Matheos kicked him out because he wanted to make something more accessible. John Arch didn't fit, because it would be simply impossible with a voice like that. Mutiny! It had nothing to do with the message, where did I ever say that? If you had some reading comprehension you'd have seen that.



I'm going to leave you with this. Maybe now you will see what I'm getting at. 'The Apparition' is particularly important to understanding the albums message - why else is it feature on the back?



So John Arch loves 'The Apparition'. Says it's the best (or one the best, can't remember) song on Spectre. We know his lyrics are deeply personal to him. We know the lyrics are an extension of the music - just listen to 'Traveler...' - where he sings "Now he realise!", and you hear that cool little drum thing and the guitars spiraling upwards, etc etc. You actually feel the realisation. The album is replete with this.



Now let us examine the back cover. We have you - who is also the Spectre within - in the scene from 'The Apparition'. So the young boy is obviously a young John Arch because he has really long red hair (I'm not crazy!). More on the importance of this later. We see the "Warrior in armour" (once again, Young Warrior! More on the importance of that later. Fun fact: John Arch's son is named Evan, which means Young Warrior!). We also see that the Warrior's reflection is no different to the Spectre, so you are the Warrior as you are.



Now onto the Old Man - in the lyrics he is not "an Old Man", he is "the Old Man", the very same Old Man Time! This much is obvious from the gold watch and the blue moon shining down on him. This is important as it gives you a clue - the lyrics to all songs are related (Young Warrior!). Thematic, yes. Concept? Maybe. And of course no reflection at all.



Ok, so what do we know about John Arch? He was given an ultimatum to quit his job or leave the band. He chose not to dignify it with a response because "anyone with some measure of pride would have done the same" (don't take that as verbatim, but it is the gist of it). Cast out of Heaven, I mean Fate's Warning, for his pride.



Now getting back to what I was saying earlier, the message is one of self-betterment. Will have to make a necessary aside here.



Once again I am sorry to make this a Crusade, but you leave me no choice. The Abrahamic religions are designed to enslave humanity. They teach you to be servile to an omnipotent intangible being (which is pretty stupid - I mean, if you were God, would you waste your time creating something just so it could suck your dick?) who you could never hope to understand. But lucky for you, God has a voice and a house in this world, which is the Church, Mosque, Temple and what have you.



You cannot be servile to an intangible being - but the Church is very tangible, and it "speaks for God" (arrogant bastards!). They teach you "original sin" so that you think your life is one big mistake you have to correct - by being servile. They make Man the devil with their bullshit about Satan being cast out of Heaven for not being servile.



Ok, so with that out the way let us continue. The Church is the 'Lord'. You are the 'devil'. The message here is have pride in yourself, and not be a servant. And all of the lyrics tie into this concept. 'Traveler...' is a warning - "Now he realise", "Sacrifice living for life, his perpetual vice", "Nothing's forever and time will tell". The message here is to live your life for yourself. 'Orphan Gypsy' is about rejecting what you "must" do and not caring about what others think - "Young warrior to the drunken galley slave" means people do not understand you and "running with the wind, running wayward knave" means they misjudge you as a knave, both of which are tied together nicely with the proclamation "I'm a vagabond with a maelstrom mind". Also, the Young Warrior has pride in himself. That pride is the armour mentioned in 'The Apparition'. Pride despite what he "must" do and pride despite others.



I can't be bothered to write up the rest of it right now. But maybe now you will see that I'm not simply a "rabid John Arch fan". You know what they say, genius is often misunderstood. Don't worry, I forgive you.

