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Upon a Lake of Embers

by Ashes of the Armada

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1.
I woke the sun up with my eyes, today is the day the world is going to change. I saw the misfortune in man, so I'm gonna leave. Set sail, climb aboard. The captain's whistle screamed its lungs out. We finally take off to the world of water. The chariot sun burns across the sky, guiding the way through this sea of tranquility. For what seems like the first time, everything is at peace, living in harmony. I can feel it in my heart, in my bones. Your voice will guide me home, through the storms that try to make me lose my way. I promise, my love, that I'll be coming back. Hell couldn't hold me back from you. Oh today, yes today is when I start missing my home. The tidal waves are peace, as are these pictures held to my chest, of my children, with their white smiles and envious eyes. My lips trembled "I know I will see them again." I hold this promise dear to my heart. For as long as breath fills these lungs there will be hope left to hold onto. Sometimes, the presence of hope isn't enough. Though, even the most sensitive and gentle man among us will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children. Yet I, and the heart within me, will never falter from those I hold dear. The ocean swells; Below the surface, the sharks begin their ascent, encouraging the darkness to follow.
2.
"Above the filthy waters, you can already see what waits for us," the captain's cry, lightning gracing the sky. A mighty beast is upon us, drawing across the water. No sword or shield could prevent the approaching depths, rising to crush the lost and wayward souls who oppose its vengeance. A voice thunders, though to my ears alone; "Who is this who, without death, can journey through the kingdom of the dead?" Fifty dead men walking chanted to the inner soul of the sea, "Consider what impetuous force turns stars and planets in a different course. I steer against their motions; nor am I born back by all the current of the sky." Ill giving and ill keeping, the ocean swells magnify. Has the sky turned against us? Have the gods cast us aside, Shepard abandoning sheep? Black clouds and black thoughts, black waters and lost hope. Lonely ghosts in the shadow of a hollow hearted sun. "Have faith men, stand together! For dark dreams have overcome the reality of this moment; the sea lives and the devil walks with him. Remain strong at heart and the tremors will pass, remain strong in mind and you will conquer the sky." And we sail on; "let us descend into the blind world now." Stand together! The vessel shakes, willed apart by the deconstructor around it. The hellish hurricane, which never rests, drives on these spirits with its violence, wheeling and pounding it harasses them. White knuckles, clenched teeth. The heavens crash; I fainted as if I had met my death, and then fell as a dead body falls.
3.
The heavy sleep within my head was smashed by an enormous thunderclap, so that I started as one whom force awakens. The veins of the ship are quaking to their core, fear strikes with the empathy of a cannon. What deception has led us into these waters? These troubled waters! Hold your tongue from these winds before they bring you to your knees. "I reached a place where every light is muted, which bellows like the sea beneath a tempest, which is battered by opposing winds." As if from a dream, a single beam of light shone through the heavens, cutting into this menacing beast, careless to the entropy of the world around it. Hope gains a new course. I feel it in my soul, believing more than ever in this salvation. Heartbeat racing, increasing in time with the broken grace of this deceiving blanket. I would crawl up to the sun but the sky won't let me leave. And like a lifeline, the tide guides us in to a safer place. As if since lost, the warm sunshine brings forth memories of happiness long gone. I could not paint a picture of what then stopped my heart cold. Lining the beach, from end to end, the broken remains and fragments of brethren ship, battered against the the rocks and sand, lifeless for years past unaccountable. One's eyes could not break from the travesty beheld here. Either by the hand of man, or the hand of god, it still leaves fingerprints in time. This is the first time I had dug my nails into disaster, upon that black and red shore, time standing still. I yearn passionately to head back, even if only to lose everything to the ill giving current. I assure you, though not soon enough, death rapidly approaches.
4.
"Oh you who reach this house of suffering, be careful how you enter, whom you trust; the gate is wide, but do not be deceived!" Just bring me to the light to see the essence of death in the surrounding place and time. Sea and sand line the beach. The rain around the island...the lighting of the sky. Hell in the costume of heaven to my eyes, and the eyes of the others. Forest of dreams, luring me in as if by the song of sirens, as if sang by the pitches and tones of the one who uncontrollably controls my heart, and as like a love locket, the glow wrapped by the purity of the youth before me, eyes locked longing for escape. The temptation of the Elder mind could not help but to peer inside the universe within his hands. Temptation! Temptation, his mind screamed TEMPTATION! Forest of fire, the bullet stained the way of the innocent as the flames licked fervently at the wild and racing heart he found stored captive in his barbaric cage of a chest. A wicked dimension released from within his eyes, consummating the vile change. With fire in his eyes, the captain released his voice with the devil's murmur: "Sick minds we were born, sick minds we will die. This heaven is but a dystopia, and we were the damned who stumbled upon such a wretched place. I am the reaper, you are my sheep. I shall shepard you into the sea, not a home in this graveyard I plan to make. We will take this gift to our tombs, and send the unrighteous to theirs. We are not leaders to the end of times, we are but stones to pave the way."
5.
Oh lord, my dreams swim in darkness. What have I stumbled into this time? Barricade the door, they're flooding the gates. "I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them." Sky you've been great, but it's time to no longer be a simple decoration. You've lost yourself in a whirlwind of deceit, and there's no way in hell I will ever take you back. No, not tonight. We're fighting for our lives. King of the dead, king of the dying. I'll find you out there somewhere. Beyond this life you'll be mine once again. Tongue like a snake, you're breaking down the walls. Who will save us now?! This house is a coffin, as it burns to the ground. My enemy, he's going to burn this town. Why will you not wake up?! she screams. The whole world is falling, falling away from her. I'll spill my heart for you, until there's nothing left to give. The whole world is falling, and it's taking her with it.
