January 30 - Nevermore

“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—
On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore—
Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

Edgar Allen Poe The Raven

The inspiration for this balloon is certainly this poem which I studied and wrote a paper on when in high school, but it was prompted more directly by the most recent song released from one of my favorite bands for their upcoming album The Heretics which also used the poem as inspiration.  (link)

Don't let their name fool you the way it did Dave Mustaine when he refused to play a festival with them on the ticket, Rotting Christ is a brilliant and often outspoken band that took this name to prove a point as front man Sakis Tolis describes:

Living in (so called) democratic societies, I think everyone should have the right to call religions as he/she wants. We in fact simply believe they are "rotting"! We are not a "satanic-crusader" type of band but rather one of the many bands that represent the dark side in nowadays Metal music.

They are what Skyrim would sound like as heavy metal.  It's warrior music and their song lyrics and topics are widely varied and well researched.  This most recent album, The Heretics (to be released February 2019) has Sakis exploring artists, philosophers and poets that were at one point defined by the church as heretics.

According the Cambridge dictionary a heretic is "a person who has beliefs that are opposed to the official belief of a church and that the church considers wrong".  It's a non-conformist, or a non-believer - someone who would a be a threat to indoctrinated thought.  It is such a broad definition, a label designed to create division and silence a dissenting opinion.  Be a heretic.