Emperor - 1997 Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk

[words, Music & Arrangements: Ihsahn.]
[4:18]

Hark, O'nightspirit,
Father Of My Dark Self.
From Within This Realm, Wherein Thou Dwelleth,
By This Lake Of Blood, From Which We Feed To Breed,
I Call Silently From Thy Presence, As I Lay This Oath.

May This Night Carry My Will
And May These Old Mountains
Forever Remember This Night.
May The Forest Whisper My Name
And May The Storm Bring These Words
To The End Of All Worlds.

May The Wise Moon Be My Witness
As I Swear On My Honor,
In Respect Of My Pride And Darkness Itself,
That I Shall Rule By The Blackest Wisdom.

O'nightspirit!
I Am At One With Thee.
I Am The Eternal Power.
I Am The Emperor.

Winds And Storms, Embrace Us Now.
Lay Waste The Light Of Day.
Open Gates To Darker Lands.
We Spread Our Wings And Fly Away.

[words: Ihsahn.]
[music: Samoth & Ihsahn.]
[arrangements: Samoth & Ihsahn.]
[opening Theme Originally Composed By Euronymous.]
[5:14]

Drawn Towards These Lands Again.
Seeking Death And Sacred Soil.
I Ride The Longing Winds Of My Blackened Soul,
Growing Stronger Once I Enter My Empire Beyond.

Emperium!
Behold My Coming.

The Fullmoon Rise Above Me,
Enlightening My Realm In A Silvery Glow.
Yet The Shadows Crawl Beneath My Storming Sky,
Guarding Treasures From Forbidden Light.

I Still Remember,
Though Ages Ago It Seems,
The First Time I Entered The Gates,
The Revelation Of Ritual Death
By Which I Became Divine.
Sacrifice Of The Life I Had
Among The Flesh Of The Light.

And Now I Enter Again.
Even Stronger, Yet Amazed By What I See.
In Ecstasy I Mock The World.

Suddenly I Memorize,
Asking What I Left Behind.
Nothing.

Can I Ever Comprehend?
Will My Longing Ever End?
Never.

Drawn Towards These Lands Again.
Seeking Death And Sacred Soil.
I Ride The Longing Winds Of My Blackened Soul
Eternally.

[words, Music & Arrangements: Ihsahn.]
[4:29]

Close Your Eyes And Gaze Into
This Realm That I Reveal.
See Where Eternities Are Born.
Close Your Eyes, Behold The Powers
Of The Broken Seal.
See The Liars Bound In Thorns.

Fear
And You Shall Fall.
Weakness Suffocates Your Will.
Dare,
Yet Never Fail.
Wisdom Guides The One,
The Strong Who Can Defy
Death.

So I Speak, Though, Am I Heard...?
Wasting Visions On A World Of Blinded Fools.

Still I Scorn
The Vacant Contradiction Of Life,
If Only To Bewilder.
The Final Truth Shall Speak My Name.

Thus Spake The Nightspirit.

Nightspirit, Spirit,
Spirit, Embrace My Soul.
[repeat]

[words: Ihsahn.]
[music & Arrangements: Samoth & Ihsahn.]
[6:39]

In An Endless Maze Begotten,
To Dead Ends Led By Fools.
I Sought A Plague For Those
Who Smiled At Walls In Humble Fear.

Yet, Belligerent Ways Came To An End.
No War Could Ease My Hunger.
By Craving Death I Was
To Darkness Reborn.

No Sacrifice Too Great.
Caught In Another Maze.
Truly Endless.
Still This Maze Is Mine.

No Peace For Me. No Peace I Seek.
My Quest Goes Far Beyond.

No Sacrifice Too Great.
Caught In Another Maze.
Truly Endless.
Still This Maze Is Mine.

I Hail The Greatest Fall.
Dark Is The Spirit Of My Token.
Dark Is My Call.

Still Craving, Still Torn.
Hear Me, Master Of This Realm
To Which I Was Reborn.

"bearer Of My Stigma. Thou Art Of Me.
Yet, Claim No Gift, But Guidance.
For I Am The Giver Of Temptation.
Thou Art The Executor Of Thy Rewards"

Dark Is The Spirit Of My Token.
Dark Is My Call.

The Cosmic Forces Driving Me,
More Noble, More Free.

Take Me.

