1. |
Nivis Canto
05:10
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If you could gaze into a snowflake, what would you find in each one? Those crystalline structures of unearthly perfection, as they fall they transform their environment into a sparkling wonder.
I can only find a rival for their beauty in mankind, those myriad beings messily constructed from hopes and beliefs. With aspirations that defy all measurement but they are no stronger than when they act with one mind.
As they continue to fall, blanketing their surroundings, suffocating them. How can one do anything but marvel at their tyranny? Their cold indifference to all they consume.
No matter how many line the foundations,
whether it be one or a million.
All are lost without a trace
beneath their advance.
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2. |
Maiden (2009)
06:24
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Beneath the twilight sun
A young maiden stood,
At her conjugal altar,
Ardently awaiting her swain.
Through labyrinths of hedges, she at last him did spy.
In all his gleaming armour, how long she had yearned for this day.
Instrumental
Him she did follow,
Away from the altar,
And through worlds of mist so thick,
Whence the helpless sun does but shudder and flee.
Alas his tracks soon were lost,
As ghostly snow descended,
She wept amongst the banshees,
In the cold forsaken woodland.
But there remained a flicker of hope,
As torchlight she did spy,
And this, she followed...
Her legs grew weak though,
And ghostly clouds concealed her,
As she lay paralysed,
By Morpheus' kiss.
Then from her slumber,
A cold embrace did awake her,
Such glee reborn as her eyes met her knight's,
Forever safe in his arms.
Instrumental
But such merry fate would not meet her face,
For behind a countess lay,
Who with passion did taste,
Her knight's betraying lips.
Closer they drew to the girl,
With a smile that made her lips tremble,
'til her bridal veil swiftly turned,
To shrouded attire.
Instrumental
How she cried
As twin daggers bled from their mouths
And gnawed
Into her virgin flesh.
But her helpless cries
Were but a siren's song
To the ears of the knight
And Countess
"Hush, sleep deep Endymion... and taste sweet immortality.
As I pour my potion into your cauldron
Behold this beauty... that only death could inspire!"
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3. |
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Into the forest,
taking memories, leaving only footprints
but the trees would not let it be easy.
Forcing our route in much deeper.
What were we to find there?
Discovering ruins
devoured by moss and roots
draped in an eerie silence
in this place a sense of mourning
We pulled aside the plants and branches,
climbing in amongst the few remaining walls.
Is it disrespect or reverence?
Exploring what was once a life...
We questioned ourselves, each other,
what had these rooms once contained?
Did children run through here laughing?
What pain left this place abandoned?
Into the forest,
We may be fated to end
Just as those before us.
But if we lay foundations
that inspire those who follow,
Then our time
will not be spent
In vain.
<B>Silvan Lullaby</B>
The light that shines on golden leaves
Flickers softly through the trees
Lost, she trembles, scared and alone
Deep in the forest and far from home
Now, as the light slowly fades away
The night-folk can dance without fear of the day
Their instruments play a most fearful song
A silvan lullaby, to those who don't belong
She runs in fear, afraid for her life
The sun descends, into the twilight
The night-folk pursue her, their horns baying long
A hollow tree gives respite from their song
Now, as the verdant darkness holds sway
The night-folk can dance, without fear of the day
Their instruments play the same haunting tune
A silvan lullaby that foretells your doom
Interlude and Solos
Now, as I climb from this hollow tree
My ears are opened to the sounds of the sea
Avalon is calling, its wings do me caress
The silvan lullaby has taken my last breath
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4. |
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Forest soaked in a ghostly glow,
in the village a monstrous woe,
the lupine call of the silver moon.
Beckoning! Summoning!
Howling changeling of lunar birth,
altered shape stalking the earth,
a savage night spent under the curse.
Skulking! Hunting!
Down there in the heedless town,
the seething hex at its gory crown,
bloodlust and rage amongst the gloom,
the madness of the feral moon!
Night of the wolf a fatal time,
desert the camps, flee the mine,
hide away from the wolfen fiend.
Harking! Tracing!
The final scream of helpless prey,
shredded and torn in a frenzied way,
human meat a vicious feast.
Devouring!
Guitar solo- Flute solo- Guitar solo- Keyboard solo
Down there in the heedless town,
the seething hex at its gory crown,
bloodlust and rage amongst the gloom,
the madness of the feral moon!
Blood has fallen, silence resounds!
Broken by the screaming hounds!
Run back to your earthen tomb!
Suffer the madness of the feral moon!
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5. |
In These Hills
07:16
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The days have lost their candour and the nights are endless.
The ruined foundations of your dreams with her,
spur you on in search of why she deserved such cruelty.
But you wonder, do you really want a reason for her suffering?
Or to find some logic, for why yours should have to continue.
Offering fresh sacrifice you ask the priests and they solemnly say,
"The answers you seek can be found atop the hills that claw at the morning star
But be prepared, you may not be able to leave behind what you find."
Pausing
your ascent
you remember.
The sound
of her
voice.
The gentle
touch of
her fingers.
Whispered
trysts
until dawn...
*grido di dolore*
That life is gone, you reach the peak and your eyes dart in search,
where are the answers? What does an oracle look like?
Then you begin to notice, the regular deafening crashes of the wind.
This is the beating heart of Chaos,
it was here before the gods and will outlast them.
In a universe where stars explode and planets collide,
there was never an explanation
for what happened there.
No fate to justify your loss.
Your cry of anguish
is caught by the wind and lost
in these hills.
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6. |
Gawain
05:27
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Last Christmas at the feast at King Arthur's court
a monstrous figure entered dressed head to toe in green.
With a wicked blade in his hands he challenged us,
"Would the bravest knight take sport in an exchange of blows."
Arthur rose first but I quickly took the axe.
I could not risk Guinevere being left alone.
With one fell strike I cleaved the head from his shoulders
and had assumed myself free from reprisal.
But the courtiers' cheers quickly became cries,
as the corpse rose covered in its crimson.
"Gawain", it spoke, "seek me out in a year's time.
Come receive my blow or be known a defaulter."
The allotted time has passed.
I stand before the Green Chapel.
This is my last chance to turn back.
Though I appear resolute
my soul is uncontrollable,
like forked lightning down my veins.
Trying to escape the fate
of this doomed knight.
My king, I will not falter now.
I will leave no trawpe un-honoured.
No man will brand me coward.
If the Green Knight shall take my head,
then so be it...
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7. |
Pavane in G Minor
03:52
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Instrumental
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Northern Oak Sheffield, UK
Founded in early 2006 during a wintry excursion to the Peak District, Northern Oak have been spreading their unique brand of
flute-heavy progressive folk metal across Sheffield and the rest of the UK ever since.
Our music sounds like Jethro Tull played by extreme metal fans with an appreciation for everything from Pink Floyd to Emperor.
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