1. WAIL OF THE NORTH

Under these cold northern stars
Songs are filled with sorrow
Brief is the time of summer winds
Moon is sad as the night

Here the callous frost slowly crawls inside the hearts
Here the winter's breeze will break the purest soul
Grown on this rimed soil we've learnt to rue and yearn
Grown in these bleak woods we've learnt to forsake our dreams

And again, the mourning unfolds before me
Like an open black grave (Like an open black grave)


2. VALEDICTION

Underneath the blackest soil
I lay down my warm, beating heart
And deep beneath the frozen ground
I bury down my deepest thoughts

Because the road I've chosen
Is free of fortune and desire
Or the mundane toil and worry
Because the trail I've taken
Leads down into the darkest shores
Where the stars have passed away

Tonight, the world is burning
Black smoke hides the skies
Tonight, dark clouds rising up
Swirling, shadows engulf the land
Shadows engulf the land

By the side of forsaken path
I leave behind my old shadow
Into the deep under these shores
I drown my broken memories

Because the road I've chosen
Is free of fortune and desire
Or the mundane toil and worry
Because the trail I've taken
Leads down into the darkest shores
Where the stars have passed away

'Cause tonight, the world is burning
Black smoke hides the skies
Tonight, dark clouds rising up
Swirling, shadows engulf the land
Shadows engulf the land

For something to change
Something has to give
For something to grow
Something has to yield
(I kiss the light goodbye)

'Cause tonight, the world is burning
Black smoke hides the skies
Tonight, dark clouds rising up
Swirling, shadows engulf the land
Shadows engulf the land


3. NERVERLAST

When you revel and feast
Bask in victories
When you ravish the crown
Claim the godly reward

Do not forget the lurking crows
Sitting on the gallows
Looming against the sky
Waiting for your demise

Soon on the scaffold
The king will stand

For the mirth and glory
Will never last
For the love and ardor
Will never dure

When you behold her glow
Fairness and the grace
When you can feel her warmth
Blazing right beside you

Do not forget the unkind fate
Doom that hangs upon you
All here is meant to end
It's only temporary

Even the fairest flower
Will soon die

For everything is meant to end
Nothing here is built to last

When you long to touch the sun
Grab the sphere of divine clouds
Don't forget that if you reach the utmost peak
Then the fall down shall hurt even more


4. PALE MORNING STAR

Long is the trail of the day
Into the lap of the evening dusk
Sweetest the hour of sleep
For I am weary of sorrow and pain

Into the tender night I now lapse
Into the slumber so sound and deep
Arching over the ravines of time
Bridge into the shrouded lands

For you left before me
My pale morning star
Now you walk in undying light
And I'm still chained in this rimed soil

When twilight wreathes my senses
The heavenly ones will linger here

Right here by my feverish side
The ghosts of those I loved
Gone is the cruelest longing now
Undone this grief of mine

For you left before me
My pale morning star
Now you walk in undying light
And I'm still chained in this rimed soil

And still I can sense you
Still I can hear your voice
Still I quiver under your touch

Celestial shine in your hair
Empyreal crown upon your brow
Radiance blurs my teary eyes

Broken is the sphere of the body
As the spirit will ascend

Broken is the sphere of the body
As the spirit will ascend
Over the infinite boundaries
Over the gulches of death

Once you carried me
From the night into the sun
And now I follow your steps
Into the unseen land

Sore are these weary eyes
When I pass into the light
Blinding the eternal glow
After the long path in the dark

Wide awake amidst the dream
I stand by your side
I tremble before your gleam
My pale morning star

I stand by your side
My pale morning star


5. AND BELLS THEY TOLL

Lonely path across the marshland
Leads to a forlorn grey lodge
Grey like the misery
Empty, abandoned
For the lone dweller is now gone

Ailment and poverty was her lot
Only guest ever the nightly frost that crept inside
Brief were the moments of bliss and gladness
For on this hoar peatland no joy will live

And bells they toll
In cold morning light

Once there was a fleeting time
When sky was less dark for a while
And the one that she adored
Walked her across the churchyard

