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Better To Die on Your Feet Than Live On Your Knees

by Liberteer

supported by
Tommy Parnelle
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Tommy Parnelle The closest you're going to get to a grindcore concept album. Glorious grindcore filled with fierce political statements and a musical style that invokes the spirit of the American Revolution. My #1 of 2012. Favorite track: Class War Never Meant More Than It Does Now.
Lilith Van Dyke
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Lilith Van Dyke A survival tool that demands your own liberation. Favorite track: When We Can't Dream Any Longer.
Justin Bendell
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Justin Bendell Hard not to love. Terrific blend of searing grind and anarchist polemics. Favorite track: Build No System.
Robert Riley
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Robert Riley The fuckers fired the union. Liberteer has ideas on what to do next. Favorite track: Class War Never Meant More Than It Does Now.
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1.
2.
Life without dictate, oh, dream of the weary, Who, pressed between the parchments of law, Dream of a future where rule is deposed, And in its place built no hierarchy at all Build no system, trust no law Burn all the tomes on a pyre, Rise from the ash now inspired Masterless Let not the hounds of the government deny your liberty Or allow statist propaganda to dissuade you from what you could be Autonomy is our demand, the rights of all for which we stand, If rifles might free us from this hierarchy then consider it your burden for anarchy Burn all our kings on a pyre, Sing, voices raised in a choir Masterless
3.
Patriot shed your loyalties For given so freely then only concede Your need for illusory map lines of privilege Slave to the drug of nationalism Rescind, oh citizen, abolish your creed And march by my side, a person untied Blacken your flag for all humankind Dismantle state power which once left behind Would give voice to countless bound and gagged Restoring sight to those blinded by flags Rescind, oh patriot, retract your oaths And wash yourself of your dangerous false pride Rescind, oh citizen, abolish your creed And march by my side, a person untied Cast down your shackles, restraints of the state Which bind your pride to fear and hate Those forked-tongued deceivers, our venal leaders Pulpit and podium pushing national pride But why? Tell me why Why when our efforts are better directed In social cooperatives and tested mutualism Campaigns of kindness and fairness for all Embracing our neighbours not making them crawl Heed the call Free us all Grace the roster of the dead Who would rather fall then be led A slave to principles not men No longer patriot or citizen And when the flag is bled Of colours shapes and meaning then We will all start again But this time without fear of reign
4.
We are not afraid of ruins Not afraid of ruins Blast and burn your world Then leave the stage We are not afraid of ruins Not afraid of ruins We who ploughed the prairies Shall plant again Farmstead cinders and blackened soil The slag of toppled homeland Clouds of choking urban ash The dust of all we knew But we are not afraid of ruins To make anew, the old must pass We are not afraid of ruins To birth a world, the first must die From the smoke of failed states We will rise and build again Annihilation is not a threat But a chance to bury and soon forget The tyranny of hierarchy Anarchy from debris We are not afraid of ruins Not afraid of ruins Blast and burn your world Then leave the stage We are not afraid of ruins Not afraid of ruins We who ploughed the prairies Shall plant again
5.
Class war never meant more than it does now In factory lines are labourers caged We working class slavers so compelled by the wage Our paychecks mollifying indignant rage Class war never meant more than it does now No more working class toil, this we all vow Upward mobility as national dream We're force-fed the burden of capitalist schemes To fatten the coffers of despotic regimes Pilfered is every coin locked in a bank Our victory is had in cracking those safes And smelting the coins: our bid to break the ranks We syndicalists must now resist So raise your fist and fight for workers rights Insist that profits be returned To those who break their backs to earn No more working class toil, this we all vow
6.
7.
Nihilism never built a world Violence is the enemy of all Killing never justified itself But sometimes you must fight When peaceful protests choke in tear gas Blitz in black bloc squads Fight fight, our loyal few Fight fight, to show resolve Fight fight, go forward never back Advance, do not withdraw Nihilism never built a world Violence is the enemy of all Killing never justified itself But sometimes you must fight If the people suffer tyranny Then states shall suffer too Liberty means war Strap on your gear, soak your face mask Tighten your goggles, strike a deep stance Pour out your bottles, fill them with gas Stuff in a fuse, start the advance Fight fight, arm in arms Fight fight, with victory song Fight fight, fists in the air Chanting our slogans like rebel prayers Few of us will have to take up arms But those who do falter not Fight fight, our loyal few Fight fight, to show resolve Fight fight, go forward never back Advance, do not withdraw Pick up those rocks, hurl them at troops Safeguard the flanks of your protest groups Kick out the windows of culpable stores Press the attack in your black blocker corps Riot squads, will you stop? Saboteurs, will you stop? Grenadiers, will you stop? Black blocker, will you stop? Necessary that we bleed In times of dire need Liberty means war, The chore that those of us who swore To fight and die if despots deem Rebels for the dream And though it may now seem Deplorable to raise up arms A time will come when we absolve Our sins against such cruel regimes
8.
