1. |
The Coming of Winter
03:32
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(instrumental)
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2. |
Empire of Decadence
07:51
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I have lost my wings
For a world swallowed by spirals
My banishment is my grave anchored in iron
My one star is dead
Since the gentle one was slain
My own dismal heart
Lost and flying petals of disgrace
Suffering bound away in the house of lamentation
And only the trees pronounce my real name
And only the stones can fathom this horrid pain
I give my ghost to the children of dirt
Darkest part of shadows, woods no axe can cut
I deflect the darts of conquering gods
The horizon bleeds, chasing lost voices from below
The desolate hills
The desolate hills and fields
Are foiled by the fog
But then, when your rain
Disappears into the ground
I alone can breathe
The mist that brings a cure to drought
Am I the empire at the end of decadence?
Prince of stricken towers
Bound in Earth's realm forever
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3. |
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Fathom a realm beyond mortal ken
Eyes not wide enough to drink it in
I bid, because I've been there before,
Torn between where I am and where I was
Free from this cursed suffering
And the anguish this world pours upon me
At last this was the one time
I thought: I am truly home
I've seen colors unbeknownst to human eyes
Verdant plains dulling everything past seen
I've heard words that only wind can speak
Lamenting hymns that nature sang to me
This memory is etched within my mind
Now and eternally
Forget all the trappings of the world
That choke me with my sorrows
Loose me from my lesser self
And take everything else
Gaze plagued by ash
I will never walk there
Gaze plagued by ash
I will never walk there again
My eyes closed, all life in gray
The earth springs cold, brown in decay
I’ve lost the words that only wind can speak
I am deaf to what nature shrieks at me
Those memories dwell deep within my soul
For then, for now, and forever
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4. |
Masquerade
05:02
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Enter this masquerade of vanity and greed
Faceless shadows dancing without care
Forsaken truth, minds entranced
Blind to their demise
Empty vessels
Breed corruption
As the clock nears
Their hour of penance
Devoid of thought
Servile
Pawns in this twisted charade
As the world suffers
At the reddest hands of fate
Empty vessels
Breed corruption
As the clock nears
Their hour of penance
Devoid of thought
Servile
Pawns in this twisted charade
And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death.
He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one
dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel,
and died each in the despairing posture of his fall.
And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay.
And the flames of the tripods expired.
And Darkness, and Decay, and the Red Death
held illimitable dominion
over all.
As their phantasmic waltz comes to end
They face the doom they’ve brought upon themselves
Glorified idols painted with fear
Time marches on without a care
Empty vessels
Breed corruption
As the clock nears
Their hour of penance
Empty vessels
Breed corruption
As the clock rings
Their hour of penance
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5. |
A Moment of Silence
02:59
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(instrumental)
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6. |
As Hope Fades
06:57
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As I wake from this cold dream,
I seek to find that which I lost long ago,
Yet there is no solace to be found…
The woods feel empty and frozen in time
The shimmering lights flicker no more
And what hope there once was
Is all but a faded memory
I long to feel your warm embrace…
To hear that voice once again…
The sun's radiance shall never reach this place
In which I am condemned to spend eternity
There is no excuse for that which I have done
And such is my punishment
No hope for salvation
Emptiness draining me
No hope for salvation
Emptiness, eternally
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7. |
Ghosts
05:20
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I light a candle in the depth of night
To beckon back the memories, so faint and dear
Let this night take you in its cold embrace
Spirit you to where time stands still
Close your eyes and don’t ask why
This pouring rain yet falls for us
Hushed are the words that rang
Throughout every hall I walked
Ashen faces, buried names
You are all that anchors me here
Let this night take you in its cold embrace
Spirit you to where time stands still
Close your eyes and don’t ask why
This pouring rain yet falls for us
Frost bows to new earth, to sun,
On the endless march of time
Seasons change, as do we
Release the fragments of the past
Speak no more of deeds long gone
Feelings past, no need to stay
Ghosts may call me from the fog
But your hands will find me in the dark
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8. |
Man's Last Portrait
08:02
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Turned deaf to her cries, despite how loud
Omens set far and wide: the ill symptoms of decay
Replete greed sealed our fate and deplete fountains that source our needs
Life we know is now a memory
And the Earth treks on without a tear
With broad strokes of dolor, man's last portrait is painted
Gardens once bore fruit, lavish no more
Trees have fallen, sun burns us all
Rivers run poisoned with waste of our kin
All that has come, done from within
Wreaked havoc on her, left vacant her walls
On each wall our deeds are left scrawled
There's only hunger, we've destroyed ourselves
Man's last testament is writ in blood
Life we know is now a memory
And the Earth treks on without a tear
With broad strokes of dolor, man's last portrait is painted
Memory: all we have as our pillars fall
Envy now from home and heart
All those cut off by snow, sand, or sea
For they're the ones who stand the best chance of all man
Only voices out of the air can reach them
Rows of fallen pillars leave us with only memories
Memories of when we stood as the pride of all creation
Rows of fallen pillars leave us with only memories
Memories of finer hours victims of our voracity
The path we espoused has all been for naught
Yearn for the past tides now defunct
No heed to the signs that pointed to graves
The throes of pain are verity
Too late to lament, too late for amends
Blood of nature's sorrow flows on
There's only death, we've destroyed ourselves
Man's last portrait's been painted dolor
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9. |
What Lies Beyond
07:50
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Kingdoms rise and fall
As rulers pull their strings
Centuries come and go
As we dance to the song of eternity
Sometimes, nature guards her secrets with the unbreakable grip of physical law.
Sometimes, the true nature of reality beckons … from just beyond the horizon.
All that we’ve ever known
Dies in the end
All that we’ve ever known
Dies in the end
If time shall end, is there no meaning to all that we fight for?
I look up and see no stars in the sky
Degenerate era, devoid of life
Dwarves brown and white, all scattered about
Eternal nothingness from which we came
Will swallow us all in the end
Our futile existence is nothing but the cross we bear
All that we’ve ever known
Dies in the end
All that we’ve ever known
Dies in the end
If time shall end, is there no meaning to all that we fight for?
Dominion of nothingness, infinite warp
The passage of time, of meaning devoid
What lies beyond, we never will know
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10. |
Relics
08:15
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I find myself on a ravaged path
Ruins before me, sun at my back
Shattered spires reach for the sky
With their broken arms
Mouthless skulls lament
Relics of a world gone mad
Weak with roots in shame
Victims of the choice they made
Broken walls scaled by vine and thorn
Hold more life now than before
Gods of indifference and deceit
Lay their dead hands here
Weak with roots in shame
Victims of the choice they made
Those who would destroy
Carriers of their own plague
Was it not enough,
Killing all that nature made?
In years of walking the wastelands,
I never saw such grief
I swear by my life,
This grove is better for the loss
Mankind learns its harshest lesson:
Only death can pay for life
Empires rust
The world moves on
Man falls to dust
The world moves on
The avarice our nature holds will be our downfall
Mankind learns its harshest lesson:
Only death can pay for life
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