1. |
Bewildering Duress
06:57
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Something’s not right
There’s another inner voice in my head!?
I can’t shake this dread,
That within this snowy serenity lays an ominous portent
My family is here: wife, daughter, and newborn son,
To witness my rest and reflection on what I’ve done
Weary and strained I over drank to create self-prescribed silence
In this seemingly silent boreal wilderness of the Northwest
I’ve been racked by unexplained bouts of a kind of psychosis
My attempts to dispel these deranged hallucinations, all useless
Sensing my tension, my wife suggested we all take a stroll in the snowfall
Snow steadily fell around us as we ventured further into the forest
Although my family was with me I felt faraway, lost between the trees
Then, I saw it there, in the gloom, concealed behind the conifers
Skin pale, eyes glowing blue, gaze fixed on me and my family
Paralyzed, I asked my wife, do you trust me?
Then please run with me and hide
Panting, I nervously started scanning for the approaching monster lit by moonlight
Confused, I elucidated to my wife that something was stalking us from a distance
And he started crying…
Soon they’ll be devoured!!!
My son’s wails would give us away
They’ll all become the prey!!!
My son had to be silenced… so I reached for a stone…
I’m sorry…
What’ve you done!? She said
You’re overwhelmed by this snow-born insanity, it’s made you violent
My family is here… wife, daughter, and obedient son,
Here to witness the reckless actions of what I’ve done…
They were tearful and strained, so I shared the peace bestowed with my son’s silence
The cold consumed me and my skin slowly turned to grey
I felt my humanity fade away, replaced by a singular philosophy… to feed on flesh!
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2. |
The Retribution
05:32
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What began as a game became a veiled deceit to bind the beast
His predatory presence will grow to threaten the Nine Worlds
Brother of Jorgumund and Hel, we were familiar with Fenrir’s fate too well
Forged from the impossible, Gleipnir was our last stratagem
Disdainful though not foolish, he demanded a contingency
Heimdall, Thor, Odin, and the other Aesir and I stood silently
This maneuver would certainly mean: cost of a hand to delay inevitability…
Though fettered, the Great Wolf would still thrash and writhe,
Dragged to a desolate place to be bound and tied
As a safeguard, a sword would be placed in his mouth,
And in this isolation he’ll remain incensed and exasperated; howling incessantly until the day of
prophecy
Someday the inscrutable Norns will announce Fimbulvetr
Winter’s winds will blow and sizeable snows will cover Midgard
The warmth of the sun will fade leaving the lands gelid
Once honorable men will murder, slaughter, and slay
Skoll and Hati cast the worlds into darkness as they finally devour their prey
Yggdrasil will shudder and with it all the trees and even the mountains will fall to the ground
The unbreakable Gleipnir will fracture and shatter and Fenrir will be free
Heimdall will blast Gjallarhorn signaling Ragnarok, has arrived before Asgard!
Consulting the Mimir, Odin will lead our armies to battle at Vigrid
Even though he knows who the prophecies have foretold its victors
Odin aided by the Einherjar will face Fenrir in final combat
The Allfather and Midgard’s champions will fight valiantly but ultimately fall
The other Aesir will fight bravely and be forced to sacrifice their lives
Midgard will be scorched by fire or swallowed by the sea
What began as a game became a veiled deceit to bind the beast
His predatory presence will grow to threaten the Nine Worlds
Brother of Jorgumund and Hel, I’m familiar with my role in Fenrir’s fate too well
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3. |
A Deathless Prison
07:14
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Recollections of my days are becoming blear,
Or maybe it’s the blood loss…?
