[Verse 1] Rust on the breastplate Dried blood in the seams Once I rode like thunder For a god I never seen Knee-deep in the ashes Of a chapel gone cold I whispered every prayer I knew Got silence And smoke And mold [Chorus] I was a hammer in the dark Swinging hard for a hollow name Armor full of holes and scars Still begging for a flame Then a voice rose from the gutter Not from sky or gilded throne I found my faith in the unlikeliest place In the broken Calling me home [Verse 2] Dice roll in the tavern Drunks curse every star A kid steals a loaf of bread From a priest at the bar I catch his shaking wrist See ribs like a counting frame His eyes don’t know the scripture But they know my shame [Pre-Chorus] He says “Sir Don’t hit me I’ll run You’ll never know” I see myself in his terror The boy I used to know (yeah) [Chorus] I was a hammer in the dark Swinging hard for a hollow name Armor full of holes and scars Still begging for a flame Then a whisper from the alleys Cut deeper than a holy tome I found my faith in the unlikeliest place In the hungry calling me home [Bridge] [Soft organ and slide guitar under a low vocal] I laid my emblem on the table Watched it glow Then fade to gray Said “If you ever cared at all You’d walk these streets my way” Then the kid took my gauntlet Held it like a wounded dove Said “You don’t need a god for that Just learn to swing it in love” (oh) [Chorus] No more hammer in the dark I’m a shield for the castaway Kneeling in the mud and straw That’s where I learned to pray Every curse word in the alleys Sounds like psalms in a broken tone I found my faith in the unlikeliest place In the lost I found my own [Outro] Spurs ring on cracked cobblestone Moonlight on a dented crest If heaven wants to walk with me It can meet me with the rest In every frightened Filthy face In every hand that shakes like mine That’s my church My oath My grace That’s my new Unholy shrine

metal, Hybrid of epic symphonic metal and swampy delta blues: low-tuned distorted guitars in drop C with bottleneck slide, choir pads and strings swelling in the chorus, half-time groove that swings gritty in the verses. Male vocals that move from husky, close-mic’d blues mutters to soaring, belted hooks over double-kick accents; mid-song modulations lift the faith-return moment with choirs and organ blooming around the voice., delta blues, symphonic metal

Hammer in the Dark