DISC 1


RECORD LIVE IN DUBLIN, IRELAND, 24/01/2009


1. EMPIRE FALLS

A cold wind is blowing
Through the graves it is blowing
And it bares a poisoned tongue
And the foul breath of deceit

I am my fathers son
And his deeds
Cannot be undone... be undone

You trade in his blood
Writing your history
In the sacrifices of the dead

Where is the fighting man?
Am I he?
You would trade every truth
For hollow victories

Every empire will fall
Every monument crumble
Forgotten men who watch the centuries

Whose silent words
Rise up in betrayal
We will rise up in betrayal

Where is the fighting man?
Am I he?
You would trade every truth
For hollow victories

Every empire falls
And the earth to ashes turn
The lands of my birth
Shall be my tomb

The are the lands, the lands of my birth
Soon to be ruins, the ruins of my past
And when the sky should fall
The earth to ashes turn
Then you know they shall be my tomb

Where is the fighting man?
I am he
You would trade every truth
For hollow victories


2. FUIL ARSA

Mairfidh ar bhfuil go deo
I gciorcal timpeall na cruinne

A dheite arsa... Ta ar Aine fºs ar lasadh
Tog muidne do mhuintir... Go siorai

An rud a eirionn ºn gcre
Fillfidh se aris
Ta na coillte suilta agam
Mhothainn na spirid... Mhothainn an phian

Ag tnuth
Le rich athoireacha seanda arsa, ar
Ard rithe
Le sui... I gcuimhne na glºire

Muintir na ndeithe
Muintir na nirt
Muintir na tola

Ag fi draoichta
Mealltach na cruinne

Oscallaionn se go fairsing dom
M'fhuil ge siorai


3. GALLOWS HYMN

And sister, do not pray for me
There is no forgiveness here
Just the longest and the darkest night
And my people's end

And brother, many a crooked day we spent
Telling tales and making myths
And sharpening our tongues
Yet doing little but growing old

I was never a religious man
So why should I put my faith in you?
You burned your bridges a long time ago
I'm a heathen, searching for his soul


4. SONS OF THE MORRIGAN

Shone the sunset red and solemn
Where we stood and observed
Down the corners of the column
Letter strokes of Ogham carved
'tis belike a burial pillar
Said he and those shallow lines
Hold some warriors name of valour
And will rightly show the signs

No one saw, how far I fell
And no one ever knew
That there was a heart of flesh
Deep within me
As it was, bled of the twisted horn
And the howling of the dogs
Raise on old Heroes lament
While the weeping of women
Still vexes my heart

If this is my Journey End
Then cast me to the pyre
And if all that remains
Is a blackened heart
And the stench of death
Then know my spell is cast
And sing my song
With pride once more


5. CAST TO THE PYRE

(Nothing seems to make sense, I'm tired of it all, I've stopped searching
for meanings... there are none. Time heals nothing, all it does is make you
more bitter, more twisted yet sucks the life out of you... leaving you too
apathetic to seek revenge. Revenge on a society that has lied to you since
the day you were born. Only humanity would fill it's days with so much
fucking misery to prove to itself that it must be worth something. To
who?... to who are you worth something? Who would ever fucking miss you...
who will miss you when you are dead? I will tell you... no one...)

It's time to cast out of net
To call in all the old debts
To stumble over all the harsh words
And heal all the wounds
To steal every glance
Every darkened romance
And cast it to the pyre

To rewrite the words, feign the phrases
To finally finish those unwritten pages
If I even closed the chapter on you
I'm sorry, I never knew what else to do
It's last call and the hour is late
Time for the last nail in the coffin
Then cast me to the fire...

[People, places, passages in time, seizing the moment even though the slow burning pain may consume you...]


6. THE GOLDEN SPIRAL

One day I stood with my back to the wind
And the rain fell down
Raised my fist to the cobalt sky
And called to the Gods
...Where are you?

I stood in the stream with cold clear water
Rushing around me
Cold stone underfoot
And called again to the Gods
...Where are you?

