CRESCENT SHIELD LYRICS

1. Under Cover Of Shadows

[Part I: Cast of Shadows]

Those who cast a blanket
Of perpetual dusk
Those purveyors of vile, black mystery
Those cults of the arcane
Speakers of murky tropes
And those who wear a mantle of threadbare illumination...
Be gone!

[Part II: The Vengeance of Light, the Cover of Shadow]

Draw your weapons, bare your claws
The conjured beast is nigh
The violent cleaving of the ground
Is not a trick of light
Strike forth, lash out the song of war
Dark spirit hounds can kill
Scuttle and run or hide again
And on they follow still
On and on

Under cover of shadows
To lie still is to wither and rot
Paralyzed eyes (of silent lies)
On fear they do feed
And murder with calm folded hands

Unloose the fire in your lungs
Spit venom, seethe and fume
Scatter the bones of the incubus
Cut like whetted stone
Fight on, fight on with axes drawn

Pound thunder from the drums
Rive the misty flesh of imps
Tear out their prattling tongues...Ride on!

Under cover of shadows
Silence will fester and hollow
Spellbinding fire and smoke in our eyes
On relic charms they must feed us lies

[Judgment solo]

[Part III: Consequence]

The blanket of dusk has fallen
And black mystery still rising
And again recite their creeds

[Part IV: The Witch Chant]

There are no truths that cannot bear falsity
There are no things never known
No secret doctrines
There are no words that are never to be touched

They'll tell you that the sun's disappeared
And night stains eternal
(Don't ever close your eyes, don't ever turn your back)
Gray fades to black (Blackness is light)
The dark sky descends to blot out the shadows
The ones you hold so dear...fallen
Like the very last tear
Remember the night before
Bind the cloak and hide under cover of shadows

[Part V: The Elusive Epilogue]

Under the cover of shadows
To lie still, to wither and rot
Paralyzed eyes
We secretly hide
On relic charms they will feed us lies

Lift the cover of shadows!!!!

2. The Grand Horizon

Conceived am I the first and final traveler
Craft of mine a tear of light
Soon I will see

Animated alien them to discover
From another time, another galaxy
Resonated alter

Left behind all traces of legacy
Useless gods, the fault of Man
To the sun's red tide

Disgust for its eulogy, hungry of discovery
The stars of never seen
A human game I dare will want to play

Dust is the fear of the coming crossing!

Here there is no dawn or day
Or end to what I see
It's night that has no name
Still calls to me

Time has lost its evil gaze
Until the end of days
Till then I'll seek horizons known to none at all but me!

Breach the wall and step into infinity
To an edge of what can't be
I know it can be

Passing Andromeda far from the dead past
Never to return
Meeting those of greater minds

Accelerated speeds, I chase the all expanding
Feeling the ebb and flow of tides
Of dead dark seas

A sense of fascination, calm in my solitude
An age to overrun
Until I die I will still run

Unknown to the end is the endless calling!

Here there is no dawn or day, Or end to what I see
It's night that has no name still calls to me

Time is finding evil ways, To speed my end of days
Hope soon I'll find horizons grand enough for all to see!

Cold fight...dead dark light (Lonely entity)
Alone...tenth my clone (Extend my life I need)
To far...far, far away
To remember Earthly needs

I need to dream again
Within this greater shadow!
Until then...I'll transfix my eyes ahead
Until the end
Believe in no tomorrow...or the dead
I've left it all behind

[Solo]

Time at last has found my name
To thee I give its claim
The night of final flame
Has called to me

Found my final dawn and day
The end has now found me
At last I'll finally...

(Across the shores of a billion sunrises)
(Lies the light of the grand horizon)
(Leave behind all apparent reason)

Hear the song when the grand horizon sings!!

