DIMMU BORGIR

1. IN DEATH'S EMBRACE

By the light of the moon
And the beings of the night
A curse has been laid upon us
To seek and tear celestial gloss to pieces

By the power of death
And the shadow of the reaper
A call has been brought upon us
To complete the infinite fall of heaven

Without the wit or will to end this journey
We continue travelling towards our faith
Harvesting helpless Christian spirits
Raping the sanctity of saints

The heavenly father is stretching his hand
Pathetically begging for mercy
We spit and piss on his sacred flesh
As we breathe the breath of the unholy

For with the sign of the pentagram
Hellfire rage is for us to come
As we shall wander the pit

Unhallowed by the infernal one
We are forever captured
By the embrace of death


2. THE PROMISED FUTURE AEONS

Erotic and dreamlike still in its mortal disguise
A passionate ritual in the ruined gardens theatre
The painted angels - Shadowed high above
Once they gathered to worship at the picture of me
Like a whisper where there are no words
Appears the perplexed - The statue of might
In the cradle of the next generation
A spiraling ruin - Lost in the gathering dust

...the faces you saw in the withering garden
I witnessed the flickering - made to look like stone
Quivering like little figures lost in broken flames
Never to forget again the names carved in horrid flesh

Those words drawn in water - Become our legacy of fantasies

Burn the pictures
So unexpected in this strange deserted place
Once opened its secrets would become the world
Its attributes would continue to unfold forever

"Through the fabric of the promised future aeons
I offer this suffering of my unwanted father..."

...and the stars did wander - Separated in the forbidden universe


3. ERADICATION INSTINCTS DEFINED

As mortal manufactured waste
And part of the commonly infected
You prevent the ones worthy the gift of life
To surface on once a prosperous soil

As superficially bewildered whores
And succumbing to fictional truth
You are taught to preserve and profit
The life institutional lie

You worthless piece of shit
May we all depart from this world
And dissolve into nothingness
Compassion will not be granted
When life's value
Is point below zero

Human depravity is at our disposal
As the perfect tool to destroy mankind
The worst kind of them all
Modern times' ignorance, the world disease
Appeal to death of every man

A living hate smoldering abyss
Nurtured through centuries with quietly exercised wrath
Seeks the easiest way to the feed the engine
Praising the final bloodbath

Uncertainty and guilt
Will no longer endorse our fate
There will be no remorse, we kill to kill again
Killing all

Go ahead end it all, we deserve no better
As a forever unblessed detonation
The great plutonium chord fulminates
Blinding the eyes of creation

Cutting off all life support
Sweeping away existence instantly
Iced desolate ruins linger
Leaving traces of our lovely humanity

[repeat 1st and 6th verse]


4. PROGENIES OF THE GREAT APOCALYPSE

The battle raged on and on
Fuelled by the venom of hatred for man
Consistently, without the eyes to see
By those who revel in sewer equally

We, the prosperity of the future seal
Cloaked by the thunders of the north wind
Born to capture the essence of
The trails of our kind

Zero tolerance must be issued forth
Behind the enemy's line
So it shall be written
And so it shall be done

[repeat 1st and 2nd verse]

Discover and conceive the secret wealth
And pass it unto your breed
Become your own congregation
Measure the sovereignty of it's invigoration

We, who not deny the animal of our nature
We, who yearn to preserve our liberation
We, who face darkness in our hearts with a solemn fire
We, who aspire to the truth and pursue it's strength

Are we not the undisputed prodigy of warfare
Fearing all the mediocrity that they possess
Should we not hunt the bastards down with our might
Reinforce and claim the throne that is rightfully ours

Consider the god we could be without the grace
Once and for all
Diminish the sub principle and leave it's toxic trace
Once and for all


5. THE SERPENTINE OFFERING

My descent is the story of everyman
I am hatred, darkness and despair
My descent is the story of everyman
I am hatred, darkness and despair

Evoked and entertained through centuries
Wrathful and sullen -- Dormant still

The ferocity pervades everywhere
Waiting to be released at last
Hear my offering
Ye bastard sons and daughters
Share my sacrifice
Share my sacrifice.

