Burial Vault
Album • 2013
It's a desire to set a blaze See the fire rise The beauty of destruction Something turns from white into black Then it fades away So fascinating and so beyond belief It's in the nature of mankind to feel this way An inborn captivation In a time where reading is illegal And even having books is prohibited Literacy is oppressed The termination of having a mind on one's own starts Loss of identity Mass conformity The roll of mass media grows The display dictates the routine There is information everywhere Trivial or fundamental? The line becomes thinner Friends and relatives are networked digitally The changes in the world affected the activities of the firemen Instead of choking fires they start fires to burn the unlawful books Like a circus show People on the streets are watching the firefighters march out The books are put on a pyre and then the fire releases The stench of burning thoughts
Submitted by NecroGod — Apr 26, 2025
Monday burn Plato Wednesday Spinoza Friday Nietzsche Burn 'em to ashes Then burn the ashes 451, the salamander These are our distinctive marks Black hair, black brows A fiery face We look like multiples I work at the firehouse since my 20th Birthday Like my father did Like my grandfather did I'm a fireman I'm not allowed to read That's against the law Books must burn Monday burn Plato Wednesday Spinoza Friday Nietzsche Burn 'em to ashes Then burn the ashes 451, the salamander These are our distinctive marks Black hair, black brows A fiery face We look like multiples The detection of the hostile books Is done by a instrument Which isn't dead but also not alive Made out of brass and copper With spider-like legs The mechanical hound For quite a while now It feels like the beast is focusing on me But why? It's just a machine made to seek books Is it paranoia or well-grounded fear? Is there a bug in the system of this monster Or does it smell the aroma of books Which might be on my hands After all these years? I tell the firechef about my fear But he says it is impossible That the hound growls at me To err is human
Submitted by Sexy Gargoyle — Apr 26, 2025
This track is instrumental.
It's autumn and the air is cold I'm on my way back home from work But this evening a strange feeling surrounds me I notice quiet sounds in the dark As I turn around I look into the eyes of a young girl We talk and chat Her questions - so naïve Though she seems to see through me She ask if firemen always burned books Because she heard about men extinguished fires What a weird idea Books must burn That's our job She askes if I ever read a book I'm taken aback That's a crime Curious questions from a peculiar girl Her presence is so strange I feel like an open book And she reads between the lines The media tells us everything So I haven't had any questions in the past She asks if I'm happy I have no answer to this question What is so special about this girl? She seems to see more than others Such an open hearted mind Soil and green Rain drops and foliage She lifts it all up to a higher level by reflecting on it We meet again Her questions - still naïve Though she really gets through to me She says that I'm not like the other firemen Due to the fact that I look at her when she talks There's a glimpse of truth Many people talk but nobody listens She makes me reconcider so much Opens new lines of thoughs Maybe there's something special about written words?
Submitted by Grave666 — Apr 26, 2025
Opening the door to my house Words haunting through my head It's late at night I try to be quiet and calm To not awake my wife Entering the bedroom Darkness everywhere And a mosquitoesque Hum's in the air Unable to stand the silence She listens to something Something irrelevant Loud trivial noise This room looks like a tomb It seems so alien to me I am not happy The girl was right My foot hit an object on the floor A dull clink in the ongoing hum Coming nearer to the bed I can't hear her breathing Under the light of my igniter The horror's unleashed Her face - Pale as ashes Her body - Motionless The object on the floor An empty bottle of sleeping pills Panic - I call the emergency Waiting tremulous for help to come Two men appear in front of me No medics - Just ordinary personnel These cases are routine nowadays No need for a medic I watch their machine This black cobra slides down her stomach Pumpking - Until the stomach's void That's not the end of their task Sucking off all the blood To clean it from all poisons Lack of emotion by the two men Indifferent treatment Without any word They leave just like they came The day after the incident She wakes up but there's no recall Acting upon me like a zombie She ignores my constemation Without rest the display Still dictates her routine
Submitted by MetalElf — Apr 26, 2025
This track is instrumental.
