That which cannot be saved
Send into the arms of God
Unflinching modern primitives invoke
Mark (the) enemies of the faith
Liquidate, sacrifice the evil ones
In whom faith has died
And all those who deny

Exhausted yet tireless, they lay in wait
Serpents twisted around the sacred tree
(Reciting poisoned words)
Preface to a final solution
Lead them all astray
Lead them all to agony
The specter of God becomes Death

And when faith has died
New gods will arise
To ascend a pestilent throne
And embrace chaos and death

Incendiary -
Speak the words of enslavement
Litany -
Speak of sin and perfect absolution
Recite the parables of suffering
Chant -
Intoxicate the foolish martyrs
Iniquity -
The specter of God becomes death

Confront the chaos boiling in your mind
Question the doubt that confuses your will
Bitten by the serpent, caressed by original sin
Feasting on the fruit of the tree
Bright eyes now grow brighter
Shine out and illuminate the darkness?

A starless void seethes and froths confusion
The ebb and flow mark time
A challenge of reason confronts the flock
Dreaming of convention and binding absolutes
Dogma turns on an axis of belief
Collared by fear and its dowry of damnation

Revisit sacred texts, now forced to explain beyond imperium
Pronounce the living dead - yet still fear the remains
Piety digs a necropolis for the future
Encircled by iron wills, galvanized by serene faith
Shuttered consciences in denial at all costs
Declare encroaching darkness in spite of the light

Yet from a bully pulpit spews an intoxicating thought
Dreams of convention and binding absolutes
Faith in an idea to provincialize all creation
Borne of paralyzing process and ironclad mistrust
Playing the music of creation through a skipping media
Imperfection enshrined as a great destroyer

The liberating power of original sin
And the endowment of free will
Each twisted by the other into the Mark of Cain
Questions to confuse the doubt of your will
And avoid the chaos boiling in your mind
The likeness of being - shaken awake
Achieve what God has not?
The descent of man?

To tread the path of glory
Gild your will with honor
Take flight amid the storm
Confront the serpent in the garden
Feel the fire burn
Rejoice and fan the flames
Look up to see the moon on the wane
And the stars begin to fade

The weak trample and feast on the weak -
Yet fail to become strong
Strength, earned through blood and tears
Shown and measured in grace
Staying one step ahead of the flock
Vigilant in your House of Pain
The realization your throne is an illusion
A liberation and challenge

Stand in awe or fall to your knees and grieve

Hear the serpent, but do not listen
His breath, the stench! The dust of ages
This conqueror adjusts his paper crown
Stammers his grace in tongues - a tongue forged in fire
His voice cuts like a knife
Flaying flesh from bone
Cleaving away reality
Feel the fire burn, rejoice and fan the flames

Tempered steel-eyed glare
As your demons dance before your eyes
Distract and intoxicate
Trying to reclaim what has become yours
Make silent your mortal flesh
Defy the serpent and gild your will
The future converges with tomorrow to become today
Embrace the past and what's to come

Convergence

Across the deserts in flight to the Temple of the Sun
Ashen Glory - winged monarch, alights upon the pyre
His wings outstretched to embrace destiny
Ablaze with light, five-century cycle

Renewed

Ashen Glory set to blaze, bring the Heavens to Earth
Descend to rise, symbolize immortality
Proudly the Phoenix reigns in immortal fire
Assuage the anguish and fear of?

Oblivion

At third light appears the reborn majesty
In gold, in purple, in victory over death
Descend to rise - resplendent wings ablaze
Illuminate - trace the contours of time

Ashen Glory set to blaze, wings enfold, eternity?

Ashen Glory
Ashen Glory
Ashen Glory - descend to rise - death and glory

Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire

Say the words, speak the tongues
Sing the songs of fools
Shall the means destroy the ends?
So vain is Man (the hand that wounds and heals)
Morality of these masters is that of the slaves
Leaving the rebuke of the wise echoing into eternity
Into the abyss - after them

Lunatic fringe sings the songs of fools
About the far side of glory
Celebrating life-wasting chaos
And so become the beasts that perish

Darkness in flesh, depravity personified
Slit eyes, forked tongues and venomous words
Strike at a world they pretend to understand
Illusions of superiority and enlightenment
Pride in aberration - a justification by faith
Lies! Writhing on a throne of self-conceit
Words that fit like sackcloth
Last gasp of reason as its lungs fill with gas
Frothing, filth and agony awaits to purge

Towers of Sodom's skyline
Silhouette the blood red dawn
Sin as far as the eye can see
Cloven hooves of the flock
Clatter among the serpents
Wriggling in the dust
Hearts of darkness
Slouching to oblivion
Temptation, gratification
Let them burn

Luminous beings that can die but once
Covered by monuments (not mountains)
Refusing to live in fear (or shadows)
Revel and glory in the struggle
Learning not to flinch
Grateful for the gift that causes such fear

Cautionary tales passed generation to generation
Anticipate sepultures of the beasts that perish
Those that prey on the weak
Handwritten epitaphs by the already dead
Though the faces change, their name remains the same

Supplication
What I want
What I should have
What should not be questioned
What is more than me?

Resolution
What I know
What was once so clear
What simply was not
What should but cannot be
What price their weakness demands of the world

Purge the beasts that perish

Fear in the eyes of the white dove
Wings clipped by the will to power
Cowers in its nest - it watches (furtively)
Too scared to take flight
Forced to face futurity

Fury like fire on a desolate altar
Extinguish hope - extinguish life
Hope stillborn - astride a dark horse
Face to face with oblivion

Gathering (the eagles)
Those beyond fear

This bloodied dove confronts a world in denial
Hope and appeasement invite death
Words of comfort tranquilize
As blood red contrails streak the skies

The dove cries a last accord to the darkness
Eyes of hellfire sear the answer and intent
Freedom's ring fades as thunder rolls above
Hellish winds scatter embers and ash

The gasping dove now prays the eagles come
A holy alliance and its holy work
Fury like fire on a desolate altar
Hope and appeasement have brought death
Call down the thunder on jet-black wings
From the sun they descend battle dressed
Merciless beauty dripping red in claw
Ecstasy to see?see the conquered fall

A taste of radiation and the vision appears
Challenge infinity to chart the mind of God
Party dogma galvanized by blind faith
At the point of Grace - place your faith and cower

Crawl the heroes' graves on your knees, waves and waves of sickness churn
Blazing altar of wormwood - half-life contaminate - endless burn

The beast shudders towards its destiny
One - twenty-three- forty-four, Prometheus' throne ablaze
The angel's dusty halo burns and radiates
Liquidators choke and vomit out their souls

Crawl the heroes' graves on your knees, waves and waves of sickness churn
Blazing altar of wormwood - half-life contaminate - endless burn

Dancing with the heathens
Bend your will - absolve your sins
Place your faith and cower
Clutching the savior's beard as he falls
To look back now would be your fall
There is no return?