The Edge of Sanity: 88 Demo Session
Lyrics
The Edge of Sanity
(Mark Shelton Lyrics, David T Chastain Music)
The creatures of the night are stirring
My soul it longs to be set free
My blood is fire forever burning
The spirits come to dance for me
I scream but no one hears me, I run but still I'm doomed
Ancients of Egypt haunt me, Curse of the Pharaoh's tomb
We dug into the sacred valley
For tombs of ancient kings
We found the treasure of golden dreams
Now everyone is dead but me
I scream but no one hears me, I run but still I'm doomed
Ancients of Egypt haunt me, Curse of the Pharaoh's tomb
The curse burns on eternally
The wolves they bay to torment me
Bloody payment for blaspheming
The sacred tomb of Egypt's King
The Pharaoh's guardians come to taunt me
With visions of my death to be
The curse of Osiris upon me
I'm on The Edge of Sanity
I scream but no one hears me, I run but still I'm doomed
Ancients of Egypt haunt me, Curse of the Pharaoh's tomb
Inside the Book of the Dead, My name in blood has been written
The curse hangs over my head, With no chance to be forgiven
No banishings to be said, Egyptian hell I must live in
This is The Edge of Sanity, There is no cheating destiny
The ship of fate has come for me, The vengeful Gods show no mercy
Strong is the Power, This curse of old
Soon to devour, My Soul
The night beckons, it calls to me
The spirits dance upon the breeze
I live the curse eternally
I'm on The Edge of Sanity
Orpheus Descending
(Mark Shelton Lyrics, David T Chastain Music)
By the light of the White Goddess
Comes the tale of Orpheus
Spun across the centuries
And ancient lands of Greece
He did open up the door
To music's mystic dreams
With his songs of magik prophecy
In death he still sings
By the son of the god Apollo
And the muse Calliope
Master of the lyre of magik
And prophecy
None returned except for seven
From the place called Caer Sidi
Thrice the fullness of Prydwen
We went into thee
To fight on and on to victory
In the labyrinth of Hades
Even now the muses sing
Orpheus descending
Magik music's prophecy
Strong enough to move the trees
Down the Styx into Hades
Orpheus descending
Deep in love, hands bound in wedlock
To the fair Eurydice
Chased unto her death by the Keeper of the Bees
Bitten by a snake while fleeing
From this lustful man of greed
Orpheus was set on freeing her from Hades
On and on to victory
In the labyrinth of Hades
Even now the muses sing
Orpheus descending
Magik music's prophecy
Strong enough to move the trees
Down the Styx into Hades
Orpheus descending
He knew no sacrifice
Too great to give his wife
He's shed his mortal life
To free Eurydice
He'd have to take the risk
Traveling the River Styx
Unto the labyrinth
To free her from Hades
Orpheus descending
In a nightmare, never ending sound
Is the only key
Oh magik lyre play on
The fire burns brighter
When the flame is fed from higher ground
Than a mortals reach
The muse live on and on
Unto the labyrinth
Through rivers of red death
Orpheus did descend
Into the place de grieve
Through crimson fog and mist
On Charon's ghostly ship
He sailed the River Styx
To set his maiden free
By the light of the White Goddess
The music of Orpheus
Charmed the gods Persephone
And Pluto in Hades
He did open up the door
To music's mystic dreams
With his songs of magik prophecy
In death he still sings
Music that charmed the trees to dance
Now charms the Gods to dream
To give Orpheus one last chance
Thus said Persephone;
Take her, never look back
On her face till you are free
From the labyrinth and its gateway
Lest her soul come back to me
Walk softly Orpheus out of the fire
This is the true test of faith and desire
Walk softly Orpheus out of the flame
This is the only way to cheat the grave
Never look back till you're through the gateway
Do this or remain in Hades to stay
Maybe there's no cheating destiny
Orpheus was brave but lost inside a dream
He did seal her doom looking back too soon
Now forever he has lost Eurydice
And the pain blackens the goodness of his soul
Madness overcomes and starts to take its toll
Each and every day he sees her fade away
Never had he been dealt such a fatal blow
But the muse lives on and on
Like the burning of the sun
Nothing lost or won the cycle is complete
Waiting for the dawn
He stands before the Gods
Playing one last song before his life is reaped
With his songs of magik prophecy
In death he still sings
Orpheus descending
In a nightmare, never ending sound
Is the only key
Oh magik lyre play on
The fire burns brighter
When the flame is fed from higher ground
Than a mortals reach
The muse live on and on
Fields of Sorrow
(Mark Shelton Lyrics, David T Chastain Music)
Lovely fields of green and pasture
Now are scorched by the acid rain
In a time that has no future
Man has played his evil game
The mark of hell is upon the masters
Troubled souls who forgot their names
Like a curse that never passes
We destroy in progressions name
In the fields of sorrow
In the fields of shame
