The Veil

*Play this song on YouTube.*

"**The Veil**" is an October Noir song included on their second album *Thirteen*, released in 2019. It got samples of birds in them, which the credible idea was came up randomly by the song's co-writer Nate Exx Gradowski of his band Theory Exx. Hearing birds singing would give them feeling of springtime when birds are singing while plants are blooming, though its lyrics suggest a different season, that is, Halloween. Acoustic guitar is the first instrument that begins the song.

The song is split into four cantos and only three distinct names—"The Veil", "Damn the Sun", back to "The Veil", and "Wisteria". The first canto is about dead family members temporarily coming back to life as spirits to spend Halloween with the living. The second canto is about those spirits returning to the graves when the sun was about to rise, per the meaning of 'I'll damn the sun', which is chanted eight times - first four in deep guttural vocals and the last four in higher-pitched vocals (though only three times each in cutback version). The vocal rhythm in that canto is similar to a section of TON's "Haunted", even though the words chanted are different. The fourth canto, "Wisteria", an outro featuring sounds of birds and frogs, is omitted in the cutback version, leading to this piece revisiting as a stand-alone track on their next album *Fate, Wine, & Wisteria*.

This song was released as the album's second single on September 16, 2019 and debuted on Cranium Radio. The full version lasts 11 minutes but was chopped down to 9½ minutes before putting it on the CD in an effort to keeping the album under the maximum limit of 80 minutes.

## Lyrics

**[Canto I. "The Veil"]**

Old town silhouettes

under a burning sky

Small children that laugh

in Halloween disguise

The smell of dead leaves,

of oak, and moss

A fall gentle breeze

and a dim lit porch

Wrought iron gates

abode of macabre

Sunsets in reverse

over East Hill

Of hallowed light

and twisting shadows

Fear not the fright

of what's to come

So speak to me

in your native tongue

Share the tales of old

for just one day

Greed and gluttony

for your love I mourn

We'll watch the whole world stop

on Samhain

[Choir]

A bouquet of dead leaves

and wilted flowers

Cross into the veil

the witching hour

Of wine and feast

decorative candles

A trick for a treat

the dawn will devour

[Incomprehensible]

So speak to me

in your native tongue

Share the tales of old

for just one day

Greed and gluttony

for your love I mourn

We'll watch the whole world stop

on Samhain

[Incomprehensible]

**[Canto II. "Damn the Sun"]**

I'll damn the sun

I'll damn the sun

I'll damn the sun

I'll damn the sun

I'll damn the sun

I'll damn the sun

I'll damn the sun

I'll damn the sun

**[Canto III. "The Veil" (reprise)]**

So speak to me

in your native tongue

Share the tales of old

for just one day

Greed and gluttony

for your love I mourn

We'll watch the whole world stop

on Samhain

**[Canto IV. "Wisteria"]**

[Instrumental with nature sounds]

## Personnel

* **Tom Noir** – vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, keyboards, piano, writing, engineering, mixing, mastering, production
* Daniel Stickz Bryant – drums
* Nate Exx Gradowski – writing, samples

1. "The Haunting"
2. "Volatile"
3. "Trinity"
4. "Alpha Omega"
5. "Exhume"
6. "Silicon"
7. "Deep Woods"
8. "Vertebra Seraphim"
9. "Feel Heart Love"
10. "Beautifool"

2. "Burn"
3. "Spellbound"
4. "Little Drummer Boy"
5. "Symmetry"
6. "Black Light"
7. "Lavender"
8. "**The Veil**"
9. "Her Dark Embrace"
10. "Cauterize"

1. "Fate"
2. "Windows"
3. "Reverence (Make You Love)"
4. "Effigy"
5. "Wine"
6. "Persephone"
7. "Serendipity"
8. "Wanderlust"
9. "Cradle the Monster"
10. "Wisteria"
11. "Sistinas"
12. "Proverbs"
13. "Goodbye Black Bird"
 ***Letters to Existence***

1. "Spring"
2. "Endless Lonely"
3. "A Halo Hung from Horns"
4. "Forever Haunt"
5. "Deja View"
6. "Summer to Autumn"
7. "Clench"
8. "Tourniquet"
9. "For Honor"
10. "Flash Paper Matches"
11. "She's Gone"
12. "Winter"

* "Pictures of Matchstick Men (RIPeter)"
* "Lips Like Sugar"
* "Wicked Game"
* "Race War"
* "Cry Little Sister"
* "Love You to Death"
* "Crimson and Clover"
* "Nights in White Satin"