In the Presence of Enemies is about drugs.

[Steve]

Hello guys, my name's Steve and I got a funny theory of mine to show you.
I was browsing the net the other day, and I saw that everyone is speaking how ItPoE is about God etc.
Well, a thing came to my mind, that changed my view of the whole song.
Let's take a look at the lyrics shall we, and I'll explain what I mean.

Part I
I Prelude (no lyrics)

II Ressurection
I saw a white light
Shining there before me
And walking to it
I waited for the end.

*Hm, let's assume that this man who is telling the story is miserable. A lot of bad things happened to him, and he is suicidal, thus 'waiting for the end'. A 'white light' could probably be a metaphore for cocaine.*

A final vision
Promising salvation
A resurrection
For a fallen man.

*As we all know from the countless lectures, taking drugs makes you happy, shortly said-'promising salvation, resurrection for a fallen man'. Everything fits in place so far.*

Do you still wait for your god?
And the symbol of your faith

*Someone asks the man that question, jepordising his faith in God. That someone is probably a drug dealer or an addict wanting to provoke the man to try drugs.*

I can free you from this hell and misery
You should never be ashamed my son
I can give you power beyond anything
Trust me you will be the chosen one

*These lines probably tell about the 'promising magic' of drugs.*

I was forgotten
A body scorned and broken
My soul rejected
Tainted by his blood

Beyond redemption
A sinner not worth saving
Forever taken
From the one I loved

*The man is falling deeper into addiction, his soul is being rejected, tainted by 'his blood' (drugs).
He no longer cares about the ones he loved, because his only obsession is how to obtain the next dose.*

Do I still wait for my god?
And the symbol of my faith

*Now the man finds himself questioning about his faith.*

I can lead you down the path and back to life
All I ask is that you worship me
I can help you seek revenge and save yourself
Give you life for all eternity

*Here, 'worship' probably means that the man has to be addicted to the drug, because that is what it asks. The other lines are the lies that drugs tend to induce people believing in.*

Servants of the fallen
fight to pave the way
For their savior's calling
On this wicked day

Through a veil of madness
With a vicious blade
One man rises up
Standing in their way

Redemption Redemption for humanity
*These lines do confuse me, probably they depict a man that tries to persuade his friend (who is falling into addiction) to stop before it's too late.*

I assume that you already get the idea, but let's take a look at Part II anyway.

III. Heretic

Welcome tired pilgrim
Into the circle
We have been waiting

*The 'tired pilgrim', as I can see, is a drug dealer. He is welcomed into 'the circle' (those who watched that 70's show need no explanation), a circle of addicts, that are waiting for the cocaine.*

Everyone's gathered
For your arrival
All the believers

*All of the 'believers' (addicts) are gathered for his arrival.*

Angels fall
All for you
Heretic
Demon heart
Bleed for us

*This is a tough one,I can't put this piece of the puzzle anywhere..but let's move on.*

I've been waiting for you
Weary preacher man
You have been expected
Now we can begin
Let this hallowed day of judgment reign

*The addict's been waiting, now that the drugs are there he can 'begin' (no explanation needed).*

I have known you father
And your sacred quest
Blessed soldier fighting
You shall never rest
I have known you but do you know me?

*The 'quest' is probably the drug dealer's mission, to make more and more people addicts.*

Angels fall
All for you
Heretic
Demon heart
Bleed for us

*Again, the confusing line.*

My soul is yours
Dark Master
I will fight for you

*Oh, I absolutely love this one, it really speaks for itself The man is addicted (My soul is yours). The 'Dark master' are the drugs, haha. The other lines in this movement are similar, so let's move on.*


IV. The Slaughter of the Damned

Don't
Bother trying to find him
He will be coming to you
Fight
Fight and destroy
Until you can't take anymore

*The dealer will come to you, instead of you going out to find one (before you are an addict). By taking drugs you are destroying your body.*

Slay
Spill the blood of the rebels
They are the children of hell
Flesh
Of the undead
Stopping at nothing to kill

*This one is, you guessed it, confusing.. *

Sin
Caught in a moment of weakness
Committed the greatest of all
Sold
Half of my soul
And now it's too late for you

*The man was 'caught in a moment of weakness', and sold half of his soul-started using drugs, but didn't fall completely into addiction.*

I judge as
My eyes see
I judge and I am just
For I speak
Of the beast
That lives in all of us

*'The beast that lives in all of us' is that stupid instinct, that little thing that makes you do bad things, and takes control over you sometimes. It's in this line, probably, that the man starts realising that there is no 'salvation' at the end of the path, and starts working against the 'Dark master'.*

Unwelcome ones
Your time has come

*He got it! *

Lord
You are my god and my shepherd
Nothing more shall I want
Walk
Through the abyss
Into the shadow of death

*The man turns back to his God, the one that he stopped believing in in part 1.*

Fear
There is no evil to fear now
For I know you are with me
My
Cup overflows
With my enemies blood

*God promises salvation from evil, and thus 'there is no evil to fear now'*

I
Decay in the house of the lord
Forever amen
Death
Will follow me
All the days of my life

*'The house of the lord' is probably rehab or something like that.*

Servants of the fallen
Fight to pave the way
For their savior's calling
On this wicked day.

