Uploaded February 2020 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago

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Ulterium Records is proud to announce the release of "And the Rest Is Mystery," another all-star charity track for sale under the Project Aegis name, with 100% of the income going to Tumaini Jipya {New Hope} Secondary Girls’ School, a private boarding school for girls in Tanzania. "Tanzania ranks sixth in the world for highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate, and schoolgirls are at an increased risk of contracting HIV/AIDS when forced to walk great distances to schools where society does not value them as equals to their male counterparts. Still, many girls desperately want an education so that they can create better lives for themselves and their families. The vision for Tumaini Jipya {New Hope} Secondary Girls’ School is that every pupil has the opportunity to receive a high-quality education, free of abuse and injustice, in a safe, Christ-honoring atmosphere that allows them to thrive." The original charity chosen for this song, Legacy Music, has recently closed its doors, so Tumaini Jipya was chosen as a worthy replacement in the same spirit.

"And the Rest Is Mystery," which is over nine minutes in length, was composed by Theocracy songwriter and vocalist Matt Smith, and features vocals by Neal Morse (Neal Morse band, Transatlantic, Flying Colors, ex-Spock’s Beard), Daniel Heiman (Dimhav, ex-Lost Horizon, Heed, Harmony, Crystal Eyes), Leah McHenry (LEAH) and Smith, as well as instrumental support from Smith’s Theocracy bandmates Ernie Topran and Val Allen Wood. The artwork was created by Markus Sigfridsson (Darkwater, Harmony, All Things Fallen).

Purchase "And the Rest Is Mystery" here:
Bandcamp: ulteriumrecords.bandcamp.com/track/and-the-rest-is-mystery
iTunes: music.apple.com/us/album/and-the-rest-is-mystery-single/1497107753
Amazon: amazon.com/Rest-Mystery-Project-Aegis/dp/B0845MHR3C

"And the Rest Is Mystery" composed, produced, mixed and mastered by Matt Smith. © 2020 Theocracized Music (ASCAP)

AND THE REST IS MYSTERY

Once upon a lonely journey
Same as everywhere she’s been
Just an ordinary, quiet girl
Scarred by ordinary men
So she tries every single day
To wish upon a million miles away
And dreams that the life she’s meant for
Is maybe not so far away…

In the shadow of his father
Wearing blood that’s not his own
Has he squandered his inheritance
For the only life he’s known?
So he tries every single day
To wish upon a million miles away
And prays that the life he’s meant for
Is maybe not so far away…

Shame so overwhelming like a river
Raging with its death so deep and wide
Legend of a promise to deliver to the other side

Standing at the edge, they heard a calling
Deep down they always knew there’s something more
One to pay the toll and get them safely to the shore

So they ran and jumped onboard
And at once their great adventure had begun
Following that burning call
Don’t look back!
One by one
Threw their bags over the side and followed on
Life as they had known it was gone

No predestination for an ordinary life
We’re designed to live for something more
There’s an invitation waiting patiently outside
Knocking upon the door

I heard Your voice
Call to me
The rest, as they say, is mystery
How You knew me before my bones were formed
Traced my scars and all my fears
To trade in the pain of all these years
For a second chance
A broken life reborn

Shelter from the fallout
All the white knights melting away
From a lifetime feeling phased out
To the dawn of a brand new day

I heard Your voice
Call to me
The rest, as they say, is mystery
How You knew me before my bones were formed
Traced my scars and all my fears
To trade in the pain of all these years
For a second chance
A broken life reborn

(Solo)

I heard Your voice
Call to me
The rest, as they say, is mystery
Why You chose me
A broken life reborn

Reborn
Unto a brand new day
We’d wished upon a million miles away
To find out that You were waiting
Never very far away
So now our story will go on
We say goodbye to broken hopes we’d dreamed upon
And sail on to new horizons
Life is not so far away

You have made us Your sons and daughters
And You showed us the way for the brokenhearted to finally be made whole
To escape the shame of the things we’ve done
And the pain of the things done to us

…and the rest is mystery

#heavymetal #powermetal #theocracy #ulteriumrecords #progressivemetal #nealmorse #leah #mattsmith #danielheiman