Love And Hate And All In Between,
I Greet Them All In Ecstasy.
Venus, Seduce Me.
Mars, Possess Me.
Tear My Soul From Sanity.

No Sacrifice Too Great.
Caught In Another Maze.
Truly Endless.
Still This Maze Is Mine
And I Am Thine.

[words: Ihsahn.]
[music: Ihsahn & Samoth.]
[arrangements: Samoth & Ihsahn.]
[6:09]

Memories Of Torment Strikes Me.
Attemps Were Made To Suffocate Me At Birth.
Fools, I Was Already Ancient.
Thou Can Not Kill What Breeds Within Thee.

Alas, This Agony, The Emptiness Of Earthborn Pride
Hath Stirred My Faithful Heart Which Guided Me To Darker Paths.
Far Away From Their Pestilent Ways
Cleansed Was I From Deceitful Grace.

Yet, Put To Scorn Was I
By Those Unclean.
Enslaved By Ignorance
They Blindly Spat Upon
The Deity Of Hate.
Awake Is The Darkest Fiend.

By The Fallen One I Shall Arise.

Upon Bewildered Masses,
To Whom The Indulgence Of My Soul Portray As Sin Made God,
I Shall Revile And Quell The Source
Whence Mockery Of My Kind Derive.

This I Know: Facile Shalt My Quest Not Come To Pass.
Deathwish Be My Gift To All At Last.

Honour. Commended No Longer As Virtue.
Yet, Shalt Be Extolled By Light's Demise.

By The Fallen One I Shall Arise.

Arise.

[guitar Lead.]

Believer,
Speak Not To Me Of Justice,
For None Have I Ever Seen.
By God, I Shall Give As I Receive.
Betrayer,
Speak Not To Me At All.
You And This World
Ripped My Fucking Heart Out.

Again... Again... And Again...
Again... And Again...

[words: Ihsahn.]
[music: Ihsahn & Samoth.]
[arrangements: Ihsahn.]
[5:54]

Vide, Ravens Caw In Reverence.
Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk.
In Celebration Of The Few, Rhe Kin,
Beyond Flesh, Beyond Words.
Those Of The Core, Beyond Gods,
As Gods Received.

I Float Among Them
On Wings Once Broken,
Now Gleaming Black.
I Share Their Song
Of Words Unspoken.
Cries Of The Past.

In Times Of Fiendish Tempest
Bloodlust Turns Against The Coil.
Hungry For The Fall,
I Greet The Pit.
Blind Savage
Cursing Life.

Yet, At The Moment Of My Final Step
The Hands And Golden Chains Are Given.
Bidding Me
That Which Can Not Be Deprived:
The Bonds Of Trust And Unity,
Till The End.

Brethren And Sisters Of My Circle,
I Acclaim Thee All.
When Guiding Stars Are Clouded And Deranged,
Fear Not To Take My Hand.

The Bonds Of Trust And Unity.
As Gods Received
Till The End.

[lyrical Concept: Ihsahn & Samoth.]
[words: Ihsahn.]
[music: Samoth & Ihsahn.]
[arrangements: Samoth & Ihsahn.]
[8:17]

Deep Green Dark Chaos.
Blinded I Run Down These Paths.
By Heart I Know Them.
They Lead To The Soaring Cliffs.
Stout They Stand Above The Water's Edge,
Lifeless.

And This Is My Foundation:
Cold Stone.
Formed Only By Winds And Time.
How Invulnerable,
Lifeless.

Ahh... I Have Longed To Be At One With This
Yet, The Waters Call My Name

For Once I Wish To See
The Entity Behind The Voice.
The Face Of This Seduction,
The Beauty Of My Pain.

Am I Blessed Or Am I Cursed By Thy Presence?
What Is My Crime, What Is My Deed?
Is This Life My Redemption?
Shall I Repent Or Proceed?

I Hate My Flesh.
Its Dimension Poisoned My Soul With Doubt.
It Made Me Question
The Essence Of The "i".
Slaves Are Those Of This World
Given Freedom To Lay Chains Upon The Master.
Master, Master.

The Wolf Is No Longer Free.
Release The Chains And Come For Me.

