[instrumental]

Sunset, darkness had fallen on the hill
A storm was raging on outside the abbey
In supplication sister Joan was kneeling at the convent gate,
Begging for admission once again

[Joan:]
"Purify me, forgive me my sins mother
Purify me, remove the demon within"

The gate swung open and Joan was taken by the hand
The old draconic abbess grasped her with an icy grip

[Margaret:]
"I'll punish defection, won't tolerate your sins
I'll bring salvation," mother Margaret said

[Joan:]
"Purify me, forgive me my sins mother
Purify me, remove the demon within"

[Margaret:]
"Your sins can be forgiven
Just die by my hand
De profundis clamavi ad te domine
They all plead for their lives and repent
Oh father rest her soul in the end
You deceived the Lord, acted the innocent
You sanctimonious whore"

[Margaret:]
"Hell awaits all infidels
Hell awaits all apostates
The day you left my convent, you were dead to me girl
Now you return to die again"

Margaret tore off her sister's veil and
Dragged her about by the hair
To the cloister courtyard
A dagger in her hand

[Margaret:]
"Your sins can be forgiven
Just die by my hand
De profundis clamavi ad te domine
They all plead for their lives and repent
Oh father rest her soul in the end
You deceived the Lord, acted the innocent
You sanctimonious whore"

The morning bell was chiming through the dormitory
Time for the nuns to pray the lauds
Joan's bed still empty
She ran away, trying to break free

The sisters gathered in the chapel
They felt something was wrong
With empty eyes Margaret bowed her head
"There was an accident," she said

But she was telling lies
Alice saw it in her eyes
Brazen lies without devout disguise

Abbess Margaret is a serpent in the pulpit
Spreading her evil sway
Abbess Margaret is a serpent in the pulpit
Bow to her morbid obsession with sin!

[Margaret:]
"There's work to do in the churchyard
Put sister Joan to rest!
Right where the bare headstone stands
Even she died by her own hands"

Oh she was telling lies
Alice saw it in her eyes
Brazen lies behind devout disguise

Abbess Margaret is a serpent in the pulpit
Spreading her evil sway
Abbess Margaret is a serpent in the pulpit
Bow to her morbid obsession with sin!

[All the sisters:]
Now earth to earth in convent walls, to earth in churchyard sod
You were not good enough for men and so you're given to God!
...And so you're given to God"

Lies...
Brazen lies behind devout disguise

Abbess Margaret is a serpent in the pulpit
Spreading her evil sway
Abbess Margaret is a serpent in the pulpit
Bow to her morbid obsession with sin!

13 girls side by side in line
One of the sisters committed crime
Foretold by voices from on high
Mother's revelations never lie

[Margaret:]
"With devious lies, Satan creeps into your minds
Soon we will see, who's not who she claims to be
Take this knife and get undressed
Incise the holy cross on your chests
God strengthens the innocent
Scourge yourself and face the torment
I won't abandon you to lust and lechery
And what I do, hurts me more than it hurts you"

[Margaret:]
"Down on your knees
You will bleed
Like he did on Calvary
By God's holy laws you despise
You shall be penalized"

Divine epiphany or insane bigotry?
No one ever saw what Margaret claimed to see
Distress behind enclosure
One sister could stand the pain no longer

[Margaret:]
"Take her to the cellar,
I know what she needs
Ordeal by boiling water,
She will concede"

[Margaret:]
"Down on your knees
You will bleed
Like he did on Calvary
By God's holy laws you despise
You shall be penalized"

Alice was tossing and turning in bed, unable to fall asleep.
All that she had witnessed that day had deeply agitated her.
And while she still saw her fellow sister's scalded arms in her mind's eye,
A feeling of guilt arose.

[Voice:]
"You have sinned as well"

An affair with a young man from the village led to more than just a broken vow.
She knew she was pregnant.
Fear was slowly turning into despair as she heard a strange and evil voice talking to her,
Whispering in her ear, putting her faith to the test...

[Voice:]
"...Listen!"

[Alice:]
"You don't always reap what you sow
But God insists on obedience
Angel of light,
Don't lead me into temptation
I hear your voice every night
Whispering in my ear
Is it the devil that speaks to me?

