1. |
Crystalline World
08:48
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Few things scald as the terror of ice
As it falls from the sky
To remake the world in its image
And all who stand in its shadow
Fall into oblivion
And their ghosts howl into the wind.
And so the freezing rain falls,
Entombing all in its crystalline shroud,
And through the frozen tears of winter's rage
We witness this world's burial.
Should we be able to hide from this murderous ice-plague,
What will we behold when the sun no longer cowers?
(Come out, you coward!
Your world is suffering!
Get thee out from behind the clouds!
You are needed now more than ever.)
-A crystalline world;
-The beauty of the storm.
-A frightful ghost,
Forsaking all that's warm.
Words cannot spell the lust for blood this season enjoys,
For those who hold with fire have not seen how ice destroys.
And ice does destroy.
Where are my words now?
This isn't the world I knew.
All who aren't suffering are ghosts.
Even the trees groan;
Their burdens unbearable.
Behold, the sun has shown itself,
And I can see -
Only ice has made itself the image of this world.
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2. |
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Oh, I know that summer makes its last, desperate stand,
When the thunder of distant storms roars across the land.
Warrior giants - one or fire and one of fire and one of ice -
Have built their battle-home in the thunderheads.
Where He of Fire does warmth and life entice,
He of Ice hails coldness and death instead.
And though my heart hopes for the warm-warrior's triumph,
The sun's southfall tells me of whom this battle belongs.
Though the sun favors him not,
Summer's warrior fights courageously.
The once distant thunder - now overhead -
And frozen winds now descending
Tell me the fire warrior has fallen
And death is rising to make the land pure.
Purify!
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3. |
Defy As Death Surrounds
09:16
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Know that Summer will always die,
And her comforts tear to shreds,
In the shrieking howls
Of Winter's abominable, silencing cold.
Sure as the night does fall
So too shall all things pass.
When ice does plunge and squall,
The book closes to a snow morass.
Know that all of Creation dies,
And that the cosmos
-In its haste-
Will rend into subatomia
-Diffuse and dark-
Where no energy shall pass.
Sure as chaos rises,
So too glisten death's fangs
As pendulous icicles
To fall upon flesh and blood.
Sure as darkness surrounds
And oblivion strangles the land
A lone soldier of order stands
Before an impossible fight.
Beknighted by defiance itself,
He howls back into the surrounding inevitable.
Sure as the snow does fall,
So shall this be my story.
And you whom my heart holds close
-Alive or in memory-
Hear now my final scream,
That you are my hope,
Courage,
And every fiber of my honor.
And with that as my strength,
I will defy.
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4. |
Howls in the Wind
07:52
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Is it only the wind?
Does my mind fool me,
Or is something else out here?
Between the searing cold windblasts,
And the turn of snow in the gale,
I swear I've just heard . . . some . . . thing.
I have defied death.
Screaming in his face,
I freed myself from his grasp.
I fought him
. . . violently . . .
. . . fearlessly . . .
But what I hear now
Is freezing my blood.
I hope it's only the wind.
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5. |
Ice Heart
09:07
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Speak to me and I shall not be moved.
Swear curses unto me and I shall not raise my hand.
Confess a hidden love and I shall not know you.
Plead with me and I shall wash my hands of you.
Pry tears from your heart and I shall freeze them where they fall.
Hate me and scream to me, but I'll never find you worthy to look upon.
Where tears once fell, only ice goes now,
And where a heart once broke, only cold winds howl.
Where the sun rose high, only night now falls
As the hope of Spring dies by Winter's frozen fangs.
Hold me close, O cold winds of the North.
I may never know warmth,
But at least pain spares me.
For I once was foolish.
For I once was weak.
For I once had innocence,
And was unwise to suffering.
For I with my ice heart know I'll outlast all,
But can I ever truly be alive?
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6. |
Born of Winter
05:59
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The seeds of my soul were sown in the throes of creation,
With the fabric of two woven into a distinction.
Upon a deep winter night with the howls of the surrounding season,
My heart came aflame, and spoke of bare trees and distant sun.
The winds of the storm shall howl across the land my true name,
For Earthborn I am; of Land and Sky I am made a man.
And on these deep winter nights, songs of creation echo in my heart,
For I am man; I am a force of nature -
Her!
I am Earthborn!
So here I stand; fury of winter in body of man,
Wraith of a season; destroyer of life and land,
But when these fierce winds tear my ghost from my beaten flesh,
I'll leave the soil and howl with them forever,
"I am the Earthborn!"
"I am Earthborn!"
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7. |
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All warmth has left this world
Alone in this cold void,
And all light had died too
Leaving all color destroyed.
All hope that I could hold
Feels broken beyond mend,
When the ice-spears of the wind
From Heaven descend,
For Death is this season
Of endless cold,
And life is but treason
On a world grown old.
Day upon day, the gray skies surround.
And day upon day, the freezing winds howl.
Day upon day, ice clots the ground.
And day upon day, the trees groan and growl.
Year upon year, I watch this world die,
And screaming in vain, I curse Winter's name.
With fear upon fear, I wait for the sky
To gather its horror, and take frightful aim.
For all has died, and I stand alone.
And I pray to have no dreams.
Please spare me some mercy.
Give me no visions of Summer's grandeur.
For no echoes of sweetness can I bear
While I walk this endless, frozen Hell.
For I can pray for nothing more
Upon this dead world
Than to have no memories of life.
And should the sky clear
And the cold winds die,
I'll hold no hope
For heartbreak has wearied me.
For hate is the reason my heart has grown cold,
And death is this season
And I've grown old.
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8. |
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Shallow are the depths of warmth
As we fall far from Summer's hearth,
And winter's ice exacts the price
For fairer days with sun ablaze.
Behold, warmth only passes
As transient to something far colder,
And comforts as embers to ashes -
Falling away to something far older.
A warm breath on a winter's day
Passes the lips and instantly freezes -
An oblivion kiss as if our way
Blows truly in deep winter breezes.
A warm breath on a winter's day,
An oblivion kiss as if our way
Has always been cold.
The heavens fall from blue to black,
Beyond which, the cosmos freezes
In fury beyond the ravages of Hell itself.
Winter is creation's force
As energy passes to chaos,
And coldness the cosmic course,
And all of order forever lost.
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Appalachian Winter Schellsburg, Pennsylvania
All music is offered for free download (see the Appalachian Winter website below). Some physical goods offered through Nine Gates Records.
Enjoy!
-D.G. Klyne
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