I sat in the forest clearing
Surrounded by wood and leaf
A Raven watched my every move
I could feel my heartbeat Thundering
Deep within my veins

I set foot on foreign land
Held my brothers and sisters to me
And saw the same questions in them
Yet when I clasped their hands
I felt their Blood beneath mine
I had found my answer


7. AS ROME BURNS

We are falling over the ends of the earth
So gather your sons and daughters before you
And tell them that these are the final days of all
Preach to the paupers
And sing to the slaves

I see you've chosen to loose your faith
To burn your bridges and lose your way
From mountain top to valley deep
From shore to cursed shore
What Nation, what State what Land is this?
The wretched Tribe of Nero...

Sing Sing Sing to the Slaves
Sing to the Slaves that Rome Burns

Are our bones not dust?
Is our Blood not Poison?
On my knees in the black light
Praying for Salvation, bitter Redemption
So throw your dice and cast your shadow
You may look away
But your children will not...


8. THE COFFIN SHIPS

Young hearts born with grief
Shall pay the penalty of truth
A season of stolen youth
Shall teach old hearts to break

It feels like I've been here before
Here where the animals lay down to die
So we stood alone on a distant store
Our broken spirits in rags and tatters

Nerve and muscle, heart and brains
Lost to Ireland, lost in vain
So you pause and you can almost hear
The sounds, they echo down through the ages
The creak of the burial cart
Here in humiliation and sorrow
Not mixed with indignation
So one is driven to exclaim
Oh god, that bread should be so dear
And human flesh so cheap*

Young hearts are born with such grief
And we have paid the penalty of truth
A season of our stolen youth
Shall teach our hearts to break


9. TRAITORS GATE

Borders swell like the oceans
Nations swept away
In the steel rain
Wounds carved in the earth
The silent hands of genocide
Map the years
Forgotten legacies of dust
People remembered in nothing
But fragments of language
Verses of song
And shards of military rust

The gallows cold hands
Tighten old rope
Young men hang in the fetid breeze
Like rotten fruit
Too ripe for harvest
They have marched us
Through the streets
Heralded our death
Proclaimed our end
And brought us to our knees

A host of the willing few
Is gathered at the Traitors Gates
Demanding their pound of flesh
And their weight in gold

The tyrant
Resurrected as King
Who's Midas touch an Iron Fist
All the world proclaiming
Yesterday's man as Traitor
Yet welcome with open arms
His brother as tomorrows Dictator


10. JOURNEY'S END

Shafts of morning dew, fade to dusk
Fires in the distance, make shadows dance
Under this Blood Red Sky, a million martyrs died
And beneath the pale moon's face
They shall Again Arise...

Some things are best left in dreams
Reality, can be a cruel mistress
Are your lessons learnt?...
Chapters close, veins collapse
A passage ends,
A rite is earnt...

Their Blood hath quenched the land
Their spirit has set the stone
And forever the Pagan lands shall cry
With a heart so heavy...
...and limbs so weary

Let no man for his sins atone our days of Glory have gone...


11. NO NATION ON THIS EARTH

The sea will be as a desert
When my bones are long to dust
Beneath shifting dunes
And the searing Unconquerable son

Pile the bodies on the pyre
Warm the old heart of the earth
This is no place for faith, nor for hope
Just a journey through the darkest of nights
To the old heart of the earth

These are wounds made by cold hands
That know the bite of steel
Hands that have rendered life extinct
And punished the weak at heart

Tell me what Nation on this Earth
Is not born of Tragedy?
That has not felt such harsh weapons
Wielded by cruelty's desire


12. GODS TO THE GOLDESS

I have one Desire
let it be
a Pestilence upon your lands
a Plague upon all your houses
it is my wish
to Enslave all your people
The soil enriched with their Blood
To Burn your places of Worship
Our Gods shall become your Gods

All that lives on the vine is rotten
may your wines be foul
and your bread as the flesh of the dead
an ill wind to bring nought but decay
and the stench of your Slaughtered kin

The newborn, borne with fear in their eyes
and slavery in their limbs
as tools to build a new Empire
We are your cross to bear
Perhaps you shall be a martyred people
But as sure as the Night follows the Day
...a Dead People


13. HEATHEN TRIBES

This is my church
It stands so tall and proud
It has done for all time

It has no walls
Yet its vast halls
Reach from shore to shore

To whatever shore
You know as your own
We stand as one, we stand alone

We are born
From the same womb
Hewn from the same stone

From the frozen Baltic
I watched sunrise over Athena
Walked the battlefields of Flanders
And saw duskfall at Cintra