My descent is the story of everyman
I am hatred, darkness and despair

Reconcile not with the fear of the snake
But embrace it as your own
Inject its venom into your veins
And replant the seed that gives growth
Still shrouded in mystery
Until you arise above perception
A veil of ignorance is in motion
Continuing throughout generations

(A veil of ignorance is in motion
Continuing throughout multiple generations
Let me be the one that deliver you from the deceit
And back into perfect accordance with the laws of nature)

The snake is notoriously tempting
But the snake is fair
What is worse than not knowing?
To live or disappear?

The ferocity pervades everywhere
Waiting to be released at last
Hear my offering
Ye bastard sons and daughters
Share my sacrifice
Share my sacrifice


AVANTASIA

6. THE SCARECROW

[Scarecrow (Tobias Sammet):]
I'm just a loser in the game of love
I'm just a stray boy in the shade
And how I wish to know what love is like
To find someone to contemplate

There's a voice and a million answers
To the questions I don't ask
A demon — I've got to contain
When I'm walking through the fen
Getting deep into the black
Whispers I can't restrain

Don't give in

[Chorus:]
Rise to fame — time will come
Make your claim — time has come
For the crow who fly away

[Mephistopheles (Jorn Lande):]
So you're an angel meant to walk down here
And you believe it's all divine
And you don't play by all those temporal rules
You watch the world begin to die

Alright — when the lamb's been torn to pieces
I've been crashing from the sky
Fallen to care for the prey,
they put a spoke right in your wheel
I'm the one to dare the weak,
to push you all over the pain
You give in — oh

[Chorus]

[Solo: Sascha Paeth]

[Scarecrow (Tobias Sammet):]
I close my eyes and I see what's coming my way
He's got treasure in his eyes that he's gonna turn to clay

[Mephistopheles (Jorn Lande):]
Hm, I'm a stranger,
I'm a changer
And I'm danger...
Maybe

[Scarecrow (Tobias Sammet):]
Fallen angel - waiting for the prey
The devil has come to take a maimed away
Penetration of the twisted mind
The evil is out for the weak and blind

I can feel it in your voice
Ever so sweet, no
Do I really have a choice? No, no, no!

[Mephistopheles (Jorn Lande):]
Oh, you burn your feet on unholy ground
You roam the barren wicked plains abound
In evil eyes and evil speak
Abound in all you evil freaks

When you say it's all divine and meant to be
What about your flesh and blood and defiers like me?

Their evil eyes are looking down on you
And those who don't are losing sight of you
Face the rage to chase away
The specter of disgrace and shame

Withered roses dying on the ledge
A withered dreamer standing on the edge
You dream of love—wake up to pain
You're better off to join in my game

She'll be better off to cry contrite tears
One day she'll wonder why she had to let you disappear
Oh dear

[Both]
Rise to fame — your time has come
Time will come to take the sun
Make your claim - you're drawn to the sound
Time has come — you're leaving ground

Rise to fame - the flight of the crow
Time will come - cross the line
Your time has come - for the crow to fly away

[Mephistopheles]
It's a flight to hell
Can you hear the bell?
The devil has come
To take your soul away
It's a flight to hell
alright

I'm a stranger
I'm a changer
And I'm danger
Fallen angel
Waiting for the prey


7. SYMPHONY OF LIFE

[Other]
Tonight, tonight, tonight
Heal me, heal me

Yes in the darkness of the night
I know there's someone near me
I can't explain but it's all right
As long as this won't leave me

I give to you my sacrifice
My virgin creed, my passion
I'm torn in two but all my life, my life
My life I'll wait for you

To near me
And reveal me

Rush tonight
We play the darkest of all symphonies
And in a flash of light
Then it'll all become the symphony of life
Of life, my life

Heal me

And in the deepness of my dreams
I know it's you that haunts me
In blood I swear my purity
And save my treasures for you

I give to you my sacrifice
And lay my burden down
Am I deranged that all my life, my life
My life I wait for you?

