R INSIDES OUT, HEAR THE LAUGHING CROWD ...THE WIND BLOWS COLD, SU...WANDER ON THE BOULEVARDS ...IT'S WRITTEN IN THE STARS ...IT'S WRITTEN ON THE WALLS ...LIKE THE MIRROR SUCKED MY FA...SHE'S DEEPER THAN THE SKY ...SHE'S LIKE THE RISING SUN ...IT'S WRITTEN IN THE STARS ...IT'S WRITTEN ON THE WALLS ...FAITH, WRITTEN IN THE STARS ...FAITH, WRITTEN ON THE STARS ...FACE THE CHANGE OF LIFE ...FACE THE CHAINS OF LOVE

a madman I'm up in the morning, ...headin' for the walls of heartache. ...You look down and the walls are higher* ...They are built from the tears you're cryin....I'm workin' til the day I'm dyin (oh, y...Breakin' down the walls of heartache, baby ...Breaking down the walls of heartache, baby ...ot to tear down all the loneliness and tear...Breakin' down the walls of heartache, baby ...Shakin' down the walls of heartache! ...Shakin' down the walls of heartache! ...Chip-chippin' at the walls of heartache. ...And the faces there before ...writing on and no tomorrow? ...is written on the walls of the heartache. ...Breakin' down the walls of heartache, baby ...Breakin' down the walls of heartache, baby ...ot to tear down all the loneliness and tear...Breakin' down the walls of heartache, baby....Shakin' down the walls of heartache! ...Shakin' down the walls of heartache! ...Shakin' down the walls of heartache!

Its written on the walls ...you sing it in the halls ...its written on the walls ...you sing it in the halls

The walls of this hotel are p...The struggle mouth to m...The grunt of unity when...with my ear against the wall ...d to your kisses at the door ...I never heard the world so clear befo...with my ear against the wall ...You are The Naked Angel In My H...You are The Woman With Her Legs...It's written on the walls of this hotel

It was written on the walls and window shades ...And how she'd act the little girl ...Lousie rode home on the mail train ...Somewhere to the south I heard it sa...Ah but the wind is blowing col

It was written on the walls and window shades ...Louise rode home on the mail train ...Somewhere to the south I heard her s...Ah but the wind is blowing col

It was written on the walls and window shades ...nd though she'd act the little girl ...Louise rode home on the mail train ...Somewhere to the South I heard them ...And the wind is blowin' col

It was written on the walls and window shades ...Louise rode home on the mail train ...Somewhere to the south I heard her s...Ah but the wind is blowing col

It was written on the walls and window shades ...And how she'd act the little girl ...Lousie rode home on the mail train ...Somewhere to the south I heard it sa...Ah but the wind is blowing col

And the vision that was pla...Within the sound of silence ...'Neath the halo of a street la...turned my collar to the cold and damp ...yes were stabbed by the flash of a neon lig...That split the night ...And touched the sound of silence ...And in the naked light I saw ...Disturb the sound of silence ...In the wells of silence ...And the people bowed and pr...To the neon god they made ...And the sign flashed out it...In the words that it was f...And the sign said "The words of the prophets are written on subway walls ...And whisper'd in the sounds of silence

Kill them all. Pigs written in blood on the walls. ...rotten land. The pressure your damne...ion and school puts on our minds creates a...e pain that no damn walls can keep inside. ... then throwing away the key. ...ll. Pigs screaming, The blood runs ...down the walls. You'll never be su...keep the madness behind these walls because the pain ...You can put me in the chair and watch me ...Kill them all. Pigs written in blood on the walls. ...rotten land. The pressure your damne...ion and school puts on our minds creates a...e pain that no damn walls can keep inside. ... then throwing away the key.

Written by Stevie Nicks and...In the shadow of the castle walls ...Wherever those walls were ... to be behind those walls with her ...Within these walls ...ell he watched from the corridor ...Watched from the corner of his eyes ...emingly waiting for the time ...When the castle walls would all fall down...Yes it was a strain on her ...Where in the world did you come ...In the shadow of the castle walls ...Wherever those walls were ...Well the castles all seem to... our separation way on down the line ...Yes it was a strain on her ...Where in the world did you come ...Yes it was a strain on her ...Where in the world did you come ... light that lighted the way to the chamber ... light that lighted the way to the chamber door where ...Yes it was a strain on her ...Where in the world did you come ...Yes it was a strain on her ...Where in the world did you come ...eah it was a strain on her ...In the shadow of the castle walls

