Emperor Album

... and after years in dark tunnels
he came to silence

there was nothing...

he realised that the cheering cries of worship
were but echoes of his harsh outspoken word
reflecting back at him from cold and naked walls
in hollow circles fled illusions of wisdom he had heard

"From nothing came all I ever knew"

and he beheld the ruins
of an empire torn apart
yet, no grief nor rage did bind him
just silent and bewildered
by the emptiness
he stumbled off his throne

suddenly, the walls around him cracked wide open
and an endless void appeared in flickering, grey light
"What force, but silence, has deprived me of my coil?

No trail to guide me. No point of reference in sight."

"By nothing, resurrection will be pure."

and he beheld the ruins
of an empire torn apart
wiping dust off his shoulders
just silent now
in this emptiness
leaving all behind

step by step
past all past
slowly he approached the surface
nothing left
to sacrifice
the mirrors mocked him on the way

... he looked upon the world
and saw that it was still depraved

as him
though not like him
for him, as all

but closed
like them
not him

unaware
he was
already caught within
their cycle
with them
outside
depraved

instinctive
rebellion
possessed
by bestial despair
he fought
this law
and broke
the spell

"So, this is why I built my empire
fled from the truths unto which they conspire"

in spirit born a stranger
a counterpart in mind
the seeker raised to bury
a freak among the blind

encountered with mysteries
on his mission to reverse their ways
he sought a life among the dead
with refuge in an endless maze

...before the silence...

"This can not be the purpose of my presence.
What then is the call of my return?"

he is an empty shell
- shell-shocked luciferian soul

he is an empty shell
- drained and sealed
he is an empty shell
- penetrating cold
he is an empty shell
- empty luciferian soul

how furiously and bombastic
he proclaimed his destruction
of a mortal coil

in the end it seemed
this was his only possession

long past were his "glorious" days
of filth and lies
and he has reached out to stop time
at its end

he is an empty shell
- shell-shocked luciferian heart
he is an empty shell
- drained and sealed
he is an empty shell
- penetrating cold
he is an empty shell
- empty luciferian soul

the constant struggle for a moment of quiet indulgence
eventually stirred and quaked the earth so hard
it swallowed him in a dark and heavy cloud
slowly and gently starving him into insanity

an inferno of ice
with an ever burning
bleeding
heart

... and as if awaken from eternal sleep
he sought a mentor

for he no longer knew his position

"It is time after miracles
and I am its prophet
I have not come to cure
but to bear witness decease"

"It is the place where blood and soil
lie beyond the boundaries of the sun
and I am its prophet
I cast the shadow
I absorb the light"

"I am the prophet
I bear witness
I absorb
I cry"

"As I die
I shall burst wide open
As I die
I shall release the apocalypse
my prophecy
Thus, I hold on to faith
Thus, I keep the hope
That it will prosper
and devour"

"It is time after miracles
and I am its prophet
I have not come to cure
but to bear witness decease"

... and pain joined his urge to perceive

teach me the tongue of fire
so that I may set the world ablaze
for it is cold
and this blindness can no longer give me shelter
teach me the tongue of fire
so that I may cry out loud my wrath
and my passion
or else my coil will blister and decay

the soul is never silent
but wordless
held imprisoned
in a cursed tomb
wherein reflections never fade
never die
slowly maddened
by the emptiness

left to perish in the ever-dark coil
yet, always alert it its slumber
scorn by the drops of light
piercing through the surface
and it screams

the soul is never silent
but wordless

teach me the tongue of fire
so that I may set the world ablaze
for it is cold
and this blindness can no longer give me shelter
teach me the tongue of fire
so that I may cry out loud my wrath
and my passion
or else my coil will blister and decay

in the wordless chamber
they feared death
desperately
thus they clustered to the fruits of the earth
craving dispersion
as if to avoid knowing why

in the wordless chamber
they feared life
desperately
thus they proclaimed any given truth
and swallowed
as if to justify their fear

he knew that there had been hordes of seers
before him
who set out to cure
though, the sick wished not to part with
their decease
as if it made them feel
alive

in the wordless chamber
he accepted desperation
and the unpredictable manifestations
of hope

when all is dark
there are no points of reference
and we no longer navigate
by the stars
we just end up somewhere

...nowhere...

where lights are dim
and shades of black are grey
time appears like a golden calf
while the moments slip away
a search for the freedom in the future
when the hours fall behind
I can always die
another day
desperately I seize tomorrow
all out of my reach
that is what I learned
this is what I teach
corruption seems to flourish
while promises decay
where lights are dim
and shades of black are grey

where lights are dim
and shades of black are grey
from the moment of arrival
we are led astray
with nothing but a distant cry
from deep within a soul
a wordless voice
to guide us on the way
desperately we name the voice
and make the cries our own
as if to deny the fact
that we are all alone
in solitude we mingle
disillusioned we fall prey
where lights are dim
and shades of black are grey

I can always live
another day...

and again he came to cherish
the comfort of mysteries
inspiring and far away
timeless in the moment
they painted immortality

forever drawn towards the centre
of this ensorcelling flame
yet, still in fear of the sacrifice
it would take to know its name

"Do not despair", said the mystery
"You will always have a friend in me
until the day you break my code
then I will be gone and you are free...
...to manifest another"

towards the heavens he did aspire
now he shall burn who sought the fire
some will mourn the ashes cold
while others behold the inferno unfold

forever drawn towards the centre
of this ensorcelling flame
yet, still in fear of the sacrifice
it would take to know its name

now he shall burn who sought the fire
to manifest another

I hereby commit my body to the ground
sterilised and wrapped in plastic foil
being an object of this space and time
this body should remain concealed

for it holds every disease
ever exposed
it holds all pain and death
I could ever unleash

beneath deceiving, fragile skin
breathes the ever growing hate within

since the first glimpse of my existence
I have fed this greedy infection

an aimless search for potential persistence
found no escape from the fatal injection of life

for it holds every disease
ever exposed
it holds all pain and death
it could ever unleash

beneath deceiving, fragile skin
breathes the ever growing hate within

I am the father

I am the son
my refugee soul has escaped
this body depraved
of final wishes I ask none
but one
now that I am gone
lay thorns on my grave"