Beneath the spires of Sofia
Fields of crosses at Arnhem
Armenius stood tall in Teuteborg
Senatus Populusque Romanus

To the fjords of Hordaland
Shadows of ancient Albion
At the shore of a 1000th lake
Saint Vitus dance in Praha

Yet when to Ireland we Return
I know that I am home at last
And every sun that sets
Takes me closer to her Earth


DISC 2


RECORDED LIVE AT RAGNAROK FESTIVAL, GERMANY, 2008


1. EMPIRE FALLS

A cold wind is blowing
Through the graves it is blowing
And it bares a poisoned tongue
And the foul breath of deceit

I am my fathers son
And his deeds
Cannot be undone... be undone

You trade in his blood
Writing your history
In the sacrifices of the dead

Where is the fighting man?
Am I he?
You would trade every truth
For hollow victories

Every empire will fall
Every monument crumble
Forgotten men who watch the centuries

Whose silent words
Rise up in betrayal
We will rise up in betrayal

Where is the fighting man?
Am I he?
You would trade every truth
For hollow victories

Every empire falls
And the earth to ashes turn
The lands of my birth
Shall be my tomb

The are the lands, the lands of my birth
Soon to be ruins, the ruins of my past
And when the sky should fall
The earth to ashes turn
Then you know they shall be my tomb

Where is the fighting man?
I am he
You would trade every truth
For hollow victories


2. GALLOWS HYMN

And sister, do not pray for me
There is no forgiveness here
Just the longest and the darkest night
And my people's end

And brother, many a crooked day we spent
Telling tales and making myths
And sharpening our tongues
Yet doing little but growing old

I was never a religious man
So why should I put my faith in you?
You burned your bridges a long time ago
I'm a heathen, searching for his soul


3. SONS OF THE MORRIGAN

Shone the sunset red and solemn
Where we stood and observed
Down the corners of the column
Letter strokes of Ogham carved
'tis belike a burial pillar
Said he and those shallow lines
Hold some warriors name of valour
And will rightly show the signs

No one saw, how far I fell
And no one ever knew
That there was a heart of flesh
Deep within me
As it was, bled of the twisted horn
And the howling of the dogs
Raise on old Heroes lament
While the weeping of women
Still vexes my heart

If this is my Journey End
Then cast me to the pyre
And if all that remains
Is a blackened heart
And the stench of death
Then know my spell is cast
And sing my song
With pride once more


4. AS ROME BURNS

We are falling over the ends of the earth
So gather your sons and daughters before you
And tell them that these are the final days of all
Preach to the paupers
And sing to the slaves

I see you've chosen to loose your faith
To burn your bridges and lose your way
From mountain top to valley deep
From shore to cursed shore
What Nation, what State what Land is this?
The wretched Tribe of Nero...

Sing Sing Sing to the Slaves
Sing to the Slaves that Rome Burns

Are our bones not dust?
Is our Blood not Poison?
On my knees in the black light
Praying for Salvation, bitter Redemption
So throw your dice and cast your shadow
You may look away
But your children will not...


5. THE COFFIN SHIPS

Young hearts born with grief
Shall pay the penalty of truth
A season of stolen youth
Shall teach old hearts to break

It feels like I've been here before
Here where the animals lay down to die
So we stood alone on a distant store
Our broken spirits in rags and tatters

Nerve and muscle, heart and brains
Lost to Ireland, lost in vain
So you pause and you can almost hear
The sounds, they echo down through the ages
The creak of the burial cart
Here in humiliation and sorrow
Not mixed with indignation
So one is driven to exclaim
Oh god, that bread should be so dear
And human flesh so cheap*

Young hearts are born with such grief
And we have paid the penalty of truth
A season of our stolen youth
Shall teach our hearts to break


6. HEATHEN TRIBES

This is my church
It stands so tall and proud
It has done for all time

It has no walls
Yet its vast halls
Reach from shore to shore

To whatever shore
You know as your own
We stand as one, we stand alone

We are born
From the same womb
Hewn from the same stone

From the frozen Baltic
I watched sunrise over Athena
Walked the battlefields of Flanders
And saw duskfall at Cintra