To cease me
And release me

Rush tonight
We play the darkest of all symphonies
And in a flash of light
Then it'll all become the symphony of life
Of life, my life

You haunt me, chase me like a beast
And with a taste so bittersweet
You love me, grieve me 'til I'm mad
Now is the moment

Rush tonight
We play the darkest of all symphonies
And in a flash of light
Then it'll all become the symphony of life
Of life, of life...

Rush tonight
We play the darkest of all symphonies
And in a flash of light
Then it'll all become the symphony of life
Of life, my life


8. DYING FOR AN ANGEL

[Scarecrow]
You're awake in your darkest dream
I have come for you

[Future Scarecrow]
And nobody can hear you scream
When I reach for you

[Scarecrow]
Don't you remember their feet in your face
Before they have carved you in stone

[Future Scarecrow]
And don't you remember your sweat and your pain
When you were drawn to the bone
When you were left all alone

[All]
Living on a dream
Dying for an angel
Reach out, waiting for a miracle
No sign of wings, as you turn your back on me

Living on a dream
Lonely, cold and dire
Head up, feet down in the fire
Give until you're gone
Dying for an angel
Everyday

[Scarecrow]
Where do we go from the apogee
What do we leave behind
And how will I stand what I'll have to see
This reflection of mine

[Future Scarecrow]
Collateral damage, your sacrifice
Gotta learn to fly and learn to fall
Gonna tear down the walls of love and lies
You have come on your own
You will go on all alone

[All]
Living on a dream
Dying for an angel
Reach out, waiting for a miracle
No sign of wings, as you turn your back on me

Living on a dream
Lonely, cold and dire
Head up, feet down in the fire
Give until you're gone
Dying for an angel
Everyday


9. FAREWELL (LIVE AT WACKEN)

[Gabriel]
Days had come, winters had gone,
and we gamboled like siblings in Paradise.
I was your knight, holding you tight
as a brother when I saw your crying eyes.
Time went by and we had to say goodbye.

Staring up to the clouds above
Children - so little and sad.
Hoping the saints could help one day
Lead us together again.
Holding the key to the alley of dreams
still in hands.

Time telling me to say farewell
but I knew that I would fight hell
and I knew: We will
go for another time we can see,
for another time we'll be free,
for no more farewell.

[Anna]
Stepbrother tell me where have you been
when they brought me to this godforsaken place.
Sign of the cross - they took me away
for healing with herbs by the way of grace.
Now I wait for the day to feed the flames.

[Gabriel]
I have been caught in a cage of despair.
My heart as a monk's cell so empty and bare.
But no holy water can make me
forget you again...

Time telling me to say farewell
but I knew that I would fight hell
and I knew: We will
go for another time we can see,
for another time we'll be free,
for no more farewell.

[Lugaid]
No farewell could be the last one.
If you long to meet again...


10. RUNAWAY TRAIN

[Conscience]
Goodbye
Your pocket full of dreams
Your mind in a daze
Keep on chasing rainbows
Fly high
Leave the past behind
The dark road you take bears no escape

[Mephistopheles]
In a world of grand illusions
Where love is just a dream
You gotta make your sacrifices
Time to pick your poison

The fool is he who is noble-minded
And bellies up to poverty
He's not a king in the world of diamonds
Paling into oblivion

[Scarecrow]
I lay down my soul for glory
I've given a life away
Don't know if I am sorry
Blind me, blind me

Don't know where I'll be going
I gotta get away
From the pain of recollection
Drawn into the faint

[All]
Hang on to a runaway train
No turning back
Tethered to a runaway train
Take me away
Torpid in the wind and rain
No turning back
Hang on to a runaway train
Take me away

