1. |
The Insertion
00:44
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(The Arch Kakoph strides onto the main bridge, the hiss of the hydraulic doors rumbling throughout the cavernous chamber. The gunner is at his station. The engineer is half inside the inner workings of the Slavedriver, surrounded by various cables and optical readouts.)
The Slavedriver: 'Communication systems online.'
Arch Kakoph: 'Attune our drives to human frequencies!'
Gunner: 'Inverting signal now.'
The Slavedriver: 'Start navigation system.'
Arch Kakoph: 'Ah, yes.'
(The temporal drive spools and tears the marauders through the fabric of spacetime, landing them in the Upper Cretaceous period. A T-rex rears its head and roars as the Darkwave flashes into being above it.)
Arch Kakoph: 'Too early, engineer. Find their Pacific conflict.'
(The drive screams once more, and they materialise, observing soldiers throwing themselves upon a beach, like ants descending upon a picnic. They are torn to shreds under withering machine gun fire.)
Arch Kakoph: 'Take us to their wartime science!'
The Slavedriver: 'Location set.'
(The temporal drive hums into life one final time as they are flung to 20th century Japan, Pingfang district of the city of Harbin.)
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2. |
731
05:41
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(Air raid sirens blare. Women scream, clutching their squalling babes to them as they are harvested for use as research material. A veteran surgeon enters an operating theatre to see the progress of his latest experiment.)
I will see you in hell
I will feast on the smell
I will take both your lungs
I won't stop at your young
There's always a reason, to keep them alive
When truth is in season, they survive
There's always a reason, to experiment
When truth is in season, I command all flesh
First I left in disgust
Then I know that I must
Now I know it makes sense
To use their waste, their shame
(Footsteps echo down a hallway. Whose turn would it be this time? The metallic reverberation of the dormitories gives way to the steady clop of leather soles. The door opens. A voice calls out,
'It's time for your treatment.')
There's always a reason, to keep them alive
When truth is in season, they survive
There's always a reason, to experiment
When truth is in season, I command all flesh
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3. |
The March of Sses
04:36
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(The sun rises from behind the sand dunes. Soon it is eclipsed and darkness falls again upon the waiting army. No mere celestial movement has blotted the bright light from the sky, rather a massive form that emerges from the dust clouds stands tall and casts Her shadow. She has come, a towering war elephant with conquest on Her mind.)
So we've taken the high ground
Looking down upon them
So we've taken the high ground
Let them see the size of Her
First we've taken their spear lines
Then we've taken their walls
I can see the fear in their eyes
Know Her size.
See how She runs.
Beware, the march of Sses
She's your elephant empress
Behold, Her enmity
As She breaks your lines
Behold, the charge of Sses
She's your elephant goddess now
So we've taken their priesthood
And we've taken their mage
So we've taken their priesthood
Let them know the weight of Her
Now we've taken their kingdom
And we've taken their lord
I can see the fear in their eyes
Know Her size
See how She runs
Beware, the march of Sses
She's your elephant empress
Behold, Her enmity
As She breaks your lines
Behold, the charge of Sses
She's your elephant goddess now
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4. |
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(An organ call silences the congregation. They wait in hysterical trepidation. A robed figure glides up to the pulpit, grinning his Stepford smile, and prepares to whip them into a frenzy.)
Just look at their faces
Just look at their eyes
Look at the faith that grows inside
Their lands will be wasted
We've taken their wives
Just look at the faith as grown men cry...
...In The First Church of Chaos
I watch them pray
I know the fear in their eyes
I watch them slay
At The First Church of Chaos, there is chaos
There is faith, at The First Church of Chaos
Bring me the boy!
Love, at The First Church of Chaos
There is lust, at The First Church of Chaos
Bring me the little boy now!
Their gateway has crumbled
We're changing their minds
Nothing is left as grown men cry
Their children converted
They've come to our side
Nothing is left but suicide...
...Or The First Church of Chaos
I watch them pray
I know the fear in their eyes
I watch them slay
At The First Church of Chaos
Hail...Chaos!
Hail...Chaos!
Hail...Chaos!
Hail...Chaos!
I see the fear in their eyes
I watch them pray
I know the fear in their eyes
I watch them slay
At The First Church of Chaos, there is chaos
There is faith, at The First Church of Chaos
Bring me the boy!