Beneath the spires of Sofia
Fields of crosses at Arnhem
Armenius stood tall in Teuteborg
Senatus Populusque Romanus

To the fjords of Hordaland
Shadows of ancient Albion
At the shore of a 1000th lake
Saint Vitus dance in Praha

Yet when to Ireland we Return
I know that I am home at last
And every sun that sets
Takes me closer to her Earth


7. GODS TO THE GODLESS

I have one Desire
let it be
a Pestilence upon your lands
a Plague upon all your houses
it is my wish
to Enslave all your people
The soil enriched with their Blood
To Burn your places of Worship
Our Gods shall become your Gods

All that lives on the vine is rotten
may your wines be foul
and your bread as the flesh of the dead
an ill wind to bring nought but decay
and the stench of your Slaughtered kin

The newborn, borne with fear in their eyes
and slavery in their limbs
as tools to build a new Empire
We are your cross to bear
Perhaps you shall be a martyred people
But as sure as the Night follows the Day
...a Dead People


RECORDED LIVE AT HOVE FESTIVAL, NORWAY, 2008


8. THE COFFIN SHIPS

Young hearts born with grief
Shall pay the penalty of truth
A season of stolen youth
Shall teach old hearts to break

It feels like I've been here before
Here where the animals lay down to die
So we stood alone on a distant store
Our broken spirits in rags and tatters

Nerve and muscle, heart and brains
Lost to Ireland, lost in vain
So you pause and you can almost hear
The sounds, they echo down through the ages
The creak of the burial cart
Here in humiliation and sorrow
Not mixed with indignation
So one is driven to exclaim
Oh god, that bread should be so dear
And human flesh so cheap*

Young hearts are born with such grief
And we have paid the penalty of truth
A season of our stolen youth
Shall teach our hearts to break


9. GODS TO THE GOLDESS

I have one Desire
let it be
a Pestilence upon your lands
a Plague upon all your houses
it is my wish
to Enslave all your people
The soil enriched with their Blood
To Burn your places of Worship
Our Gods shall become your Gods

All that lives on the vine is rotten
may your wines be foul
and your bread as the flesh of the dead
an ill wind to bring nought but decay
and the stench of your Slaughtered kin

The newborn, borne with fear in their eyes
and slavery in their limbs
as tools to build a new Empire
We are your cross to bear
Perhaps you shall be a martyred people
But as sure as the Night follows the Day
...a Dead People


RECORDED LIVE AT GRASPOP METAL MEETING, BELGIUM, 2008


10. GALLOWS HYMN

And sister, do not pray for me
There is no forgiveness here
Just the longest and the darkest night
And my people's end

And brother, many a crooked day we spent
Telling tales and making myths
And sharpening our tongues
Yet doing little but growing old

I was never a religious man
So why should I put my faith in you?
You burned your bridges a long time ago
I'm a heathen, searching for his soul


11. AS ROME BURNS

We are falling over the ends of the earth
So gather your sons and daughters before you
And tell them that these are the final days of all
Preach to the paupers
And sing to the slaves

I see you've chosen to loose your faith
To burn your bridges and lose your way
From mountain top to valley deep
From shore to cursed shore
What Nation, what State what Land is this?
The wretched Tribe of Nero...

Sing Sing Sing to the Slaves
Sing to the Slaves that Rome Burns

Are our bones not dust?
Is our Blood not Poison?
On my knees in the black light
Praying for Salvation, bitter Redemption
So throw your dice and cast your shadow
You may look away
But your children will not...


12. HEATHEN TRIBES

This is my church
It stands so tall and proud
It has done for all time

It has no walls
Yet its vast halls
Reach from shore to shore

To whatever shore
You know as your own
We stand as one, we stand alone

We are born
From the same womb
Hewn from the same stone

From the frozen Baltic
I watched sunrise over Athena
Walked the battlefields of Flanders
And saw duskfall at Cintra

Beneath the spires of Sofia
Fields of crosses at Arnhem
Armenius stood tall in Teuteborg
Senatus Populusque Romanus

To the fjords of Hordaland
Shadows of ancient Albion
At the shore of a 1000th lake
Saint Vitus dance in Praha

Yet when to Ireland we Return
I know that I am home at last
And every sun that sets
Takes me closer to her Earth