[Scarecrow]
If I'm a stranger to myself
Then I better gotta stay away
Even better gotta get away, get away
Time to pick my poison

Feel the devil sitting in my neck
Straight ahead into the unknown
Oh father I forgive you for I
Don't know what I'm doing

[Mephistopheles]
It's only human nature
To keep away from pain
Take a train to ecstasy oh
Ride on, ride on

Inhale the scent of heaven
Respire the smell of fame
You've been to hell and back
You can't change things anyway, no

[Scarecrow]
I hang on to a runaway train
No turning back
Tethered to a runaway train
Take me away
Torpid in the wind and rain
No turning back
I hang on to a runaway train
Take me away

[Mentor]
Reaching out to rule the world
you'll watch the mirror shatter
As you'll be dazzled by the sight
Once only diamonds mattered

How can you justify the way
When you wake up screaming
Will you pretend that you were blind
When you were really seeing

Your image everywhere
The looking glass: a sheet of ice
It's thick enough to dance on
In a frozen realm of lies

But the ice will break
And you will scream repenting
Oh boy, the ice will break
You'll just feel your heart rending

[Scarecrow]
Riding on to a world of funny flowers
Riding on to the white wide world
If coming back would hurt my pride
I'd rather take another ride
Riding on, winter on the mirror
Riding on into the unknown
If I'll awake in pain one day
I've gotta catch just one more train

[Conscience]
Days gone by
Who'd wanna live forever
On our knees up your road
Paved with good intentions
Fly high
Where angels can't breathe no more
Some dare to go blind
Some stay behind

[Scarecrow]
I hang on to a runaway train
No turning back
Tethered to a runaway train
Take me away
Torpid in the wind and rain
No turning back
I hang on to a runaway train
Take me away

Hang on to a runaway train
No turning back
Tethered to a runaway train
Take me away
Torpid in the wind and rain
in the wind and rain
I hang on to that runaway train


SONATA ARCTICA

11. PAID IN FULL

I was nowhere near,
ready when all it ended.
So I hoped we could find a new day,
cannot live without you.

You gave me the chance,
time and again, in vain.
Now my feelings for you,
every tear, every smile, paid in full.

Break the chain,
but no longer can I take the pain.

It's hard for me to love myself right now.
I've waited, hated, blamed it all on you.

Needed to be strong,
yet I was always too weak.

So I can only blame myself,
for this state we are in.
I will take what you have for me now,
if it's not too late.

Did you change?
I did too!
Love can grow from the last grain.

It's hard for me to love myself right now,
I've waited, hated, blamed it all on you.

I need you less and less,
every day feeds this moral decay.
Yet I have grown to love you even more.

I fall back and I turn another cheek.
You mouth the words, you're not ready to speak.
You're scared of me now, I never had a clue,
that I'd become so much stronger than you.

I will take what you have for me now,
if it's not too late.
If you like, I will leave,
I will not miss the last train again.

It's hard for me to love myself right now.
I've waited, hated, blamed it all on you.
It's hard for me to love your face right now.
I'm waiting, hating, needing being me.

I need you less and less,
every day leads us farther away,
from that moment.

It's hard for me to hate myself right now,
finally I understanding me.
One day we may have a new me's and you's,
but first I need to learn to love me too.


12. SHAMANDALIE

In good old times,
remember my friend.
Moon was so bright,
and so close to us sometimes.

We were still blind and deaf,
what a bliss?
Painting the world of our own,
for our own eyes now?

Can we ever have what we had then?
Friendship unbreakable!
Love means nothing to me,
without blinking an eye.

I'd fade, if so needed,
all those moments with you.
If I had you beside me.

One cloudy day,
we both lost the game?
We drifted so far and away.

Nothing is quite,
as cruel as a child.
Sometimes we break,
the unbreakable, sometimes?