6.
I woke up to watch the moon rise, to soak in these last moments I feel alive. Every breath a criticism from charcoal lungs, the cycle goes on and on. Now I don’t look at the ocean with the enthusiasm I once did, but the calmed tide is a perfect mirror and I’m falling into the sky. Defying gravity just as I would defy this undefined perception of life. To the bottom we fall, from the depths we rise. I have seen inside my mind, and it’s the only thing that seems real. I looked into my soul and my hair stood on end as I met the future version of myself. He talked about how the trip in the coffin was painful and odd; he climbed in and, in one moment, lost all consciousness. And once more I ask myself to save myself, but that request just won’t relay from end to end. It’s happening for the first time again, it just won’t end. It just won’t end. Fragmented bones remain under skin so frayed. My pen has run dry and the last of my paper crumbled away, but for this one sheet that alone holds your name. This is the start and the end of the mariner’s symphony. It just won’t end. The melody just won’t end. And then the end of the hymn begins. Refrain. I can’t get far enough away from here to see the picture so clear. If I painted with all of the colors would the picture be evident? Or would it resemble the end we all so much fear? The calmed tide is a perfect mirror and I’m falling into the sky. To the bottom we fall, from the fathoms we climb. Bare your teeth and begin the journey home. Every breath is a stark criticism of this life. And the cycle goes on and on and on and on and on and on…
7.
Everyone’s waiting to wake up. Falling into the sun. "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground. For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, and to dust you shall return." Paper minds and glass thoughts. Darkness is all that is seen now. Shadows can’t hold hands Ghosts can’t embrace one another. How could I be confused about the only thing that I’ve ever known to be true? My hands were graveyards, if not for someone else then for me. My eyes were petrified in what had become. My thoughts were frozen in darkness, forever in my present moment. Can we make it out of the kindling fire of chaos? I don’t want to be a man who just washes away, who fades from memory and sings sour songs with nothing to hear but the swells. And I take it all back.
8.
Soon I will become the destroyer of the world My villainous heart told me so, every direction claimed the words! "A stranger once told me I'm a violent man." I said "you ain't seen nothing yet." In the depths of our palms the relic shown ash black. Ravenous, as our blind hearts succumbed. An angry gormandizer whispers rancorous thoughts to my soul. I can only delay the beast for so long. White eyes show red thoughts as our blood thirst began in our dreams. I'll scar your mind with visions of bloodshed. Secrets like swords, plated under the skin, our iron is about to be revealed. I've fallen so far, I won't be coming back again. I won't be coming back my love. And the only regret I have is not telling you how my heart is broken from weeks without your glowing embrace. But now my heart will slowly wash away with the tide of the sea. Eclipsed and losing hope, this is my last letter home, and I pray it will someday reach you, and does not crumble upon the rocks. The sea will take us all.
9.
Hold my hand as we’re going down. I put my trust in this. I feel like I’ve done this a million times, you changed into a different person by the end Oh my god, I’m watching us die.
10.
Vicious we are, with vicious teeth. I built a city all the way to the clouds, just to watch it fall. A monument of thoughts and plans built to the sky, a monolith of broken bottles and letters sent to the wind. I traveled across the universe, just to find a home inside of myself. And I’m so far from a familiar shore. I remember being transfixed on this one, singular moment. That moment where our individual universes overlapped together and became a singular perception. Time stood still at the docks where I made the decision to divert from our unified understanding. I know that every night since has been been awash in recollection and regret, and I’d wager to bet that the distance between my thoughts and your lips parts the difference between you and me. So we begin to see a moment, the oldest point, but as young as forever. Just the seizures of time lapsing its course. A dream as real as us. Spasms of our personas separating back into an individualistic state but unable to relate. Singular is not the same as alone, just as blue is not the same shade as gray. I never forgot that we were stuck in the middle, somewhere between the beginning and end. Undefined by the waves and reach of the collective universes like a man unbound by fate. Waiting, waiting, waiting. All of my letters have been sent, all of my bottles cast out; the last thing I’ll ever think about. Amongst the moments I’ll never forget you gave me the one I’d always want to live with, and as the water slowly crawls its way up around me and everything I left you for, I comprehend just how far off course I’ve strayed; imagine how much differently things would be if only I had stayed. I lost my way amongst the knotted branches of decision that guide our lives. Sinking on this island of my own making, this hell of my own creation. Paper minds and glass thoughts can be altered so easily in the judgment of the right words. To the bottom we fall, from the depths we rise. The water takes us all, and we sink from men to absent black.

about

Upon a Lake of Embers is the tragic narrative of a sailor and his shipmates, who, upon encountering a supernatural artifact, damn their minds, their ship, and their lives.

This cd is the culmination of years of hard work, friendships gained, lost, gained again, and the neverending love of creation.

Thank you for listening.

Recorded, mixed, and mastered in Fowler, Kansas by Dustin Ridder at Bullet Ride Studios.

credits

released February 16, 2015

Chris - guitars/bass/piano 1-10
Edgar - guitars/bass 1-5, 8, 9
Jace - vocals 1-10
Jake - drums/vocals 1-10
Skyler - guitars/vocals 5, 8
Tad - bass/vocals 1-4, 9
Tanner - vocals 5, 8
Neher - guest vocals 2, 4, 6, 8, 10

Album art and design by Jacob Haas

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Ashes of the Armada Wichita, Kansas

A bunch of guys making crazy tunes. Our live show is a reflection of the insanity in our heads. Our albums are a mirror to the stories escaping our overactive imaginations.

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