[the Elder:]
"suddenly, His Mournful Cries Were Stunned. Out Of The Cold Mist
Came Three Enthralling Ships. Sails Torn By Many A Storm, And The
Bows Adorned By The Most Fierce Gargoyles He'd Ever Laid Eyes Upon.
Yet, The Crew They Bore... Three Times Twelve In Numbers. They Stood
Motionless, Wrapped In Grey, Worn Gowns. And From Behind Their
Shadowed Faces Came The Seductive Chanting. Bidding Him On Board.
Without Hesitation, He Accepted. And Away They Sailed..."

Upon These Seas,
Wherein I Drowned So Many Times,
I Scatter The Ashes Of Destiny.
Still My Flames Are In Hunger.
With Fire In My Heart
Shall I Greet The Shores Ahead.
Though, I Know Not What Will Burn.

Desire...
Ahh...
In The Distance
I Hear The Waves Wash Over Solid Ground.
And In This Moment I Am Struck Blind.

Grant Me Sight So I Can See
That Which Lies Ahead Of Me.
Cursed Be My Mortal Eyes
For Dying In The Realm Of Death.

Hear My Call...

I Return To The Soaring Cliffs.
They Truly Shine Of Strength.
Even Though, I Nothing Learned.
With Strength I Burn...

[guitar Lead.]

[music & Arrangements: Samoth.]
[2:54]

[instrumental]

[re-release Bonustrack.]
[originally Released In 1997 On The Ep "reverence".]

[words: Samoth & Ihsahn.]
[music: Ihsahn.]
[arrangements: Ihsahn & Samoth.]
[5:55]

Landscapes...
Entrance My Mind With Thoughts Of Ancient Times.
I Wonder...
Did They Walk This Path?

Open Seas...
An Endless Horizon They Seem.
I Wonder...
Where Did They Go?

Nightsky,
Source Of Light And Dark.
I Wonder...
Did They Comprehend?

Did They Comprehend?
Did They Comprehend?
Did They Comprehend?
Did They Comprehend?

Seasons Running Through My Veins,
Like Snow Melting On My Skin.
They Crawl Beyond My Flesh
And Gasp My Yearning Soul.

Alas!
The Force Of Divinity.
What Caused Its End?
What Caused This?

What Caused Its End?
What Caused Its End?
What Caused Its End?
Oh... The End.

I Drown In Thoughts.
Yet, Answers Have Abandoned This Place
Long Ago.
Blood Runs Cold From My Arm...

Another One Is Now To Die.
Is He The Last To See
The Graceful Entity Of Nature?
Is He The Last To Have His Heart And Soul
Nailed To Her Embrace?

He Passes On...

[re-release Bonustrack.]
[originally Released In 1997 On The Ep "reverence".]
[4:17]

[instrumental]

[re-release Bonustrack.]
[recorded Live At Halford, Berlin During The "emperial Anthems" Tour, October 1997.]

[words: Ihsahn.]
[music: Ihsahn & Samoth.]
[arrangements: Samoth & Ihsahn.]
[6:23]

[... Go On With Anthems: "the Loss And Curse Of Reverence"!]

Memories Of Torment Strikes Me.
Attemps Were Made To Suffocate Me At Birth.
Fools, I Was Already Ancient.
Thou Can Not Kill What Breeds Within Thee.

Alas, This Agony, The Emptiness Of Earthborn Pride
Hath Stirred My Faithful Heart Which Guided Me To Darker Paths.
Far Away From Their Pestilent Ways
Cleansed Was I From Deceitful Grace.

Yet, Put To Scorn Was I
By Those Unclean.
Enslaved By Ignorance
They Blindly Spat Upon
The Deity Of Hate.
Awake Is The Darkest Fiend.

By The Fallen One I Shall Arise.

Upon Bewildered Masses,
To Whom The Indulgence Of My Soul Portray As Sin Made God,
I Shall Revile And Quell The Source
Whence Mockery Of My Kind Derive.

This I Know: Facile Shalt My Quest Not Come To Pass.
Deathwish Be My Gift To All At Last.

Honour. Commended No Longer As Virtue.
Yet, Shalt Be Extolled By Light's Demise.

By The Fallen One I Shall Arise.

Arise.

[guitar Lead.]

Believer,
Speak Not To Me Of Justice,
For None Have I Ever Seen.
By God, I Shall Give As I Receive.
Betrayer,
Speak Not To Me At All.
You And This World
Ripped My Fucking Heart Out.

Again... Again... And Again...
Again... And Again...