3. Tides Of Fire

I'm not the only one
Who can put out the fire
I only want to be left alone

Wise man high upon your hill
Please hear the prayers we cry
You we beseech
We rest our hopes on the promise
Of your good name

I'm not your providence
I live, I breathe
I cannot stop the flood

An eye for an eye, The innocent fallen
The cities are dead, The guilty are dust
Walking the hillsides, Dotted by followers
Ritual blindness, Bookkeepers in their citadels

The wrath of princes and kings
A flood not of water but flame
Evil born of sovereignty
Patterns are followed the same

It comes again
The sand of the ages is falling away
Knowledge and violence, Hand over hand
Are up from their graves
Wisdom is left in the dirt

[Solo]

I've seen the wrath
Of princes and kings
Flood not of water but flame
Evil born of sovereignty
Patterns are followed the same

4. 10,000 Midnights Ago

Looking ahead, innocence mine
Before me lies the life I'll find

I will never forget that first midnight I crossed awake
I felt that first powerful song alive and free
It was there so real and close as the stars I did see
And I touched, then listened to new whispers
To this day they are still calling me

I saw the glory
And the treasures I'll take tomorrow
I wrote my own story
10,000 midnights ago

I never knew I'd change voices
Never thought of the angel's disdain
Deep down I know my efforts have dwindled
But the dreams they still stay the same
Here and now I'll take the time that is mine
To reach, my tranquil, domesticity
The home that I left long ago

I found the answers
Leaving me with more questions unknown
And I long for that memory
10,000 midnights ago

The eyes I had as a child still remain in me
Memories are vivid paintings I still see

Rest thy head traveler man
Who has seen many empty miles
Your heart will find home

[Solo]

Far away still is my grave
Unknown are the years I will own
The once forsaken whim, the absurd of age
I'll try to deceive once again

Help me, find me, heal me
I'll try again
Older, wiser, closer
To my home

I have found the answers
To the questions I asked long ago
Once more I'll identify
The dreams of 10,000 morrows

I chose my destiny
10,000 midnights ago
And I sealed my fate to be
10,000 midnights ago

Looking behind, innocence died
Lost are the days of bygone time

5. Temple Of The Empty

Whisper, do not allow the loud
Keep all angst unseen
Silent the thoughts that do one sway
Make yourself to...Believe

Up and away it's a brand new day
Again we hear, again we've spoken
Only the words they wish we speak
Not true thoughts of our heart

Again and again we row perfect stroke
To the beat of the drum of the pacing master
Promises laced with lies
We see the truth that we choose not to see

Wretched frowns painted upside-down
With artistic hands perfect liars
Drowned by the pain of useless gain
Feel the ache in your heart

Gather round we will make you proud
With false icons of grand achievement
Body soft and a brain that burns
I'll be here tomorrow yet still I'm gone today

Slowly closing my eyes
(I'll blind the things I need to see)
Feel no more
(I will not be)
Hear my cries
(Cry to the ears that do not hear)
Empty is...the treasured temple that is me

Passive, cold and fair are words I give to you
But you won't know 'cause I will not reveal
The unmasked pain in my heart

Time I feel my anger will engage
And erupt my patient emotional magma
Shut down numb with ever glazed eyes and
Keep an agreed dull sting always denied

Always holding inside
(The tears who will not choose to fall)
Feel no more
(Nothing at all)
Senses gone
(Until I feel a safer calm)
Empty is my only temple

[Solo]

If I could, only could understand
If I had a darker reason
If the answers could find me
Then maybe then I could flush away the madness

Ever shaking and twitching is
My mind of lasting prison
In a passive aggressive life
Long is the heal of the wound that must be filled

Cutting through the knots left undone
May pain be the light of the setting sun
(Close your eyes, feel no more)
Long fear are stones that we haul
Set them down, let them be
(Hear thy cries, empty is...)

The disciples lost in its walls
Ring an alter that shall never fall
(Taste your drops, be no more)
Hollow shells with a will not to lead
Guide to the temple of the empty
(Senses gone, empty is...)

