Lead skies hung over rigid structures
Glazed in rain and city lights
Murmuring chatter of man and machine
Slid like lava through swarming nights

And I could have stayed there
Within the confines of order

Serenity filled the clockwork temples
A world observed through architectural eyes
Civilization in chiselled perfection
Divine chaos in symmetrical guise

And I could have stayed there
Within the confines of order
I could have thrived there
Never crossing the border

But I had seen the vibrant sheen
The eye's inherent alchemy
Intoxicated rhapsody
The seeds of madness deep inside
My mind defied ferocious flames
Of boundless possibility
To reason and tranquillity
Alas, my heart could not abide

And I could smell the earth beneath the temples
In every raindrop, taste the mountain stream
Like hearts that roam enchanted forests
A hunter transfigured in a dream
In a dream
In a dream
In a dream

I had seen the vibrant sheen
The eye's inherent alchemy
Intoxicated rhapsody
The seeds of madness deep inside
My mind defied ferocious flames
Of boundless possibility
To reason and tranquillity
Alas, my heart could not abide

With the sweet taste of wine on my lips
And a pale skull filled with vision
Desires transformed to compulsion
My being, by fire, transfixed

I was bound for the marshlands
For bridges to cross and to burn
For treacherous paths of no return
A destiny held in my hands

And there, where the roots of existence
Existence
Breached through the cracks of illusion
The concepts of consequence ceased
And primordial chaos reigned

Besieged by the towering mountains
And beckoning forest deep
I stood on the threshold of rapture
Alone, amongst the untamed

Wallowing in secrecy
And dark, enticing lies
Those ghostly smiles could not conceal
The ruin in their eyes

Pilgrimage to oblivion

Rampage unleashed in the night
I was lost in the trenches of a dream
And over a clamour of laughter and death
Echoed the Maenads' scream

Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
To oblivion

The dawn found me at crossroads of giving up or giving in
Crawling on my knees, I'd question all I once held true
The violence of perception had pierced my soul and skin
Embittered, bruised, and beaten I saw the world anew

Mortal womb
By fire scorned
In death conceived
Twice born

The nihilistic instinct flashed its terrifying teeth
And in soft, alluring, whispers bade me yield
Still, the grandeur I had witnessed, that extravagant display
Inspired a premonition; my fate was yet unsealed

Mortal womb
By fire scorned
In death conceived
Twice born

By eventide I stumbled to my feet and faced the night
Incited by the prospect of my imminent demise
My virtues set aflame in a sacrificial rite
Like angels, the scales had fallen from my eyes

Mortal womb
By fire scorned
In death conceived
Twice born

Mortal womb
By fire scorned
In death conceived
Twice born

On the altar of elation
My offering laid bare
A craving for sensation
Famine haunts the soul
Who had a taste of the ambrosia

A disciple of bedlam in chrysalis
Concealed in acts of composure
I walked the sacred hallways
Of obsession and deceit
I waded muddy rivers
Of vanity and conceit
My hunger ever deeper

And I willed it so
Drenched in chaos
Thus, I willed it

On tightropes, I ventured across
Those chasms of nausea and fear
To overcome the man I was
For a taste of the ambrosia

From the hollow skulls of the dead
Poured the nectar of oblivion
And I drenched my trepidations
In the blood of innocence
Weighted by despondency
I sank into acceptance
And to the sound of singing sirens
Transformation had commenced

That fateful night I found you
I had blood on my hands
Our eyes wide in the face of despair
And you were beautiful
My stained touch
So cold upon your skin
The kiss was a harbinger of murder
And we both knew

All was lost

The sanctity of our communion
Out of place and out of time
A merciless crime
My dreams forever haunted
By the moments you were mine

All alone with destiny
In the midst of transformation
I found myself on blood trails to love
The irony
That freedom never comes for free
My struggles leaving bloodtrails to love

Those words of hope, of peace you spoke were whispers
Your gentle voice subdued by fear
And the Moirai's laughter ringing in our ears
Calling me
To pathways of tragedy

A merciless crime
My dreams forever haunted
By the moments you were mine

All alone with destiny
In the midst of transformation
I found myself on blood trails to love
The irony
That freedom never comes for free
Never-ending blood trails to love

Yielding to
A savage instinct torn in two
I followed you on blood trails to love
In my heart
A cold and famished scavenger
Chasing down those blood trails to love

Hah, sentiments and nostalgia
I wanted more
Inertia and apathy
Never swayed the gods of war

Hah, me, the adversary
Antagonist to timely men
Was I not my own worst enemy
With ambitions of a worthy opponent?

No time for disillusions
I had lost to them before

This time I wanted more
I wanted more

Perfumed discourse
Hollow convictions
Moderation and humility
Coalitions
Cloak and dagger
The ambiguous nature of loyalty
In ennui I turned my head
To confide in the dead

Hah, these contemporaries
Leeches on the blood of prosperity
The impotence of their sobriety
It was time to heed my daemon's call

No time for disillusions
I had lost to them before
Hesitation and confusion
I left it all behind in empty bottles on the floor

A spiral of convulsion
Where anger fed the shame
Resentments turning back unto myself
Constructing self-fulfilling prophesies again

No time for disillusions
I had lost to them before
Hesitation and confusion
I left it all behind in empty bottles on the floor

I wanted more

This game of virtue and violence
My willingness to sustain
The suffering and exaltation
The trials of pleasure and pain

I wanted more

Hah, me, the adversary
Antagonist to timely men
Was I not my own worst enemy
With ambitions of a worthy opponent?

I lost to them before
I would abstain no more

In the end, I fell numb
To disbelief and played along
Weaving and conceding
I veiled the face of what I had become

And the swarm remained oblivious
Heedless to the distance between us

The eyes of the night
I still carried them inside
They were my guide
As I roamed the forest deep
On moonlit trails of blood

Dancing upon my return
Panem et circenses
For those who were destined to burn
Panem et circenses
I would nourish and cultivate
Savor, encourage, and celebrate
The distance between us

Still, with every solitary feat, I also lost
The nature of my tragic disposition had its cost
Never to belong
Forever always one
Never to belong
Forever always one

With every solitary feat, I also lost
As I could never reach across
The distance between us

Eye-to-eye with the skyline
In solitude by the windowpane
I watch as nights descend upon
A twilight city, glazed in rain
And staring back at me
From deep inside the glass and steel
My own disfigured image
My own disfigured image
Marred and stained, it is revealed

As from ashes, rise a monolithic tower
An obelisk comprised in my disguise
Founded on the remnants of humanity
Thus, for transcendence, I have paid the price
Oh, I have paid the price

We could trace the ruins' shadow back to greatness
Sense the strength and grace of times gone by
Still, they're but decrepit tombs and epitaphs
Of power, pride, and loss, and so am I

In depths of tragedy resides
In depths of tragedy resides
A seed of the sublime
At the heart of all things broken
At the heart of all things broken
A spark of the divine
A spark of the divine

And I have seen the vibrant sheen
The eye's inherent alchemy
Intoxicated rhapsody
A madness in which I remain
And any fragile impulse
To return, to love, would be in vain
This antler crown exceeds beyond
The arch to your domain