1. THE EPHEMERAL BURDEN

(Instrumental)


2. ABLAZE IN AUTUMN'S FIRE

Putrescence adorning the lands
The wreckage of aspiration and hope
Relics of a distant past lie crushed in ruin
The cold winds howl my name
Through dead trees, arms outstretched
Nothing here remains, but fragments
Fading into obscurity
All are nothing
The earth shall inherit the meek
I expunge that which defiles
The flames that purge and purify
The fires that cleanse and justify
I lay waste to the wasted
Boughs bent with the weight of a thousand corpses
Hanging bodies grin their skeletal smile
Yellow skin stretched tight over bleached bones
In celebration of humanity's fall
The cloying stench of rot
Permeates the autumn firmament
The fetid odour of decay hangs heavily in the air
And heartily do i draw breath
Inhaling dissolution
Drinking in the demise of humanity
Scattered leaves ablaze in autumns fire
I celebrate the fall of man
I am the deliverer of judgement
Heralding total extinction
Alone i stand in triumph
In exaltation
Holding sway over this eminent holocaust
Enraptured in blissful decrepitude


3. NOCTURNAL SPLENDOUR

The dusk sun sets in the blackening sky
Sinks into the earth extinguishing the light
The moon round and full now reigns
Bathes my being in hallowed shades
In reverence i praise the lunar sphere
Sets my soul free, i feel her so near
Far below, humanity lies inert
While i roam the night, ever alert
Discarding mortality, i follow the queen of night
Exhilarating darkness fills my sight
Celestial beauty
In her shadow all is real
Then do we her nocturnal splendour feel
Oh nocturnal splendour
I revel in her chill embrace
Oh nocturnal splendour
My soul a gift for thee to grace
And now she falls
Downward arc in stead
This greying eve, she'll soon lie dead
On final breath she dissipates
Intruding light has sealed her fate
I can't bear witness to her demise
Return to the flesh, where my crust lies
Solar globe exhumed at dawn
Once more at dusk the moon is born


4. CEASE TO BE

Submerged in this abyss
Lost in the desolation
Of this wretched tomb
This voluptuous womb
Devoid of deliverance
From this grave affliction
Suspended in time
I await the last abide
Dragged under in a sea of torment
I'm drowning in blackest night
My resolve dissolves
As comprehension dawns
Mortality is revoked
I concede to dissolution
At one with fate's decree
Alone and at peace
I cease to exist
I cease to be


5. CRIMSON BLACK BLEEDING

Feeling nothing
Pain, nor regret
Sorrow, love, nor pride
Just emptiness, shell of a man, nowhere to hide
Open the vein, life drains away, crimson black bleeding
Suffer no more, burden of life, sinking in silence
Feeling nothing
Thirst, nor hunger
Hatred, joy, nor lust
Just emptiness, shell of a man, dead inside
Corruption of virtue, spoiled by the passage of time
All hope lies bleeding, crushed by the living lie
Mortality torn asunder, raped by the phallus of life
Broken, devoid of faith, consumed by the need to escape
Crimson black bleeding
Silently sinking
Bound in chains, with no reprieve from enslavement
A joy to relinquish, the yoke of existence
No grave concern, for consequence or repercussion
No void left, nor grief-stricken tears shed
The blade cuts so deep
Beckons eternal sleep
Feeling no pain
Finally fading away


6. COLD IS THE GRAVE

Slowly consumed
By the gaping maw of darkness
Finally laid to rest
Among root and worm for eternity
Flesh drops from the bone
Bone decays to dust
I disappear
To become, one, with the earth
Crowned in earth, forever to sleep
Leaving behind the weight of the world
Cold is the grave, entombed in seclusion
Body surrenders to majestic decay
The tomb beckons, confine of shadows
Swallowed by this tenebrous abyss
Corrosive soil, biting and dank
Devouring the forsaken


7. LONGING

(Instrumental)


8. THE MOURNER

She cuts a solitary figure
A single mourner
Head bowed against the sun
Hands clasped to her breast
Her gaze so distant
Her mind revisiting time passed
Lost in a haze of fractured memories
A single tear trails down her cheek
Knowing that she will never see him again
Nor feel his touch nor hear his voice again.
For even now she struggles to picture him
His face receding into the darkness.
Convulsing in the throes of agony
Wracked by endless sobbing
A lost soul engulfed in misery
Ripped apart by a shattered heart
On her knees, crestfallen, beside the burial mound
She laments the loss of two lives
For she too has died this day
Condemned to a life of emptiness, she has nothing left
While his flesh returns to dust
So too is her spirit crushed
Taunted by the guilt and regret
Of squandered moments and wasted time
The sun kisses the earth and slowly sinks out of sight
Dusk heralding the birth of another endless night
Only the cloudless sky weeps tears of grief
Casting its silver spheres to glisten upon the earth
A simple stone monument stands in silent vigil
While grave flowers bend their backs against the sky
To perish and decay, never to be replaced
For never shall the bereaved return, but in death