Hollow shells with a will not to see
Welcome to the temple of the empty

6. My Anger

Once again I'm here within
The source of my emotions
Sadness dies as envy tries
To build my inner fire
Spawn of father evil and then
Bred by mother revenge
Can feel the lion of my rage
Breaking free of his cage

In this state
It's not wise to be near me
Or you will be the first
To see

My anger
True and sure so raw and pure
The anger
Enjoy the flood of boiled blood
Until I'm cold again

How I'd love to place you back
To your pathetic weakness
Give me reason to find justice
For my fallen anguish
So many times, so many ways
Have I constructed vengeance
It's strength from pain, the source of war
And Metal's muse unequaled

Time is right
Body is quaking
You won't be the last
To feel

My anger
True and sure so raw and pure
The anger
Feel the flood of boiled blood
My anger
Will volumize my own darkness
The anger
Forever feeds my violent needs
Till the end of time

Tasting sweet aggression
Intense eyes won't leave you
Now behold it's power
I command

[Solos]

Time is mine
I am anger
Now you'll be no more

My anger
True and sure so raw and pure
The anger
Feel the flood of boiled blood
My anger
Will volumize my own darkness
The anger
Forever feeds my violent needs
Till the end of time!

7. The Bellman

[Dramatis Personae
C ... The Chorus
Y ... The Young
B ... The Bellman]

[The Chorus:]
Curse the hand of the man
With the bell he doth ring
One did tell me

[The Young:]
Old man with traveler's hands
Scarred by age and salt of the sea
Tell me, warn thee your tales
Of cried from the ocean's abide

[The Bellman:]
You fallow lads with smoother hands
Beware the beyond sea
The sun does not quite follow
The skies of the water you seek

C
Sunsets sadden
Mornings terrify!

B
On and on from the shores they do go
With their hearts and minds one way do they know
My bell will ring
And they will sing
A song I did too once sing

Y
Mercator's Poles and Meridian Lines
The stars will guide, the sun will time
The winds of trade will guide the way
To the unknown and then
Home

B
Hold my hand and stay
With me listen to what I warn you
For so long am I imprisoned
To these streets of ports call
Still they sail, hence I raise
My bell and strike its chime of fate!

Y
On and on from the shores we do go
With our hearts and minds one way do we know
Our bell will ring, And we will sing
The song we always dreamed to sing
Mercator's Poles and Meridian Lines
The stars will guide, the sun will time
The winds of trade will guide the way
To the unknown and then

[Solo]

C
Unseen or heard is the ghost
Of the Bellman we know

B
Unless you're the fool who
Is doomed from the moment you sail

C
Once was he the arrogant Bellman ago

B
Cursed to live on to call
The cry of the fell

C
Cursed be the hand of the man
With the bell he doth ring

B
Death to you all whose
Warnings you never did heed

C
Beware of the shivering bell
When you set forth to sea

B
For it rings the chime of fate!

8. The Endurance

[Part I: A Third Gathering]

Brave men wanted
For hazardous journey
Low pay, bitter cold
Moths of complete darkness
Constant danger
Safe return doubtful
Great recognition in case
Of success

Ernest Shackleton
The south facing madman
Will try for a third time
To walk at then end of the world!

Five thousand responded for
A crew of thirty on a
Brave sailing ship
Along for the journey were sixty-seven
Of Canada's finest four legged ice runners
To speed...the men
And their dreams
Across...and alive!

From the years I have learned
Twice before I returned
Under stocked and overwhelmed
Lost what I sought

More seasoned and well prepared
The continent again I dare
To reach the pole again I drive
Let it be the end
This time alive!

[Part II: To Stab the Sole of the World]

South!
We sail with pride
Our keel will slice the ocean's heart with anger once more
Feel the wind at our backs, and our faces...

Already charred with frozen black!

We meet once again
My old foe South Atlantic
Spawn of jigsaw ice all around
The cracks closing in
Till there's no more

Imprisoned in this icy hell!

Here so close
To the land of last and barely found
For the winter we will batten down
Never given...
Honor to stab the sole of the world!

