Red dawn retribution Look to the skies A sudden sunrise banishing The darkest night The cleansing fires Multiply to burn and blight The time has come to arise Return with vengeance Conquer the surface Reclaim our home Fight for the lost The hornless ones will weep to see The dawning of our victory Red dawn retribution All our fears subside The sun no longer burns our skin Clouded by the ash What's left that wars have spared A shattered kingdom of avarice dethroned Heap the bones aside Tear down the useless monuments The forgotten ones who remain Revenants, lost to history A broken people ostracized Left for dead, all but erased Chased into holes in the earth Subterranean outcasts Forced to cower like rats Until daylight became deadly Centuries of isolation Scrutiny and observation Watched the tribes of mankind falter Fanned the flames of strife into warfare Red dawn retribution Red dawn retribution Under a crimson sky The time has come to arise Red dawn retribution Scarred by mankind's pride And the deep shall inherit

A ringing bell muffled by earth A sign of life from the catacombs Enshrined in charcoal Encrusted with salt Shrinking skin Clings to the bones Chanting silent sutras Desert lips and dedication The bitter tea and stinging salves Made a lacquer in his veins No vile worms or carrion Shall feast upon his sanctity Immaculate end A morbid immortality Eternal lotus Blooms in blackness Forever in repose Eternal lotus Blooms in blackness Uncorruptible Alone he bears the pains Of transformation A beacon of suffering To leave behind a legacy This monument A skeletal offering Agony beyond endurance Every nerve aflame No light, no sound Just his hummingbird heart Blinded, his gaze draws ever inwards Through the darkness, he sees all Infinite forms, unfolding panoramas The mind's eye opening Casting off the fleeting form Remake the self to match a will of steel In passionate purpose A lifetime's sacrifice To contemplate the divine Cycles of death and rebirth Made manifest in his flesh In passionate purpose A lifetime's sacrifice To contemplate the divine Embodiment of mortality Preservation of the earthly husk As the spirit journeys on Beyond the petty games of mortal things The self-inflicted wounds The hurts and jealousies Chanting silent sutras Desert lips and dedication The bitter tea and stinging salves Made a lacquer in his veins No vile worms or carrion Shall feast upon his sanctity Immaculate end A morbid immortality Ascetic perfection A gift for the worthy Eternal lotus Blooms in blackness Forever in repose Eternal lotus Blooms in blackness Uncorruptible Eternal lotus Blooms in blackness Forever in repose Eternal lotus Blooms in blackness

Wake up screaming in the silence Jagged shards and raining dust Relive the sharp collapse Dread rasping memory Shivering in your high-rise mausoleum The purple sun descends upon the starving city Shadow season bequeathed and barren You watch as scattered torches Flicker from the broken windows Stabbing hunger pangs and panic Like the memory of static Though you rationed every morsel Days have passed since your last meal Desperation drags you further And you’re creeping through the rubble In the darkness of an alley The knife blade glinting in your hand Awakening the wolf inside Bare your teeth and howl Reclaim your nature Awakening the wolf inside Would you, could you Take a life to survive? A small sharp cry Descent, delight The violent heave of splintering ribs The cries of pain were over quick But the scavengers are moving in Hear them baying in the night As you try to catch your breath In the sobbing silent aftermath When you're left to lick the wounds Does a numbness overcome you? Waxwork eyes stare in mute judgment Terrible its vacant, knowing grin White curve taunting beneath Bewildering rage inflamed The hunger, the shame The fear of what comes next Feel the blade guide you beneath Ecstasy, a ripping delirium Coerce the skin's confessions Through black streams Decant the heart's last vintage Crack the bones and gorge on marrow Limbs plunging to stir the embers Sunrise came and found you sated The fugue of carnage slipping away Shattered senses slow to reconcile The blood black wreckage Choking taste of iron Wake up to the dusk choir The screams and laughter echoing Surrounding shadows inking terror Hushed among the hopeless The city is a hunting ground No longer shall you cower For tonight you prowl Fly into blackness unashamed Stalk silent, drawn to the sound of whimpering Drink deep the fearful scent Transformed by the savagery Sing to the moon for all to hear: “Despair, another beast is free!” Years of ease and manicures Denial of your claws The primal self too long subjugated Gather blades and sharpened stones To split the flesh and chip the bone Anything to render meat Sharpen your teeth to points Grinding enamel to a cannibal grin A sight to shed the skin Awakening the wolf inside Bare your teeth and howl Reclaim your nature Awakening the wolf inside Would you, could you Take a life to survive?

