Machine Head Through the Ashes of Empires (2003) 1. Imperium 2. Bite The Bullet 3. Left Unfinished 4. Elegy 5. In The Presence Of My Enemies 6. Days Turn Blue To Gray 7. Vim 8. All Fall Down 9. Wipe The Tears 10. Descend The Shades Of Night 1. Imperium Hear me now Bearing down upon a path we choose Chosen from the start living different rules Existence something to cherish true Will not succumb to doubts that I hold onto Release the fear of my pain In so much pain Give me the will to fight Every obstacle that I have inside Release the fear and Hear me now Words I vow No fucking regrets Fuck these chains No god damn slave I will be different I'll stand here defiantly My middle finger raised Fuck your prejudice All my life Always I've felt alone Conditioned to believe that I'm always wrong Only truth will help to set me free My every weakness I must turn into strength Every rage, every tear Hate in so much hate Never that pain will bind me Ask of myself if I've the will to unwind Every rage and tear Hear me now Words I vow No fucking regrets Fuck these chains No god damn slave I will be different I'll stand here defiantly My middle finger raised Fuck your prejudice Carved upon my stone I will go on Patience, belief Love will ascend Just listen to it Voice so true inside calling To pick you up and march you on Keep from falling Let go your sorrow Sun will shine, this I promise Rising tommorow Rising Hear me now I'm taking back the control Of my Life from societies hold I vow No more will I be a slave Rise to Challenge the whole human race My spirit you cannot break 2. Bite The Bullet I understand your every fear Your every pain your every tear With every struggle you conquer Turn heart to steel And will to iron You want more? You'll get it Determined, ferocious Grit down and bite the bullet Dare to unbind Smash and redefine The hate you feel is nothing more Than love you feel to win this war The battle that rages inside you With bloodlust You must unchain your shackles You want more? You'll get it Determined, ferocious Grit down and bite the bullet Dare to unbind Smash and redefine Lion heart Never give in Unsatisfy every weakness You want more? You'll get it Determined, ferocious Grit down and bite the bullet Dare to unbind Smash and redefine 3. Left Unfinished Why was I born? Sometimes I wish I didn't know Been times when I wish that I had just never been Why did you have me? Or better yet why'd you leave? So to the people that could fuck But then abandoned me I'll give to this world what you couldn't give Love the unwanted, every child born discarded Add to the flock The rejects you dumped on I'll never forget Life you disdain So to the parents that bore me this pain With all those things you left unfinished You never could love me I'm glad that you never did My parents that raised me Had plenty of that to give And for that I'll love them forever with all my heart But to you Don't let there be no mistake about it Fuck you, you cocksucker Fuck you, you whore I'll live my life the opposite of what you are Love will be my rock The rock that I stand on I'll never forget Life you disdain So to the parents that bore me this pain With all those things you left unfinished [Solo: Flynn] Don't try to reach out to me Don't try to call The boy that you created Is dead for all you fucking know You just pretend you've never heard or seen The name Lawrence Mathew Cardine 4. Elegy Elegies are to be sung Winds of armageddon come Ignorance within your bliss Soon you will atone for this In your carcinogenic haze Baneful of a newer age Flower of a different scent Poisons of the earths lament A requiem Earth belong not to you Belong all we to her Take another deeper breath Inhale invisible death Pollution fills the land and sky Forever you justify Take a deeper look and see Nothing's left to future seeds Icicles melt into blood Ashes where there once was wood A requiem Earth belong not to you Belong all we to her Pain of life has pulled you under Left you there to bleed and wonder Open heart left torn asunder Wrong the wrongs that you've been suffered Kill we scream in roaring thunder Destroy all, leave all things plundered Acid rain cries her pain Full bloom, a world gone insane Her anger the flower Plays God with all of our lives A requiem Earth belong not to you Belong all we to her 5. In The Presence Of My Enemies I never ask myself why injustice befell me Accepted of the fact, try and live a life of peace I'm not a violent man, but to those who'd threaten me My enemy, for my family I'll show thee Death I will fight you to Wrath provoked you cannot bear Our lives are not your toys Mercy, not a drop to spare You of destruction Of hope's deconstruction Kills Innocence is lost when The blood of innocents Spills I'm not a violent man, again I wish to repeat But for every human that takes away a child's innocence Whether it by molest, or by all wars pointlessness Killer of life Corruptor of all that is pure I want your nose to break Shattered under clenched fist Smash face to concrete Taste the asphalt's gentle kiss You of destruction Of hope's deconstruction Kills Innocence is lost when The blood of innocents Spills [Solo: Demmel] To those that are to blame Destroyers of every dream Breaking of hatred's wings Mars' phoenix begins fading To those that monger war Claiming that this is to even scores This mantra I invoke No longer this fear will I choke There's no peace for the one who can't know peace Your every breath it only lives to take Someday the earth you will descend Not a regret I'll harbor in Tearless my eyes Flowerless my hands And that day when your moment is fleeting That thought keeps my heart beating When they lower your casket down Bitter the sweet within my mouth Ender of life Corruptor of all that's pure On Your Grave I Will Stand 6. Days Turn Blue To Gray Thou have fathered Son and daughter Doth begat, yet raised not bother Paralyzed your