DARK EMPIRE LYRICS

1. A Plague In The Throne Room

Regime obscene, another pleasant nightmare.
Behold untold vile obsessions (and bloodshed)
Believer deceiver, of promises you've broken
Unspoken refrains of a cancerous lie.

The poisoned crown of strengths unbound
Procession of evil, hypocrisy on high.
The poisoned crown of strengths unbound
Procession of evil, freedom slowly dies.

Stirring up unrest
Waves of dissent crest
And Crash on down

[Chorus:]
Watch the scourge infect the world
Black flags and altars
Crawling towards its languid host,
A plague takes its toll
With blood on the throne room walls.

This can't go on, it's not the way I see it
This game they play, I'll wage insurgence
And to the barons of oppression I shout
Defiance at the sky. This plague must die.

The poisoned crown of strengths unbound
Procession of evil, hypocrisy on high.
The poisoned crown of strengths unbound
Procession of evil, freedom slowly dies.

[Chorus:]
Watch the scourge infect the world
Black flags and altars
Crawling towards its languid host,
A plague takes its toll
With blood on the throne room walls.

2. Dreaming In Vengeance

A broken body lies upon the ground.
But still in twilight motion can be found
Red lines of crimson blood stream down my hands
The final grasp of life on liquid strands.

In your eyes I can see 
Rage, cold and frozen
No remorse for your deeds.

Over the edge I sent you falling down
An act of self defense away from harm
Our last disclosure still hanging in the air
Seduction of an innocent in tears.

Left within are agony, chaos and despair.
Shattered limbs and broken lives
Say goodbye one last time.

[Chorus:]
The world of shadows fills my eyes
And as I dream in vengeance, for your past I care not.
So take your last breath as you fall.
And as I dream in vengeance, for your past I care not.

I see my own reflection in the pool.
Around your body, growing slowly, death is coming soon. 
We fall into the fading night.
The sirens howl with burning lights.
And for the end that comes to bear
Awake, a dream I do not care.
Alone tonight obsession takes its toll. 

Left within are agony, chaos and despair.
Shattered limbs and broken lives
Say goodbye one last time.

[Chorus:]
The world of shadows fills my eyes
And as I dream in vengeance, for your past I care not.
So take your last breath as you fall.
And as I dream in vengeance, for your past I care not.

3. The Crimson Portrait

Out from the dark you came to me
Like a courtesan of grace and beauty
Pleasure me, enlighten me
Become my every fantasy and be away... a cold and distant state

And as the final curtain falls
Do you contemplate the role you played and stole?

[Chorus:]
Prepare the stage
And play your own psychotic masquerade
All entwined
In crimson hues, the self which you’ve defined
All the same
You paint the portrait of your masquerade
All entwined
In crimson hues, your altered state of mind

And then at once you ceased to be
Like a stranger then, devoid of empathy
Turn from me, and lie to me,
Become the face of our entropy and hate... expressionless decay

And as the final curtain falls
Do you contemplate the role you played and stole?

[Chorus:]
Prepare the stage
And play your own psychotic masquerade
All entwined
In crimson hues, the self which you’ve defined
All the same
You paint the portrait of your masquerade
All entwined
In crimson hues, your altered state of mind

4. Dark Seeds Of Depravity

In total corruption the parasites feed
Taking the lifeblood as they need
From those who'd surrender at the end of the gun,
Perversion of mankind has begun.

Neurotic deceiver, deceive what existence sells.
Nomadic believer, believe what desire tells.

[Chorus:]
Overload, the system explodes.
In the shade of devastation dark seeds grow.
Methodic pleas of insanity
Cultivate abomination, your dark seeds.
(Depravity)

Bathed in the red light down on your knees
Integrity seems a foreign dream
Humiliation for one night of bliss
Dionysus' deadly kiss.

How can you even face yourself? (My inner demons won't let go.)
A beggar cloaked in unearned wealth

[Chorus:]
Overload, the system explodes.
In the shade of devastation dark seeds grow.
Methodic pleas of insanity
Cultivate abomination, your dark seeds.
(Depravity)

Accepting that our culture is
Just human nature is a foolish lie, the death of pride.
Through all the ages, we've one tendency: survive. 

