''United States of Mind'' is

Covenant Covenant may refer to: Religion * Covenant (religion), a formal alliance or agreement made by God with a religious community or with humanity in general ** Covenant (biblical), in the Hebrew Bible ** Covenant in Mormonism, a sacred agreement b ...

's fourth full-length

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, released in March 2000. ''Travelogue'' was a bonus disc for ''United States of Mind''. The track "You Can Make Your Own Music" is a silent track, in reference to

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

's song "

4′33″ ''4′33″'' (pronounced "four minutes, thirty-three seconds" or just "four thirty-three") is a three- movement composition by American experimental composer John Cage. It was composed in 1952, for any instrument or combination of instruments, ...

". "Like Tears in Rain" was re-recorded in German and released as the single "Der Leiermann", which also included the original version.

Overview

The album's content finds the band united in a much more mainstream state of mind than any of their previous outings. For the most part, Covenant's typically harsh, staticky blasts of audio have been significantly smoothened out, flirting with the simple repetition of dance-pop on tracks with minimal lyrical content, and when present, lyrics often portray much more personal themes — with greater ambiguity — compared to the hostile

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

s of

mankind Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...

's reality and the

science fiction theme The following is a list of articles about recurring theme (narrative), themes in science fiction. Overarching themes *First contact (science fiction), First contact with aliens *Artificial intelligence in fiction, Artificial intelligence **Mac ...

s that pervade their earlier works. Some of the lyrics appear to be about reaching

stardom ''Stardom'' is a 2000 Canadian comedy-drama film directed by Denys Arcand and written by J.Jacob Potashnik and Arcand. It stars Jessica Paré and Dan Aykroyd. It tells the story of a young girl who tries to cope with her rise to stardom after bei ...

, and the band even overflows with thanks to their fans on the liner notes.

Sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...

clips of dialogue, also usual on the early works, have been shed entirely save for the beginning of the gloom-bashing track "Humility". The track "You can make your own music" is a reference to the

track 4'33".

Track listing

Covers

*In 2006 the U.S.

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

Neo-Medieval/

Neofolk Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrumenta ...

band

Unto Ashes Unto Ashes is an American musical ensemble based in New York City that incorporates madrigal, folk, and elements of neo-medieval and darkwave. Founded by Michael Laird and Susanna Melendez in 1997, the band has released eleven full-length CDs ...

covered ''One World One Sky'' on their album ''Songs For A Widow''.Songs For a Widow 5/10 2008
/ref> *Industrial band

Goteki Goteki () are a British electro band. They are the musical brainchild of composer Ross Tregenza. They were heavily involved in the development of UK electronic body music (EBM) and cybergoth genres in the early 2000s. Goteki split up in 2006, ...

covered ''Tour de Force'' on their ''Stolen Thunder One'' EP.

Personnel

Covenant

* Joakim Montelius –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

(3–7, 10),

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

* Clas Nachmanson * Eskil Simonsson – vocals, production (1, 2, 8, 9), engineering, mixing

Technical personnel

* Bomb Tha' Dot – graphics * Dirk Eusterbrock – band

photos A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now created ...

* Egin Farcias – other photos * Andreas Torkler – mastering

Chart positions

The single for "Der Leiermann" ranked #2 on the DAC Top 100 Singles for 2000.

References

2000 albums Covenant (band) albums Metropolis Records albums {{2000s-electronic-album-stub