Rituals of Power

Smell the fear, the coming decay of all
Rites of spring gone rotten
High priests, lords of artifice
Lead their flocks into harm's way

Welcome all to the new inquisition
The last shriek from the tomb
Nothing left but to burn it all down
And rub the salt into the open wound
Destroy, delete, rebuild, repeat
Another name carved into stone
Falsify then pretend
As we cut the cord and wait for the end

With a concrete stare, rituals of power
The dead eyes of the past, rituals of power
Up to the gates of Armageddon, rituals of power
Until we're all one with the dust, rituals of power

Still they cling to the old superstitions
The elders, they speak in tongues
They spit words their words and they wither and wait
as Cronus eats the young
Destroy, delete, rebuild, repeat
Another name carved into stone
As they rot away
200 years, straight into the grave

With a concrete stare, rituals of power
The dead eyes of the past, rituals of power
Up to the gates of Armageddon, rituals of power
Until we're all one with the dust, rituals of power

No ones cares who lives or dies
No empathy, no compromise
The crows descend, the children mourn
The ichor spills and the crosses burn

Like Visigoths at the gates of Rome
A great decline into a great unknown
Marble eyes, obelisks, cenotaphs, Bolsheviks
Cities burn and ashes rain, no one speaks of us again
Each and all, swept away
Like grains of sand on the shore of time

Greed shrines, halls of emptiness
Blight and shame rewarded
Cowardice with no consequence
Thieves-as-gods exalted
Parasites, endless appetites
Drag them to oblivion
Subjects fill the empty nest
Mouths open, waiting for worms