on To such an obsolete, misguided treason? No cult of sanctimonious pawns Can arrest your rhyme or bring you back to reason The fear of Hell suppressed your childhood laughter Fire and brimstone haunted you from birth All your life you covet the hereafter Perhaps you should enjoy your time on Earth You preach that science challenges one’s morals But who declared it such a concrete line? While you’re so busy resting on your laurels We’ll honor our “intelligent design” And after all this arguing has ended Each enemy will lock the other out This isn’t what theology intended You’re missing what your good book’s all about These warring factions don’t belong A simple point each separate side agrees on Pleading for ignorance is wrong And your damning rhyme corrupts our dawning reason Why are you here? A question everyone must face In this revolutionary season Why have we doomed the human race To an infinite stalemate of rhyme and reason?
7.
8.
9.
10.
Imagination waves its hand of make-believe toward a playground where fairytales unfold: transcendental legends of zygotes and grace notes dancing in their womb, swimming in the tears of sweet bedlam’s barcarolle. Laughter of children drowns the screams of the sad clown until madness seems only memory — even as it lurks beneath the surface of sleep, haunting birth and death with festivals of questions. Rock? Paper? Scissors? Spot of cryptic tea?
11.
12.
13.
Sideshow prison cell House of musty hope and stale adrenaline Cadaverous cocoon Reaper’s carousel Grinds a steely circle in the dirt and sings An old, unruing tune Trapped behind internecine bars Branded by sepulchral scars You pray like hell for freedom to come soon Board up the circus, cut loose the audience Crack the whip, unleash the animals Emancipation stands no intolerance So step right up — break down the carnival Ringmaster’s museum Cobwebs of antiquity confine your rank Inside a hobnailed case Freak tent mausoleum Buries you beneath a suffocating tank Of social class and race Rise unshackled from hallowed ground Burn the whole plantation down Parade your dream and show the world your face Board up the circus, cut loose the audience Crack the whip, unleash the animals Emancipation outlives intolerance So step right up and kill the carnival
14.
Sandcastles 06:00
Sunrise — wish I could be a child again Time floats by like the ocean Daybreak — wish I could run and play In the sand all day like we used to I could be a mighty king And I could live with dragons and wizards And witches and warlocks They’d be my companions, my protectors In my castle Afternoon — wish I could soak myself In the sun and bathe in the water Waves break — wish I could fly like the pipers Over land and sea in total freedom I could be on my cloud nine And I could watch the sailors and surfers And steamboats and seascapes They’d be my horizon, my catharsis From my castle Sunset — wish I could be the tide Washing through and through every castle Nightfall — wish I could be the moon Shining on and on their reflections I once was a mighty king And I once lived with dragons and wizards And witches and warlocks They were my companions, my protectors In my castle Washed away
15.
A child is born with visions of creation He buries seeds of dreams beneath his bed Alone at night, he hears the orchestration A house of keys constructed in his head The limitations of the world confound him He craves the boundless music in his mind Piano scales and melodies surround him He grows obsessed and leaves all else behind His house becomes a palace of transcendence A promised land of sonic wizardry His kingdom, forged, declares its independence And all the earth awaits his symphony But under lurid scrutiny, he stumbles His immature foundation slowly crumbles And everything falls apart The jarring notes are painful to his senses Much older now — his life has dealt its hand He knows his childhood dreams were weak pretenses But does this mean he has to understand?

about

Orpheus Nine emerged with an "instant classic" (ProgArchives) in 2017's Transcendental Circus. While the centerpiece is a six-part, nearly-22-minute title track, O9 deftly balances virtuosity with emotion and melody in every one of the album's "beautifully crafted songs" (PROG). Listeners to this "very impressive debut" (Progression) have cited elements of ELP, King Crimson, Rush, Saga, Styx, Genesis, Frank Zappa, Gentle Giant, Spock's Beard, The Flower Kings, Yes, Marillion, Kansas, echolyn, Glass Hammer, and Return to Forever -- yet any past influence quickly yields to the "fresh and original" (progVisions) sound of a band focused on future possibilities.

credits

released September 9, 2017

Jason Kresge - keyboards, lead vocals
Matt Ullestad - guitars
Tony Renda - bass, backing vocals
Mark DeGregory - drums, percussion, backing vocals

Lyrics by Jason Kresge
Music by Orpheus Nine

Arranged & produced by Jason Kresge
Recorded & mixed by Eric Rachel at Trax East
Mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music

Prog Cabin Records
# O9PCR001

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Orpheus Nine New Jersey

Orpheus Nine plays modern progressive rock with infusions of classical, jazz, metal, and electronica. The American quartet's 2017 debut, Transcendental Circus, earned rave reviews from fans and critics around the world. O9 performed at NJ's ProgStock Festival in 2018 and 2022, and at Fusion 4 in the UK in 2023. They are currently finishing an ambitious two-part concept album. ... more

contact / help

Contact Orpheus Nine

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Orpheus Nine, you may also like: