Herald “The Machine”
Translation to English by Mart Kalvet.
℗ 2015 Besat Records © 2015 Herald
- Adrenaline
- The Master
- The Machine
- Precious Stone
- Stranger Among Your Own
- Hollow Theories
- Full of Emptiness
- The Phoenix
- Phobia
- The Snakes’ Nest
- Silver and Gold
- The Double-Faced Man
Adrenaline
Music by T. Nava and S. Varkel, lyrics by S. Varkel
You jump onto the road
like a hunted beast.
You won’t catch your breath
before your brain suffocates and your throat tightens up.
An unknown pill on your tongue,
you let dopamine flow.
All senses atingle —
it’s the only way for you to feel alive.
Chemicals and booze are not for you.
You must endure the horrible pain
of the lack of adrenaline in your veins.
Stress raises its head.
A single thought haunts you.
You must prepare now
and take the jump.
Life bubbles inside you
as you fall free through the air.
The thirst for hormones is so great
I will run heedless — stay out of my way!
Chemicals and booze…
You’re looking to score again,
can’t stand yourself anymore.
The amounts you take have been constantly increasing.
You’re dozens of pounds short.
You throw the gauntlet at fate,
having no idea what the lot to be drawn has to offer.
You’re haggling over the price of your life.
Having mocked fate yet again, you revel in luck.
Chemicals and booze are not for you.
Adrenaline is the only thing that juices you up.
You must endure the horrible pain
of the lack of adrenaline in your veins.
The Master
Music and lyrics by S. Varkel
Time has ploughed deep creases in his face.
Day after day quickly turns to eventide.
Once the night arrives,
the Master will have completed a magnificent task.
The world is big and full of disciples.
The brotherhood follows in the Master’s footsteps.
His example leads them on
until sand covers his eyes.
The Master is great,
the Master is good.
Without the Master you would soon lose your head.
He will teach you to find your way.
He will teach you to fish instead of giving you the fish.
Harsh words have not been spared,
for a new worthy Master must be raised.
The Master is great…
One more time I will show you your mistakes.
One more time I will share with you my knowledge.
One more time before the hearth is extinguished.
One more time before the final journey.
The Machine
Music and lyrics by E. Vandel.
I crawl through time from the Big Rome of long ago,
trampling those who refuse to obey me.
Greek fire, coming from Byzantium, slaughters all resistance.
The war machine arrives — I will enslave all free hands!
Has the machine grown too big,
or is there still hope for liberation?
As the wheel of time keeps turning, the machine keeps rolling,
leaving behind deep treaded tracks.
Each one of us — an innocent little cog
keeping the machine going.
I brought gunpowder from China in order to cause misery.
All who dared to bare their teeth were slaughtered like guiltless sheep.
Now I command nuclear power, aggravating the horrors of war.
I am the killing machine, making war, torturing, lynching and pillaging!
Has the machine grown too big,
or is there still hope for liberation?
As the wheel of time keeps turning…
There’s no-one to start a revolt, as all brains have been washed long ago.
Through multimedia I covertly turn the knobs.
My almighty propaganda machine keeps muddying the waters!
I guide your behaviour — a herd of sheep to fatten me up.
Your envy and greed are fuel to my furnace.
All of human race is kept in bounds by fiscal machinery!
The machine has grown too big!
Soon there’ll be no hope for liberation!
As the wheel of time keeps turning, the machine keeps rolling,
leaving behind deep treaded tracks.
Each one of us — a tough iron cog
keeping the machine going.
Precious Stone
Music by T. Nava and S. Varkel, lyrics by S. Varkel
Yesterday at 8.15 p.m. the Estonia Mine collapsed. Dozens of oil shale miners are trapped underground while rescue workers are trying to supply them with oxygen and potable water. Representatives of the government have gathered at the disaster site in order to assess the seriousness of the situation. Stay tuned for further dispatches.
We worked down below,
deep in the bowels of the earth,
breaking ore
and digging shafts.
