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FIREAXE LYRICS
"Food for the Gods" (2003)
1. Gods of War I - The Wrath of Silence
2. Gods of War II - Written in Blood
3. Gods of War III - Praise to Isthar
4. Gods of War IV - Chariot
5. The Heretic Pharaoh I - Tribute
6. The Heretic Pharaoh II - Heresy
7. The Heretic Pharaoh III - Hymn to Aten
8. The Heretic Pharaoh IV - Nefertiti
9. The Heretic Pharaoh V - Stricken
10. Woe Is Israel I - Covenant
11. Woe Is Israel II - My Name is Joshua
12. Woe Is Israel III - Divine Punishment
13. The Servant of Pain I - Food for the Gods
14. The Servant of Pain II - Malediction
15. The Servant of Pain III - The Citadel must Fall
16. The Servant of Pain IV - Cut or be Cut
17. The Servant of Pain V - Atrocity
1. Gods of War I - The Wrath of Silence
Assur, I have failed you.
My mind is filled with darkness, I need to hear your voice.
What have I done I ask you, to make you turn your back?
On my knees I beg you, deliver me from this pain,
but your throne is empty, and my heart is aching,
and I’m burning in the wrath of silence.
So I call for the priests who tell me,
Assur is angry, Assur is angry with me.
And I call for the priests who tell me,
we must appease him, we must win his favor again.
When other gods get closer, Assur drifts farther away.
We’ve let his land fall into ruin and decay.
We will expand his kingdom. We will destroy his foes.
We shall cut out the very heart of Babylon.
Marduk stands in the center of town.
He is their will, he is their life.
I sacked the city and stole him away,
and left his children without a god.
I filled their minds with darkness. I took their will away.
On their knees they begged me to give them life again.
But I did not answer. I made them suffer like me.
Helpless, abandoned, praying with no answer,
and burning in the wrath of silence.
Assur, I have conquered for your glory, but still you let me burn.
So I call for the priests who tell me,
Assur is angry, Assur is angry with me.
And I call for the priests who tell me,
we must appease him, we must win his favor again.
I shall build a holy city, dedicated to Assur,
with Ziggurats so high that they will touch the clouds.
I shall build it across the river, far away from this empty place.
We will begin again. Assur shall return!
I sit alone in this temple, the greatest one ever built.
I watch the flames engulfing all that I can see.
Long ago it was simple, the gods spoke and we obeyed.
like my father, and his before, and back to Assur.
But now it’s all confused. One voice became many, then none.
Our unity is gone, my kingdom is broken apart.
And in my darkest hour, my greatest time of need,
my son comes to greet me, with a knife in my back!
That little shit! He makes me sick!
He’s always sucking at a woman’s tit!
He knows not of the art of war.
He cannot stand up on his own two feet.
The nobles hooked his feeble mind,
and made him do and say whatever they said.
Conspiracy and blasphemy,
they immolate their god.
Assur, I have failed you.
I deserve this.
2. Gods of War II - Written in Blood
A throne of weakness. A people in turmoil.
A land in ruin. Chaos. No more!
Assur, ruling supreme over the gods.
Bel, lord of the world.
Shamas, vanquisher of enemies.
Vul, who causes the tempest to rage.
Hercules, champion and subduer of heretics.
Ishtar, the eldest, the queen of victory.
The great gods speak no longer to us in words but in the language of our hearts.
Listen to your heart. Listen to the gods.
They rule the heavens and earth and inspire our hearts with joy.
To love is to serve. Obey and be blessed.
Your hearts have made me strong. Your hands have made me king.
We are servants of Assur, who has given us warlike power.
I, Tiglath Pilesar, king of kings, lord of lords.
Conquering hero, terror overwhelming the world.
With a host of kings I have fought, and imposed upon them servitude.
There is not a second to me in war, nor an equal in battle.
Kings who pay no tribute are enemies of Assur.
My chariots crushed their armies, beaten down as if by a storm.
Their carcasses covered the valley, and I cut off their heads.
Their cities I burned with fire. I destroyed and I ruined.
The common people who fled, I smote them like wild beasts.
The kings’ sons fell to my power, their queens I took for my own.
The delights of their hearts I enslaved. Their gods I bore away.