Through a veil of madness
With a vicious blade
One man rises up
Standing in their way

It's time for your reckoning

*Now, earlier I said that this man was a friend of the guy that was falling into addiction, but here it looks more like a man that wants to pull the guy back into his addiction, and that man is probably an addict too.*

V. The Reckoning (Instrumental)

VI. Salvation

My soul grows weaker
He knows and he waits
He watches over me
Standing at the infernal gates

*The dark master is still waiting for his slave to come to him.*

In the hour of darkness
The moment I feared has passed
The moment I lost my faith
Promising salvation

*The man realises that it was all a lie, and decides to break free.*

My soul is my own now
I do not fight for you
Dark Master

*The most epic ending in DT history!! The man breaks free. As Petrucci said,in this song the character sold half of his soul to the dark master (when he started using drugs), but realised that it was all a lie and no good, and stopped, escaped from the dark master, call it how you like, he got half of his soul back!*

On the Chaos in Progress DVD, and numerous sites, it is stated that the song is about a man losing and regaining his faith, or battle of good vs. evil. We know that DT have a reputation of encrypting secret messages in their lyrics, and, well, they sure did a good job at this one.
One more thing in favor of my theory:
in the Slaughter of the Damned part, you can hear MP playing a part on the drums that is very very similar, or should I say same as that part in 'The Glass Prison' (at 6:44). The Glass Prison is about MP's addiction to alcohol, and here it's obviously a reference, ItPoE also deals with addiction.

So, that's my theory What do you guys and gals think?

[ZBomber]

Thats a very interesting theory, but you could not be any further from the truth. Nice work though.

[ariich]

Nice idea, but the lyrics are just an adaption of the story of the graphic novel Priest.

[Steve]

Well, just wanted to know what you guys think but honestly, who really knows what is it about for sure? (edit: except Petrucci )

[Amoniz]

Nice theory.
But I think Petrucci had mentioned somewhere that one of SC songs was based around a Manga (The priest).

[j]

 

I found that quite new and entertaining.  Thanks for posting!   

-J

[Perpetual Change]

Satan preying on the desires of the weak, or a soulless drug dealer preying on the downtrodden. Sound similar enough to me. Good comparison! Plenty of artists symbolize drugs as Luciferl or vice versa, especially in the hip-hop/rap world, so you're right to see parallel. Good job! 

[rumborak]

It's actually about cockblocking, believe it or not.

rumborak

[wasp2020]

I heard it's about Kevin Moore.

[rumborak]

Who, incidentally, is the biggest cockblock in the world.

"Hey baby, I've never seen you here before
EXCUSE ME, I AM KEVIN MOORE. I WROTE IMAGES AND WORDS. NOW SLEEP WITH ME."

You just can't get laid when you're hanging out with Kevin Moore.

Now

[PlaysLikeMyung]

[rumborak]

I revere in the fact that an image I created survived for such a long time in this forum

rumborak

[Super Dude]

Who, incidentally, is the biggest cockblock in the world.

"Hey baby, I've never seen you here before
EXCUSE ME, I AM KEVIN MOORE. I WROTE IMAGES AND WORDS. NOW SLEEP WITH ME."

You just can't get laid when you're hanging out with Kevin Moore.

Now

So what happens when Kevin gets rejected by said womang?

[Sigz]

He writes Space Dye Vest then leaves the band.

[Jamesman42]

He smiles and learns to pretend

[ResultsMayVary]

He writes Space Dye Vest then leaves the band.

[hefdaddy42]

Well, just wanted to know what you guys think but honestly, who really knows what is it about for sure? (edit: except Petrucci )

Interesting theory, but Petrucci admitted it was based on the manga Priest, which is in fact about demons and God and stuff.

[FlashCE]

Steve, the Internet is running out of memory so if you would just stop posting your new found theories...

[Sigz]

I think the internet is in no danger of running out of memory. Those tubes can hold lots of stuff after all.

[cygnusx1jg]

Um, interesting, but I nominate for longest fail of the year.

[73109]

Unless this is not a n00b and he just goes under a different name, you guys are being complete dicks to a dude who is new and is trying to share an idea with you guys. 

[Zeltar]

Um, interesting, but I nominate for longest fail of the year.

Be nice, he's a friendly fan just posting his theory.

Interesting theory but it's based off of a manga called Priest. Your theory is pretty nice though.

[cygnusx1jg]

Sorry; didn't mean to make fun of the poster as much as I did on how long the post was.

[SeRoX]

I actually congrast him because of writing his theory and explaining it nicely and I find it pretty acceptable but it was confirmed by Petrucci it's about manga priest. I prefer your theory though.

[Blind_FaithX]

Wow nice theory. I also prefer that to the manga priest.

[Scrub206]

im loling so hard at work(not at OP) at the KM stuff.



but yes it does sound like a severe drug addiction after you laid it out like that. it was pretty interesting :O

[Steve]

Hm, I know Petrucci said something about one song being a manga, but I thought that was 'Forsaken' because the music video is kinda 'mangish'

[BlobVanDam]

https://faq.dtnorway.com/question/1098

Here you go.

[Steve]

oh snapp!! there goes my theory :/

[yeshaberto]

bumpster

thanks, my wife and I were just listening to this today and trying to figure it out

[Global Laziness]

bumpster

I hadn't seen this thread initially, so as I was reading it, I was stunned to discover that SeRoX had returned!

Way to mess with my head, jerk.

[Nic35]

On a side note, I always tought that ITPOE's lyrics were really good and suited the music perfectly.

[Global Laziness]

On a side note, I always tought that ITPOE's lyrics were really good and suited the music perfectly.

Be that as it may, you'd be hard pressed to find many people here that agree with you.

[Nic35]

On a side note, I always tought that ITPOE's lyrics were really good and suited the music perfectly.

Be that as it may, you'd be hard pressed to find many people here that agree with you.

Except the Dark Master part, the lyrics are damn good.

[yeshaberto]

bumpster

I hadn't seen this thread initially, so as I was reading it, I was stunned to discover that SeRoX had returned!

Way to mess with my head, jerk.

that was my intent