There was no day or night,
just back-breaking labour!
There was no rain nor wind,
just clammy darkness everywhere!
We risked our lives
drilling through slate,
searching for precious stone
and sending it up above.
There was no day or night…
I will not rest until I’ve discovered the stone.
Trust me, I’ll find it within this enormous mountain.
Some suffocated to death,
many men were driven mad
and got lost in the labyrinth.
I was the sole survivor.
There was no day or night…
I will not rest…
I crawl, feeling my way by hand,
scraping myself on the rocks.
All I see is the endlessness of darkness.
Again I stumble!
Will I see sunlight ever again?
I will not rest…
Stranger Among Your Own
Music by S. Varkel, T. Nava, E. Vandel and J. Liinat, lyrics by S. Varkel
Empty eyes, a soul full of wrath,
no-one to wait for you.
Every movement causes pain.
There’s no hope of help.
Spirit sick with anguish,
sadness sets in.
No-one waits for you to come home.
You’re a stranger among your own.
Back when you left,
you gave us but a proud glance.
You’ve travelled foreign lands.
Dif you find happiness anywhere?
Now as a stranger
you must roam the land.
You’re beginning to lose your mind
among your own…
You were thousands of miles and light years away.
The long absence has razed your soul — you didn’t return as yourself.
You carry the mind-vexing burden of past on your back.
Only death will erase the guilt.
You were thousands of miles and light years away.
The long absence has razed your soul — you didn’t return as yourself.
You carry the mind-vexing burden of past on your back.
It’s not easy to unburden the guilt weighing down your heart.
Hollow Theories
Music by T. Nava, lyrics by S. Varkel
A universe within a crystal globe,
billowing of the endless thread of ages…
Light has forgone speed.
Only the scent of hopelessness remains.
The fate of stars is in my hand.
A die is cast, deciding who’s to leave, who’s to stay —
a white dwarf or a red giant.
Everything takes you back to the source.
As the last ray of light shines,
flames engulf the sky and the earth.
Yonder fades the horizon.
Then primal silence reigns again.
In the dust of stars
I write the boundless Book of Cosmos
containing the story of Ages
and nothing new.
All supernovae become
just a line in our Chronicle of Eternity.
What once was born will never die,
but endlessly repeat.
As the last ray of light shines…
Fates and strong alliances are broken
as my hand dashes over the Milky Way.
I will waste no time resting on my laurels.
Next stop for me will be Andromeda.
Many parsecs away my home hearth glowed
until it was engulfed by a black hole before the Big Bang.
I disregard relativity and the absolute.
These theories seem so hollow.
Full of Emptiness
Music by S. Varkel, T. Nava, E. Vandel and J. Liinat, lyrics by S. Varkel
The legion of the slaves of Mammon throngs,
grabbing and hoarding, yet never satisfied.
You’re stealing and scamming from those who have.
Another grand is all you need.
Mindlessly longing for an island of gold
covered in milk and porridge,
for pearls and necklaces — all that shines.
There’s still room for stuff in your pockets, right?
Your head is empty, your eyes filled with angst.
For you, life is nothing but a pointless game.
You keep instinctively grabbing everything you can
until your coffin finally touches the ground.
Full of nothing but emptiness. Full of emptiness!
Is he full of emptiness?
Full of nothing but emptiness. Full of emptiness!
He is full of emptiness.
Your goals are achieved according to the plan.
You suck blood like a slimy leech.
May the pump and the faucet always be close at hand
lest ignoramuses start wasting resources.
The Phoenix
Music and lyrics by S. Varkel
You were downtrodden,
trampled upon,
hobbled,
gnawed at by the yoke of slavery.
You craved liberty
so you could fly
over the sky and the wide earth,
soon to be free again.
Phoenix, o phoenix, rise high up to the sky!
Phoenix, o phoenix, tear yourself free from the flames!
Phoenix, o phoenix, rise high up to the sky!
