Epica - Design Your Universe (2009)

1. Samadhi - Prelude
2. Resign To Surrender - A New Age Dawns - Pt. IV3. Unleashed4. Martyr Of The Free Word5. Our Destiny6. Kingdom Of Heaven - A New Age Dawns - Pt. V7. The Price Of Freedom - Interlude8. Burn To A Cinder9. Tides Of Time10. Deconstruct11. Semblance Of Liberty12. White Waters13. Design Your Universe - A New Age Dawns - Pt. VI14. Incentive15. Unleashed (Duet Version)

 

 

1. Samadhi - Prelude

Solve mentem
A molestis
Mentem ad concretum dirige
Unum e jhanas intra


2. Resign To Surrender - A New Age Dawns - Pt. IV

Can't move an inch
But for the act to
Leave fingerprints

Freedom farewell
Look in the lens
Answer the questions
Are you a threat?
Nec plus ultra
After all the grabbing, it's time to bite the dust
Leave behind the breaches of my trust
Cleaning up the mess is up to us
Non plus ultra
Now that all hands are tied
We're panic stricken
Wealth out of sight
Demolition, the damaged pride

The price of ambition
Nec plus ultra
The current system leads to profit seeking deeds
Leave behind the traces of our blood
Now the course for change is up to us
Non plus ultra

After all the grabbing
It's time to bite the dust
Leave behind the breaches of my trust
Cleaning up the mess is up to us

Access is now denied
We're panic stricken
Wealth out of sight
Intuition, forgotten guide
The price of suppression
Terre eos vi
Augearis
Perde eos vi
Nobis imperium
Can't move an inch
But for the act to
Leave fingerprints

Freedom farewell
Look in the lens
Answer the questions
Will you behave as required?
When we think the end is here
With nearly all faith gone
There is hope along the way
And there a new age dawns

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those
who falsely believe that they are free
[Goethe]

Nobis victoria
Non plus ultra

Now that all hands are tied
We're panic stricken
Wealth out of sight
Demolition, the damaged pride
The Price of Ambition

Access is now denied
We're panic stricken
Wealth out of sight
Intuition, forgotten guide
The price of suppression

Can't move an inch
But for the act to
Leave fingerprints
Freedom Farewell
Look in the lens
Answer the questions
Will you behave as required?

When we think the end is here
With nearly all faith gone
There is hope along the way
And there a new age dawns

Chasing our addictions we're stunting our growth
Once we get rid of this ballast we'll be able to
Restore the balance and distribute our wealth


3. Unleashed

Declining, all color fading
Defining, time coming for me
Rescinding, my inspiration
Receding consciousness

Back in the day, I can recall that,
My thoughts were unclouded and sage
There was no black staining the walls of my memories
Now there's a haze pushing me sideways
And leaving me nothing to gain
Taking me back, locking me cold in disparity

Where was I meant to be?
I feel I'm lost in a dream
Long for the day I can be myself

When I'm free
When my sun has set
Released my soul forever
I'll have no regret
To be free
I'll exist again
No more lost endeavors
Nothing to contend
When I'm free

Color declines, all that defines me
Is falling away, far behind
Nothing to keep me with the time, the here and now

Where am I meant to be?
I feel I'm lost in a dream
Yearning again only to be myself

When I'm free
When my sun has set
Released my soul forever
I'll have no regret
To be free
I'll exist again
No more lost endeavors
Nothing to contend
When I'm free

Time is just a concept
And always the first thing to fade
Agony and weakness
Nothing we can never evade
Years are cruel, they break us
Bringing on decay and despair
Awareness and perception
Something we can never repair

Cure me, free me, help me, see me
No more worry, no more losing
Save me, near me, help me, hear me
No more heartache, no misery
Cure me, free me, help me, see me
No more worry, no agony
Save me, near me, help me, hear me
No more heartache, no despairing (We despair)
Cure me, free me, help me, see me
No more worry, no repairing (No repair)

Freedom for me is all I'm really wanting, needing
Give me power to break out
I can't hold on for any longer
My time has come to end it all

No one to blame, fate's only random
It's nothing we'll ever explain
So it remains

Where was I meant to be?
I feel I'm lost in a dream
Long for the day I can be myself
Free

When will I be unleashed?
It's not the way it should be
Yearning again only to be myself
When I'm free

Unleash my consciousness

When I'm free
When my sun has set
Released my soul forever
I'll have no regret
To be free
I'll exist again
No more lost endeavors
Nothing to contend
When I'm free


4. Martyr Of The Free Word

Speaking interpretation
A conversation can take a sudden turn
And reaching the point of violence
Because your silence left you without a hand to hold

Your past will lead you on to make...

