The lyrical themes of the band often have a double meaning. They frequently use biblical references, but often convey anti-religious sentiment, as in Sacrament's "Blacken the Cursed Sun." Many of their songs have political themes, especially in the albums As the Palaces Burn and Ashes of the Wake. The band also has many misanthropic or apocalyptic songs, such as "Reclamation." The song "Omerta" from the album Ashes of the Wake refers to Omertà , also known as the Italian Mafia law of silence. The Ashes of the Wake album featured many songs critical of the war in Iraq, such as "Hourglass" and the instrumental title track. Though an instrumental, this song makes use of two audio recordings of former staff sergeant and former Marine Jimmy Massey giving an interview about the war. Lyrical themes that the band frequently explores are hypocrisy and other faults in the personality, particularly on songs such as "Choke Sermon" and "Pathetic."