Episode I: The Fall of the Shadow-King ...Episodes II & III: The History of the Great Wars ...Episodes IV-VI: The Rise of the Imperium ...Episode VII: The Quest for the Trinity of Might ... VIII: And Lo, When The Imperium Marches Against Gul-Kothoth, Then Dark Sorceries Shall Enshroud The Citadel Of The Obsidian Crown (recounted on the second Bal-Sagoth album; "Starfire Burning Upon The Ice-Veiled Throne O...Episode IX: The Obsidian Crown Unbound (The Legions of the Imperium Storm the Cloud-Capped Palisa...(here recounted on the sixth Bal-Sagoth album; "The Chthonic Chronicles...Episode X: The Shadow-King Reborn ...Episode XI: The Battle of the Nine Armies (The War of the Crown) ...Episode XII: The Great Rebellions and the Dissolution of the Imperium ...The Obsidian Crown Unbound (The Legions of the Imperium Storm the Cloud-Capped Palisa...Chapter 11: The Siege Begins ...And so the mighty and resplendent armies of the Imperium assembled before the towering cyclopean walls of ancient Gul-Kothoth. It was some time before the billowing dust cloud raised by the massed arrival of the vast imperial host settled, ultimately dissipating as the shadows of dusk descended. With nightfall, the imperial army's countless torches, braziers and cookfires illumined the dark plain before the fortress like a coruscating sea, painting the stygian heavens the colour of flame. And the high summer's night passed swiftly. At length, the dawn approached tentatively, and with the first signs of the newborn sun etching its promise upon the skies, the martial preparations commenced in earnest. A brief and perfunctory exchange between the Imperial Herald and the fortification's Watch Commander held no surprises, and the Emperor's banner was duly driven into the seared earth before Gul-Kothoth with a chilling finality. Vast siege engines and powerful ballistae were hauled inexorably into position, alongside a battery of katapelte and petrobolos. The one hundred thousand strong Imperial Frontier Army, having planted their regimental blazons into the arid soil, waited with a disciplined patience born of never having met defeat in pitched battle or siege, the dreaded Imperial War-Leopards straining noisily against their iron-link leashes to the rear of the cohorts of conscripts and auxillieries. The pitiless Iron Phalanx and their Lord Militant Commander had assumed position at the head of the army's Alpha Wing, polished swords, spears and poll-axes reflecting the glow from the myriad torches and braziers which still burned about the Imperial Host. And behind them were drawn up the legendary Legion of the Ebon Tiger, Pride of the Emperor, the infantry and cavalry famed throughout the Great Northern Continent, personal regiment of the feared general Baalthus Vane. True to their martial reputation, the six thousand strong Legion were inscrutible in their jet black armour, their sable banner billowing in the chill breeze which skittered over the plain. And finally, astride his azure-shaffroned warhorse and surrounded by his elite guard, the silvern-armoured Emperor Koord himself studied the precipitious gates with a disdainful scrutiny. At the Emperor's right hand was the renowned Swordmaster of Kyrman'ku, an eastern bladesman of preternatural skill and the most revered and expensive mercenary in the Imperium. At his left, the infamous Ogre-Mage of the Black Lake brooded silently, swathed in a stygian cloak and fuliginous cowl and exuding an aura of implacable malevolence which unerved even the bravest of the Imperial troops. The Emperor had deemed the services of these two nefarious renegades pivotal to the execution of the Final Campaign, for they alone had knowledge of the mysterious arcane rite known as The Words Which Unfette...ime-worn palisades, the defenders of Gul-Ko...THE EMPEROR KOORD: General Vane, we begin the final stage of this campaign with the rising of the sun. This war which has raged for decades shall finally be decided here, before the hoary walls of ageless Gul-Kothoth. The Imperium's last and most glorious victory is at hand. The procrastinating sybarites of the bureaucracy have been threatened and bribed into compliance over this venture. This more than anything else is why I have deigned to grace this final battle with my Imperial presence, even against the advice of the Grand Vizier and the sage counsel of the Seers. ...hall enjoy watching the Ebon Tiger bloody i...THE EMPEROR KOORD: You should not call in your falcons before the hunt is done, my loyal servitor. Overconfidence is but one of the many foes a general must face upon the field of war. Today, the precepts and maxims of the Imperium shall be tested, and we shall see whether the velvet glove of diplomacy or the iron gauntlet of conquest has proved the more effective tool...BAALTHUS VANE: The days of the feudal suzerainties are long gone, my liege. The Imperial Military Council is the only entity fit to govern the dominions. The fall of Vyrgothia shall today render the truth of the Imperial Mandate se...THE EMPEROR KOORD: And yet I am vexed, for as you well know, the sorcerous emmisary I despatched to the Court of the Over-King has warned that the Vyrgothians may have recovered one of the artefacts comprising the fabled Trinity of Might; the legendary Obsidian Crown itself! In the hands of a skilled thaumaturgist, it is said that the Crown may be used a...BAALTHUS VANE: The Shadow-Sword! The Obsidian Crown! The Ebon Sceptre! Feh! The power of the Trinity is but a myth! No antiquated trinket weilded by a religious fanatic will prevail against the Legion, sire. Our steel is proof against such diabolism! Behold! Gul-Tryarch has fallen, Gul-Azlaan has been given to the earth, Gul-Nomedes is naught but smouldering rubble, and soon we shall surge over the shattered remnants of Gul-Kothoth's renowned walls! The Vyrgothian Alliance shall crumble when these gates are breached, and the Over-King himself s...THE EMPEROR KOORD: Indeed. At any rate, I have been blessed with foresight enough to prepare a contingency should the foe fulfil that fearful potential which has been weighing heavy on my mind. But now, the sun rises! Let it begin! Let the final chapter of our legend be written! Give the word! Raze Gul-Kothoth to the ground! ...The Imperial War-Skalds...The thunder of the battlefield, ...The clarions call, bring down the wall! ...May the Empire's glory neve...The Wizards of Vyrgothi... of night, Crown of the Elder King, ...Unfettered at last the Trinity of Might, the Sceptre, the Sword and the Ring! ...Chapter 12: The Fall of Gul-Kothoth... was unleashed upon the field of battle. Colossal stones, firebrands and howling iron-tipped missiles rained pitilessly down upon the hero-hewn walls of Gul-Kothoth. Vast and serpentine cracks appeared in the ancient cyclopean edifice, and hundreds of warriors, both attackers and defenders, perished in the fray, either crushed beneath the ceaselessly assailed testudo, hammered to crimson pulp by the merciless storm of unforgiving stone, or