[Voice:]
"Lay down your sinless heart
I'll rip you piety apart
Lay down your sinless heart
I'll rip you piety apart
I'll rip your piety apart"

[Alice:]
"Absolve my guilt one last time
I know, I broke my vow of chastity
Indulged myself in lust
Mortal sins in the sacristy
But God knows what no one can see
A lifetime full of sin
Is it the devil that speaks to me?"

[Voice:]
"Lay down your sinless heart
I'll rip you piety apart
Lay down your sinless heart
I'll rip you piety apart
I'll rip your piety apart"

[Alice:]
"Father, I have sinned
Seduced by the devil deep within
Father, please forgive me
I know I'll pay for my blasphemy
I know I'll pay for my blasphemy"

[Alice:]
"Is it the devil that speaks to me?"

[Voice:]
"Lay down your sinless heart
I'll rip you piety apart
Lay down your sinless heart
I'll rip you piety apart
I'll rip your piety apart"

The twinge of remorse grew stronger each day
Her guilty conscience, a mental strain
Poor Alice, she needed a friend
Someone to talk to, who understands
...Understands

Prioress Clare was always at hand
The heart and soul of the convent
Talking to her was such a relief
She could keep a secret and ease Alice's grief

Oh, death drew near unseen
Peace can be deceiving

Alice felt so unburdened
In the cloister garden
Reciting the rosary
Having devotions quietly
While the church bell rang
She heard the cherubs sing
Not knowing that soon
Her child would be one of them

Joan always said:
"Don't trust the Prioress"

In secret Clare was a snitch
And so submissive to the abbess
Right on the next day
She gave Alice's secret away
...Betrayal

Without a spark of decency
She reported Alice's pregnancy

[Margaret:]
"Transgression against holy law
You know the procedure,
Take care of that whore!"

Oh, death drew near unseen
Peace can be deceiving

Alice felt so unburdened
In the cloister garden
Reciting the rosary
Having devotions quietly
While the church bell rang
She heard the cherubs sing
Not knowing that soon
Her child would be one of them

Joan always said:
"Don't trust the Prioress"

In the refectory
One meal was prepared separately
Clare was a master of her craft
Margaret's herbalist
Oh Alice never noticed that strange bitterness
Nor the poison of the prioress

[Clare:]
"Mother, this herbal extract
With mandrake and blue flag
Black hellebore and archangel
Is the key
To kill what's not meant to be"

Alice felt so unburdened
In the cloister garden
Reciting the rosary
Having devotions quietly
While the church bell rang
She heard the cherubs sing
With every meal, with every bite
She was killing her child

...Killing her child

[Choir:]
"Mother...Mother cleans them in blood!
Mother...Mother cleans them in blood!"

When everybody's fast asleep, she arises
Driven by a vision in her head
Almost every night she left the convent walls unseen
Led by divine order to purge a world so obscene

[Margaret:]
"Say your last false prayer
I'll find you everywhere!"

And every single night
She saw that glaring light
A kind of spectral entity
In her mind an angel's telling her to feed the God
...With blood

Blood
Unbelievers' blood
Blood
Unbelievers' blood

In the alleys, in the streets, people vanish
When Margaret's on her quest for blood
"Lovely Belle," they said, she was a notorious whore
How sad, she and her bastard son were seen nevermore

[Margaret:]
"Say your last false prayer
I'll find you everywhere!"

And every single night
She saw that glaring lifht
A kind of spectral entity
In her mind an angel's telling her to feed the God
...With blood

Blood
Unbelievers' blood
Blood
Unbelievers' blood

Every night under angel's command
Margaret was talking to herself again
While hiding bodies in the woods

[Margaret:]
"Naught shelters ye,
Who wilt not shelter Me"

And every single night
She saw that glaring lifht
A kind of spectral entity
In her mind an angel's telling her to feed the God
...With blood

[Margaret:]
"Choir practice today
There's no excuse to stay away"

Alice was still in bed
A piercing pain, in her head
Her condition got worse

[A fellow Sister:]
"If you don't go, you'll be coerced"

So she made her way up to the choir

[Margaret:]
"Sing!"

She could hardly climb the stairs

[Margaret:]
"Sing like an angel!"

