Insomnium Winter's Gate 1. Winter's Gate [Slaughter Moon] The hoar sea enfolds us The scent of coming winter Hear the howl of the wind A song from the ocean's womb Far away behind us Black smoke still rises high Houses of the southern god Broken under iron hooves The time of slaughter moon Sunless, starless ways Sailing to world's end To meet our crown or doom The time of slaughter moon The season of the mist We're faring in the dark Sinking into cold night The grim sea enfolds us The scent of the burning temples Hear the wail of the waves A song from the hidden deep Far away from homely shores And winter on our tail Driven by hunger and greed Swallowed soon by the great worm [The Golden Wolf] And there, amidst the fog A solemn mountain rises Its pinnacle touching the grey sky Silent spruces guarding the shore There waits a grinning prize Worthy of legend There waits a golden wolf A beast with six legs And yet I search on And yet I wait To find your shadow Amidst the darkest night Still I bear the flowers of pain Still I bear the flowers of solitude What trick of gods is this? Rewards and riches Here within our reach Yet not within our grasp And yet I search on And yet I wait To find your shadow amidst the darkest night And yet I search on And yet I wait To find a place where no sorrow creeps in And yet it wrings me Like a strange cold hand And yet it burns me Like a viper's tongue Better it would be To lie on a bed of silt And watch the moon's face From under the waves Better it would be To rest on bed of mire Inside the ocean's womb Dreaming of days long gone Sunless, starless, pathless is the way [At the Gates of Winter] Still I bear the flowers of pain, of solitude And on the mountain's side Grim-looking gate lies Staring towards the north Waiting in solitude Barring the way inside The giant doors of stone Not built for mortal men Not made for us to pass Vile trick of ornery gods? Rewards and riches Right here within our reach Not within our grasp I walk with my head down Wind blows right through my waning heart Weightless, like a bird in my arms She looks into the bottom of my soul Grave tidings from the northside Grave is the tone of this night Weightsome the dark around us The weight of time upon us No one will sing tonight No one will leave the pyre Dreaming of golden wolf Dreading the winter's might [The Gate Opens] Hear the sound resonate Through your flesh Through the ground, across the skies Cracking roar, a thunder's bark Echoes here, the voice of doom Blackened clouds now seize the welkin Wielding all of winter's ire And it will rise with a white voiceless face From the heart of the earth From under the mountain The storm wind engulfs us The whirl of white and grey The downfall is upon us The reprisal of wanton gods Here at world's end we tremble Far beyond the deceitful seas Here we hide now, crawl to shelter Far away from the homely shores And it will rise with a white voiceless face From the heart of the earth From under the mountain Devouring the sun and the earth, forest and sea Devouring us all... Stumbling forward in knee-deep snow The wind is whipping my face in frozen slashes Void of direction... void of hope... I call her name... in the whiteout... There amidst the raging coldness, I catch her figure The fear of death is staring straight at me through her eyes Through the wind's howl, a scream now rises Something moves in the whirl of snow Creatures born out of winter's furor Closing in on us Through the cave's mouth, a crack in the stone wall I'm tearing my way right into the dark A beast is rending the ground behind me Killing all the light Hear the grinding... of stone against stone... I'm crawling deeper... in the dark... [The Final Stand] The flame is weak and frail A circle of shivering men Enclosed by endless coldness The evernight, eternal dark The moan of undying winds Now merged with hollow screaming The fire dies in a single breath The end has come Out of the darkness, out of the cold Out of the night they have come Cruel is the laughter, cruel is the fate Cruel is the winter's will Merciless is the fray Bitter the final stand Perdition and ruin; The icy grip now traps them Right here at the world's end The frost of death will take them all The lords of the high seas Are smitten down into snow No way to bear the fury No way to ward off all the fiends Devouring the sun and earth Devouring the forest and sea Devouring us all [Into the Sleep] Sing a quiet song to me Sing of spring and sing of sea Sing a silent song to me Sing of hope and sing of sleep