Love, at The First Church of Chaos
There is lust, at The First Church of Chaos
Bring me the little boy now!
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5. |
The Founding of Man
04:48
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(A man sits in a smoke-choked hovel. The heat of the furnace pricks at him, beads of sweat roll down his powerful arms. He pulls the cast from the flames. An orange-golden alloy sits in the mould, tapered to a sinister point. His eyes glow as he bears witness to his creation. It is hammered forcefully onto a spear shaft and added to the stockpile of arms.)
I see, the end of our need
I see, immortality
Time is spent and the work is done
And lust...
Lust, it will be the end of us
The founding of man will be our end
Lust, a way to escape the abyss
The founding of man will be our end
President Harry Truman: A short time ago, an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima. That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of TNT. It is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe.
And so we return to the most violent century on Earth
And God made us?
And so we become Gods
And we don't even know what we want, we're lost
And the Gods made
Time is spent, and the work is done.
Command earth, command tools and signs!
Lust, it will be the end of us
The founding of man will be our end
Lust, a way to escape the abyss
The founding of man
(A ship falls from warpspace - a wonder of impossible technologies. The fuel tanks hum deeply with their excessive payload, but the captain begins the refuelling sequence nonetheless. He disengages the automatic safeties. It is time. He would be witnessed. The clipped voice of the computer chronicles the tale that would never be told. They will call him a terrorist - he is no such thing.)
'Autopilot engaged'
'Gravity scoops active'
'Containment failure'
'Abort action'
'Abort action'
'Auto recovery sequence failure'
'Terminal spacial tear imminent'
'3...2...1...'
The tear in space renders untold systems asunder, destroying his own race at a scale never seen before.
The founding of man
It will be the end of us
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6. |
Galactic North
01:26
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(The Darkwave rests upon the coordinates known only as 'Galactic North.' The Arch Kakoph stares out of the viewing port and considers the ripple that tears through countless systems and clusters from its point of origin near the centre, as the power of the resulting pain and suffering is harvested.)
Arch Kakoph:
Far above the galactic plane, in the abject void between galaxies - we watch. Behold! The sole sentient species. The fruits of untold complexity - it is alone. Humanity: born of constants sufficient in harmony to create the nerve endings of the universe itself; Feeling for meaning in the dark. And it means joy, and hunger. Impermanence, and pain. And he wants it. And it is ours. In his name...Feast.
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7. |
The Last Red Hypergiant
05:12
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(At the end of time, long after the flame of sentience is extinguished from the universe, the final star in existence falls into its final sequence. Nestled in a sea of dark vacuum, the final speck of light that once brought life and potential to a cold emptiness gasps its cosmic death rattle.)
To see the light, to see the last of light
At the end of all, to have the privilege
A fading star, its beauty to behold
Entropic waste...
To be the one who, be the last who sees
At the end of all time
Across the vacuum sea
And the last of the light
The Last Red Hypergiant burns
To be the last who sees
At the end of all time
Across the vacuum sea
And the last of the light
The Last Red Hypergiant burns
To be the last who sees.
(The star exudes a fire never seen before. Its chaotic flares and arcs tumbling into patterns of terrible beauty. It brightens as its final reserves burn away, and then it is gone. A quiet equilibrium settles in for the remainder of eternity.)
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8. |
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(Gathered around the altar, a group of priests gaze upon the assembled worshippers. A young girl is lead toward them. Behind her there is a line that extends down the steps and as far as the eye can see. The chanting of the gathering rises to a fever pitch, accompanied by the thundering of drums.)
Blessed are all those who fall at the turning of the age
Yearning for their sacrifice, they are our bastards, they are our slaves
Bring their blood
Paint the walls with life
Bring incense
For our days, a price
This, this is the season of abyssal screams
Cast from the walls to sow our seed
This, this is the season of abyssal screams
It brings us great victory
Glory to all those who come when called, submitfully, fully!
Praise the sun, the moon, the procession, eternally.
Bring their blood,
Paint the walls with life
Bring incense
For our day's sacrifice
This, this is the season of abyssal screams
Cast from the walls to sow our seed
This, this is the season of abyssal screams
It brings us great victory.