burned to blackened husks by the nightmare onslaught of flaming quicklime and saltpetre. Scaling ladders raised and repulsed in turn, storms of razor tipped shafts exchanged by the combatants, isolated skirmishes raging upon the ramparts, men blade to blade and clarions bellowing embattled defiance. For seemingly inumerable hours the sanguineous battle raged, with no quarter asked nor given between the bitter ancestral foes. And the gates held firm. ...At length, the mightiest of the Empire's iron-hooded battering rams, dubbed The Bringer of Woe, was brought to bear upon the besieged fortress, and, with the shadows of dusk lengthening upon the field of war, the centuries old Primary Gate of Gul-Kothoth was finally sundered amidst an earsplitting cacophony of shattering oak and iron louder than any storm-born thunderclap. With the rending of the mighty gate, and vast fragments of the ancient walls yielding, buckling and crashing to the blood-sodden earth, the Imperium's forces breached the defenses of Gul-Kothoth and surged into the Vyrgothian Alliance...re and ten, bearing the Obsidian Crown, arrived upon the field of battle. ...Chapter 13: The Wizards Do Battle ...THE SORCERER: By Klatrymadon and Zuranthus! They come! They come, weilding the Circlet of Night! The dire warning issued to me as I stood before Vyrgothia's Master Wizard has been proved no idle boast! The citadel's spells of containment breached... the Black Crown is upon...THE EMPEROR KOORD: It is as I have forseen! Be spry, my sorcerous lackey... join the Iron Phalanx in ent...THE SORCERER: By your c...At once, the far-feared and martially renowned Iron Phalanx wheeled to face the newcomers, and at the command of a decurion, a volley of armour-piercing shafts screamed skywards to rain down mercilessly upon the foe. And even as this transpired, the Emperor's Prime Sorcerer, emissary of the Imperial Court and master of those arts which speak to man in narcotic dreams from the darkest and most silent places, summoned forth that black potency which lay entwined in stygian tendrils within his mind... an ireful power born of they who writhed upon the shores of Pangaea before man's progenitors ever erected their lofty spires to the restless skies. And yet Vyrgothia's Master Wizard, unrivalled Arch-Mage and adept of that lost Eastern order who journey beyond the boundaries of time and space upon those nebulous wings born of the sacred Azure Lotus, rose to meet this power which lapped at the periphery of his mi... arid field of war, the sentinels of light and shadow spoke to eachother in tongues dormant since the Third Moon fell burning from the heavens, and not sweet were the words they uttered....Until at last, with the armies poised to clash, and with dusk painting the sky a deep crimson exceeded in its vibrancy only by that bloody rubicund hue which stained the battlefield below it, the Emperor's mage fell, and the aeons-old might of the Obsidian Crown was finally brought to bear against they who had breached the walls of ancient Gul-Koth...The Imperial War-Skalds...Sundered, the gate of the ancient fortress, ... Now breached stand the walls. ...Behold! The Obsidian Crown. ...Embattled, the wizards, their weap...Untramelled, the circlet, the Prime-Sorcerer slai...The Crown's peerless power, the Emperor's bane, ...Like the prow of a blood-hungry vessel of war rending the waves of a midnight sea, a luminescent blade of shrieking cerulean light lanced from the legendary black circlet locked tight within the gnarled hand of the Master Wizard, and clove mercilessly into the glorious ranks of the Imperium. And all who were touched by this ruinous arc of coruscating radiance knew no more... Men and beasts reduced to blackened husks, charred shells of smouldering ash, lifeless effigies which toppled to the seared earth to be dissipated by the whispering breath of the wind. Again and again the ravaging radiance smote the ranks of the Empire, leaving a noisome charnel-pit of nightmare in its crackling wake. The forces of the Imperium were plunged into a howling vortex of disarray, and, faced with the unthinkable prospect of defeat, the unprecedented first routing of the Emperor's glorious army began to become a grim reality. Yet for all the unparalleled carnage which had erupted about them, there was one regiment of Imperial troops for whom the taste of fear was bland compared to the sharp tang of rage ...LTHUS VANE: By all the gods of war! Stand fast, hounds of the Imperium! 'Tis true... steel is no use against this ignoble magical trickery! But if our souls are bound for the Pit this day, we'll damn well take a few of these bastards with us! Onward, my Legion! Alpha formation, banners high! Glory to the Emperor! Into the foe! Show them the Tiger's claws! ...THE LEGION: Never quarter, never mercy, never retreat! Praise the Emperor! ...THE EMPEROR KOORD: My sorcerous thrall has fallen, but he has bought us time enough to riposte! And General Vane's mettle may yet turn the tide of war back in our favour. Now, let the final act be played out! I call thee forth, Ogre-Mage of the Black Lake! I call thee forth, Swordmaster of Kyrman'ku! It is time! Now, I charge thee, for the glory of the Imperium... Speak the Words Which Unfette...And so, it began... the two pivotal players in the Emperor's plan, the two key figures in the Imperium's contingency, stepped forth to fill their most vital of roles in that grand theatre of carnage which now ran unchecked on the field of battle. ...The Ogre-Mage and the Swordmaster began to utter fearsome words in a tongue which was ancient ere the gleaming stars shifted upon the fathomless countenance of the distant heavens, words which in truth were not words, but rather a resonant key which would aspire to unlock a dire power which had reposed shackled since the fall of the legendary Shadow King himself, whose ebon circlet's power they even now sought to thwart. The incantation they gave voice to in the midst of that sanguineous turmoil which engulfed them was not so much heard by those within earshot as perceived, sensed as a vague disturbance in the fabric of reality, as fuliginous ripples on the surface of a hitherto still and placid pool, growing ever larger and more far reaching; an unnerving and unnamable sense of change which insinuated itself into the mind of the listener and suggested with a cold and disturbing quasi-certainty that something of preternaturally ineffable magnitude was transpiring, as surely as a festering and gangrenous corpse would split to spill its noisome gore. And as that maddeningly implacable incantation reached its resounding climax, a momentary silence enshrouded the battlefield, swathing the vista of chaos in an aura of noiselessness more pure and untainted than the tranquility of the boundless and stygi...urable instant that the dark and peerless power unfettered by those grim pseudo-words finally, ultimately, made itself known before the sundered gates of a...nued in: Episode X: The Shadow-King Reborn