Take a breath of the unknown Anticipation of the rush Ashen thoughts and swirling smoke Bitter alkaline to choke Urge to rise above it all Excelsior my battle cry Fearless of the coming fall Driven upward, ever onward Gravestone walls and growing moss New growth rooting through my skin Grinding teeth and racing pulse Can't stay grounded, I must arise Urge to rise above it all Excelsior my battle cry Fearless of the coming fall Driven upward, ever onward Cannot stop my spirit's thrust Drags me skyward so I climb Throw the obstacles back to the earth Driven upward, ever onward Driven upward, ever onward Blinding pressure Bulging eyes in tunnel vision A rushing roar of noise Consuming every thought Take away this gripping need I beg with bloodied hands Erase the trail of broken bodies in my wake A brainstem directive Imperative to climb above Smash all the ceilings My destiny for elevation Pieces cut out of my mind Find myself three stories high Howling winds can't stop me now Feel so happy I could burst Urge to rise above it all Excelsior my battle cry Splintered fingers, scraping bloody nails Driven upward, ever onward Driven upward, ever onward

Fear sneaks into your life And nothing will be safe (Can you hear the whispering) (Rumours multiply in the night) Soon it transforms the familiar Into twisted forms (Can you hear the muttering) (Rumours multiply in the night) Doubts take hold planting seeds Into fertile soil Blinded by the preconceptions Deaf to any contradictions Senseless repetitions stoke the ire A meaningless descent Uninformed opinions spinning Wheels in mud, no traction to take hold Emboldened by the echoing choirs A feedback loop of lunacy retold Hate breaks into the heart Dressed in jester’s rags (Can you hear the cackling) (Rumours multiply in the night) Cracked mirror mocks and distorts Those different into beasts (Can you hear the gibbering) (Rumours multiply in the night) How can the others exist As if they were people The spiders gather Spinning webs of slander Hatching schemes of mendacity Stitching half-truths together There are no civilians in information warfare In this time of alternative facts and blatant misdirections When the truth is buried beneath a hundred plausible lies When it feels like you don't know who to trust Ask yourself, "Who has the most to gain if I believe?" Weaving words to win the hearts And the minds will surely follow (anything) Twist the facts until they fit your narrow narrative "You're either with us or against us" Can you hear the march for war Lone-wolf legions called to arms The spiders gather Spinning webs of slander Hatching schemes of mendacity Stitching half-truths together The spiders gather Can you hear it? Spinning webs of slander Ten thousand rumors in the air Hatching schemes of mendacity Ugggggh! Stitching half-truths together Ten thousand rumors in the air! Inoculated from other points of view Don’t believe the liars who assault your gospel truth Conspiracies conjectured All common sense rejected Death creeps in through the cracks

Ash and alabaster Buried century No headstones to describe The silence beneath Wastes bled white Unbroken miles shriek Grim winds standing guard For what fools would unleash Dread swords in slumber Forged from hate and aggression Armaments of cold disdain Woe awaits Devastation Deferred but unrelenting Though we stand at December’s end The winter rages on Our frozen fears are never far Until the ice has come to thaw Patient pestilence aplenty Persisting under the ice Hidden from sight and mind, they linger 'til the worms shall have their turn All walls shall crack From frost and thaw The plans of man Castles of straw How many grim relics remain? Endowments of infirmity The legacy of bloodless feuds From forestalled enmity to total ruin Permafrost to slush The glaciers weep Dead oceans stretch their fingers All borders erased When warmer winters rage And shielding snows subside The flotsam on the rising seas Shall bear an ill tide Dread swords in slumber Forged from hate and aggression Armaments of cold disdain Woe awaits Devastation Deferred but unrelenting Though we stand at December’s end The winter rages on Our frozen fears are never far Until the ice has come to thaw