I recall when the idea first crystalized,
The fatuous endeavor before we inevitably die
The toil, the tragedy, the momentary triumphs;
Humbled under the heel of time
Studying sorcery I found way to survive,
My soul entrusted to beast and bird, both buried under an oak
Unburdened by mortality my morality decayed
Whatever or whomever I desired I’d just simply take
Victim of my own conceit, I was caught, shackled, and in defeat,
With sorcery ensured hundreds died; brutally, before being bound and pacified
When efforts of execution failed to deliver me to death,
I was immured by Marya Morevna
Besieged by darkness, rats, rot, and irony;
My prison was a poetic reminder of a disadvantage of immortality
Twelve chains restrained my neck, hands, and feet
Ten years of isolation, while I wailed and screamed
Then one day, my hoarse pleas of perdition, were finally answered
A man named Ivan, unlocked my cell, and I was given water
Revitalized, the sturdy restraints holding me were easily broken, and bust
Marya’s army would perish and she’d be my bride until the day she died
Conjuring my power my rage became a tempest manifest
The warrior princess and her army in route step,
Would be destroyed; slaughtered, by both whirlwinds and thunderstorm
Bol'she nikogda… Bol'she nikogda… Bol'she nikogda!!!
Then one day I was astonished to see, the young man Ivan attempt a rescue, foolishly
Three warnings followed by three attempts, and I dismembered him; disposed in the briny currents
She escaped, again!? Tracking their trail, I was surprised to see, Ivan!?
Though I dismounted and had approached cautiously
Their steed suddenly bucked, striking my head violently
Stunned, and beaten; burned, my ashes were distributed and dispersed
Enraged yet alive, my soul still separated; I couldn’t die…
Eventually I resurrected and returned to my castle
I continued my life of hunting…
Some trophies chose to stay, some not, no one left
Except Vasilisa who showed true fondness…
I witlessly shared the safekeeping of my soul
Someone smashed my door, a rescue? I’ve dealt with these before
A swordsman, named Bulat, claimed he would take my life
Dismayed when his strikes failed to fell me
Vasilisa took my side, and I felt an egg crack on my back
Sharp agony overtook me and I fell to the floor
Reinstated with mortality my constitution deteriorated
Bulat and Vasilisa gone, my blood flowed onto the floor
Victim of my own conceit, I was callous, stubborn, and recalcitrant
With sorcery delayed when I’d die, undignified, ultimately forsaken and ostracized
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4. |
Hamartia
10:44
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Rage! Boundless and beautiful, guide my dory
Sing! Those who’re Stygian-bound! Sing, the song of my glory!
Scream your eternal laments and ready yourselves for Hades’ embrace
Your corpses creating a banquet for canine and crow
Oh my thanks to you Calchas for freeing me from my prison on Skyros
The Aegean ocean air fills my lungs as I stand amidst other Achaeans
My Hephaestus -forged armaments clenched, ready like reeds to etch my name in history
My mother tells me, the immortal goddess Thetis,
That two fates will bear me on to the day of death
If I hold out here and I lay siege to Troy, my journey home is gone, but my glory will never die…
But if I voyage back to the fatherland I love, my pride, my repute, my glory dies…
The Moirai have fated my decision decided, a grander trophy: immortality in aristeia
Nine years have passed… and many have fallen beneath my blades
Twelve cities razed by the Achaean army
The Trojan efforts crushed before our coalition
Our victories unabated until routed by hierarchical hubris
Apollo punished us with plagues and maladies
A sacrifice was made, and my confidence betrayed: Chryseis for Briseis
Bastard! The disrespect, the folly, the myopia!
If Agamemnon cannot see, my absence shall be his and others’ misery
Patroclus, my empathic friend, couldn’t bear witness or acquiesce
Donning my linothorax he impersonated me and was met with fatality
Even Olympus heard my howls of rage
In an instant everything was taken from me…
I herded my friend and Mymidon kin to Hades…
Then suddenly, my Mother appeared tearful with new armor and shield in hand
Moirai be damned, I’ll take Hector’s life with my own two hands
My Hephaestus -forged armaments clenched, ready like reeds to etch my name in history
My rage beckons me, deserving Trojan-culprits…
That their blood and pain echo well after their deaths
Fodder discarded and Scamander incensed
I standing before the murderer and exclaim,
I only wish my fury would compel me, to cut away your flesh and eat it raw
For what you’ve done, no one can keep the dogs off of your head…
The battle now over, Hector was slain yet my rage remained
Aghast, Troy watched as I tethered their champion behind my chariot
Triumphantly circling its walls dragging desecrated corpse in tow
The peace of Elysium this man will never know
His cunning father crept his way into our camp
Priam tearfully pleaded for his son’s body’s return
He explained Peleus will one day come to mourn me too…
Crestfallen father, you’re permitted to leave with your son’s remains
Hector and I are both preordained to doom
We men are wretched things…
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5. |
His Rage Made Manifest
03:26
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Yudhishthira you craven, I’ll execute you and every one of your kin
Father’s genius, only defeated by recreant deception
The celestial Narayanastra’s barrage will disseminate disaster…
One Akshauhini destroyed both beast and battalion massacred
In the confusion a Commander defeated and King were killed
Swearing revenge to Duryodhana I was given command
We’d strike at night, delivering them to Yamarāja’s hands
Flanked by Pishachas and armed with flaming sword
The Panchala shall be slaughtered, despicable cowards!