Phoenix, o phoenix, tear yourself free from the flames!
Neither heavy shackles
nor sly spells
can hold you
when you wish to fly.
You draw power from the blaze,
from the vortex of flickering flames.
You feel the call of the storm in your wings,
in your fiery feathers.
Phoenix, o phoenix…
A ray of hope is about to shine again.
Up there, the sky will be
the only limit of your dreams!
Phoenix, o phoenix…
Phobia
Music and lyrics by E. Vandel
Eight eyes…
Eight hungry eyes are glowing in the darkness.
Eight legs…
Eight hairy legs are creeping closer.
What do I see? What do I hear? The heart pounds in my ears!
Something is abrading within my soul, creeping along the nape of my neck!
Do I see? Do I hear? Reality is lost!
Am I drifting towards the beyond or is it just a nightmare after all?
Phobia!
Fear is like an animal spinning a web that’s tightening around your neck.
It tightens, it tightens, it drinks your blood, it drinks, it drinks — this animal.
Fear is like an animal spinning a web that’s tightening around your neck.
It tightens, it tightens, yet brings no sweet relief of death.
Suddenly I’m lying inside a coffin,
inside a narrow, stuffy coffin, with anxiety squeezing my chest.
I’m standing here on a cliff’s edge…
Will the abyss liberate me? My final resting place is bottomless!
What do I see? What do I hear? Fear has big eyes
Should I look under the bed where Satan will return my gaze?
Do I see? Do I hear? Is this how I must perish?
Will I boldly peek behind the door or lose my mind instead?
Phobia!
Fear is like an animal…
The Snakes’ Nest
Music and lyrics by S. Varkel
You’ll make a horrible discovery
once you wake from the darkness —
everything around you is hissing and boiling
and you are surrounded by them.
Small vicious eyes follow you around.
Hidden tongues lashing out — better pick your words carefully!
The snakes they have poisonous tongues,
lethally poisonous minds.
Suspecting no evil
you were trapped in a snakes’ nest.
There’s no way out,
even if it might seem there is.
Small vicious eyes…
The snakes they have poisonous tongues…
A snake bites hard,
its fangs spitting out poison,
then crawls away.
A serpent attacks from behind.
You’re helpless against its treachery.
It sharpens its fangs on you
no matter if it’s day or night.
You’ve been spotted as prey
and the snake has no qualms.
The snakes they have poisonous tongues…
Silver and Gold
Music and lyrics by S. Varkel
Listening for every rustle on the path,
you seem a shadow disappearing into the night.
The heart is beating like echoing thunder,
blood thrashing in the veins with trepidation.
Peering keenly into darkness,
trying to catch a single sign,
as yet you are free.
Speech is worth silver as you’re cursing fire.
You’re not in the habit of regretting anything.
A forgotten truth is covered by bloody soil.
Speech is silver, dead silence is gold.
Silver and gold.
Silver and gold.
Silver and gold.
Silence is gold.
What has been has passed into oblivion.
A dark veil covers the future.
You’re lying motionless as if dead,
hearing voices singing — it’s the choir of shadows.
The choir of shadows!
Silver and gold…
The Double-Faced Man
Music by E. Vandel and T. Nava, lyrics by S. Varkel.
There goes a serious man in a suit,
seemingly friendly and nice, wearing an expensive tie.
The nameless man walks in dignity,
eyes full of honesty and gravity.
The inside of his soul remains unseen,
concealing the darker side,
as if there was someone else living inside him.
This man seems Janus-faced.
You can’t trust your strength too much.
One must think soberly, with a heart colder than slate rock.
His soul is hateful and envious.
He can paralyze you again with his gaze.
The inside of his soul…
It’s easier to turn water into wine or sand into bread
than to escape him.
Wherever you hide, he will find you in the end
so he can feed on your fears.
The inside of his soul…
It’s easier to turn water into wine…
Rip your heart out, he will rip your heart out!