(Listing)
Free the ship with ax and pick
(Breaking)
Loot the ship with quick and wit
(Sinking)
Abandon ship...abandon ship!

What the ice shall take
The ice shall keep!

"She is gone...none more to say"

Ice gleaming sunshine
Five feet to the deepest blue

[Part III: Run On Water]

North!
We run to save our lives
The albatross and emperors
Have sung our due dirge
Warmth will keep our souls alive
We move with haste through
Jaws of cracked bergs
We haul small boats that carry life
We only have necessities as
Bare as our skin
Vile, the hide of ocean's dead
Flesh of the dogs
A pleasure filled sweet meal!

No dreams in brief sleep
In the midnight light
So terrified!
Hungry ice swallows me

Cold sheets argue louder now
They find we're so terrified
Follow no horizons seen

We row to where we do not know
Deception Isle, too many miles
On cracked numb black fists
Cold, a word no longer known
Far beyond the freezing snow drifts
Eat, we see in only dream
A cannibal's insanity
I see in thine eyes
Drink in the salt and misty rain
Still pushing north
To the Elephant's domain

There on the crashing walls
Of black jagged teeth
So unbelieved
Last land
We could ever see!
We will try to endure
(South Georgia our final try)
Will we ever meet again?
Where will we meet again?

[Solo]

[Part IV: The Endurance Within]

Two years of death yet all survived
Endurance had to be the key

On painted waters we awake to find
A day of wonders so divine
The Yelco awaits on the silent sea
Is thee, the angel of death that we see
This isle of life, now left behind
We leave nothing but our own demise

My loyal comrades never left my side
(Honest bravery)
In the black icy sea, the secrets and memories
She will always keep
(On land, on ice or on the stormy sea)

The endurance we have left behind
Endurance we will always find

9. Lifespan

For some it lasts for seconds
For some a thousand years
Time's a given, and time we take
There lies a line of all our fears

For some it's just a minute
For others the same's a hundred days
Some old survive, or young will die
And all who live can not decide...

How many days are given
As a predetermined guarantee
We think we'll live forever
By the reward of our better deeds

Man writes of his denial
And many praise of what could be
The animals are given
The answer of true fate that we choose not so see

End to an end is our own lifespan
Our only one since time began
Imprint of our mold thus soon destroyed
Then is the fall of the hourglass sand

Hold true to your thoughts and your memories burned
In your mind remain till the call of your last day
Truth is the song, the finite dance
End to an end is our own lifespan

I don't believe in heaven
Or hell or afterlife
From book to truth, is dust to dust
And I will not reincarnate

I'm terrified of dying
I now know why the prey do run
For once it takes for all to end

The first time in my life I see...

How few the days are given
And knowing of just how they'll be
Nothing lives forever
The only thing that time will see

I've lost my taught denial
And live the days given to me
My life is slowly ending
The fact of fate in time I've now chosen to see

End to an end is our own lifespan
Our only one since time began
Shattering glass and the pattern it holds
No other life can repeat my soul

Dead is the dead of the living mind
Now random waves that escape all lifekind
Truth is the song, the finite dance
End to an end is our own lifespan

See...all that life can be
Let it be...all that you can see
Come and see...all that is not seen
Let it be...all that you have seen

For when your own life dies
In a flash memories in vain erase
And wash away

Beware the afterlife lie
Never hear, never feel the cries and pain of those
Still alive

Who still mourn

[Solo]

What once I thought was evil
Is now a means just to survive
The drive that makes me human
Is the love of life I live another day alive

End to an end is our own lifespan
Our only one since time began
Fear the day when our blood runs cold
The only last truth we all behold

True paradise is the air we breathe
The knowledge we teach, the pleasure we feed
Truth is the song, the finite dance
End to an end is our own lifespan

Born into living life alive
Dying to stay alive in life

See...all that life can be
Let it be...all that you can see
Come and see...all that is not seen
Let it be...all that you have seen
End to an end is our only lifespan





CRESCENT SHIELD LYRICS