1. ALGHAVlL ALTANNIN

The world's awake
The stars are quivering in the sky
The mountains shake
An echo's coming from the dawn of time
Gliding away
With tortuous windings, round and round
A yellow flame
Keeps watch when stars are falling down

[Chorus]
The nebulous star in the Dragon's eye
Circles round the golden fruits of the North
He holds the axis of the world in his folds
The Old Serpent wakes

Alghavil Altannin
Cast a comet to the earth
Alghavil Altannin

He rears his head over Heaven
He distils poison all over the world
Immense and slow as he wanders
(The) eternal vigil in the cosmic river

[Chorus]

I'm the one who is to be destroyed
Altannin, united with the void
The Dragon dreams - Drama of Creation
Hear my scream - Silent revelation

Way up on high is the one who's been slain
Slain a thousand times yet immortal in the sky
Devouring the stars, a dark omen when the moon cries

Drink of his waters and you'll face
Consciousness in his embrace
Denying you all rest
See with a new lucidity
Senses brought to ecstasy
(A) glimpse of reality


2. THE GARDEN OF CYRUS

All things began in order
So shall they end, so shall they begin again
According to the Ordainer of Order
And mystical Mathematicks of the City of Heaven.

That the first day should make the last,
(that) the Tail of the Snake (should) return into its Mouth
Is indeed a remarkable Coincidence,

Life in but a shadow of death,
Sun is but a dark simulacrum
Aspis spires, Serpent's order, Ouroboros

But the Quincunx of Heaven runs low,
And 'tis time to close the five ports of knowledge;

We are unwilling to spin out our awaking thoughts
Into the phantasms of sleep,
Which often continueth præcogitations;
Making Cables of Cobwebbes and Wildernesses of handsome Groves.

There is little encouragement
To dream of Paradise itself.
Nor will the sweetest delight of Gardens
Afford much comfort in sleep;
Wherein the dulnesse of that sense
Shakes hands with delectable odours;
And though in the Bed of Cleopatra,
Can hardly with any delight
Raise up the ghost of a Rose.

But who can be drowsie at that hour
Which freed us from everlasting sleep?
Or have slumbering thoughts at that time,
When sleep itself must end,
As some conjecture all shall awake again?

(adapted from sir Thomas Browne)


3. ASPHODELS

Far have I wandered
Down to the edge of life, where forgetfulness dwells
There I'll find a place, my place of rest

I walked till the world grew dim
Where silence and twilight shadows reign
Ghostly flowers of pallid beauty
The scent of the asphodels
I walked by the elm tree
False dreams clinging under every leaf
With the unburied souls I waited
In the field of the asphodels

[Chorus]
Oh, Hypnos in land of Erebos
Beyond the gates of Rising Sun
Unleash the dark-winged Oneiroi
Let flow the waters of Oblivion
Oh Hypnos in land of Erebos
Hear my silent supplication
Rise in the night
Grant me the peace that I long for !

I came to a place of gloom
A cave in a hollow mountain side
Standing before its mouth I stopped and picked up
A pale asphodel
He lay on a drowsy bed
Surrounded by empty shapes
Can you smell the intoxicating essence
Of the asphodel?

Do you envy those numb and dumb soulless ragdolls?
Hope freely I’ll bestow somnolence upon thee.

I'm denied, I have tried to find a way to Elysium
So now, please provide a merciful spell, your sweet opium

[Chorus]


4. DEAD OF NIGHT

Down in the dead of night
Blind, tearing time apart
Psychedelic insight
Wild in the dead of Night

Against the window, there’s a dead black heart pounding
The sky has burst open
I can hear something’s trying to get in.

Let me in
I’ll have my ride
No door can keep me out
Paralysed by the sound of madness

Lost in a feverish maze
Running away from the chase
Consumed by a burning gaze
Smothered in this embrace.

Back at last, the storm abates
And safe inside, I look for a familiar smile in the mirror
But this has to be a lie,
This face is not mine!

Broken visions of a multitude of fragments Broken !
Tangles that I weave to ensnare all of your thoughts Tangles !
Freezing fingers stealing your breath Freezing !
Falling faster, lost inside this maze Falling...

Down in the dead of night
Blind, tearing time apart
Psychedelic insight
Wild in the dead of Night

The clock has gone astray
Hours are all out of order
Time and space melt away
The white hell has silently crept in and taken over.

Let me in
I’ll have my ride
No door can keep me out
Paralysed by the sound of madness


5. HEI! AA-SHANTA 'NYGH!

Tired of a life of ever-gray,
Weary of the daily taste of clay,
Late at night I shiver in my bed,
A call from beyond resonates

An old silver key leads the way,
I’ll lose myself in the dark
And leave my name behind.
Anxious to lay down the weight ;
We’re all but transient shapes

Soon after I’ve buried sense
I may rise and forsake my home
In a quest for the unknown
Towers of wondrous blue
Spires of frightening hue
I know my dream city’s waiting for me

[Chorus]
Hei! Aa-shanta 'nygh!
Enter through the gate of deeper slumber
Hei! Aa-shanta 'nygh!
Your heart vacillates, impending danger
Hei! Aa-shanta 'nygh!
Will you dare to face the nameless horror?
Hei! Aa-shanta 'nygh!
Fly on the wings of aether’s winds

I sailed over red twilight seas
From gaunt mountains and gloom
To the dark side of the moon
Night’s rushing in my veins
Wars and warnings in vain
To find the gods, I may die but I’ll reign

[Chorus]

(The) Crawling chaos’s haunting my mind
Malicious night
Labyrinths and ruins where I’m blind
Kadath draws near
(The) Crawling chaos’s haunting my mind
Wings and shapes on luminous clouds
Labyrinths and ruins where I’m blind
Song of the spheres
(The) Crawling chaos’s haunting my mind
I fall like a star from the sky
All my wishes tore me apart


6. THE DREAMING

Every man beholds the earth and his birth with wonder.
In such a design, is there neither rhyme nor reason ?