children's lives Wither vines of family ties Self-destruction Make him function Crayons and clay Days turn blue to gray Days turn blue to gray Seventeen when Family begin Drinking, fighting, heroin Unquenchable addictions call Responsible to none above all Self-destruction Make him function Crayons and clay Days turn blue to gray Days turn blue to gray Lest I taste Its sweet grapes Glass to tongue Across it tips Cross my lips Swallow it down Please Won't you love me? Please help me see What did I do? Did I hurt you? And now that you're gone Emptiness lives on The guilt is all I feel No closure Father Motherfucker No closure The strings of my heart You pulled on endlessly This twine is severed In tragedy Father Mother Destroyer Destroy her [Solo: Demmel] Your self-destruction What made you feel alive Your self-destruction Of your children's Lives 7. Vim Words of the righteous We will not bend The odds keep stacking up against Strengthen our self endurance Break down the cycle Of errors past We have to face up to the truth Relinquish every grudge or bruise Every ounce of strength grasps One solid dream Violent soul Will be whole We have to face up to it For every second we're alive Let our light shine To our grave, we must pave A path for us to rise from Power surge, kills the urge Life and death collide Smash all the boundaries That hold us down Hold on to everything that loves Let go of anything that starves People with envy will hold us down Freedom is just a cut away Nothing can pass our life away Every ounce of strength grasps One solid dream Violent soul Will be whole We have to face up to it For every second we're alive Let our light shine bright To our grave, we must pave A path for us to rise from Power surge, kills the urge Life and death collide We take life's ebb and flow Testament to the things we know With the fight, we must roll Strength will follow Tooth and nail for the ground that we hold Failures from the start but we still grow Heads held high, rally for throne Holding our own Not just words we'll show you so [Solo: Demmel, Flynn] I can't remember These doubts I must dismember And trust in whole Follow your own lightness Follow your sound Believe in me 'Cause I believe in you 8. All Fall Down Anticipating, salivating, intoxicating How I've been waiting To gently soak in Your dream that's broken Caress my hands Around your throat When I choke the last gasp of air out of you I'll mesmerize you, hypnotize you Paralyze you, my snake eyes blind you My tenderest tickle, my gentlest prickle The back of your neck I stab icicles My sweetest grin will pull you in Behind that grin a razor teeth smile Under your bed Inside your head I am the monster in wait Walk, run I'm the fear you've become Pray, hope Before it's your Downfall, and all falls down I patronize you, victimize you My false pretenses endear me to you I'm psychopathic, psychosomatic Believe everything you've heard about me Ate you alive since you were a child That's when the monster first appeared to you So know my name What is my name? My name is fear and I'm you Walk, run I'm the fear you've become Pray, hope Before it's your Downfall, and all falls down With faith I crawl In sadness, I fear what I've become 'Cause after all I'm acting, pretend my smile on Before the fall The pain washes over Hold on, hold on Survive Survive This Walk, run Free the fear you've become Fight back Before it's your Downfall, and all falls down 9. Wipe The Tears Ask me how it feels To feel like you're a failure When everything that's real Burns the flame in anger I've heard it all before I've felt some pain and more More than you could ever dream More than it probably seems I've sat with head in hand Stressed by my demands Stomach tied in knots Alone I've sat and rot 'Cause the pain from all these fears Has built up all these years I'll wipe away the tears Wipe away the tears Don't give in Don't give up Walk the streets dejected Alone and left rejected Time does not care And sometimes life ain't fair My head begins to pound Smashing bottles on the ground I have lived amongst the garbage With those who rape and carnage Had many a promise broken And broken some myself The promise I have kept alive Is keep my inner wealth With my heart aimed at the world Destiny I watch unfurl I'll wipe away the tears Wipe away the tears Don't give in Don't give up Oppurtunities Wasting life away Choked upon its dust Puked out in disgust Let me tell you how it feels To feel like you're a failure Been climbing out this gutter For what seems like it's forever But one thing I must make clear The struggle of these years Has made every scar the stronger My lust for life the longer I will fight for what I love And I will fight for those I care I will fight at anytime And I will fight anywhere With my heart aimed at this world Destiny I watch unfurl I'll wipe away the tears Wipe away the tears Don't give in Don't give up 10. Descend The Shades Of Night Sitting in the empty black The last slivers of dusk have passed Accept the dawn to ease the fear One day I will not be here Death she comes and with her thread Upon me ties a mask for dead Its tears of blood begin to seep And bleed the sky Descend the shades of night Death shines her golden light Across a blackened sky All our hate is a product of a world... We created Ashen clouds obscure my brain Doubts begin to turn to shame Insecureness tears at bliss I hate me for this weakness Faith drives me to carry on And take the road less travelled on Resentment swallowed means to drown The poison down The shades of night descend Descend the shades of night Death shines her golden light Across a blackened sky All our hate is a product of a world... We created [Solo: Demmel, Flynn, Demmel] Scream with me Bleed with me Seethe with me Sing with me Free me Free me Free me Descend the shades of night Death shines her golden light Across a blackened sky The shades of night descend