Making a final judgement
Based on your bias will never bring you forward
Terror should never guide you
For even the fearful can take a beating in the end

Suspicion gets you nowhere

Those who denounce a way of life
Will stand alone
Left to atone their social blunders
If you gun down the messenger
You guarantee that he will be made
Into a saint
A martyr of the free word

I will say
I will say what I think
I will do
I will do what I say
When liberty seems out of reach
We'll fight for our freedom of speech

Requiem aeternam dona eis,
Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis

Missing a simple context
A mental weakness can throw you out of balance
Listen, respect each other
Then you'll discover
It mustn't always end in hate
It's not too late for mercy

Those who denounce a way of life
Will stand alone
Left to atone their social blunders
If you gun down the messenger
You guarantee that he will be made
Into a saint
A martyr of the free word

I will say
I will say what I think
I will do
I will do what I say
When liberty seems out of reach
We'll fight for our freedom of speech


5. Our Destiny

So many days we've spent together
Trying to get ahead with our dreams
Now we have come to the goal forgotten
Hurting within left us torn

The road is open
We find out way through ties where broken
So the means to the end
Was the peace that was meant
To be ours since it all began

We fight to win

I won't give up, we'll fight to win
To move along from where we'd been
I'll sing this song for you again
I'm looking up around the bend
We're so much stronger than before
Our fraying edges on the mend

Life as we know would be so different
Had our paths continued the same
Seizing the day with all that's offered
The good and the bad,
The clear and the haze

To move along from where we'd been
I'll sing this song for you again
I'm looking up around the bend
We're so much stronger than before
Our fraying edges on the mend

Don't let go

So hard to face what we've done wrong
We shared a life that can't be
We cannot hide from destiny
So hard to face what had gone wrong
We've got to make this work
And give it our all

Give our all and won't let go
Waiting so long for an answer
We've been waiting oh, so very long and
Now we're ready to accept our fate

Our melodies will be remembered
forever and ever
Our memories will fade away
when the leaves have reached the soil

I won't give up this fight
The sacrifices made
We gave our all
And won't let it go to die in vain

I'll sing this song again
We're stronger than before
We have the chance of lifetime
We'll never close this door


6. Kingdom Of Heaven - A New Age Dawns - Pt. V

[I. Hold In Derision]

Pioneering, big breakthroughs
Proceeded by the opposition
Hold in derision all that's new
Afraid to lose their own esteem

Scorn shall be directed at the genius
Represses subtle theories of the light
to the questions of life

Quantum physics lead us to
Answers to the great taboos
We create the world around us
God is every living soul

Science, spirituality
Will have to meet along the way and
We need new drifts, another view
Expand our grip on the cryptic soul

Hope is more than a postponed disappointment

Non intellegens nil explicas
Videre nolens nil capies
Non intellegens nil explicas
Incognita non vides

Open your Sahasrara

[II. Children Of The Light]

Light creates us all
Pride will make us fall
Life is meaningful
Life delight us all

Light creates us all
Pride divides us all
Life is meaningful
The soul survives us all

Misled by science
Our wake up call
Conditioning cannot fool us 'till the end

[III. Bardo Thödol]

Guide us safety
through the gates of death

[IV. Paragons Of Perfection]

Nothing here will be the same
I'll see the world through different eyes and
I was given clarity
And the wisdom I can't deny

All that we can never see
Until we leave this frail existence
Is just a shadow of reality
Death is not the final instance

It's not your time
You have to go back... back!
Now!

No, no, I don't want to return,
please let me stay here, don't make me go back

Go back, you've got work to do

We're not alone, we are all one.

Nothing here will be the same
The smallest bit is as big as nature
Our limited capacities
Gives us trouble to comprehend

We are linked in every way
And we're strong as our weakest fragment
Every word that we convey
Is an act with consequences

[V. The Harsh Return]

Light creates us all
Pride will make us fall
Life is meaningful
Life delight us all

Light creates us all
Pride divides us all
Life is meaningful
The soul survives us all

Greed will make us fall
Light will bind us all


7. The Price Of Freedom - Interlude



8. Burn To A Cinder

Deep in the night, boundless violence will seethe with the danger
Our laws collide not allowing another contender
When the wine drinks itself, you will burn to a cinder
We're fighting time awaiting the answers

I'll never let them stake you down
Take you down
I'll fight to find a way

Is there a way to turn the mind of a barbaric stranger?
Eternal days awaiting for you to awake, my avenger
A cruel fate now condemns us to burn to a cinder
Are we too late, running on empty?

