"Es ist ein Land verloren, da wächst ein Mond im Ried
Es ist mit uns erfroren, es glüht umher und sieht
Es sieht, es sieht, wir sehen, ich sehe dich, du siehst
Das Eis wird auferstehen, eh' sich die Stunde schließt"
(Paul Celan)
The mountains lay silent awaiting the night
The guardians of aeons with eternal sight
They'd seen more than thousands of men ever will
While ever remaining and watching so still
They know many secrets so listen my friends
Come hear how it started and know how it ends
The guardians of silence may tell a strange tale
How men broke their laws and so bitterly'd fail
Picture the village in the mountains
Where eagles fly and hunt their prey
The men they worked the land, the women worked the homes
Living their lives day after day
No wealth they ever had but themselves
Then hunger struck them unprepared
Death came in silent night and knocked on houses old
Nobody would help them or cared
Up in the glade she lived so low
Older than any one would ever know
Wise ancient woman with hands that healed
Hands that knew magic and their fate sealed
And so the village knew salvation
Salvation hand in hand with shame
For any good on your path payment must be made
So die alone or play the game
A pact signed in blood be paid in blood
They sent their children to the ice
A frozen death awaits the four girls in the crystal lands
The glacier's home, paid is the price
The old witch died burned at the tree
"Wealth you may find but cursed you shall be
Cursed is the mountain, the village forlorn
I'll get your children when they are reborn"
Silver in the ice, a blessing or curse in disguise
For riches they'll pay with their lives, there's no salvation
Gone is poverty but lost are souls in misery
And cursed the land eternally, lost in damnation
Voices in the night, they sing a song in the moonlight
The vision grips your heart with fright, four children marching
Till found they will be when the glacier sets them free
That's when you'll meet your destiny, doom from the mountainside
Follow the path that so many before you have known
Enter the chapel that stands abandoned and alone
Step to the altar and read the names of those who died
This house of god is a gateway to the other side
Now is the time when for their sins they will pay the price
Their children will leave again tonight as a sacrifice
Come watch in awe as the rage of the mountain comes down
Annihilation of all life, the valley must drown
When greed comes to man's heart all dreams will be sold
And made unseen for bloodstained silver and gold
So now as our story (as all tales) must end
All sight fades away, just the mountains still stand