All their wealth I plundered, and upon them placed my yoke.
What Assur has commanded I have performed.
I have overrun the whole Magian world.
And still we march, my warriors and chariots.
The enemies of Assur will be brought into the fold.
Hammurabi, you were wrong.
Laws are not etched in stone, they are written in blood.
3. Gods of War III - Praise to Isthar
I was born in the mountains.
I was without understanding.
But O Ishtar, mighty queen of the gods,
did thou teach me.
Thou didst take me from the mountains.
Thou didst make great my name.
Thou didst place me in this chariot.
I’m your servant, your champion.
Oh, my lady.
Praise to Ishtar. To see her is to rejoice.
In lips she is sweet. There is life in her mouth.
She is beauty, with charm and voluptuousness.
She is glorious. Her figure sings her eyes are brilliant.
Oh, my lady.
Praise to Ishtar. She is clothed in pleasure and love.
She is splendid. At her glance there is joy.
She has no equal. Her word is supreme over gods.
She is power. The fate of everything she holds in her hands.
Oh, my lady.
Ishtar. Hear my prayer. Guard my flank. Guide my spear.
Ishtar. Hear my words. I fight for thou. Oh, my lady.
4. Gods of War IV - Chariot
Battle calls again. I have no fear with you at my side.
Hooves pounding, wheels screaming, hearts racing, into the line I charge,
with death in my wake.
Bones breaking, blood streaming, mouths crying, calling out to god,
but they are not heard.
Sensing the blood on my spear, turning and running in fear.
I love the chase.
Striking like lightning. They scatter like rats.
All the world surrenders to the power of my chariot.
All the gods look down to see my mastery.
See me ride through the ranks of my enemies.
Strike at the heart of my enemies.
Laugh in the face of my enemies.
I fly in my chariot.
See me ride through the ranks of my enemies.
Strike at the heart of my enemies.
Smash in the face of my enemies.
Raining death in my chariot.
Warriors clashing, shields crashing, swords smashing, into the fray I charge,
with blood on my wheels.
Soldiers routing, their king shouting, priests praying, calling out to gods,
but there is no answer.
Seeing the look in my eyes, knowing it’s their turn to die.
I am their doom.
Striking like lightning. The tempest doth rage.
All the world surrenders to the power of my chariot.
All the gods look down to see my mastery.
See me ride through the ranks of my enemies.
Strike at the heart of my enemies.
Laugh in the face of my enemies.
Ride proud in my chariot.
See me ride through the ranks of my enemies.
Strike at the heart of my enemies.
Smash in the face of my enemies.
I’m alive in my chariot.
As I ride I feel the love inside is real,
the gods are smiling down upon me.
My heart is filled again, my mind is free from sin,
I’m stronger than I’ve ever been before.
Gods commanding, my king demanding, the last man standing must fall to the sword.
Thy will be done.
Faces tensing, muscles clenching, he stands unyielding to my mighty attack,
but I will not slow.
Against Marduk’s will, who could sin and escape?
I will proclaim his anger, which runs deep as the sea.
He punished me abruptly, then granted life.
I will teach the people. I will instruct the land to fear.
Pointing my spear at his heart, ready to tear him apart.
The end draws near.
Marduk pulled me from the river of death,
and summoned me from destruction.
All powerful lord of the world,
give him praise or face his wrath.
Ishtar! Marduk!
A defiant soldier lies trampled and broken,
his body twisted as he stares into the sun.
A mighty chariot lies smashed into oblivion,
its rider gasping as he watches the wheels spin.
Two gods fighting.
Two soldiers dying.
That is the way of the world.
5. The Heretic Pharaoh I - Tribute
O Ra, divine man-child, heir of eternity, self begotten and self born.
The gods rejoice, at thy rising. The earth is glad, when it feels your rays.
We sing unto thee with joy. We bow our heads down to the earth.
Prince of everlastingness, King of Truth we give you tribute.
And a tribute to Isis, divine mother.
And a tribute to Nu, divine father.
And a tribute to Hathor, goddess of love.
And a tribute to Amon, master of the wind.
And a tribute to Maat, protector of truth.
And a tribute to Shu, bearer of heaven.
And a tribute to Osiris, king of the dead.
And a tribute to...