I'll never let them stake you down
Take you down
I'll fight to find a way out there
It must be hard
I'll never let them break you now
Forsake you now
Keep holding on and

Give me answers to my prayers
We'll never hide, we'll face the glare
You're the light I see to, raise the flame and blaze the fire
Give me answer to my prayers
We'll carry all the weights to bear
Give me sight to see
I know a way is there to keep the flame

Why can't I bleed with you?
Forever I will be thrown to the wolves
They'll feed on all our dreams

I'll never let them stake you down
Take you down
I'll fight to find a way out there
It must be hard
I'll never let them break you now
Forsake you now
Keep holding on and

Give me answers to my prayers
We'll never hide, we'll face the glare
You're the light I see to, raise the flame and blaze the fire
Give me answer to my prayers
We'll carry all the weights to bear
Give me sight to see
I know a way is there to keep the flame

Why can't I bleed with you?
Forever I will be thrown to the wolves
They'll feed on all our dreams.


9. Tides Of Time

You were always there to hold my hand
When times were hard to understand
But now the tides of time have turned
They keep changing

Seasons range, but you remain the same
A steady heart, a sun to rain
You'll be the light that's shining bright
High above me

Autumn gold losing hold
We are leaves meant to fall
There's a meaning to all that fades

Freezing winds were stayed by warming words
To touch your healing to the hurt
I'll treasure every lesson learned to the embers

Fight her face
Wash his pain

Fire fails, blushes pale
We will answer the call
There's a meaning to all

Seeds of eulogy to sow along with dreams
Fill the need that can leave us grieving alone

Frail is our beauty in the end
But all we count is sentiment

A memory stays to guide the way, and whisper
Don't lose sight, don't deny
We are leaves meant to fall
There's a meaning to all our

Seeds of eulogy to sow along with dreams
Fills the need that can leave us grieving alone
A symphony resounding in our minds
Guides us through what we knew would come all a long

Sometimes I feel I don't have the words
Sometimes I feel I'm not being heard
And then I fear I'm feeling nothing more

Sometimes I feel I don't want this change
I think we all have to rearrange
And now I feel there's no one losing me

Seeds of eulogy to sow along with dreams
Fill the need that can leave us grieving alone
A symphony resounding in our minds
Guides us though
As you hear me
As you do,
As you need me

Making true

What we knew would come all along


10. Deconstruct

If we could see ourselves, the mirror would reflect insanity
Instead we camouflage the flaws that lie within
Condone the suffering we witness as we mingle casually
We need to right ourselves, or else we will derail

Aiming too high
You are bound to fail
Patience is a vital virtue
That you'll never have

Don't force me to believe
We're caught up in the greed
'cause I just care for me
To break it, we'll need everyone
Think it through: unite is the only way

A raging tragedy ignored will have its justice, finally
Distress and poverty is everyone's disease
We'll come to realise for all we've done
there is a price to pay
Yet hope is never lost, there always is a way

Trumping the game
Is no easy way
Enterprise and discipline
Will pay off in the end

If we ever could look into fate's mirror
We would never have ended up here
We're distracted by every sin committed
It should always be ever so clear

If we ever look
We would never be here

Don't force me to believe
I'm never needing anyone
I only care for me
I'm thinking through
And mine's the only way

We are caught up
In our failure
Now our union
Is our savior
It's the only way

If we ever
We would never
If we're clever
We're together


11. Semblance Of Liberty

Born to fight, and we're born to flee
Doomed to live on ecstasy
Born to lie, and we're born to cheat
Look in the mirror, who do you see?

Born to flee, and we're born to fight
Without your mask, you're terrified
Don't hide your personality
That's who you are, your identity

If the virtues of tomorrow
Cause the greed of today
We won't have a future
Nor liberty

Born to breathe, and we're born to pursue
That's all we are supposed to do
The semblance of our liberty
Is nothing more than slavery

Born to flee, and we're born to fight
Is it failure that's our delight?
Born to cheat, and we're born to lie
Look at yourself, have you lost your mind?

If the virtues of tomorrow
Cause the greed of today
We won't have a future
And no more liberty

If the virtues of tomorrow
Set the need on the way
We won't have a future nor liberty

Private vice leads to public virtue

[Laughs!]

Raised to think that we are free
Living in our caves
Being slaves

We lost control of our lives
At the mercy of the waves
Massive waves

Blind to see what's going on
Conditioned as we are
And we are

We lost control of our greed
But now we face it all
Face our fall

Keeping all that we've created
And consuming all that's possible
Reaching deep into temptation
Nothing can stop us

Guarantee our hard-earned profits
Multiplied ten-fold if possible
Reaching out for new redemption
Nothing avails our needs

My opponent won't rule out raising taxes.
But I will, and The Congress will push me to raise taxes and I'll say no.
And they'll push, and I'll say no, and they'll push again, and I'll say to them:
Read my lips
[George H. W. Bush]

If the virtues of tomorrow
Set the need on the way
We never had a future anyway
We had no future 'till today

Time and tide
Will not wait for anyone


12. White Waters

I see a silhouette, liquid that moves
Skin like a pearl in the sea
I cannot resist this, her voice in the wind
But is it my eyes are deceived?
Is it you I see?

