The Parchment

How good is The Parchment on a scale of 1-10?


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Just interpret him the way it's obvious it's supposed to come across as. No point in squabbling over technicalities when the quintessence is written on the wall (pun intended).
 
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@Murder of Rue Morgue your last few posts in this thread come off as a bit unnecessarily hostile. I would consider trying to explain a better way of talking about how tempo works rather than simply telling someone they’re wrong. People hear things differently, may have a different understanding of different terms, and many folks here are also not native English speakers and may unknowingly misuse terms. Not necessary to talk down to folks for that.
 
@Perun is needed in this thread, as light needs to be shed on the following question: is there any particular (known) piece of parchment from the Parthian empire that could serve as inspiration for the song? Or is the reference to "read the Parthian skin" a random one?
 
@Perun is needed in this thread, as light needs to be shed on the following question: is there any particular (known) piece of parchment from the Parthian empire that could serve as inspiration for the song? Or is the reference to "read the Parthian skin" a random one?

Seems pretty random to me, there is very little preserved Parthian language material and none that allows for a reading in the context of the song unless you're willing to stretch a lot. Well, very little unless you consider the Manichaean hymns, but this is very deep down the nerd iceberg and I'd be surprised if this is what is referred to here.
My guess is it has something to do with the life of Christ, as the Parthian Empire was the neighbour of Rome at that time.
 
My impression is like if Harris read somewhere that the parchments were first made (of skin) in Parthia or best skin material was there.
Otherwise the song is about revenge, someone who returned to his people to lead them towards it. Thus we need to understand /learn for whom this song speaks about or who this people could be.

EDIT: Qumran scrolls came to mind in combination with @Perun ’s hint above, but then it seems the people of song's leader is polytheistic: "and our gods they be praised"

EDIT2: Checked about Parthia, this was way far from Judea, present day Turkmenistan. From the clues in the lyrics (Parthian, many gods, shaken world, lord of light etc), The Parchment could describe the aftermath of tribal defeat from a foreign invader i.e. Alexander the Great, or the end of Zoroastrian era in that region in 800 AD. "Vengeance of a shaken world" favors the latter. Two of many readings.

There are quite a few clues here and I believe little by little we’ll put the pieces together and conclude about which era /people this song could be talking about.
 
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EDIT2: Checked about Parthia, this was way far from Judea, present day Turkmenistan. From the clues in the lyrics (Parthian, many gods, shaken world, lord of light etc), The Parchment could describe the aftermath of tribal defeat from a foreign invader i.e. Alexander the Great, or the end of Zoroastrian era in that region in 800 AD. "Vengeance of a shaken world" favors the latter. Two of many readings.

The Parthians had an empire that stretched all the way to Mesopotamia.
 
The Parthians had an empire that stretched all the way to Mesopotamia.

True about Parthian Empire, yet not the point I was trying to make.
I’m not interested or even competent to prove you wrong about history, especially for that area. This is not what I was trying to do.
I was trying to show you that if we follow the clues in the lyrics the song is not about Christ. And again, not to prove you right or wrong but as a call for investigation.

So let me rephrase: Perun, based on the clues in the lyrics, and on the history /mythology of the area that Parthian Empire stretched, can you help us find out if there's a real /mythologic people /leader /vengeance this song could be about?

Maybe there's no 100% match but even an approximate one would be nice.
 
based on the clues in the lyrics, and on the history /mythology of the area that Parthian Empire stretched, can you help us find out if there's a real /mythologic people /leader /vengeance this song could be about?

No, I can't. I have read extensively on Parthian history and I have read most Parthian texts that are known, and I can't tell if the song is about any specific event or person. My best guess is it has something to do with the story of Christ, but it's just a guess.
 
At least we know it's about an interesting parth of history. Aparth from that, not much. Also, my favorite Star Wars character is Parth Vader.


I'll see myself out.
 
Thinking more about it, I really think Steve just made up a story for the song, and since the music has some Oriental flavours he added "Parthian" as an obsqure reference to oriental mystique.
 
Thinking more about it, I really think Steve just made up a story for the song, and since the music has some Oriental flavours he added "Parthian" as an obsqure reference to oriental mystique.
I think this might be true. Personally I think the theory that makes the most sense is that this is about the rise of Christianity in some way. From that you might be able to make a case for it referencing Nero or Julian the Apostate, like I’ve seen a lot of Redditors do. But at the end of the day, Steve just kind of runs with this shit and if it sounds good then it sounds good. It’s also possible that he was inspired by the book of the same name but I’m not quite sure if it really overlaps into the song topic.

EDIT: Also the term “witching hour” could mean a few different things. Is it about witch hunts? Or is this parchment something more in the lines of the Necronomicon and other grimoires — a Parthian document unlocking the secrets to the dark magics et cetera.
 
there is very little preserved Parthian language material
Fine, but how many parchments?

Edit: Never mind. Considering Brucie's leaps in one or more interviews from Stratego to Shogi via L'attaque and Japanese Military Chess, and the pseudo-Shogi moments in the Stratego video, anything is possible in Maidenland, and so it shall be written, and so it shall be done.
 
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Does Adrian also follow the vocal line the first part of the song?

There's definitely another guitar playing it an octave lower, Adrian usually plays the lower harmonies with Janick on Steve's songs so I'd assume it's the case here too.
 
As I said, I don't think there's anything to this. It's just a random story with an obscure reference.
 
Anyway, this song never gets going does it? Goes on and on and on and not much happens. Weakest song on the album.
I totally disagree my friend. ı have to admit I thought the same things in the first couple hearings, but after a month now it sounds great to me. IMO it is the best track on the album along with Stratego. Maybe you neeed some more listens as it takes time to get into some songs really.
 
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