OPERA IX LYRICS

1. Many Moons Ago

The final battle is near to be
We've collected all the heroes
And thousand men with us...
Our time is at the end
But our seed will return one day
This, is now the story begun
Many moons... ago!

2. The Serpent's Nemeton

Far-away echos accompany the dim lights of torches
Old and mighty trees twine along the holy way of an ancient procession
Simple but obscure songs are murmured in the deep arboreal temple
Only two mighty blades shine in the reflection of fire
From our directions come the old sages, each with his number and each carrying his ancestor's
treasures
Everything repeats as in an old prophecy marked by a vision donated by the Spirit of Nature
And nothing is quiet in the dark heart of the forest
It's inhabitants voices
The breed of the trees and the men's mantra are part of a unique great ritual
Nothing is quiet... nothing
The four shining serpents slowly draw near to form a circle following the rhythm of
Dark and deep rumbles like the heartbeats of a huge dragon as he is drawing near
Everything wheels in an alchemist dance, where the symbols will become laws preserved
By a family of sages, the men of the oaks
Four serpents united and became one circular serpents, just one in the ancient nemeton
Where each man was near his stones and symbols
Now, everything is silent in the large forest
And even the magical lights of the flames seem to burn out in the silence
In the circle of men and stones, only the oldest one begins to sing a new but terrible prophecy

3. The Prophecy

My name is no-one and a thousand, but the old sages crowned me Queen Mother
I am the breath you can hear among the leaves of the trees
My sap emerges from the deep lakes flowing into the rivers and into the immense oceans
My blood, hot and violent, cleaves the grounding a blazing trail left by a fire dragon
Dark and deep is my womb where I generate any form of life
Here, the ancient learned to receive the old supreme art
I have created sprites and guardians, fools and sages to defend my original power
Hidden in a language written on stone shapes and symbols
Many where the children who worshipped my thousand faces with honour and respect
And I, good and terrible, fed them at my sacred springs with water and dragon's flash
Now I'm dying and so are all my faithful servants that men called Gods of Pagos
Now, the power of the only god hangs over me
And worse my fate will be if they forget about me
And with me the most ancient legend carried on by purest emotions will end
Follow the ancient path and don't turn to the false light
Raise your arms to heaven and you'll be protected
Let the spirit walk with your body and draw the cross in the circle
Abandon the sufferings that belong to your false nature
Love me and I will love you
Hate me and I will devour you
Descent into my crypts where the darkness of life reigns
And nourish the eternal sacred flame
Defend your brother tree and your sister stone because their lives are mine
Follow the snakes' trail
Because it will lead to me

4. In Hoc Signo Sanguinis

Mark your body with the symbol of agony because I am the truth
Bend your head and lower your eyes because my light will shine upon you and will burn your sins
O humble man, dance during the macabre journey of your life
I'll be the only relief for your sufferings, since evil has reigned over your soul eternally
I am the saviour with the blazing sword that crashes the dragon's power
My prophets with their black cloaks will travel along the winding ways of faith
The mother's time is now over
I am the only father of this world and I will put my scals on the ancient temples
My brave warriors will cut down the profane and cursed rocks and the enemy's messengers will burn
Never more idols in the cursed forests but only shelters for your weak soul
O humble man, listen to my world because from the time I come, you'll be saved
Your life will be valueless without sin and your death will be horrible without regret
Follow the book's word and don't let be deceived by the man's word
This is what is written and predicted by the man of the desert that was led to our lands
Shores by the lady of the waters, deceived by a dark veil
In him the seed of discord and ruin was hidden
Our masters and princess fell under the weight of power and corruption and the men of the cross
Promised them new reigns in exchange for new souls
What a mysterious magic hit our eyes so that we couldn't see the god's beauty anymore?
What a mysterious spell broke up the light of our soul so that we couldn't feel
The great mother's power anymore?
What a terrible curse stroke our people so that they couldn't follow the old cults of the forest
And say their prayers in a stone temple anymore?
Under the symbol of the ichthys they promised the coming of a new reign
This reign will be built with the martyrs' blood
This reign will be fed with the weak's fears
It will be a stone temple and will refuse the light
Write all this in the stones and hand it down by the force of the voice
In order that others may rewrite it with blood

5. Immortal Chant

I am the grey conqueror, he who's come by cold and storm
The grey wolf called by the full moon, and the snarling beast hidden in the cold mist
Brother Tree and Sister Stone
Hear my call! Brother Thunder and Sister Night
Announce my coming!
May it's reflection be seen in the eye of the owl, and be amplified by the wolf's cry
I'm the inborn hunting and the battle's fury
The strangled breath of the escape and the vane hope of a refuge
I'm the agony of the preyer and the red blood on the sword
The creature suffocated gasp and the last plea before the void
May glory walk beside me and death in the grey cloak follow
May red poems of blood be traced by the cold steel in the pages of time
I lift this immortal song, in memory of our fathers and in honour to our gods!
May the past return to live in the shadow of the moutains
In the darkness of the woods, and in the light of the plaines
In the depth of the lakes, and at the heights of the glaciers
In the grey humid mist, and in the hot mesmerizing sun
Do not betray your fathers, and don't deny your instincts
For we are the wolves for whom the preyer awaits
Just like the old grey wolf, beneath the pale kiss of the moon
We shout our war cry to the freezing sky we become death!
So that nothing is betrayed
Beneath this pale moon, I engrave my body is eternal signature of the corruptible flesh
May night swallow day and the moon be tainted red!
May the grey wolf return howling in the cold icy storm
For nothing will ever be forgotten!
May the spirits of my forefathers resurrect once more
To erase the affronts inflicted to my land

6. Scell Lem Duibh

[Instrumental]

