1. Under The Red Cloud

I retired to a towering mountain
Laid down in a circle of stones
For three days and for three nights
I listened to the skull of a bear
The sun burnt its sigil into my chest
The rain washed the evil away
Time spun itself around me
The moon cast its silvery shell

I rose up in circle of stones
Made my way down in the valley
Followed the banks of a rushing river
To a shore of an icy sea

The great bear growled
The thunder spoke
The mountain shook
The skies lit up

They came carrying their torches
Appeared from the desolate dark
Approached me circling and swirling
Howling their battle-cries
That's when the bear was born in me
It rose on its legs beside
From a distance the crack of thunder
And the red cloud swallowed the sky

I rose up in circle of stones
Made my way down in the valley
Followed the banks of a rushing river
To a shore of an icy sea

And in the furthest corner of the North
On the edge of the world we know
With open arms embracing them
And I bared them my heart of hearts

Under the red cloud

2. The Four Wise Ones

The nations search for treasure
And beasts rise from their tombs
Kings revel in triumph
All succumb to shadows in their own turn

The fish spawn, the birds nest
The roses bloom and wither away
The winds lash, the leaves decay
All deaden to ice, covered by snow

See beyond the secrets of space
The four bearers of heaven
Gaze in all directions
The four wise ones stand their ground
Call the stars that shine in their skies
Gaze in all directions

The rivers rush, the lakes they gleam
When summer yields to autumn's cold
Moments flee into oblivion
Fading to blue and turn into rime

The first cloaked in clement winds
The second with meadow-scented hair
The third who's cold and grey
The fourth who carries the snow away

Sing, the beginning of our songs
Spin an end to all our stories
Sing the beginning of our songs
And bring an end to all our stories
In Tuonela

See beyond the secrets of space
The four bearers of heaven
Gaze in all directions
The four wise ones stand their ground
Call the stars that shine in their skies
Gaze in all directions

Kings revel in triumph
All succumb to shadows in their own turn

Moments flee into oblivion
All succumb to shadows in their own turn

3. Bad Blood

Break down the weirs in the brooks
Crush the bulwarks of my soul
Let the rapids run white and foaming
The bad blood cut off my ears
The bad blood blinded my eyes
The bad blood choked up my mouth

Draw the poison from my veins
Let out the bad blood in me
Let the stream run golden and true
Let out the bad blood in me

Drive away the bad and the ugly
Divert the dreary dregs
Pierce a stream that rushes anew
I can't see my path
I don't hear your voice
I have forgotten my song

Draw the poison from my veins
Let out the bad blood in me
Let the stream run golden and true
Let out the bad blood in me

Bleed out the dross and the dead
Bleed out the dross and the dead

The bad blood cut off my ears
The bad blood blinded my eyes
The bad blood choked up my mouth

Draw the poison from my veins
Let out the bad blood in me
Let the stream run golden and true
Let out the bad blood in me

Bleed out the dross and the dead
Bleed out the dross and the dead

4. The Skull

Carried by restless winds
Under the crimson cloud
I sailed the purple waves
Aboard my comely ship
The ship was adorned with banners
With flags dedicated to its sails
A spirit summoned to its sails
Emblems painted with blood

The evening came, the night fell
The moon rose, circled the island
And all around me
The starry skies glittered in the water

I asked for his holy words
Besought his sage advice
I bowed to the skull of the bear
I prayed for the spirit of god
I asked for his holy words
And my heart began to sing
To the beat of the heavenly drum
And I prayed for the spirit of god

The ship it plotted my course
Evaded the rocks and shoals
It brought me to an island
On the shore of a sacred place

I climbed the side of the mountain
Made my way up, up the craggy slope
And on the top on a field of jagged rocks
I met a hallowed god

The wind it sang, the ship it rocked
White-crested waves they knew my course
As I fell to restless sleep
I wandered to a time that's yet to come

I asked for his holy words
Besought his sage advice
I bowed to the skull of the bear
I prayed for the spirit of god
I asked for his holy words
And my heart began to sing
To the beat of the heavenly drum
And I prayed for the spirit of god