Path of no tomorrow
Only death and pain
All the fires destroy the forests
No respect for the fruitful plain
And the nukes they come in torrents
Followed by the acid rain
In the fields of sorrow
In the fields of shame
Path of no tomorrow
Only death and pain
Death and pain
Geologic mass destruction
Biologic reconstruction
Metamorphic adaptation
Chain reactive situation
Geological destruction
Of the earths serenity
Poisonous contamination
Of the atmosphere we breathe
Ecological pollution
Destroying all the seven seas
Still we come to no solution
Mother earth cries out to thee
Anthropoid annihilation
Of the earth, the air and sea
Humanoid degeneration
From the poison that we breathe
Biologic degradation
From the pouring acid rain
Geologic mass mutation
Mother earth cries out in pain
Orpheus Descending (Extended)
(Mark Shelton Lyrics, David T Chastain Music)
By the light of the White Goddess
Comes the tale of Orpheus
Spun across the centuries
And ancient lands of Greece
He did open up the door
To music's mystic dreams
With his songs of magik prophecy
In death he still sings
By the son of the god Apollo
And the muse Calliope
Master of the lyre of magik
And prophecy
None returned except for seven
From the place called Caer Sidi
Thrice the fullness of Prydwen
We went into thee
To fight on and on to victory
In the labyrinth of Hades
Even now the muses sing
Orpheus descending
Magik music's prophecy
Strong enough to move the trees
Down the Styx into Hades
Orpheus descending
Deep in love, hands bound in wedlock
To the fair Eurydice
Chased unto her death by the Keeper of the Bees
Bitten by a snake while fleeing
From this lustful man of greed
Orpheus was set on freeing her from Hades
On and on to victory
In the labyrinth of Hades
Even now the muses sing
Orpheus descending
Magik music's prophecy
Strong enough to move the trees
Down the Styx into Hades
Orpheus descending
He knew no sacrifice
Too great to give his wife
He's shed his mortal life
To free Eurydice
He'd have to take the risk
Traveling the River Styx
Unto the labyrinth
To free her from Hades
Orpheus descending
In a nightmare, never ending sound
Is the only key
Oh magik lyre play on
The fire burns brighter
When the flame is fed from higher ground
Than a mortals reach
The muse live on and on
Unto the labyrinth
Through rivers of red death
Orpheus did descend
Into the place de grieve
Through crimson fog and mist
On Charon's ghostly ship
He sailed the River Styx
To set his maiden free
By the light of the White Goddess
The music of Orpheus
Charmed the gods Persephone
And Pluto in Hades
He did open up the door
To music's mystic dreams
With his songs of magik prophecy
In death he still sings
Music that charmed the trees to dance
Now charms the Gods to dream
To give Orpheus one last chance
Thus said Persephone;
Take her, never look back
On her face till you are free
From the labyrinth and its gateway
Lest her soul come back to me
Walk softly Orpheus out of the fire
This is the true test of faith and desire
Walk softly Orpheus out of the flame
This is the only way to cheat the grave
Never look back till you're through the gateway
Do this or remain in Hades to stay
And the dead dance on in nevermore
To a symphony of prophecy and lore
And the Gods of Hell under music's spell
Give a chance non other ever had before
Orpheus descending
In a nightmare, never ending sound
Is the only key
Oh magik lyre play on
Maybe there's no cheating destiny
Orpheus was brave but lost inside a dream
He did seal her doom looking back too soon
Now forever he has lost Eurydice
And the pain blackens the goodness of his soul
Madness overcomes and starts to take its toll
Each and every day he sees her fade away
Never had he been dealt such a fatal blow
But the muse lives on and on
Like the burning of the sun
Nothing lost or won the cycle is complete
Waiting for the dawn
He stands before the Gods
Playing one last song before his life is reaped
With his songs of magik prophecy
In death he still sings
Orpheus descending
In a nightmare, never ending sound
Is the only key
Oh magik lyre play on
The fire burns brighter
When the flame is fed from higher ground
Than a mortals reach
The muse live on and on
Orpheus descending
In a nightmare, never ending sound
Is the only key
Oh magik lyre play on
Credits
Track listing:
1. The Edge of Sanity
2. Orpheus Descending
3. Fields of Sorrow
4. Orpheus Descending (Extended)
All selections written by Mark Shelton & David T. Chastain
Leviathan Music (BMI)
Mark Shelton- All Vocals, Lyrics and Melodies
David T. Chastain- All Guitars, Bass, Drum Programming & Kurzweil
Vocals Recorded at Midgard Sound Labs in Wichita, KS
All other recording, mixing and mastering at Leviathan Records Studios in Cincinnati, Ohio and Atlanta, GA
Cover Artwork by Rainer Kalwitz
Logo by Piotr Szafraniec
Other artwork created by Steven Taylor
Produced by Shelton Chastain
Dedicated to the music, lyrics and memory of Mark 'The Shark' Shelton