Screams filled the skies of the once quiet night
A special fate reserved for Drona’s murderer
The deserters were dealt with by the ravenous rearguard
The Pandavas’ sons slain; their camp devastated, razed with flames
Brahmashirastra ready, I awaited the grieving with their death
The same astra evoked by Arjuna, ash would be all that’s left!
The divine demanded we disarm…
No! I’ll end the Pandavas bloodline forever!
However Krishna intervened and disabled my attack
Defeated; Vyasa asked I remove my mani, my source of strength…
Krishna then cursed me to never rest and roam the forests,
Covered with wounds that would never heal
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6. |
Indelibility of Iniquity
10:57
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Freed from Morpheus my consciousness returns to a vacant darkness
My anger consumes all concern as I recall the madness born of eventide
Though through these pages there appears conviction in this arrant fiction
Her sanity though seemingly lost, may have found a revelation
“Under Samhain’s sky through both forest and mire, follow the path by will-o'-the-wisps’ fire, to cave housing Veil for both young, still, and tired… Tech Duinn”
Though maybe this mystery will lead me…
This forest is so funereal with skeletal thickets squeezing moonlight and even sound from the surroundings
And a heavy mist obscures the ground and climbs to the canopy
My imagination stoked by either fear or folly
There’s a faint hint of hymns from afar
Forsaking rational I follow the flickering lights and melody
Through both forest and mire I found myself at an eldritch cave
The hell mouth beckons and terrifies, yet I’m compelled to proceed
The air is heavy with haze creating a canvas for luminaries
In its recesses, a dolmen gate somehow untouched by time
And amidst the arch an ethereal rift shimmers beckoning me forth
Through the haze I’m consumed by a chilling comfort
Cloaked in black and bone a figure donning a deer skull approached me
He said, “Ignore the fires, for there áes sídhe gather and will lead you astray
But’s these distractions pale compared to cŵn annwn which will hunt you
Stay too long and the Veil will fade with Samhain’s sky”
Pressing on I can’t help but feel amazed
The wonder, the tranquility, the allure is hard to shake
There’s a weight in this air I soon realized
My resolve tested, is this where we truly go when we all die?
No – this world is absurd, all its splendor a lie
A delusion, a fiction, of which I cannot abide
Amidst the canvas of darkness I see shades surrounding a campfire
Chthonian figures singing songs of sorrow to a solemn figure
She sat silently and slowly her phlegmatic gaze met my eyes
Tir Na Nog… is so close…
I attempted to argue yet my fervent words failed to persuade
In a moment of stillness a horrifying baying broke the silence
The cŵn annwn are hunting… I can’t stay any longer
Oddly the ominous howls grew strangely softer…
Their ember-like eyes burned bright in the blackness
Paralyzed, I witnessed three pale beasts approach me followed by their master
The figure cloaked in black
“Under Samhain’s sky through both forest and mire, follow the path by will-o'-the-wisps’ fire, to cave housing Veil for both young, still, and tired… Tech Duinn”
Though maybe this deity never meant to aid me …
To me, to my house, you shall all come after your deaths…
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Foretoken Virginia Beach, Virginia
Myths, legends, and folklore with their colorful imagery and imaginative narratives often served as not only entertainment but cautionary tales for their time. Foretoken borrows from this tradition by blending Symphonic elements and Extreme Metal to retell these stories of violence, tragedy, and sorrow, from around the world. ... more
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