Lie down in my arms
Trust what you see
Smooth your brow, you will be with me
To find your relief

Gazing at whitecaps, coming so close
Everything's suddenly clear
Numb with the aching, and still I am waiting
The water is pulling me near
Would you welcome me?

Lie down in my arms
Try not to breathe
Quiet love, you are now with me
You need no words to speak

For my mistakes, I am to blame
Never believed that it was all meant to fall
I'd give my life, to have you near once again
Take me away, would you forgive me?


13. Design Your Universe - A New Age Dawns - Pt. VI

We're blind and eager
Avarice will set us back to blank
Those who wager all will have to name a reason
If you can't let go, you will end up empty handed
If you can't control, you'll live your life in vain
Who decides about my time to come?
Who is able to break through the circle of life and doom?
Don't look back
Keep on track to break the curse
Take the chance
Design your universe
We can't undo what we have done
So show us now what we've become
Confront us with our viciousness
And our weakness
We can't evade our destiny
So show responsibility
For we all surely have a sense
Of our consciousness
To take for taking's sake
Will leave a path of loss and strain
And endless breaking of faith can warrant acts of treason
If you can't let go, you will end up empty handed
If you can't control, you'll live your life in vain
Who decides about what's true or false?
Who is able to sift through the treasures from the flukes?
The time has come, we have to see
That total wisdom is in reach
The time has come to colour in the lines
We must identify the signs
So many people are full of hate
While love and light are in their reach
So many people will harm themselves
But life can be so beautiful
So many people will idolize
While their own success is in their reach
Don't forget you're able to
Design your own universe
Find your balance, sink into rumination
Ipsum te reperies
Potire mundorum
Potire omnis mundi


14. Incentive

[Bonus track]

How can we conduct
Symphonies of our destruction
Without having a clue
How to interpret the darkest notes?

There is no need to feel so depraved
A spotless disease is what I am
All those fools that I have enslaved
Were so long ago already damned

There is no need to be so engaged
The master of the stash is what I am
All this distress is what I have engraved
Is forming the path that I defend

Come with me, acquire the key
To unlock forbidden doors
Come with me, be finally free
The incentive, you decree

There is no need to feel so alone
When your white guide knocks at the door
Don't you disappoint her, no don't you dare
She'll destroy you to the quick, to the bone

Come with me, on your knees
The celebration ends
Come with me, never flee
Save me from this


15. Unleashed (Duet Version)

[Bonus track]
[Feat. Amanda Somerville]

Declining, all color fading
Defining, time coming for me
Rescinding, my inspiration
Receding consciousness

Back in the day, I can recall that,
My thoughts were unclouded and sage
There was no black staining the walls of my memories
Now there's a haze pushing me sideways
And leaving me nothing to gain
Taking me back, locking me cold in disparity

Where was I meant to be?
I feel I'm lost in a dream
Long for the day I can be myself

When I'm free
When my sun has set
Released my soul forever
I'll have no regret
To be free
I'll exist again
No more lost endeavors
Nothing to contend
When I'm free

Color declines, all that defines me
Is falling away, far behind
Nothing to keep me with the time, the here and now

Where am I meant to be?
I feel I'm lost in a dream
Yearning again only to be myself

When I'm free
When my sun has set
Released my soul forever
I'll have no regret
To be free
I'll exist again
No more lost endeavors
Nothing to contend
When I'm free

Time is just a concept
And always the first thing to fade
Agony and weakness
Nothing we can never evade
Years are cruel, they break us
Bringing on decay and despair
Awareness and perception
Something we can never repair

Cure me, free me, help me, see me
No more worry, no more losing
Save me, near me, help me, hear me
No more heartache, no misery
Cure me, free me, help me, see me
No more worry, no agony
Save me, near me, help me, hear me
No more heartache, no despairing (We despair)
Cure me, free me, help me, see me
No more worry, no repairing (No repair)

Freedom for me is all I'm really wanting, needing
Give me power to break out
I can't hold on for any longer
My time has come to end it all

No one to blame, fate's only random
It's nothing we'll ever explain
So it remains

Where was I meant to be?
I feel I'm lost in a dream
Long for the day I can be myself
Free

When will I be unleashed?
It's not the way it should be
Yearning again only to be myself
When I'm free

Unleash my consciousness

When I'm free
When my sun has set
Released my soul forever
I'll have no regret
To be free
I'll exist again
No more lost endeavors
Nothing to contend
When I'm free