Neurotic deceiver, deceive what existence sells.
Nomadic believer, believe what desire tells.
How can you even face yourself? (My inner demons won't let go.)
A beggar cloaked in unearned wealth

[Chorus:]
Overload, the system explodes.
In the shade of devastation dark seeds grow.
Methodic pleas of insanity
Cultivate abomination, your dark seeds.
(Depravity)

5. From Refuge To Ruin

Fate of salvation, you pathetic lie
Death paints destruction into everybody's lives.
Leaving behind them far, far away
The ashes of everyone led astray.

[Chorus:]
Those born with less, less than a chance 
From odds they are up against
Masses to the west fleeing the stench of oppression.

Anthems to ideals perverting man
An age old widespread sickness 
Found in the snow and in the sand.
We all keep on running. 
Yeah we all keep on running.
Still we keep on running, 
But the plague stays right behind us anyway.

[Chorus:]
Those born with less, less than a chance 
From odds they are up against
Masses to the west fleeing the stench of oppression.

Wastelands, war games, Ww keep giving blame.
Classes, races, famine sadly just man...
Sadly, just man.

Though it's treacherous, forward we carry on.
Through perilous wastelands in hope to find our way home.
Are we left for dead? Are we space between the stars?
Are we standing still? I can't find it in my heart. 
Will you persevere with strength from an ideal of hope?
(With courage and pride) 
We're coming home.
Can you find the strength though you're torn apart?
You were left for dead, find it in your heart. 
Rise above this rage and their despotic gaze
And fight another day on this desolate and lonely road we're on.
We never belonged on this desolate and lonely road we're on.

6. Lest Ye Be Judged

Welcome to your world of rejection
Where your truth rings forth as hollow words.
Difficult to look out from the inside
Alienating all the ones you've burned

Delusions of grandeur, stubborn insecurity
Consumed by your twisted inflatable ego disease.

All alone your search of validation
While your projected fears wreak havoc on the weak.
Incisive gossip fueled with rancor
Every lie you tell yourself sustains you as you speak. 

In a fog of self deception in the safety of your home
Who are you to stand in judgement of the ones you do not know?

[Chorus:]
Never mistake kindness for weakness
Or silence for stupidity
Best you withdraw that pointed finger
Lest ye be judged

Insanity - Audacity - Careless and self-serving
Duplicity - Toxicity - Penetrates the thickest skin
Hostility - Nihility - misdirected anger
Silently, passively, fear disrups your every thought.
Drifting through your fabricated worlds...

Audacity - Insanity - Only seeing black and white
Hostility - Nihility - Malignant narcissistic chaos

Poisonous pity, a negative clown
This chip on your shoulder keeps weighing you down.
Your low self esteem keeps its grip on your soul 
As your shattered spirit spins out of control
And soon in the end, all is lost and you're gone
With no lasting impact, remembered by none.

In a fog of self deception in the safety of your home
Who are you to stand in judgement of the ones you do not know?
And within your self-delusion, thick with self-justified arrogance
Painting yourself into a corner
Where you will forever remain alone.

[Chorus 2:]
Never mistake weakness for kindness
Or cowardice for sanity
Best you retract your every word now
Lest ye be judged.

7. What Men Call Hatred

What men call hatred I can't explain. 
Who in society is to blame?
The self destruction that I see
Goes on and on and on in misery.

Still the hunger, numb the pain
It's all we are, always the same
'Till the soil blacken the earth
It's all we are, in death and birth

When I see bloodshed pouring like rain
And I se infants starved and slain
I see the tyrants cloaked like sheep
Telling us all we're kings of peasantry

Still the hunger, numb the pain
It's all we are, always the same
'Till the soil blacken the earth
It's all we are, in death and birth

[Chorus:]
Falling far, we're far enough but still remain
Carry on, into our darkest days

What men call hatred I can't explain
Who in society is to blame?
The self destruction that I see
Goes on and on and on for centuries

Still the hunger, numb the pain
It's all we are, always the same
'Till the soil blacken the earth
It's all we are, in death and birth

[Chorus:]
Falling far, we're far enough but still remain
Carry on, into our darkest days

8. Black Hearts Demise

Losing my grasp I walk away 
But now looking back, there's so much to say
Still in my darkest hours you stayed
Haunting my thoughts still to this day