6. The Heretic Pharaoh II - Heresy
Enough of these tributes!
You priests grow fat while my people go hungry.
Another church, another tribute,
a play for power that you do not deserve.
There is but one god and his name is Aten,
and your imposters I cast aside.
As it is written you shall obey,
for I am Pharaoh, and my word is law.
I command a cleansing (smash all the statues and desecrate the temples),
Of all things not of Aten (tear down the alters and burn all the holy books),
I declare a revolution (smash all the statues and desecrate the temples),
All will bow to the one true god (tear down the alters and burn all the holy books),
All shall bow to the god of the sun.
But what shall become of the priests?
I care not for a false gods’ whores.
But what shall become of the generals?
I care not for their endless wars.
And what shall become of Memphis?
I care not for this city of lies.
And what shall become of the people?
We shall build a temple in the sky.
A new city far away, where the Nile is free and the sun is warm.
We shall live with god himself, the Living One, and bask in his beauty.
Follow me and my queen, Nefertiti.
7. The Heretic Pharaoh III - Hymn to Aten
Oh Aten, who hadst thine existence in primeval time.
Thy rising is beautiful on the horizon of heaven.
Thou art lord of every land and thou shinest upon them.
Thou art Aten of the day and are revered in every foreign land.
And everyone shall speak your name and know that thou makest their lives.
The earth is in thy hands in as much as thou hast made us.
When thou risest mankind lives. When thou settest they die.
As long as thou art in the sky we live in thee.
And our eyes are all upon thy beauties until thou settest in the west.
Such beauty you have granted to me in the form of my queen, Nefertiti.
8. The Heretic Pharaoh IV - Nefertiti
But as the years go by, I’m left to wonder why,
the ones we left behind have not joined us.
And those who once believed turn away.
I can’t conceive of why they do not feel the way that I do.
My queen, Nefertiti, why do they turn away?
My queen, Nefertiti, why do they lose their faith?
My queen, Nefertiti, why do they turn away?
My queen, Nefertiti, oh.
My queen, Nefertiti, please don’t leave me now.
I pray to Aten to give you life anew.
My queen, Nefertiti, you’re all I’m living for.
Aten, why did you take her from me?
9. The Heretic Pharaoh V - Stricken
So the heretic has finally died.
And soon I shall be pharaoh.
Find every place where his name was written,
and chisel it out of the stone.
Destroy his city. Kill his only son.
It will be as if he were never born.
10. Woe Is Israel I - Covenant
Moses! I am the god of your fathers, and I am enraged.
Your stiff necked people have corrupted themselves, and they deserve to die.
You too shall suffer for all their sins, and you shall do as I command.
Slay every man his brother, and every man his neighbor. This is how you must atone.
As for the rest of them, they shall suffer forty years with no respite.
They broke the covenant. They shall not be delivered.
Their dead bodies will fall in the desert.
This faithlessness, this wicked congregation, shall come to an end.
Only the children, purged of all their fathers’ sins, shall enter the promised land.
And Joshua shall lead them.
When the lord your god leads you into the promised land,
and before you stand seven nations greater and mightier than yourselves.
You must utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them.
You shall not make marriages with them. And you shall show no mercy.
You shall break down their alters, and dash into pieces their pillars,
hew down their asherim, and burn their graven images with fire.
For I am a jealous god, and I shall have no rivals.
11. Woe Is Israel II - My Name is Joshua
My name is Joshua. I’m a flame for the Lord. Joshua. I’m the edge of His sword.
After seven days of marching the Lord answered our calls.
When the priests blew their trumpets, they broke Jericho’s walls.
And the city and all that is within it,
shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction.
But all the silver and gold and vessels of bronze and iron are sacred,
and shall go into the treasury of the Lord.
Then we utterly destroyed all in the city,
both men and women, young and old, oxen sheep and asses,
all with the edge of the sword.
My name is Joshua.
My name is Joshua.
My name is death to all who sin.
My name is Joshua.
At the battle of Gibeon, the Lord made the sun stand still,
granting light for the slaughter, and on the thousands that I killed.
On the fields at Ai I did not hold back my hand, with which I stretched out the javelin,
until I had utterly destroyed them all.
Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron, and Debir,
six cities, six days, everyone within was slain.
For it was the Lord who commanded the slaughter,
that they should come against Israel in battle, and be exterminated.
My name is death to all who live.
My name is death to all who breathe.
My name is death to all who sin.
My name is...
Joshua.
I’m a flame for the Lord.
Joshua.
I'm the edge of His sword.
12. Woe Is Israel III - Divine Punishment
Love the Lord and keep his commandments or thou shall surely perish.
My god, my god, why hast thou forsaken me?
Why art thou so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
Oh my god, I cry by day but thou dost not answer,
and by night but give no rest.
I am a worm and no man. Scorned by men and despised by the people.
All who see me mock at me. They make mouths at me.
They wag their heads at me.
“He committed his cause to the Lord”, they say.
“Let Him deliver him.”
“Let Him rescue him.”, they rave at me.
“For he delights in Him.”
I am poured out like water. And all my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax. It is melted within my breast.
My tongue cleaves to my jaws,
thou dost lay me in the dust of death.
But I trust in thee O Lord. I say, “Thou art my god.”
My times are in thy hand, deliver me from the hands of my enemies.
My people did fall to sin, but I will teach them of thy ways.
O Lord I beg of thee, please don’t punish Israel.
For the King’s abominations, I bring upon Jerusalem such evil
that the ears of all who hear of it shall burn.
I cast off my chosen ones, and give them unto my enemies.
For they have done what is evil in my sight.
Woe is Israel. Suffering at the hands of an angry god.
13. The Servant of Pain I - Food for the Gods
One god calls for genocide.
One god promises paradise.
One god turns his back, demanding of a sacrifice.
One god screams a battle cry.
One god pleads that none should die.
And all demand obedience.
And they’re always at war.
We are enslaved to a world in flames.
We tremble in fear and kill in their names.
We bow to their will as they promise us glory.
We go to our graves lifting them up to the sky.
We are food for the gods.
Block it out!
But the war outside is now inside,
the gods are fighting to take hold of my mind.
The battlefield burns as their armies collide
and the chaos and madness won’t relent till I die.
Every god demanding I worship them alone,
submission my salvation, I must atone.
When I destroy their rivals my suffering will cease,
and everyone will live forever in peace.
What a dream. What a lie!
As long as one god lives, it will demand that we fight.
14. The Servant of Pain II - Malediction
Brothers and sisters.
At the end of the day when your backs are breaking and your minds are burning
and all you get is another promise of a glory that never comes;
when the king and the priests and the nobles and the generals
implore you and lie to you and threaten you
and demand that you make another sacrifice to appease their god;
when you win the war and another is declared,
when you build a great temple and a greater one is called for,
when you reach your limit and fall to the ground
and all demand that you rise and push yourself over the edge;
then you shall know that you are enslaved to a voracious god.
But before you spend your last ounce of energy in a futile attempt
to set things right as so many have tried but only succeeded
in burying us deeper in shit,
you must truly embrace death for the fear of it has made us all cowardly servants
Purge your fears and make death your creed
for even the gods fear their own extinction
and we shall drag them with us into oblivion,
for we are the children of the dark goddess, Kali,
destroyer of all creation and the doom of humankind, and we serve no master.
We will lay waste to this world of domination, subjugation, and humiliation,
for what is created can surely be destroyed.
The time of suffering is over.
So rise one last time, fight one last battle, scream one last war cry,
“We are death incarnate, and we shall stand upon a mountain of dead gods!”
15. The Servant of Pain III - The Citadel must Fall
All our lives we’ve worked an toiled
to build a monolith, a symbol of the greatness of God.
But our work is never ending
we’ll stop at nothing to build it higher and higher still.
See it there on the horizon, the shining citadel,
a monument to our insanity.
Its towers reaching up to heaven, so tall and proud,
and built upon the corpses of a million slaves.
Mankind’s greatest achievement is its greatest disgrace.
As long as it stands there can be no peace.
The citadel must fall.
We must climb the wall, the citadel must fall.
Throw your bodies against the wall, the citadel must fall.
We must smash the wall, the citadel must fall.
Throw your bodies against the wall, the citadel will surely fall.
Charge straight into the teeth of the god-damned storm!