I met a hallowed god

5. Death Of A King

When the dawn is bright and new,
and the day is full of hope
It's easy to continue your journey,
like a King on his royal way
You will stand there in amidst silence,
in the void of endless winter
On the ice of an unknown lake,
in the heart of loneliness

There you will meet yourself,
there you'll weigh your crown
On the ice of the lake of death
on the (shining) mirror of time

When the days are getting colder,
and the winds clash against each other
When light is getting dimmer,
and darkness shrouds the roads
You will drift into strange byways,
lost in foreign lands
Stranded on frigid shores,
on a godless, desolate plain

It's there where your endevour ends,
on the face of a forlorn lake
Under weight of a timeless sky,
It is there, where you shall die

Death of a King

6. Sacrifice

I have brought this treasure
Berries red and apples golden
From the soil from these grounds
Would you take them as your own

Come before the winter's gale
Before the frost and snow
Take what I will give you
Accept my sacrifice
Come when the sun has gone away
When the warmth has gone
Take what I will give you
Accept my sacrifice

I have brought this treasure
And lay my gift on a bed of sprigs
You will find when darkness falls
My offerings on clean, cold stone

Come before the winter's gale
Before the frost and snow
Take what I will give you
Accept my sacrifice
Come when the sun has gone away
When the warmth has gone
Take what I will give you
Accept my sacrifice

7. Dark Path

In the twilight when he steps forth
In the bend of the dark path
When he catches up with you
You won't know if he's on your side
Or if he will turn against you

And in the dead of a moonless night
As your path turns into the black
You become one with the darkness
And in the dead of a moonless night
Who knows if you are brothers
Or will you turn against each other

And in the dusk when he finds you
Hidden in the shadows
He must judge your allegiance
He won't know if you're on his side
Or if you will turn against him

And in the dead of a moonless night
As your path turns into the black
You become one with the darkness
And in the dead of a moonless night
Who knows if you are brothers
Or will you turn against each other

8. Enemy At The Gates

They will come, the heinous thoughts
Silently from the lair
Hunched and crouched, they will come
Reeling us under their might

As they emerge, from the darkness of my heart
Born of the night, concealed in seeds of fear

They will come
The brothers of delusion
They will come
The sisters of shadows

The enemy is at the gates
The enemy at the gates

They make their camp, on the field of hope
And burn down, the house of sleep
Steal the treasures, of our thoughts
Storm the gates, of our hearts

As they emerge, from the darkness of my heart
Born of the night, conceived by seeds of fear

They will come
The brothers of delusion
They will come
The sisters of shadows

The enemy is at the gates
The enemy at the gates

9. Tree Of Ages

Somewhere there's a tree of ages
Heavens hanging from its branches
Cradling worlds beneath its shadows
Its seeds give birth to tomorrow
Universes coil its trunk
And heavens rush above its crown
It dances without moving
It is the tree of ages

It is the tree of ages

Like our promises and wishes
Die its flowers along with its leaves
Like drops of blood the leaf buds open
Like sighs the fruit falls down
Universes coil its trunk
And dawn shimmers on its crown
Day turns to gold its leaves
It is the tree of ages

It is the tree of ages

Night calls the solitary god
Night falls all lights shall bow in awe

Night calls the solitary god
Night falls all lights shall bow in awe
Night calls the solitary god
Night falls and these lights shall bow in awe

10. White Night

Our lady of the sun
Sees to us day and night
Our lady of the moon
Sees to us night and day

Our way of warmth and light
Night will not becloud our path
The spirits of our kin
Wisdom flows through mystery

Only the stars
Only the stars are gone
Only the stars
Only the stars are gone

Enchanted we bow
To a dewdrop on the grass
Glowing with hidden fire
Of our burning midnight sun

Only the stars
Only the stars are gone
Only the stars
Only the stars are gone

In the white night of the north
The pearl-white spirits are lost
Strayed from their summery path
Into the frail twilight
In the white night of the north
The pearl-white spirits are lost
Strayed from their summery path
Into the frail twilight

In the white night of the north
The pearl-white spirits are lost
Strayed from their summery path
Into the strange twilight
In the white night of the north
The pearl-white spirits are lost
Strayed from their summery path
Into the strange twilight