1. Ten Thousands Cranes

Some proclaimed it was the seventh gate
Some forebode it was the heaven's wake
Yet in the end it was us
All along

In the nest of ten thousand cranes
At long last we smothered the flame
Though not in the advent of the long aspired calm

The trees still stand so tall
Reddened corpses that breathe no more
A songless headstone for the fallen
For the proud

Burn
I command you – burn
And bring back what was taken
It was taken twice

Behold the brand
The mark of plague
Our savior of molten flesh
Paint the clouds with darkness

My song it echoes
A wordless plea of pain
After a moment of eternity
It slowly falters and fades away

2. Ash And Dust

Carry me
Oh noble wind, my ally
My ashes, a squall of memory
Through these barren meadows of death

Monochrome scenery
It basks in man's passing
Our desolate wake

A deserted abode
A deformed burial mound
No monuments of this victory
A lamentation out of bounds

Oh storm, arise and wake me
For here remains but ash and dust
You wail as if in agony
Let us flee this shore, reach the primal sea

A deserted abode
A deformed burial mound
Abandoned and devoid
Here raging storms prevail
Dissonant and proud

3. Hegira

I remember
The dawn of the final event
And the countless morrows that came and went before it
Uncalled yet precious in every passing
Yet we played along
The mummers farce
With every twist of plot
From the start, plain for all to see

You led, I followed
A pair of weary footprints
Along this path
Across the abyss
Of fallen thrones

See – the sun bore a son
Luminous and warm
To destroy us all

Yet the strength would fail
Unto sickness succumb
The strongest of brows
The brightest of souls
Went out

I will find
A place for us to hide
To rest and reside
To linger until at last
Death please us claim
But not now
Please not now

A radiant halo of flies
A silent breath of putrid lullabies
For a short while our path was light
Where two once strode there's no longer more than one

Of man, a remnant we were
The last pair, these deadly airs we shared
Stalking the dead horizon, on we strode
The soil, the seas, this barren earth
Was ours

4. Wormwood

That night the crescent was high
The rippling puddles in the rainfall
I could feel the spirits around me
Whispers faint almost gone now

The silent voice of the night
Resounding ever deeper within
Hollow yet profound
Secrets linger on

None dare tread these woods anymore
Here sickness hangs heavy
Yet I tread ever deeper
Hand in hand with the darkness

We've stepped over the threshold now
And felled are the gates of forever
Monuments of our fall stand tall
In their shadow we always will revel

Severed the ties to this soil
No-one there to receive
Lamentation for this earth
There are none

So call my name through the dark
It echoes through the night
Compels me to lie down and die
Lie down and die

5. At Every Door

Hey, don't just stand there
Run with me into the ocean

6. The Cure

Breathe in the vapors pure
Of aspirations and intentions pure
Let it take root, let it sprout
Exhale and feel it turn you inside out

Hearken, brothers bold
And remember the battles lost – some won
Still the crooked nail of desperation
Keeps knocking on your skull

We longed to reach the stars
And strived for the eternal fire
Prometheus, please watch over us
In our hour long since grown cold

Hearken, brothers bold
And remember the battles lost – some won
Stand vigil for those now gone
Keep dreaming of salvation
Never to come

Forget all the atonement
Keep reaching towards the cure
The searing fire that cleanses
It snares, entices and lures
Embrace this terminal fever
The one brought up with such care
Turn the key of deliverance
Plunge down the finger that brands you a god

7. Evenfall

They fear...
The wolves gather to run
To hunt the herds now lost
Against the horizon
By the setting sun
Carrion birds flock

And they fear...
The shadows growing long
The dusk is at the door
The evenfall upon
So seek shelter now

Soon the darkness beckons
When the shadows fall
Go! Run!
To where the fires still burn
Few and far are the havens

This time we went wrong
Too deep, too far – gone
The remaining are few
Yet ever fewer will become

Rain falls – unpoisoned
Roots strangle the abodes
Of man – forever fallen
Great trunks tower where once buildings of glass
And once more man fears the dark

8. To End All Ages

Cling to no-one
For not one survived
Overwhelmed by
The Desolation
You fall

We lived the eve of mankind
And heeded not the passing's sign
So brothers mine – a lullaby
To end all ages we laid down our lives

The thousand vibrant tongues
Silent all at once
And the myriad lifeless eyes
Six billion dead gazes into the deaf, boundless, darkening sky

Solemn endless awe
An obsolete crown
A desolate throne
A kingdom ours come

We speak through the ages now
Passionate and dark our voices strong
The shadow of our headstone grows long
Against the sunset – redder never before

This is the requiem
For the radiant daybreak
The horizon painted fission-red

The sun plummets in the emptiness
An ominous crimson in this wake of the might of men
A void of ash and dust reaches as far as the eye can see
Nothingness is all that would meet the eye
Were there any to bear witness to it
Yet there are none

There are none