7. In The Sixth Tower

Shining in darkness the vary eyes of the lord o birds of prey announces the passing of time
With his piercing call
The thick dark leaves of the forest dance in the wind and in worshipful adoration
The heavens tremble and the bright lightning flashes, leaving the heart's of the forests sons
The howling of the wolves become a macabre litany
Premonitions, obscure premonitions crawl in the night air
Built on dragon's bones the imposing tower stands
There the old of the oak turns the profaned sealed pages
The timeless pages built on sacred and terrible rituals
The wrinkled hands turn the pages, the hypnotic starring eyes nourish the thousand thoughts
In the whirling magic of this silent ritual
While the moonlight reflects the dragon's breath
When the ancient gods ruled the earth, giving abundance and death with a simple and fair hand
Glorious were their crowns, but the greed let the man to no longer follow the way of faith
But only the path of power. His greed drove him to excavate the depths of the earth
In search of hidden treasures
The rocks were broken and scattered to extract gold and gems
Mans disrupted the earth creating chasms liberating wealth and tremendous powers imprisoned
In the womb of the earth for thousands of years
Blinded by a mad quest, made pacts with the lord of the abyss
Repayed with the supreme art of metals
The sublimation of the elements earth, wind, water and fire
Death and destruction would spread
Blood of the guilty and the innocent may spill on earth nourishing the abyss

8. Battle Cry

Impotently at the end of an era we assist
As a last rampart we protect the ancient wisdom
Our valour multiply our blades
But this is not enough
Falsehood and treason have reduced our lines
And increased the ones of the enemy of the ancient gods
Their thirst of lands and power will bring death and destruction for centuries to come
The gods, offended by whom have blackened them, have forget us
As two terrible dragons battle arrays clash
One white as his prophet's livery, tint in nothingness and emptiness of his sentences
The other one red, as shame and rage for thousand years of eggression endured
Through sparks and flames, bloody rivers flood through the green plains
The schock is terrible and many sons of the earth lost their lives on the field
Brother they were, now full of hate infused by the priests of the god of the desert
For a supposed difference of belives
The white dragon dispers and disbound his enemies, divouring them with fierce
Without mercy, without honour!
And after our killing, they convert our sons with tortures
They fill our sons hearts with fear and suspect, hate and ignorance
Another era will have to pass over
But nothing is linear in the circle of time
The wyrd repeat himself and the forgotten forces will free themselves
Gathering our sacrifice!

9. Anphisbena

Solitary and imposing the sacred tree wait the spirit's circle
Night receive the silvery lightning star
Take my hand, brother! And give it to a sister as we can close the spirit circle
High parfumes spill in the air, celebrating again the time wheel
The great golden serpent wrap again his throne
Here his royal look meet his opposite, two visages facing themselves in the eternal fight for
equilibrium
From his wooden throne the black goat of the woods wait his dismemberment as a rites for a
continous fertility
The nine knights surround the sacred enclosure, carefull guardians from the profane eyes
The virgins dance following the way of the mother
For the ancestral rite give again gift of continuity at his nation, his ancient nation
Who have protected his cult for centuries
Fires shines in the dark night and the torches accompany the whirling dances as a serpent that wrap
his pray
Take my hand brother and give it to a sister, for we are the sacred circle of the spirits
Protector and guardians of the ancient knowledge
And turn your voice to thunder, because this night the mother will unite with the god
And we'll have a new life and a new king
The light of the fires shine on the Anphisbena, that is the millenary lady of the underworld
She will welcome the new initiated in the eternal circular dance
Magics and maledictions from the stone temples will be able to make nothing against
The most ancient wisdom, neither the new knowledge
And even in the knights of the cross will cut the sacred tree and will banish the serpent
The ancient seed will germ again infusing new roots
And a new and imposing tree will rise again under the double golden serpent sign

10. One Road To Asa Bay [Bathory cover]

[Originally performed by Bathory]

One man rode the way through the woods
Down to Asa bay
Where dragon ships had sailed to sea
More times than one could say
To see with own eyes the wonder
People told of from man to man
The God of all almightyness
Had arrived from a foreign land

The rumours told of a man
Who had come from the other side the seas
Carrying gold cross around neck in chain
And spoke in strange tongue of peace
He had come with strange men in armour
Dressed in purple shirts and lace
Smelling not of beer but flowers
And with no hair in face

And the bold man carrying cross
Had told all one of Asa bay
The God of all man woman child had come
To them all save
And to thank Lord of Heaven
One should build to God a house
And to save one's soul from Hell
One should be baptised and say vows

A man of pride with the Hammer told new God
To build his house on own
And spoke loud of the Gods of their fathers
Not too long time gone
The rumours said the man with a beard like fire
And the Hammer in chain
By men in armour silenced was and by
Their swords was slain

Those who did not pay the one coin
Of four to man of new God
Whipped was twenty and put in chains then locked
By their neck to the log (To the log...)
And so all of Asa bay did build
A house of the cross
Every hour of daylight they did sweat
Limbs ached because faith does cost

And on the day two hundred
There it stood white to the sky
The house of the God of the cross
Big enough to take two dragon ships inside
And all of Asa bay did watch
The wonder raise to the sky
Now must the God of the cross be pleased
And satisfied

Just outside the circle of the crowd
One old man did stand
He looked across the waters
And blotted the sun out of his eyes with one hand
And his old eyes could almost see
The dragon ships set sail
And his old ears could almost hear
Men of great numbers call out Oden's hail

And though he did know already
Though he turned face towards sky
And whispered silent words forgotten
Spoken only way up high
Now this house of a foreign God does stand
Now must they leave us alone
Still he heard from somewhere in the woods
Old crow of wisdom say
...people of Asa land, it's only just begun...







OPERA IX LYRICS