Flowers bloomed and bells they tolled
Hopeful was the spring's tone
But on this barren marshland
No gladness will ever last

Here the nightly frost will creep inside the hearts
Here the brittle flowers will die before their time
And soon came the day, when bells they tolled again
For her dearest one, beneath the stones now lies
Under the churchyard sleeps


6. THE OFFERING

On through the burning night
The fever and the fear
Against the gates of death
I pound, I wail, I cry

With broken voice and heart
I demand a bargaining
I offer all I have
This blackened soul of mine

That once was pure, unspoilt
That once was fair

Hear me now
Open up your hinges
Let me enter
Receive my soul

Let me lapse into the dusk
Into soothing shadows
Gladly I will step down
Redeem the one I love

On through the scalding nights
The anguish and despair
Against the gates of death
I claw, I wilt, I starve

It would be just and fair
To let this old man fade away
Accept this sacrifice
This doomed soul of mine

It would only be right
To take this soul
My offering
It would only be fair
To let my dearest live
Still walk this earth


7. MUTE IS MY SORROW

How could there be laughter left in these songs
How could there be mirth and joy in this world
For what am I now anymore
But a wretched old bard
Weary and torn

For all of those dreams have withered and died
For all of those hopes have vanished into night
No grace in this voice anymore
But a wretched old bard
Forlorn and torn

But there was ever only one
The one that I would hold
The one that I still long

Mute is the sorrow of mine
Voiceless the yearning inside
Dark is the path in the end
Sore are the wounds I hide

Once there was a time when they all praised my name
Once there was a time when hearts turned to me
For even the birds hearkened to my song
That quivered in the wind
Echoed through the night

But where is the glory, the gold and fame now
But where is the crown that once blazed on my brow
Not one by my side anymore
This wretched old bard
Unsung and torn

And after all the years that go by
I remember the one
The one that I still look for

Only for her I would play my tunes
Only for her I would write these words
Only to her I would sing
But she never hearkened to me


8. TWILIGHT TRAILS

I rue the day
The day I turned the tides
I made a grave mistake
Left from your side

Now I am lost in the shadows' lap
Straying on this downward road
Now I am left in the woods of woe
Roaming these twilight trails

You asked me to stay
But I closed the gate behind me

Bright lights beyond the trees
The gleam above the skyline
In vain I tried to reach
In vain I sought

And too late I comprehend
It was just illusion
I've spent all those years chasing
Something I once had
Long time ago

I cannot find my way home
I cannot find the way to you (Anymore)

With a black shroud over my eyes
I don't see the skies or the earth
I don't see if the moon will die
Or the sun turns cold

A dreary path that weaves down below
Into the hidden abyss of the evenfall
And here I stand on the darkened shore
Forgotten man at the edge of the world

For what is there left for me anymore
But to languish and slowly fade away
Regret and penance only friends by my side
When I sink into the void of the night

I lapse… (I lapse…)
Descend…
Alone…


9. HEART LIKE A GRAVE

Sound of the waves
Song of the woeful wind
Beauty of yearning
The tune of my heart
For once there was a time
When I sat by your side
And right before our eyes
The world was open wide


Days of youth
Not long since gone
Never return
To return again
But a long slow desert left anymore
The waning years of
Heartache and regrets


And yet the wind sing
They sing the fairest tune
I hear the waves sigh
They sigh out from pain

And since you set out
To reach for your hopes and dreams
I'll stay here helpless and in sight
For these wounded wings
I never left this barren soil
Where all my wishes slowly fade away

Days of youth
Not long since gone
Never return
To return again
But a long slow desert left anymore
The waning years of
Heartache and regrets

Do you still remember?
Would you still believe
That this blackened soul of mine
Was once untarnished?


Years of disappointment
and disillusion
All I see in the mirror now
Is an old man with heart like a grave
Do you still remember?
Would you still believe
That this blackened soul of mine
Was once untarnished?


10. KARELIA

(Instrumental)