The Boats of the Rotten (Scaphism)

By Maleficium · Death Metal

This song is about a brutal execution method called Scaphism. The ancient Persians used this punishment.

The victim was stripped naked and tied inside a rowboat, with a second boat placed on top, leaving only their head, hands, and feet sticking out. Under the blazing Persian sun, floating on a lake.

They were force-fed milk and honey continuously. And you know the rest. This happened with a persian soldier, by the name of Mithridates. He went against the word of the persian king, Artaxerxes II. And just because he disobeyed his king, his sentence was Scaphism...

Lyrics:

Boats of the Rotten (Scaphism)

“Bound… exposed… consumed alive!"

[Verse I]

Ancient Persians mastered torment

Perfected human suffering

Stripped, bound in a floating tomb

Sandwiched tight between two boats

Second vessel seals your fate

Your limbs and head exposed

Helpless under blazing sun

Time itself becomes your executioner

[Pre-Chorus]

Milk and honey flood your throat

Force-fed—drowning in sweetness

Clench your teeth—resist their will

Pins sink deep into your eyes

Jaw forced open—again, again

Gag and swallow—overfed

Bloating, swelling from within

Your body turns against itself

[Chorus – Slam groove]

THE BOATS OF THE ROTTEN

CONSUMED—ALIVE

SCAPHISM

THE SLOWEST WAY TO DIE!

[Verse II]

Milk and honey—endless feeding

Guts swell—pressure rising

Trapped inside—no escape

Your bowels erupt within the hull

Dysentery floods your tomb

Filth engulfs infected flesh

Stewing in your own excretion

Rotting slowly—still alive

No movement—no relief

Skin dissolves and decomposes

Time prolongs your suffering

Decay begins before your death

THE BOATS OF THE ROTTEN

CONSUMED—ALIVE

SCAPHISM

THE SLOWEST WAY TO DIE

Face drenched in honey—

INVITING THE SWARM

Flies descend—

LAY THEIR EGGS

Larvae hatch—

INSIDE YOUR FLESH

Flesh splits open

INFECTION Spreads

Boiling sores—

Skin rots away

They keep feeding you—

Until you die!

[Verse III]

Days stretch into madness

Mind begins to crack

Half-devoured—still conscious

Breathing carcass left to rot

Decomposed in the boats

Putrid stench of shit and urine

Death denied, torment prolonged

Maggots feast beneath your skin

THE BOATS OF THE ROTTEN

LEFT TO FESTER

SCAPHISM

NO MERCY—NO END

THE BOATS OF THE ROTTEN

CONSUMED ALIVE

SCAPHISM

THE SLOWEST WAY TO DIE!

Bugs burrow through your flesh…

Tunneling… feeding… breeding…

It took seventeen days…

To finally die this way

Seventeen days…

Of being eaten alive

Seventeen days…

Mind and body torn apart

Seventeen days…

Rotting in this hell

An unfortunate soldier…

Condemned to suffer…

By order of the king—

For defying his command

No mercy…

No escape…

Seventeen days to die!

About Death Metal

Brutally heavy metal featuring guttural vocals, complex technical riffs, and themes of death and darkness, known for its uncompromising intensity and musicianship. Bands include: Death, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel

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