There's an incredible sense of gravity in this guitar. The tension is high, but somehow the resolution provided by the vocals is prevailing, even though it's intermittent. I can totally envision The Tea Party covering this song, but would their version be better than the original? As great as they are, I'm not sure. The way you sing "In media res" is absolutely exquisite.

The guitar intro whispers dangers known and unforetold, the vocal performance is both mournful and enraged. This is a perfect blend of ire and woe, but stilled, contained not the kind that burns down the world, but that warms the cold of the world and bring us to the relentless fight of everyday

The guitar pulls right in, very serious sounding, it has a defiant feeling throughout., very cool.

This intro loop reminds me of a James Bond film... I'm liking your "live-to-tape" approach. I also like how you give specifics about your plectrums; if I did that it would be more like, "some pick I found on the sidewalk", or "some pick someone left behind at my house". I also have one with my face on it I made from my old driver's license. The repeating loop is a bit hypnotic. This last bit kicks into high gear here! Nice.