EMPEROR LYRICS Prometheus: The Discipline Of Fire And Demise (2001) 1. The Eruption 2. Depraved 3. Empty 4. The Prophet 5. The Tongue Of Fire 6. In the Wordless Chamber 7. Grey 8. He Who Sought The Fire 9. Thorns On My Grave The Eruption ... and after years in dark tunnels he came to silence there was nothing... he realised that the cheering cries of worship were but echoes of his harsh outspoken word reflecting back at him from cold and naked walls in hollow circles fled illusions of wisdom he had heard "From nothing came all I ever knew" and he beheld the ruins of an empire torn apart yet, no grief nor rage did bind him just silent and bewildered by the emptiness he stumbled off his throne suddenly, the walls around him cracked wide open and an endless void appeared in flickering, grey light "What force, but silence, has deprived me of my coil? No trail to guide me. No point of reference in sight." "By nothing, resurrection will be pure." and he beheld the ruins of an empire torn apart wiping dust off his shoulders just silent now in this emptiness leaving all behind step by step past all past slowly he approached the surface nothing left to sacrifice the mirrors mocked him on the way Depraved ... he looked upon the world and saw that it was still depraved as him though not like him for him, as all but closed like them not him unaware he was already caught within their cycle with them outside depraved instinctive rebellion possessed by bestial despair he fought this law and broke the spell "So, this is why I built my empire fled from the truths unto which they conspire" in spirit born a stranger a counterpart in mind the seeker raised to bury a freak among the blind encountered with mysteries on his mission to reverse their ways he sought a life among the dead with refuge in an endless maze ...before the silence... "This can not be the purpose of my presence. What then is the call of my return?" Empty he is an empty shell - shell-shocked luciferian soul he is an empty shell - drained and sealed he is an empty shell - penetrating cold he is an empty shell - empty luciferian soul how furiously and bombastic he proclaimed his destruction of a mortal coil in the end it seemed this was his only possession long past were his "glorious" days of filth and lies and he has reached out to stop time at its end he is an empty shell - shell-shocked luciferian heart he is an empty shell - drained and sealed he is an empty shell - penetrating cold he is an empty shell - empty luciferian soul the constant struggle for a moment of quiet indulgence eventually stirred and quaked the earth so hard it swallowed him in a dark and heavy cloud slowly and gently starving him into insanity an inferno of ice with an ever burning bleeding heart The Prophet ... and as if awaken from eternal sleep he sought a mentor for he no longer knew his position "It is time after miracles and I am its prophet I have not come to cure but to bear witness decease" "It is the place where blood and soil lie beyond the boundaries of the sun and I am its prophet I cast the shadow I absorb the light" "I am the prophet I bear witness I absorb I cry" "As I die I shall burst wide open As I die I shall release the apocalypse my prophecy Thus, I hold on to faith Thus, I keep the hope That it will prosper and devour" "It is time after miracles and I am its prophet I have not come to cure but to bear witness decease" ... and pain joined his urge to perceive The Tongue Of Fire teach me the tongue of fire so that I may set the world ablaze for it is cold and this blindness can no longer give me shelter teach me the tongue of fire so that I may cry out loud my wrath and my passion or else my coil will blister and decay the soul is never silent but wordless held imprisoned in a cursed tomb wherein reflections never fade never die slowly maddened by the emptiness left to perish in the ever-dark coil yet, always alert it its slumber scorn by the drops of light piercing through the surface and it screams the soul is never silent but wordless teach me the tongue of fire so that I may set the world ablaze for it is cold and this blindness can no longer give me shelter teach me the tongue of fire so that I may cry out loud my wrath and my passion or else my coil will blister and decay In the Wordless Chamber in the wordless chamber they feared death desperately thus they clustered to the fruits of the earth craving dispersion as if to avoid knowing why in the wordless chamber they feared life desperately thus they proclaimed any given truth and swallowed as if to justify their fear he knew that there had been hordes of seers before him who set out to cure though, the sick wished not to part with their decease as if it made them feel alive in the wordless chamber he accepted desperation and the unpredictable manifestations of hope Grey when all is dark there are no points of reference and we no longer navigate by the stars we just end up somewhere ...nowhere... where lights are dim and shades of black are grey time appears like a golden calf while the moments slip away a search for the freedom in the future when the hours fall behind I can always die another day desperately I seize tomorrow all out of my reach that is what I learned this is what I teach corruption seems to flourish while promises decay where lights are dim and shades of black are grey where lights are dim and shades of black are grey from the moment of arrival we are led astray with nothing but a distant cry from deep within a soul a wordless voice to guide us on the way desperately we name the voice and make the cries our own as if to deny the fact that we are all alone in solitude we mingle disillusioned we fall prey where lights are dim and shades of black are grey I can always live another day... He Who Sought The Fire and again he came to cherish the comfort of mysteries inspiring and far away timeless in the moment they painted immortality forever drawn towards the centre of this ensorcelling flame yet, still in fear of the sacrifice it would take to know its name "Do not despair", said the mystery "You will always have a friend in me until the day you break my code then I will be gone and you are free... ...to manifest another" towards the heavens he did aspire now he shall burn who sought the fire some will mourn the ashes cold while others behold the inferno unfold forever drawn towards the centre of this ensorcelling flame yet, still in fear of the sacrifice it would take to know its name now he shall burn who sought the fire to manifest another Thorns On My Grave "I hereby commit my body to the ground sterilised and wrapped in plastic foil being an object of this space and time this body should remain concealed for it holds every disease ever exposed it holds all pain and death I could ever unleash beneath deceiving, fragile skin breathes the ever growing hate within since the first glimpse of my existence I have fed this greedy infection an aimless search for potential persistence found no escape from the fatal injection of life for it holds every disease ever exposed it holds all pain and death it could ever unleash beneath deceiving, fragile skin breathes the ever growing hate within I am the father I am the son my refugee soul has escaped this body depraved of final wishes I ask none but one now that I am gone lay thorns on my grave"