Stooped in the dark Chained to your neighbour Feeding from the master's trough The very products of your labour Squirm through the muck And worship as taught Sucking the tit of capitalists Bereft of independent thought But then the rays of light up high Your face is raised towards the sky Struggle to stand and straighten your back Reaching for hope while all around you whips crack Better to die on your feet, than live on your knees proletariats clasping shoulders Brothers and sisters forsaking their owners Mass revolt as working class stretch Shaking off years of wrongful debt Better to die on your feet Cut down while marching in the street Better to die free Than subjugated on your knees
9.
Theft of property as means of obligating slavery Rent us tools with which we build Then rob us of the products of skill Lend us land to make our homes then bleed us with immoral loans Our dream of bottom up, not top down Commoners, not wearers of crowns
10.
Destruction is the midwife of the new Necessity engenders violence legit Our drastic acts set flame to the fuse Of revolution's shortened wick Revolution Resolution Appropriate the methods with which they force us to obey The tools of ruling class in hands of justice shall allay In constant state of self-defence We working class have violent pretence Revolution Resolution
11.
99 To 1 01:36
To be happy, god damn it, kill those who own property To be happy, god damn it, cut the priests in two And answer to no one, not even god above For it real we'd need to kill him too Too be free, hear this creed Kill gods and masters Then free we will be Rule us and fool us, shoot us and rob us While we feed them and beg one day to stand at their side 99 to 1, we have strength of numbers But are blind to the odds, slaves to masters and gods We are slaves to other men Slaves to other men Claim your own godhood See truth from lie Kill all gods and be free Be your own god and embrace responsibility
12.
13.
Will you run when walls are breached And far sides of your moats are reached? Will you then abandon states When barbarians storm your gates? While workers seize your property And make private public You barricade your towers And pace your vaults You inquisitors of thought Wage oppressive campaigns Declare us enemies of the state As barbarians storm your gates We "benighted" peasants Still soiled by our day's labour Roll sleeves and take to streets In righteous revolt Catastrophic liberation Abolition your fate The hasty death of statism As barbarians storm your gates Towers of iron and ivory shall crumble Masses of bodies bow gates till they topple Exploited only so far until suffering marshals We commoners and slaves With nothing to lose, only to gain Streets slick with blood and coin This fitting end you orchestrated And still your purse strings As barbarians storm your gates
14.
Do you dream, do you dream of a world Where every flag is unfastened and furled? We are free when all people are free Even one in chains kills liberty If you dream, will you dare To risk all? This we share My brother, my sister, my friend When we can't dream any longer We die
15.
Power serves itself Power, and no one else Desire to command is a bestial urge So those in power must be purged Power serves itself Power, and no one else Noble intentions that twist perverse Fatal poison is power's curse The secret curse Privilege kills the minds and hearts of all A handful crowned and the rest made to crawl Power once delegated will turn on us Its nature is not to serve but to oppress Leaders misuse their power is what you think No, my friend, they simply use is the thing Power is inherently wrong It splits the people into weak and strong Who protects us from ourselves? Power serves itself Power and no one else Power serves itself Power and no one else Marching up a cliff Charmed by a gleaming crown Joining hands we leap We all fall down Dehumanized become the poor Troughed cattle to be slaughtered Poisoned by the lure to lord We eat our sons and daughters Power blooms its venomed flower Whose sickly fumes impel Our rulers to twist democracies Into hegemonic hells Ours is the sickness of the deer which is shot Because it is the activity of the hunters to shoot him Electing those who we know will turn Betrayal which we never learn Knowing they protect their own interests With bayonets and clenched fists
16.
To whom can we turn to show us the way? Which one among us will stand today? Whose stirring words will we obey? Whose sermon will we adopt and pray?
17.
Staving off hunger We sold them our Dignity, honour Labour for bread And so it came to pass That industry ate us Poverty exists As long as Property remains Chains on our wrists And so it came to pass That industry ate us And so it came to pass We slaved until we died Property is poverty, feast of industry never-ending land lessee, feast of industry Work is proscribed as a privilege They make us compete for our labour That we feel lucky punching their clock To sweat beside our hungry neighbour If ever hungry and out of favour Unemployed and unfed If they deny these basic things Then take your share of bread Take it

about

LIBERTEER unleashes a ferocious and wholly unique grindcore rebellion on their Relapse debut Better To Die On Your Feet Than Live On Your Knees. The creation of Matthew Widener (CRETIN, CITIZEN), LIBERTEER merges scathing anarcho-grind with triumphant passages and stirring riffs, creating a blasting war march that espouses nothing less than total anarchy. Even more incendiary lyrically than musically, LIBERTEER is the soundtrack to a populace casting off the chains of state, church, and economic oppression, and fighting tooth and nail to recapture personal freedom. Burn the system down!


***Includes Digital Booklet***

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released January 31, 2012

Relapse Records
www.relapse.com
relapserecords.bandcamp.com

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Liberteer California

LIBERTEER unleashes a ferocious and wholly unique grindcore rebellion on their Relapse debut Better To Die On Your Feet Than Live On Your Knees. The creation of Matthew Widener (CRETIN, CITIZEN), LIBERTEER merges scathing anarcho-grind with triumphant passages and stirring riffs, creating a blasting war march that espouses nothing less than total anarchy. ... more

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