And we'll never have what we had then.
Friendship unbroken.
Love means nothing to me,
without blinking an eye.

I'd fade, if so needed,
all those moments with you.
If I had you beside me now.

I was unable to cope with what you said,
sometimes we need to be cruel to be kind.
Child that I was, could not see the reason.
Feelings I had were but sham and a lie?

I have never forgotten your smile.
Your eyes, oh, Shamandalie.
Time went by, many memories died.
I'm writing this down to ease my pain.

You saw us always clearer than me,
how we were never meant to be.
Love denied meant the friendship would die.
Now I have seen the light!

These memories make me cry.

Can I ever have what I had then?
Friendship unbroken!
Love means nothing to me,
without blinking an eye.

I'd fade, if so needed,
all those moments with you.
See the world with my wide open eyes.

Friendship got broken,
there's no other for me,
like the one of my childhood days.

Can you forgive me?
The love got better off me,
on that one day back in old times.


13. FLY WITH THE BLACK SWAN

Cry for help!

Once I got caught in an avalanche,
I must have died!
When a black swan,
flew to the rescue and cried.

An offer I could not refuse,
now I'm working on the other side.

Well, I flew with the bird then,
we flew all night!
I got to see my prison,
from a thousand feet high.

Buy me a drink,
and I tell you 'bout the black swan.

Must keep those black wings folded,
until the time is right,
to find the one whom I can steal,
a soul from, to buy more time.

Must keep my secrets untold,
until the wrongs are right,
the only one I could deceive, I buy my time.
Need you to fly on the black swan.

The date is set, we all must face it.
Door to door, seeking salvation.
I must, for die I wish not!
My hopes stay afloat when you give in to the...

Silver lining, sharp and so cold.
Anger fades into a vague smile.
You see, I'm ready to do it for everyone.
I stabbed you in the back, who will save you now?

Don't worry, I've done this before,
it'll hurt like Hell and leave you sore.
No use escaping, hold on to your ticket of gold,
and close your eyes.

One day I know you will sell your soul,
and trade all you are for silver and gold.
You'll gets an odd advice from a stranger.
Take it from me, with love.

Once I was in love with someone like you,
engaged to be whole.
Got torn out of your memories,
covered in snow.

I need to find a way,
to pass on the gift I once received.

I'm ready to face it, I'll take my chances.
If I am returning to the deep dark snow grave, so be it.
I should not rest now, but forever!
I'll feed the ferryman's creed,
with an empty promise for my lost soul.

Must keep those black wings folded,
until the darkest night.
I steal a soul from you to buy me some time.

Pouring boiling water on a solid frozen flower.
Black nailed finger of the creator.

Must keep those black wings folded,
until the time is right,
to find the one whom I can steal,
a soul from, to buy more time.

Must keep my secrets untold,
until the wrongs are right,
the only one I could deceive, I buy my time.
Need you to fly with the black swan.


14. DEATHAURA

I: The Premonition

"Remember when I told you,
how my kin is different in some ways?
And how you should not fall in love,
with someone like me, anyway.

Between the lines, people see signs.
When they feel the sear, every day's fear.
And one night their torches find the girl without a name.
And the one who has her love is no more safe.

And until I get my peace,
I'm but a shade..."


II: The Witch-hunt

The sun lit the White Mountain's snow covered peaks.
There I see you, amongst the good people suffering.

"She is the one,
the unwanted, decidedly so,
because she makes our children cry.

It's a fact, she is exactly that!
A harbinger of Death,
from the world of witchcraft!

And she's feeding them cakes,
and her ale to this innocent boy.
And her magic brings dismay."

III: Exposing The Heathen

"I hear her in the wind,
the bane of our town.
Come with me, father!
I'm to expose a heathen."

In my home town, no one's safe now.
Young love's been forbidden,
for five-fold kisses.
My only love had to die.

IV: Envy

"Your crops are all flourishing,
so what's the catch?
I know what you are,
the new evil unhatched.