[Alice:]
"Oh God," she cried
"There's blood on the choir stalls"
Her pregnancy exposed, blood has drenched her clothes
"Oh God, my child"
Her blood on the choir stalls

[Margaret:]
Brazen Pharisee, you broke your chastity"

A stream of blood like claret
And the child came out dead
The sisters were petrified in fear

[Margaret:]
"No!
You won't blemish and defile
These halls no more
I'll get rid of the child
You others, clean that floor!"

[Margaret:]
"Sin!
Fornication means damnation!
...Damnation!"

[Alice:]
"Oh God," she cried
"There's blood on the choir stalls"
Her pregnancy exposed, blood has drenched her clothes
"Oh God, my child"
Her blood on the choir stalls

[Margaret:]
Brazen Pharisee, you broke your chastity"

The pain was sharp and searing
Like a hot coal, burning in her stomach
Like being eaten from inside

[Margaret:]
"Take her away
To the tower
She brought disgrace on this holy place
Isolated she shall dwell
In her tower cell
No on should ever to speak to her...again"

[Alice:]
"A final prayer all alone, behind these walls of stone
On darkest days reality fades
No one to trust in this convent of snakes
The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away
Still I have to stay
Bound by shame to this penitent's cell
Why won't you take my life as well?

Take my life!
Remove the seven swords sticking in my heart!
End this pain, take my soul!
Guide me down to Sheol!
Remove the seven swords,
The seven swords sticking in my heart!

The pain inside feeds the doubt I tried to hide
Oh tell me Lord, what's left to do?
Give me a reason why I shouldn't turn my back on you

Take my life!
Remove the seven swords sticking in my heart!
End this pain, take my soul!
Guide me down to Sheol!
Remove the seven swords,
The seven swords sticking in my heart!

Still isolated in the tower
Waiting for pain to come
Through the window to the courtyard
She saw a light in the dark

Margaret was lighting candles at the cellar entrance

[Alice:]
"What do you scheme?
Oh I wonder what's behind the door
Only you have the key for"

Alice left her chamber
To follow Margaret to the cellar

[Alice:]
"What does she hide down inside?
What does she hide deep down inside her mind?"

She found the hidden crypt under holy ground
Down in the dark
A grave for infant bastard kids
Born to die at once
Straight from the cradle to the grave
Killed at birth
Born from sin

Alice screamed at the top of her lungs

[Alice:]
"Margaret, what have you done?"

Infanticide in the name of Christ
Murder in holy disguise

Alice knocked her to the ground,
Grabbed her neck and choked her

[Alice:]
"What do you hide down inside?
What's going on in your deranged mind?"

She found the hidden crypt under holy ground
Down in the dark
A grave for infant bastard kids
Born to die at once
Straight from the cradle to the grave
Killed at birth
Born from sin

Margaret was on the floor
She wasn't breathing anymore
Her eyes so dead
Alice heard the voices in her head...again

Standing in the cellar amid decay and decline
Surrounded by the testimonies of Margaret's crimes
Alice was still in shock, her hands were shaking
It was apparent that her mind was breaking

Pure insanity in her eyes
Her faith was broken

[Alice:]
"No God in the skies
Just infinite lies
I deny the deceiver Jesus Christ"

[Alice:]
"Chaos will arise
All hope is lost"

The voice still talking in her head
It said: "There is no God"

[Alice:]
"Like a sheep led astray, I've been so blind
Your lord of lies feeds on simple minds
If there's a God he has left us to die anyway
Only terror reigns and death prevails"

Pure insanity in her eyes
Her faith was broken

[Alice:]
"No God in the skies
Just infinite lies
I deny the deceiver Jesus Christ"

[Alice:]
"Chaos will arise
All hope is lost"

The voice still talking in her head
It said: "There is no God"

Alice left the crypt and went to the dorm room
Margaret's dagger in her hand

[Alice:]
"No more lies, I'd rather bow to the devil's might
I'll end it all, I'll end it all tonight"

The first two sisters Alice passed were smothered in their sleep
The rest, awoken by a scream

[Alice:]
"Hail Satan!"

In a murderous frenzy,
The nuns were stabbed one by one
Alice seemed to have fun

[Alice:]
"Hail Satan!"

After all the blood was shed,
A dreadful scene was left
A convent of the dead

[Alice:]
"Hail Satan!"

[Alice:]
"Chaos will arise
All hope is lost"

The voice still talking in her head
It said: "There is no God"