In 1954, the CIA instructed Dr. Matthew Recgnovik to construct and direct a facility in the New Mexican desert. The project, dubbed Octagon-11, was designed to specifically test the stress levels, cognitive changes, and observe the behavioral swings that subjects would undergo when introduced to experimental hallucinogens and a fictional deity known as the Keeper. Unbeknownst to the researchers at the time, Subject Alpha, the Chief Apostle, had severe schizophrenia, but was able to hide it until given hallucinogens and a testing environment, where he would preach the word of the Great Keeper. The researchers, compelled by his speeches, started to second-guess themselves and whether or not the Keeper was real. Recgnovik, being the head scientist at the time of the project, started to withhold the drugs, experimental test rooms, and isolated the subjects, but this proved fruitless as the other researchers would give them all access to the materials needed to continue the cult. The first sacrifice occurred on November 7, 1955, at 12:34 AM, just after lunchtime was over. Subject Gamma-34 was restrained to a gurney and Subject Alpha carved her open, releasing her soul into the atmosphere to be one with the Keeper. G-34 was complacent and willing to proceed. Dr. Recgnovik immediately called for the government to step in and quell the situation, but fearing revelation of the project, the US government refused to help, hoping the experiment and its complex would fall apart. Much to their dismay, the opposite happened. On December 10, 1955, Dr. Matthew Recgnovik was sacrificed unwillingly by Subject Alpha, and the rest of the scientists felt it their duty to continue the cult without him, opening the complex to public visitors unbeknownst to the CIA, and luring in new converts and sacrifices every day. Legend has it this very activity continues to this day, hence why we wanted to celebrate it with this album.

However, when we visited the facility itself, there was a paragraph inscribed on a golden plaque (which we read aloud in the second track) on the front door of the main chamber. It was locked, but the facility seemed way too pristine for this to be some old legend, so either it's real or far more recent than we believed previously.

(Blu Jay note: "When we got there we got this extremely overwhelming feeling of wanting to go inside. Not a morbid curiosity but a genuine need to go in there. Nobody was coming or leaving, so overall it didn't seem extremely interesting when we arrived.")

[through night skies note: "yep, it seemed rather mundane at first, but as soon as you stepped in front of the door, you just feel this.. intense notion of longing, wanting to be there. i don't know what caused us to feel like that, but octagon-11 works in mysterious ways. i'm glad we survived our trip from there, though. if that weren't the case we wouldn't have released this album!"]

The paragraph on the plaque appeared to originate from the age-old guidebook the descendant of Subject Alpha delivers to visitors and new converts. The plaque read:


"he woke up, heard whispers.
they were real.
the Great Keeper's universal words, yet his mortal mind could not comprehend them.
he heard them every moment he woke.
from the moment he was alive to the moment he was unconscious.
unconsciousness that he wanted to be forever.
but he heard them the next morning.
he felt his sanity slipping.
so he built a facility.
the facility we're all inside of right now.
consult your visitor's manual.
sign the contract down below.
now tear it up.
swallow it.
he will guide us to the ends of the earth, the corners of the universe, the darkest depths of our minds.
that which ye don't know, but ye suffer by every day.
they will render us gods.
just like the Keeper.
rise to the occasion, my dear visitors.
sing.
sing the holy word."