As sure as the dawn,
they will hear what I know!
And recognize you,
and you'll be cleansed too."

V: The Fear

For the good, trusting people in town,
in their fear stricken hearts,
seeing skyclad's a sign like the Deathaura.

Every night, so painful's the memory,
of love in the dark.
One wheel of the year,
ends their short lives in fear.

"I hear her in the wind,
the bane of our town.
Come with me, father!
The heathen is exposed."

VI: The Grudge

In the age of burning times,
you saved my life.
The blaze grew ever higher.

I was your cunning man,
hiding in the light.
Now your land shall go sour.

Your own fears will destroy everything.
Envy consumes all and "thou shall not!"
Though it hurts, I must tell you:

"I am truly the one behind it all."

VII: The Curse

In the hands of time we all will die.
The dead of the night will devour your child.
The creation of beliefs you've been fed,
the fear, the unknown, the poison loved by Death.

VIII: The Flames

In the cool of the night air,
flames purify minds,
where almost anyone could be the next.
"Unless morning finds all of them somehow, hexed."

IX: Endless Inquisition

-Instrumental-

X: ...Together, Today, For All Eternity

"I remember how you told me,
your kin's different on that sunny day?

You made me smile,
because I was just about,
to say the same thing."

So deeply entwined,
love of a lifetime.

But they paid someone to say,
their torment has a name.
And after all these years,
we get to be together for all eternity.


15. JULIET

These are my final lines,
I've lived all my nine lives.
My nights are over,
cannot feel your heart anymore.

I lived only trough you.
My scar, my heart, my truth.
I do not want to die,
but no more can I love you!

How hard it is to understand,
my wish to die hand in hand.
This night's like a dream,
you will be the last thing I will see.

I hold your hand and close my eyes,
all I love finally dies.
Drank the poison most foul with you,
but why do you smile?

Don't smile,
don't you smile!

You're supposed to wither away with me!
So Juliette, please don't smile.
I'm paralysed and you are still alive.

Life is but a long sad game!
Drifting souls, avoiding shame.
Two dead swans is all what we need,
to pave the winding memory lane.

No hellos, no bad goodbyes.
Wailing distant, silent cries.
You can live with my pain,
it's your own you cannot take.

You played the game and lost,
I wonder how you can,
hold the cards for a dead man.

The light and the clarity.
Welcome change for the life in the darkness,
sea of my sanity.

Lost in the vanity.
All I ever wanted was to be lost in you.
My burden, the hatred.

My own reality, mirrors and smoke.
The final truth unfolds!
Your reality mirrors my hopes,
Where you will need me.

They never find us again,
once the trail has gone cold.
They never find us again,
once the trail has gone cold.

I'm a restless soul,
I'll make the best ghost.
All things good end into a...

Minute of silence,
I get myself in line.
One minute of silence,
to face my own demise.

One minute of silence,
this is not what I signed for.
One minute of silence,
you double-crossing, filthy whore.

I sit with someone in the dark,
so afraid to see it's me again.
You had a change of heart,
now we're all getting hurt.

Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to my life again.
Walk with me every curve, every bend.
This promenade that seems to come to an end.

You know what you meant to me,
emptied the room in your life that I paid for.
When I lost my sanity,
I made a mess, I am now here to clean.

It is too late to regret anything tonight.
After what has come to light,
you have played me for a fool, for all this time?
The story may rewrite itself after I'm gone.
One more breath, the day will dawn!

How hard it is to understand,
my wish to die hand in hand.
These wounds stay open all night long,
you are the last thing I will see.

I lived only by you!
My scar, my heart, my truth.
My sole reason to die,
there's no life without you.

These are my final lines,
I've used all my nine lives.
My life is over,
cannot feel your heart anymore.

I lived only by you!
My scar, my heart, my truth.
Have no reason to live,
I can't feel the love anymore.

This is the end.
Why?
You're closing my eyes...