They say that the best revenge is living well, but you don't always have control over that. That's why so many of us choose the path of destruction. You don't have to be living well to choose the path of destruction. All you have to do is have an urge to fuck shit up. (Death Metal Band)

This is a song about climbing a ladder up from hell, and the ladder's really hot, because its roots are in hell, so it hurts your hands. But if you let go, then you will be back in hell. But on the other hand, if you are in hell, at least your hands aren't burning. The rest of you is roasting, but at the same time, at least the pain is taken away from the immediate source of it. That's what this song is about. (Up the Wolves)

You don't, in your actual life, get a postcard that says: "Congratulations. The whole ship is going down. You've probably seen it coming. But we, from the Ship-Going-Down Committee, have decided to send you this friendly reminder that your divorce is imminent." You don't get this kind of postcard. (First Few Desperate Hours)

This is a song about how you look back on when it was necessary in your life to worship the dark powers and evoke them and hold them and possess them inside of you because you had a choice: you could resist the dark powers inside of you and then feel defeated all day or you could embrace and accept them and carve an interior pentagram in your brain. And then you say to yourself: "That's who I am right now. I don't have to be that person forever, but that's who I am these days." This is a powerful moment if you've had one like it. Or two. Or several over the course of many long seasons. (In Memory of Satan)