Arctos - Beyond The Grasp Of Mortal Hands (2019)

Weight of mind, a moonlit night, to ponder.
Existence substantial?
Or wasted stars given flesh?
Unknown is to me, the meaning of this decay

Created by fusion, in fires of heaven,
the weight of their splendour,
crushed like a dream.
Hear my cries, reveal to me,
What came before?
What yet remains?
The only truth is that death has come…
and shall come again.

Of dust we are born and to dust shall we fall.
Entombed in existence until the dust calls.
Scream my name, bleed upon the earth,
dig deeper and crawl, be one with the dirt.
Dig into my body, burrow deep within,
a cosmos awaits, vast and unseen.
Praise be to death, be consumed by the land.
Come forth now, seek the radiance within.

Scream with me, through to the night,
the anguish is real of your bleeding heart.

cast down from life's temporary guise,
with death, gain freedom to fly.

Darkness falls, the weight is lifted,
time becomes still, my soul relinquished.

The beauty of death, an eternal gift,
a realm beyond, where all
shall cease to exist.

Fragile time, so precious, yet set to fall.
The signs, long seen in their coming,
yet ignorance spake it’s cruel call.
Would that I had seen,
with eyes swept clear of foolish desires.
Now sorrow remains, my constant companion,
waits with me, as sunlight fades.

This is beauty’s end, to wither and die.
To collapse and to crumble,
beneath this uncaring sky.
Autumn’s herald, ever has been,
biding its time, watching, unseen,
now spreading its touch of helpless decay,
over my heart and the land.

The cloak, cast off now,
Once so vibrant, once so alive.
Though wish as I might,
It cannot survive.
Stripped bare before me, the truth of you,
unburdened it lies.
The sun has now set, and with it,
the light of life dies.

Wasted, desolation, whispers of past joys long gone.
Each step, treads on dead leaves,
shrivelled, encased now in frost.
The land lays hollow, As hollow, am I.
Numb to all else, As time passes on.
Left to reflect on all that once was,
Alone now, to wait for the dawn.
The quiet solace of sorrow's touch,
A comfort it seems now to me.
The rays of this new day,
It's glimmering light, a promise...

A promise of life yet to be?

This is beauty’s end, to wither and die.
To collapse and to crumble,
beneath this uncaring sky.
Autumn’s herald, ever has been,
biding its time, watching, unseen,
now spreading its touch of helpless decay,
over my heart and the land.

Fractured, splintered, earth,
tread upon with care,
now as stillness fills the air.
Wrapped in mist this crater,
dormant centuries has lain,
yet now the warmth of life
has returned.
Shallow breath,
here thunderous resounds,
and the heaving of the waves
upon the shoreline as they pound.
A rhythm primal
building up surrounds,
reverberating deep into the
hallowed ancient ground.

Voices on the wind intoning, chanting, screaming, crying.
The anger here is palpable,
amidst this madness, flowing.
I fear my mind is slipping, failing, giving in,
yet fully knowing,
something stirs beneath me;
Something here is growing.
Terror waxes full,
Gripping heart and blurring sight.
My shivering form illuminated in this black moonlight.
A mighty force emerging,
tremors stir the shifting earth.
Bursting from the craters heart,
behold this dark rebirth.

Cracked tomb, broken silence,
into the night once more.
The Black Wolf long lay buried,
unleashes crippling roar.
Announcing the end,
the ritual of the lake
now fulfilled.

He turns towards me now,
his bestial eyes ablaze.
Such utter power,
lies within his gaze.
Judging worthy, my soul,
laid bare before his sight.
Baring teeth, he grins.
Casting breath upon my skin,
darkened visions form within,
madness heralding my transformation,
becoming Arctos risen.

My shredded flesh,
cast off and strewn about me;
The remnants of my once self.
My senses are afire.
I revel in this new power,
this old form,
a beast of the ancient race.
I throw back my head,
and howl with wicked glee.

Shattered tomb, endless screams,
Into the night we rise.
The Black Wolf, long lay buried,
now rises to the sky.
Bringing to close,
the ritual now at end.
Winds howl, the forest burns,
Arctos risen again!

A parting veil: the grey mist of the dawn.
The sky light’s aflame,
Over windswept canopy,
Of lively green, so serene the scene,
catching my eyes.
Warm streams fall, as I walk on.
The changing path, calls me forth.

Greatness dawns upon the one, with heart set in stone.
The coward finds, his weakness binds, a destiny forlorn.
The path to tread, the mountain to climb.
Slumber calls, strength of will it falls, life fades away whilst
Darkness holds

Wending through forest, overgrown,
dark thoughts cloud my mind.
Light pours through the leaves,
though warmth does not reach me,
For in my heart, a truth is known;
I must leave all behind.
A solemn journey, this final path,
lit with setting sun.

As I grow cold, my heart as stone; crumbles from inside
Of weaker men, have I become; alone, my life a lie.
The path leads down, the mountain left behind.
Slumber calls, to my knees I fall, anguish takes it’s hold!

Broken! Bereft! Crawling forth, I lay outstretched.
Bleeding! Torn! My flesh is rent, upon the forest floor.
Slumber, has called:
to summon me, to bring me home.
At last I find peace; withered, alone, upon the forest floor.

Reflected black before me,
these waters, ancient, lie,
drawing on to depthless chill.
Awaken thoughts
of journeys past
of those who came before
of those who shared my name.

Knowing that
from those long gone
a path was lain for me,
built from their lives
and passed to mine.
Yet now the waters cloud,
once so clear the way ahead,
now offers no direction,
towards my journey’s last.

No more, shall we walk
with abandon,
with spirit unburdened,
free of weighted thought.
The innocent choices,
left behind, no certainty left
within my mind. Relinquished,
and with that,
my journey can begin.

Enter now, the frigid,
turbid waves. Willingly,
into their cold embrace
Bitterly, straining on,
amidst these waters lonely.
Joyless, this passage,
my journey’s fated form.

Upon my weakened limbs,
these blackened waters pull.
Shuddering,
my strength is spent,
the depths, they call.
To think that I would better,
all the dead men of my line.
A fickle thought,
as fate would show.
Now it’s my time.

As my body fails and
‘neath the waters slips,
I close my eyes
for I am in death’s grip.

Ancient hands reach up,
and catch my ragged frame.
The echoes of my ancestors,
the fallen of my name.
For though they died,
to forge this way,
their blood this path has set.
This way of bone,
on which I walk,
shall take me onwards yet.

A lonely mount,
where I now stand,
beyond the grasp
of mortal hands,
alone to wait in somber quiet,
and listen with the land.
In night’s darkest hour,
I witnessed such splendour,
beheld skies aflame,
they sang to me.
A language too great
for words to convey.
A language of beauty
and silent thought.

The light beyond the sky,
the light that now surrounds me,
in cold flames, with icy breath,
it sang it’s baleful song.
The light beyond the sky,
the light that will never touch me,
begged of me to heed it’s wisdom,
it’s solemn prophecy.

“The weak shall die before their time,
they shall not wait for death to claim.
Thy life denied by thine own hand,
leaves none but one to blame.
Wait not for others, for joy or love,
to find you, you must rise above.
To forge true strength and worthy life,
shall by thy hand be done”


The light beyond the sky,
the light that will never touch me,
begged of me to heed it’s wisdom
it’s solemn prophecy.

The light beyond the sky,
the light that will ever find me,
and beg of me to walk life’s path,
strong and free.

The Light beyond the sky!