Madder Mortem

So the seed is sown to reap
and so the blood is sweet anew
So intone the word not spoken
Now the time to break the truce

Ah! And the world splits apart
and the essence flows free
And whatever she gives
I am ready to take

For the keeper of the crossroads is the keeper of the keys;
the one who stirs your silent dreams, the one who wakes the fear
As she stands before you at the lake to lead you to the shore,
she's the one who is the breaker, she's the one who waits no more

Breaker of worlds

2. To kill and kill again

On the eleventh day, he reached out his hand
and made the sign of parting,
spoke the words of taking leave
and of never going back

To breathe the air of dreams
To walk upon a path of bodies
To know what carnal means
To live the law of hate and cold flesh

Wailing for the solace in a lie
No echo here. No truth. No time

To blind the eye to see
To feed on every broken moment
To kill and kill again
To end it all while it's unfolding
To know the only way:
To love the beast and then to beg it
to die from every wound

Listen as the mourning herald sings
the dirge to which we march in time

Crawling naked 'neath the burning stars,
sleeping beauty dries

Never

3. The cluster children

Where do you go?
I don't know

Cold carbon air
Breathing out filth
Breathing in burning blue
Nothing breaks me now

Go!

Let my hands go

Go!

(Today
The hour on time
The breathless second
Another perfect view)

(Today
A contradiction that talks one way
A blind, stuttering fool is healed
I'm not quite finished)

I am fire and reborn

Go!

(Today
A mirror broke in ecstasy
And desolation bled to death
I've been forgiven)

Go!

On hands and knees
Taking in all in one stride
I have covered my own tracks
and all falls into place

We will all go

4. Ruby red

Send him from this land, he's bleeding
A display of pain worn as a crown

Are you strong?
Are you worthy?

Are you pure?
Are you clean and wholesome?

In his face the plea of mercy
Like a child corroding to a man

While the blood still flows he is enchanted
Ruby red, the streak of hidden malice hides the smile

Are you strong?
Are you worthy?

Are you pure?
Are you clean and wholesome?

Oh, there's cancer?
Oh, there's mistrust?
Burn and cut, burn and cut

There's nothing
There's nothing here
There was nothing before
You don't know this

Life can take you far, but this is further
Once the lie is in, will he prove worth it?
Know

(So we all give in)

No defence will stand through pity
Powerless, kneeling before the bleeding heart

5. Head on pillow

Head on pillow
Hand and mouth like dust
that softly, softly falls
Spirit and flesh,
wait and see
In time it all amounts to
bone

6. Turn the war on

Turn, turn
Let the rosegrove burn
Turn, turn
Watch the flies and learn
Turn, turn
Grinding it down
Turn, turn
Make it go on

Sleep tight, wait long
Hold on, stay strong

There is a beast within
And there's no peace without
I speak the lie as true
And it has blinded you

Sleep tight, wait long
Hold on, stay strong

Let the rosegrove burn
Watch it all come down
This is what I've earned
Watch the flies and learn

Thrown back in line
(So now the war is on)
Thrown back in line
(And now devotion's done)
Thrown back in line
(So let revulsion on)
And now the vultures come

Sleep tight
Wait long
Hold on
Stay strong

Turn, turn
Let the rosegrove burn
Turn, turn
Watch the flies and learn

Turn

7. 4 chambers

Lyric by Tord Nygjelten

Chamber of the mourner
Ashes of a Sunday morning mass
Six feet of earth to lay
On wooden home forevermore

Chamber of the griever
Hope of the dawn cut away
Bowing into the cord of deceit
Sometimes the path is short

Chamber of the sorrower
Mausoleums closed in silence
Given a vow to fulfil
Let no one stand between the living and the dead

Chamber of the dead
Pleading spirits to awaken
Brick upon brick build the gate
There shall be a key for the lost

8. Ten times defeat

A daring step
The waiting crowd
A hungry child
must learn to bow

Yes, this is all the bitter truth
The gritty sand beneath your feet
The taste of failure on your mouth
This is a game of hurt

Yes, this is all the bitter truth
Yes, this is cold reality
This is what you have come to

Yes, this is all the bitter truth
Yes, every gesture was in vain
This game is harsh and you have lost
You know it all comes down to this:
Pathetic lies and vanity
The taste of sand inside your mouth

A daring step
The wanton smile
A desperate man
Tells desperate lies

Yes, this is all the bitter truth
The gritty sand beneath your feet
The taste of failure on your mouth

9. The traitor's mark

I see myself through read, dead eyes
I make myself this prison
For Babylon the time has come
This time I'm sure you'll listen

This is the day
(A given word)
This is the hour
(was broken twice)
Nothing's forgiven and nothing
will even the score

I hold my seed, a perfect hate
I make this mask a weapon
For every time I lied myself
a tenfold to your burden

This is the day
(A given word)
This is the hour
(was broken twice)
Nothing's forgiven and nothing
will even the score

No morning comes to tie my hands
in tired sleep
The love I left to die alone
is all I keep

My blood is silence in my veins
It all ends here
The final bond of innocence
the last to tear

The last bitter step
Through ruins and dirt
Only one deed remains:
To lay it all at your feet, dead

I mark you red, a traitor's mark
I name an "M" for malice
For all those years I lived a lie
One pound of flesh from your body

This is the day
(A given word)
This is the hour
(was broken twice)
Nothing but ashes to mourn for

I have betrayed
all that I am
Nothing's forgiven and nothing
will even the score
9.