Remember those walls I built ...Standing in the light of your halo ...It's the risk that I'm takin...It's written all over your face ...You're the only one that I wan...To pull me to the ground again ...The risk that I'm takin...It's written all over your face ...It's written all over your face

I'm lying on a white hot blanket...ve grown a beard in the last three weeks ...We spend the nights under canvas...And we spend the days in the desert ...Riding on Joey's camel ...Riding on Joey's camel ...We found the Ten Commandments, M...And the water is no good ...So I left him in the sand dunes ...And I struck out on my own ...And the tablets of stone ...Riding on Joey's camel ...Riding on Joey's camel ...They said the hand of God is upon...It is written on the wall, dear Mother ...With the beard and all! ...they led me down to the catacombs ...The walls were lined with bon...r just a glimpse of the stones ...They were buried in the shifting sands ... I didn't give them the tablets ...Riding on Joey's camel ...Riding on Joey's camel ...The map was a fake ...Now I'm stuck on the Devil's anvil, Moth...I'd broken the Ten Commandments, M...Following the scent ...And it cast the shadow of a cobra ...On the walls of the tent ...Riding on Joey's camel ...Riding on Joey's camel ...As the word of the Lord ...It was me or the stones ...Riding on Joey's camel ...Riding on Joey's camel ...I'm lying on a white hot blanket...Riding on Joey's camel ...Riding on Joey's camel