Cold is the gaze that pierces
Like a nail through the cross
And eyes, frozen eyes of dispassion
Speak louder than words of hatred and lies

With sewn shut lips and bloodshed eyes
We burn the bridge of what was once our lives

[Chorus:]
From the remains I will arise
And shed not a tear for black hearts demise

Now with this chasm between us
Growing further and farther
We try, all in vain to recapture
What once was so pure, but weak as ice

With sewn shut lips and bloodshed eyes
We burn the bridge of what was once our lives

[Chorus:]
From the remains I will arise
And shed not a tear for black hearts demise

9. The Cleansing Fires

[I - Reconciliation]

Night betrayed the day
I collapsed into my shell
As the scars reshaped my face
Mercy reared its head
And forgiveness lost its charm
As the cries at once fell dead

And if in the shards that surround me
One fragment of hope remains
If these paranoid wishes have come unchained
Better to wish them away
Better to save this last embrace
And give this nightmare closure

Ghosts of madness fled
And the master lost his breath
As the fear inside fell dead...

[II - Mother Of Agony]

Now forever laid in this pristine grave,
They whisper their tirades
Children of tragedy cry blasphemies, invisible and unclean.

So still in the presence of majesty
You will offer yourself to me, give in to me.
In a prison designed by me, frozen in fright at the sight of me
Now you will listen to me
Angel of the darkness created by me
Now you shall see

Better to quietly embrace the dancing fires
And learn to bathe yourself in pools of my desires

Mother of agony, now atrophies
Our union transcending days

Naked, in a state of emergency
Sweat feeding my urgency, give it to me
Submit to this tragedy unholy nymph - you bleed for me
Streaming like tears down your thighs
Now ever so gracefully washing me clean
Whisper to me

Better to readily embrace these raging fires
And learn to drown yourself in seas of my desires

[III - Endless Surrender]

By the bed the stench is best
Under tattered sheets we are blessed
The decay of dignity augments your unrest
Cloaked in silence, you cling to me
Soon you come to know loyalty
Serving me eternally in our den of beauty

Ever deceived by fate, suspended behind this gate
Anguish becoming me, endless surrender shapes me

[IV - Distorted Forms]

Twisted silhouettes and shadows grace the room
The sunlight has abandoned me 
The hours are blurred, consciousness burns
This is my family
The lifeblood drains from me
Forging this grim reality, we fall into place,
Now we're...

Licking the skin (Aging within)
Soiling the whore (Tainting my fears)
Twisting the skin (Descent within)
Boiling the core (Tasting my tears)
Peeling the skin (Dying within)
Begging for more (Raping my soul)
Burning the skin (Decay within)
(Changing my soul)
Forever closing the door on perverse impurities
Father - Fracture - Failure

[V - Descent Within]

Pulsating thoughts impact like thunder
Mind going under
Despair rips me asunder
The ever fading voice of reason
Devoid and bleeding
Piercing numbness blinds my eyes

Our fantasies are weak and crumbling
Hope stays for one thing: 
I know the end is coming
Daughter - Damage Danger

Better to cleanse this tainted world of its disease
And sacrifice sanity
I have been stripped of all but nothing's stopping me
Destiny's wrath ignites my soul

[VI - Ghosts Of Madness]

Night betrays the day, I am timeless (save me)
Mercy hides its face, turns away (raped me)
Ghosts of madness come, and their words (soothe me)
Master breathes his fear (fear) and the choking starts

Regret subdues my demons, purges my desires
Bright flames of lust subsiding, woven curse unravels flawed designs

I can see your face turn to grey (it pains me)
I can see your fear slowly fading (it scathes me)

Undone, the monster cowers loosening its grip
Overcome by searing weakness, turning to a sharp and blinding light

[VII - Children Of Failed Gods' Dismay]

Cut these chains of fractured days
Suffer the children yet he stays
I can see the ending tearing away from myself

Breaking shackles, fighting fate
Prisoners in this perfect grave
Sanctify this union, children of failed gods' dismay
Moments lapse, burning sweat fills my anguished eyes 
These pains revive me
Rage inside me guides my hand so swift and unrestrained

Better to recklessly abandon final hope
As the cleansing fires engulf your soul







DARK EMPIRE LYRICS