A spark was born of the dark,
The ancient voices awoke and began to dream,
Stories down from the stars,
The seven sisters descended and began to sing,
Past and future are but one thread that they spin.

As it is above, so it is below.
Sink deeper and deeper, down to the underworld
Nature is an altar, a thousand rhymes entangled

Should you decypher the signs, and read the lines in the sand,
You'll see shimmering seeds engraved
And the Serpent's eggs bloom in your hands.

[Chorus]
Seek the hollow earth
When the wind whispers,
When the Crow can speak
And answer all riddles,
When the Cross is high
In the Southern sky,
Should you think, you'll find a tale in every thing
Can we make sense out of chance ?
that orchestrates our existence ?

We are the creators,
We are mimes, and shape-shifters.

[Chorus]


7. IN THE DARKNESS OF DAYLIGHT

Dont' – Oh don't, please don't wake me up. Not yet!
Let me wallow in this fantasy
Long-lost voice and forgotten warmth So sad!
A phantom has come back to me.
Don't – Oh don't, please don't wake me up. I know!
Though numb I'm well aware this is not real
I know it's but a fragment of my past creeping back!
The shard of a broken memory.

Don't wake me up...
I'm willing to pretend
This one moment
Is more than a fragile figment.

I won't be another forsaken bride I won't!
Stop all the clocks and pretend time stood still
Not another mermaid turned to foam at dawn.
Because another came to fill the prince's thoughts.

You had wings but could not fly
You had wings but wished to hide,
Forever hide in the crowd

[Chorus]
Don't wake me up...
I'm willing to pretend
This one moment
Is more than a fragile figment.
Don't wake me now...
Under this dying moon
We vowed to hide
Into the darkness of daylight.

Drowning in a lake of pretense, did we ever make any sense?
Feeding on illusion so sweet, weren't we doomed from the beginning?
We were made up out of thin air, we'll be gone by morn, I don't care
Such are the poisonous chains and masks we wear.

I had wings but could never fly and your spirit used to sing with mine but they had no voices
We never made sense
You had wings but could never fly and my spirit used to sing with yours but they had no voices
We never made sense

Find music in any sound, Magic in the Northern Lights
Give in to fascination, Lure of sensation
Full of shouts, fury and cries, Life goes on, time passes by
Oblivious of the edge, a life in a cage

[Chorus]

Fade to black
As dawn breaks
Drawn apart,
Two fools awake.


8. THE SCREAM THAT NO ONE HEARD

Young Susie was just fourteen
Full of hopes and full of dreams
Fascinated with life, she’d capture
Moments before they’re gone, take pictures.
How could she have known a man
Would rob her of her future?
Lure her beneath the earth forever
To quench his thirst for youth and slaughter.

[Chorus]
He took it all away
She’s drifting alone in her own perfect world
Where linger the echoes of her scream
The scream that no one heard.

Watching from the in-between
Each night dreaming the same dream
She sees her bearings falling apart
Glass vessels wrecked and lost and shattered
May there be a way out,
A bleak beacon in the dark?
To escape a snow-globe of sorrow
But her soft heart’s afraid, she can’t go.

She’s a draft in the rain, she’s a whisper in vain
Pictures on a wall of tears are all that remains.

[Chorus]

A sea of light, promise of Heaven
But she can’t abide, her murderer’s watching again
Can she protect from pain?
Her sister’s his new prey.

[Chorus]


9. THE CYPRESS GROVE

"Sleep is a death, O make me try
By sleeping, what it is to die,
And as gently lay my head
On my grave, as now my bed." (Sir Thomas Browne)

Eyelids heavy, and limbs at rest
A murmur of stone-black waters
Invites to slumber through the waves
On a last journey, never to return

Chains are broken. You’re forsaken.
Lie and pray, you are here to stay
Sigh and stray into darkest ways
This is where the true journey begins.

Vision, naked horizon
A dream picture slowly appears
Motionless isle of solid soul
Crowned with cypress trees, where I'm bound to be

Stillness…
There is not a sound, all voices are gone
Dark clouds of despair colliding above
Soon I'll be walking in the cypress grove

Nevermore will I leave these shores
Nevermore will I pass these doors
I'm left to gather invisible dreams in the midst of ghosts

Stillness..
Precipitous cliffs are closing in on me
I'm facing the gate, dressed in snow white robe
Will I find haven in the cypress grove?

Stillness…
Now I lie awake in the shades of dawn
When the day's over, again shall I know
Ephemeral sleep in the cypress grove


10. LACUS SOMNIORUM (THE LAKE OF DREAMS)

Welcome to Horologium
City of brass and iron
You’re a cog in the machine
Round goes the wheel!
Welcome to Horologium
Men of steel and clouds of steam
Don’t touch anyone’s skin
For fear of feeling!

What if chimaeras are real
In a lake of dreams?

Clocks are no friends to man
The stream of life’s ticking away
There’s no getting off this train
Before the end!
Trilling sounds upon the roofs
The soft shift of sand upon sand
Dip your pen, maybe we can
Defeat concrete.

What if chimaeras are real
In a lake of dreams?
Waiting for us to yield
For us to believe

[Chorus]
Queen Mab’s whispering
In the poet’s ear
Chase the circus escapee
Track the golden trail of mystery

Never lay down your quill
Whenever you’re out of rhyme
Just write for the sake of words
Let (the) tables turn!
Build new castles in the air
Soft pillows make the strongest forts
Tiger, tiger burning bright
Outshine daylight!

What if chimaeras were real
In a lake of dreams?

[Chorus]

Lacus Somniorum