Emergency call - A reason to suspect attic Flashing blue light - Sirens scream The salamander coughs to life We are marching out to burn To burn the unlawful books We arrive at an old house An aged woman opens the door Not trying to escape Standing still My colleagues rush past her The mechanical hound in front But the woman doesn't seem to fear our procedure I don't know what to do Like a pillar of salt Unable to move For a few seconds I follow the other firemen upstairs into the library Entirely overwhelmed By the attitude of the woman And her powerful eloquence She appears to see so much in these books So much emotion So many feelings So many memories... A fountain of thrown books Sloshes out of the door And an open one falls into my hands I read just a line, but it blazes in my mind Meaningful gestures Literary excerpts Spoiler of our ritual Bibliophile Uninterested behavior House into pyre Show must go on Dissemination of kerosene Like controlled By an invisible hand I snatch some books Put them under my garment There's nobody holding me back Something inside of me wants to know More about these books The emotions they hold The procedure starts now... 10... 9... 8... 7... The woman wants to stay 6... The counting stops The woman shows a slender object A kitchen match We escape the inevitable The stench surrounds her The stench of burning thoughts
Submitted by Warbringer — Apr 26, 2025
This track is instrumental.
One day later The fire chief comes to visit me He wants to check my health status And wants to know When I would return to work Right before I could answer He started to tell me the truth About our job The here and now Is not a sesult of the states' doctrine It was forced by the people itself It began as consumerism changed And everyone wanted everything Things began to have mass It all started with photography And the invention of television Books just appealed to a few people So the content got reduced From abstracts to headlines Simply to have a blowoff The world moved faster And it was easier to watch the TV Classics of literature were shortened to a one-page digest In a lexicon to make sure that no one is left behind The ongoing growth of mass media Seemed to reach more people The comprehension was easier Because of the explanations were shallow-brained Why should anyone learn anything When it's enough to press a button? There's no room for profoundness In these restless days The here and now Is not a result of the states' doctrine It was forced by the people itself You see there is nothing necessary about books On their pages you won't find any answers They'll only confuse you
Submitted by VladTheImpaler666 — Apr 26, 2025
After the fire chief left I am totally perplexed Was it true was he said? Is a book just an unimportant absurdity? The young girl comes to my mind She seemed to be so frank With an open heart for everything I can't resist no longer, I open a book and read Letter by letter - Word by word From the outset, there's so much going on in my head I feel emotions - I've never felt in my life New thoughts sprout in my mind These words are so powerful - So full of life I come to the conclusion That I haven't learnt reading To decode billboards and I haven't learnt orthography Just to write short messages My wife can't understand my behavior She packs her things and abandons me Her belief in the system is too strong The hardest part of the circumstance is: After the slamming of the door She will forget about me The girl knows more about me Than my wife ever did What was the basis for our marriage? I can't remember... I become aware of so many things It's like I've just started to think I think therefore I am Reading fills the void I have always felt People aren't happy these days The media blocks them from thinking on their own That's why they can't realize That they are thoroughly distraught
Submitted by The Void — Apr 26, 2025
This track is instrumental.
I hear the siren drawing near 451 I am exposed The salamander arrives In front of my eyes Before the door The firechief Armed with a flamethrower Ready for a new procedure He roars at me, "Open the door! There's no way out. You know what's gonna happen now." This is your chance Show me that you regret You fatuous fool Books aren't necessary They cause disorder between people Disturbing the peace Your wife is already gone Do you want to lose everything? For heaven's sake Do you remember the girl? You met her several times We had to eliminate her She was a nonconformist And you are turning into one too Take the flamethrower Burn the books to ashes Then burn the ashes He hands me the weapon I turn around and pull the trigger The firechief turns into a human torch He flares, he flickers Then he breaks down With the books put under my garment I burn everything down to ashes All the lies, all the insanity To leave the corset that once was my life She was a nonconformist And you are turning into one too Take the flamethrower Burn the books to ashes Then burn the ashes
Submitted by Grave666 — Apr 26, 2025
Absolutely paralyzed - What have I done? Invisibly cicatrized - Going on the run My target is the river, so that the hound can't follow My former colleagues fed it with my DNA This creature That's not dead and not alive I feel its presence so near Flashing blue light and siren's screams The display that surround me Broadcast the chase like movie scenes As I arrive at the water I throw my clothes And my past away Firemen are just pawns in a game of senselessness Instead of choking fires they start fires Now it's time to change my life from black into white Black into white Everthing that I believed in it was only a shade of the truth My life was like a hound Not dead - Not alive Now I'm gonna change my life from black into white Flashing lights and bomb blasts A violent tendency no one perceived Out of control The unavoidable war starts far away behind me Restrained emotions break free End of the line? Every end is a new beginning...
Submitted by Celtic Frost — Apr 26, 2025
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