Wave after wave assail the wall, determined to open the gate.
Wave after wave they are cut down, their bodies riddled with arrows.
But we want victory or death, no retreat and no surrender.
Our bodies clog the trenches. We walk upon our dead.
One burning feeling in our hearts, we will destroy!
One of ours has climbed the wall, fighting like a demon possessed.
He makes his way towards the gate, and soldiers fall in his path.
His muscles strain as he cranks the gears, and the gate slowly rises.
Inch by inch he turns the wheel, even as they cut him down.
His sacrifice is not in vain. For the city is ours.
16. The Servant of Pain IV - Cut or be Cut
Cut or be cut!
Kill or die!
Scream or choke!
Victory or death!
We’re the demon storm, the killing swarm.
We bring death and pain. You fight back in vain.
We pour through the gate, like a river of hate.
Tearing out your heart. Ripping you apart.
No one knows the men I’ve fought, or all the pain I’ve brought,
or all the death I’ve wrought, save for my blade.
For when I’m destroying lives, and fighting to survive,
I feel so alive. For I am the servant of,
I am the servant of pain.
Storm the castle halls, smashing down the walls.
Seize the holy priests, bring them to their knees.
“Oh mighty gods, save us from this madman.
We beg of thee, deliver us from evil.”
“If your gods existed, they would not allow this desecration.
Skin them alive, and leave them for the rats.”
Find the noble sons, slay them save but one.
Rape the daughters and Queen, then bring the King to me.
One way to release myself from all the pain I feel,
is strap you to the wheel and show it all to you.
And when death comes for me and pain is all I see,
she’s there to comfort me, my goddess Kali.
17. The Servant of Pain V - Atrocity
No atrocity is complete without a witness to my crime.
Take an innocent child, open his eyes, and fill them with such horrors.
Privileged child, you’re now the crown prince.
You’re just one cut away from ascending your father’s throne.
You saw what we did to your brothers, they begged until we cut out their tongues.
We cut them apart piece by piece and they screamed like beasts as they died.
You saw what we did to your sisters, over and over again.
Your favorite one was special, her mind broke long before her body did.
You saw what we did to your mother, first for pleasure then for pain.
We filled every hole with our feces, 'til she was drowning in excrement.
Now take my blade and force it down your father’s throat.
Don’t be scared son he won’t bite. You have the power now.
Feel your way down deep inside him, 'til you get to his beating heart.
That’s where you’ll plunge the dagger, and give him what he deserves.
Remember the pain he brought you.
(Remember the pain, remember the fear, the look in his eyes when you were helpless)
Remember the love he denied you.
(remember the pain, remember the fear, the emptiness and the rejection)
Remember the times he was angry and took it out on you
(remember the hate, remember the anger, remember the words, remember the screams,
remember the hurt, remember the blood, remember the feeling of betrayal)
Remember the sins he committed,
(remember the sins, remember the crimes, remember the lies, remember his evil)
against his people, his family, and self.
(remember the ones who took the fall, remember suffering in silence)
Remember the enemies that he showed no mercy towards.
(remember the death, remember the torture, remember the rape, remember the slaughter,
remember the slaves, remember the ways he justified it all)
Come on son, do the deed. Remember how he swore he’d protect you.
Come on son, do the deed. You can be far better than he.
Yes! And now you are my son.
I see the fires in the distance, another army closes in.
They will defeat us and put my men to death, and do to me, oh, so much worse.
But they will find a place for you, my son, the sole survivor of my war.
And you will carry on my legacy and tell them everything I’ve done.
They’ll writhe in abject horror. They’ll shake their heads and cry.
They’ll clench their fists in anger. They’ll stare up at the sky.
They’ll say, “This cannot happen. Never, never again.”
They’ll pray for their salvation and do whatever god says.
The more they fear the harder they’ll fight.
They’ll suffer hardships and work day and night.
Fill them with fear, fill them with pain,
promise deliverance and like a god you shall reign.
For I am their deepest fear and I shall grow stronger with time.
I will destroy their bodies and I will destroy their minds.
They will commit atrocities and become what they abhor.
All the good that they believe will be rotted at the core.
And as the world grows darker there will be nowhere to hide.
The only way they will ever escape me...
apocalyptic suicide.
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