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9. |
A Toll Is Due
04:28
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(As a brutal stalemate withers the warring European nations, a German chemist is handed a vial of noxious gas, wrapped in instructions for its wide scale production. The generous benefactor disappears into the night, the light of the moon glinting from his monocular.)
The greatest honour
To serve in war
The gift of science
For country and kin
Now we see the darkest horrors of science
We know the greatest honour of service
When you see their life force slipping away
A toll is due
A warfare, industrial
Total war, no sin
A chemical advantage
Millions die to win
Now we see the darkest horrors of science
We know the greatest honour of service
When you see their life force slipping away
A toll is due
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10. |
Voyage of the Necronaut
06:09
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(Displayed in a museum of supernatural wonders there is a corpse. It ages, and ages, but for some reason it never seems to quite rot away fully. Not for the thousands of years that it has been displayed there, at any rate. Extracted samples of the grey, shrivelled flesh somehow always regrow eventually. Visitors often swear that they see a spark of life behind the dark sockets where once there were eyes. Some say they see it move – subtly, like a momentary tremble. Others still make a most curious claim. A sensation in its presence. A pressure on the ears. As though someone were screaming.)
I live.
Mine is the tale of Tithonus
Mine is the story of greed
They promised me life, a beautiful wife, but now I'm wasting away
And now I sit here and leech
My eyes, my eyes see nothing
My eyes, know the folly of man, the folly of man
My body, my body, my temple
My body, is wasting away, is wasting away it won't leave me
I live
There is no solution
There is no escape
There is no hope for me
This is a fable of failure
This is a story of need
They promised my wife a beautiful life, but now I'm wasting away
And now I sit here and reek
My eyes, my eyes see nothing
My eyes, know the folly of man, the folly of man
My body, my body, my temple
My body, is wasting away it's wasting away it won't leave me
There is no solution
There is no escape
There is no hope for me
I live, and there is no escape
There is no escape for me now
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11. |
At Outer Dark
07:57
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(The time has come. Sufficient dark energies have been harvested from the horrors and miseries of the universe. The offering must be made. We have our gifts to Him. We have His location. Soon, we will receive His boon.)
In the dark, a pestilence
It follows me through time and space
At the edge, a violence
A grateful wretch, praying now for Him
I see the fear at outer dark, I see it well
I know the fear at outer dark, it is my hell
He judges me but He does not care, it is His way
As I look at the face of my God, it is my world
In system, alarms sound
He's coming closer now, to his prey
Still we hunt, a pilgrimage, to know His grace
Our sacrifice to the old ones
I see the fear at outer dark, I see it well
I know the fear at outer dark, it is my hell
He judges me but He does not care, it is His way
As I look at the face of my God, it is my world now
Are you ready to meet your God?
Are you ready to lose your mind?
He comes
(A radio transmission is received from many lightyears away. Mostly indecipherable, some fragments of communication are recovered.)
Gunner: 'Contact at 500k'
Arch Kakoph: 'Go to stealth mode, follow it'
Gunner: 'Closing'
Arch Kakoph: 'Move to parallel space'
Engineer: 'Yes, Kakoph'
...
Engineer: 'It's returning to real space...It knows we're here'
...
Arch Kakoph: 'Why is it still on us?'
Engineer: 'It's pursuing!'
Arch Kakoph: 'Hard to port!'
...
Arch Kakoph: 'Fire all cannons! Torpedoes, full spread!'
Gunner: 'Impact negatory. Proximity alert!'
Arch Kakoph: 'Run!'
...
Engineer: 'It's gaining, it's so fast!'
Arch Kakoph: 'Conduct emergency time shift. Divert all power!'
...
Engineer: 'It's crawling in my mind...The angles...The angles!'
Gunner: 'Hull breach imminent!'
Engineer: 'It's everywhere!'
Arch Kakoph: 'No...It's everywhen!'
We see the fear at outer dark, we see it well
We know the fear at outer dark, it is our hell
He judges us but He does not care, it is His way
As I feel His name on my lips it calls to me...
The name of Cthulhu!
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Spectral Darkwave UK
Fusing the intimidating splendour of symphonic death metal and the sombre majesty of doom, adding a touch of black metal’s bleak fire and an infusion of industrial terror, then entwining the resulting weapon of war in silver threads of horror and adventure, myth, story and magic – SPECTRAL DARKWAVE are a band like no other. ... more
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