(Instrumental)

Her voice still calls to me

Like a distant dream

Buried ‘neath a

Thin veneer I scream

The decadence of “Love”

Took Her away

Her innocence was

Taken to the grave

Rid me of the fire

Burning deep within my soul

You scarred me with these wounds

And let your web of lies unfold

Give me back my passion

Your cold-blooded sacrifice

You raped Her of Her faith in life

And left Her strung to hang that night

Her jewelled eyes

Still glisten in the gloom

Moistened from Her

Begging mercy of you

When the pieces fell

Like shards of dripstone stalagmite

And your poisoned flock

Put to death my only light…

I renounce the love of Light

And the lies proclaimed

Your crusade is unjust

And “Love” is hate’s masquerade

I beg you, find me guilty

Of these occult “crimes”

And slay me in cold-blood

To be by Her side

In the darkest corner

At the deathly side of night

Still haunted by his past

The Count deplored without respite

Lit by candelabra

Sifting through tomes of the dead

He recited scripts, iniquitous

In wicked tongues and hex

Under light of the moon

There grew a disquieting mood

As mammatus clouds loomed

Clad in the darkest of hues

It seemed the storm had arrived

Bringing the bleak skies to life

Thunderous bellows to provide

A pulsing theme for the night

Dressed in naught but his shame

The count drew blood from a slave

Bled her upon an altar as bait

A gift for the Devils to claim

Should they arise from the depths

Of whichever Hell they transgress

A seeping mist soon plumed dense

And cast the room in darkness

From the shadow grew

A contorted figure of deathly pall

Risen from beyond

To hear the Count’s relentless call

To offer him relief from the grief

That had amassed within

To see Her face one final time

And quench his thirst again…

THE COUNT:

“Come to me Ghoul

Break the stranglehold

The grip of death

Upon Her fragile soul”

Mephisto glared a thousand daggers

At this impending Faust

But spoke in almost sombre tones

When addressing the dishevelled Count

MEPHISTO:

“We will strike a deal

And on my terms

Shall you be damned

But for this price

I’ll grant you any wish

That you demand”

THE COUNT:

“Grant me a glimpse

Upon my bride

Whom wrongly died for sins

Her portrait eyes

Painted black as coal

By those heartless charlatans”

Mephisto’s eyes flickered fires

Burning sulphur filled the air

The Devil’s presence fading

As his Faust wished in despair

THE COUNT:

“Bring Her back to me

And take what I behold

It matters not to me

Let your price for Her be known

What you wish is yours

For Her I’d sell my soul”

And so the pact was sealed

And poured away the shades of life

For the Count who fell to darkness

Now a Devil’s concubine

I've waited and craved for a moment like this

As I watch you appear before me through the swirling mist

Draped in a dark shroud which hides all but your eyes

And those lips, their pursed perfection surely still awaiting mine?

But beneath the pounding rhythm

Of my fractured stained-glass heart

My mind still defies the notion that

We shall no longer be apart

And so in your presence I seek a sign

That this is no trickery nor dream

Despite the doubts I have

I place my trust and faith in you

I mourned and I swore we'd be together once more

And now you glide back to my side emerging from beyond this mortal coil

You allow the drapery to fall cascading over your milky limbs

As it pools around your feet I feel you bare against my skin

Here in your arms I fall far beyond my wildest dreams

As your lips caress my skin and stir desires from within

And here I will stay with you until the glorious end of days

Where we shall not be bound by fate, I will remain

Here in your passionate embrace

My hands caress your form exploring every daring curve

Upon the fallen autumnal leaves we let our tongues unfurl

Entwined like nesting vipers hissing in fits of ecstasy

I feel your lips upon my neck, as if to bite and drink of me

Here in your arms I fall far beyond my wildest dreams

But cruel lies reclaim you at Dawn and the truth is revealed

That here I must stay, alone through the wretched end of days

Where I shall have no place with fate, I shall decay

Without you I will fade away...

The journey leads on

Through the vast wilderness

Ever left from the path

I can no longer resist

The passage of time

Grows skewed like my plight

Each step takes me

Another world further from You

Fooled once I was

By pure “Love” and trust

Forsaken by all

Now left broken, corrupt

The passion and life

Drained from my eyes

These now hollow chambers

Of darkness consumed

Once I was blinded by rage but now I can see

This unjust world is no place for me

I slip from the past into the stream

But the deeper I go, the darker thoughts grow

And I see Your face so gaunt, haunted, shallow

My fangs bare to make my fury known

A fallen Angel to some

This wretched fool that I’ve become

A mockery made flesh most of all

But should I stand tall?

Reclaim my throne and call for war

Or leave it all?

Let all of their transgressions slide

Turn my back

And continue to hide

Or let this mark the end of my descent

And return with this

Unquenchable thirst for revenge!

I was fooled once again

All hope now denounced

Dashed many times

Too innumerable to count

My rational facade slips

To reveal the true primal side

Sin is ripe

And I covet Her fruits

The process is done

Rising from the proverbial grave

Of self loathing and of loss

And all those years that I bayed

The beast I’ve become

Has licked its own wounds for too long

It’s time I unleashed my curse

A vengeance fuelled coup

At last I can ascend from those dark depths

To take leave of this purgatory rest

And shift my focus to my enemies

Where once I was tamed by sorrow

Now I reach far beyond the brink to oversee

This fixed game of chess to set me free

The last lonely glint of sundown

Bows her head to the mighty dusk

Wherein nocturnal creatures stir again

To resume their nightly hunt

The music made, yes, oh so sweet

Orchestral manoeuvres in the dark

The sounds of their feeding an inspiration

For my next work truly avant-garde

With every line erased

And each stroke I paint upon the bloodsoaked page

I find myself in post orgasmic malaise

Snarling grimly as I spit on their graves

The Nemesis of opulence

A dreaded eidolon

Each “Horrorshow” a shot across the bow

For the unwitting victim next in line

The first sign of prey approaching

A suffocating scent pervades the air

Fooled by charm, a string of deception pulled tight

Something her corset and our bodies now share

Within the privacy of her chamber

Bejewelled with riches like her chest

Which now pounds heavily between the gasps

I hang on Her every dying breath

With fresh wine imbibed

To commemorate this vendetta across all time

My one man war upon the affluent

Justified in my reddened, sullen eyes

The Nemesis of opulence

A ripper of glutinous swine

Each victim stricken akin to the thickening fog

Lifted from my vengeance sodden mind...

Lurking in the shadows

For another chance to come

Like a cobra poised to strike

I hiss my restless serpentine tongue

And when the move is mine to make

I’ll blot them from my wishlist one by one

An alpha predator like an unbiblical flood

Come to cleanse Earth of this stubborn scum

With the times we change

To accommodate our vast hypocrisies

One man's war of valour

Is but another’s terrible tyranny

The Nemesis of opulence

A Zeitgeist of the times

Each victim like a burden lifted

From Hell I bid you all a final goodbye

Where will it end?

I question all the notches I’ve inscribed

Is this to be my quest

Until the very end with no respite?

Or should my focused eyes

Set upon the most monumental prize?

Dream a little bigger, darling

In the grander scheme of taking life

Tracing bloodlines back

To when this curse came over me

Until the last drop is drained dry

Upon my mouth and sets me rightfully

Finally free...

The toll of midnight strikes

As passion taunts me in my sleep

Her legs so pale and slender

Rend me arisen and primed to feed

Under the moonlit clear night skies

I find her awaiting me

'Neath her satin, lace and leather reveal

A Heaven and it's seraphic lead

Above the world we writhe

Our limbs performing many scenes

Of lust and lore that many thought

To be acts of filth, debauched

A bloodlust fills my eyes

The scarlet lenses fully formed

I lay my kiss upon the pulsing throat

With lips and fangs and more...

Over many nights I sate my thirst

And avenge the crimes

The last kin of those heartless

Hunters in my sight

With a taste for sweet revenge

I play the hand of Fate

Swindling the odds through time

To beat her cruel game

In trancelike state

With a Devil tonight she dines

Beneath my smile

Burns a malice cold as ice

Without compassion I take my fill

Of her precious wine

And leave her deflowered

In my arms and drained of life...

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The burden of days and the sprawling nights

In the silence of solitude there is no place to hide

From the past and its sins, the reflections within

The ravaging tides of time leave me gnarled, indistinct

The tolling bells of years gone by

Echo in the distance every chime

A shrill reminder of those once dulcet tones

Such goodness wrenched away from these fragile bones

But how the beaten organ can still sputter a pulse

For those moments in the sun, the thrill of the hunt

Oh spare me from nostalgia and her accursed front

Which may rend me man again for a taste of this spell that is spun

Around the cobwebbed coves of the darkest side

Midst the dank dungeon dregs of a derelict mind

Which sheathe my feats from the driving gale

Make swift my end like those I once assailed

Prey, we come closer with every breath

Brought slowly back together by encroaching death

The lurker in the shadows, sole victor of this game

Set in motion by vengeance now recalled as shame

The scapegoat still bleats I grind my jagged hooves

Head hung low, drunk with power, bemused

A mere pawn led to march in this terrible war

Revenge a crueller mistress than ever accredited for...

This hall of shame bears down on me

As it crumbles from the inside out

I can barely breathe

It all begins to tumble down

The edges blur

And then the pain subsides

I succumb to a sedated numbness

Until the next time

I choose to close my weary eyes

The arrows turned, the swords repel

I throw the flag

And set sail for the end

In flames I swear this sinking ship

Will be dashed to the depths

And never found

Torture artist not my chosen nom de plume

But this sordid desolation of my creation

Holds to this unspeakable truth

There is no place to flee, no haven

There are no more roads to roam

When all the paths inevitably

Still lead back to You

The musings of a madman on the edge

Still reeling from the feeding of the basest needs

My curse, this lover's pledge

And so it ends, this embittered tale

All the dragons slain, the piper paid

Now doomed I walk alone

On this scorched earth…

Spectral shadows shift

About the dying land below

Flowing fabrications from

Forty thousand thoughts ago

Creations crawling constantly

Across credence's court

Melding more with time

My murky mind meanders on

Blissfully beyond the border

Beckoned by bestial fiends

Watchful over a world where once

We would sate our needs

The dreams they seem to twist and weave

Together tethered thoughts

From lust to dusk, to harvest moons

And an Angel midst a storm

Reflections of the past

Illuminated by the stars

Distorted by the ripples

And ever destined for the dark

Reckless and enraged

The intricate path we paved

Disregarded like wilted flowers

Left to rot upon a grave

The long days and lonely nights

Waiting for seas to part

And lead the way through misty veils

To rest within Your arms

The longing and the throbbing pulse

Revives this sunken heart

And bleeds the red and impassioned blood

That keeps us tied as one

Passing time with those once pined

Proving even pure passion pales

When greeted with the graceful gait

Of Gorgeous, Love untamed

Heaving from Her Heaven’s scent

My hastening heartbeat

Yearns to sink twin puncture wound

Deep into Her throat

But plagued by these troubled dreams

The light begins to wane

The antithesis of my crisis

As these nightmares never end

Deeper do they delve

With their deviant Devil dance

With songs for Steel and Samhain feast

And tales of an epic romance

(Instrumental)

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