1. The Call Of Steel

Black winds are blowing the hammer is calling
'Neath power and might wimps and posers are falling
Warriors ride
Live to fight
The gods of metal are smiling upon us this night
Wielding our proud steel we know we are right
Blackened hate
Our holy fate
Brothers of metal are heeding the call of steel
Going to war to fight for metal that's real
Metal might
Shining bright
Sons of the hammer today we make our stand
Soldiers of steel the strongest in all the land
Fire and ice
Ancient cries

chorus:
The call of steel
Heavy metal zeal
Wolves in the night
Join the holy fight

Lightning strikes when metal's warriors chant
The glory of steel and might is now at hand
Hammers fall
Heed the call
The full moon's light is calling us to ride to war
With fire and metal forge anew the magic of yore
Darkened skies
No more lies
Now the time has come to set the world alight
Spawn of steel and fire we shall rule the night
Honour bound
Glory found
The ecstasy of battle takes us up into the sky
Death or glory today might be a fine day to die
Iron and fire
Metal desire

chorus

Black winds are blowing the hammer is calling
'Neath power and might wimps and posers are falling
Metal might
Shining bright
The gods of metal are smiling upon us this night
Wielding our proud steel we know we are right
Fire and ice
Ancient cries
Now the time has come to set the world alight
Spawn of steel and fire we shall rule the night
Hammers fall
Heed the call
The ecstasy of battle takes us up into the sky
Death or glory today might be a fine day to die
Darkened skies
No more lies

chorus

2. Trumpets Of Dawn

In the mist of a winter dawn, the trumpets sound
Blood and fire and death await us on the battleground
The gods of war are smiling upon their kin this day
Into glorious battle we ride as black prayers we say

chorus:
The trumpets of dawn are calling
Soon hammers shall be falling
Ride to war! (4x)

In the mist of a winter dawn, the trumpets sound
With axe and sword and scythe we will stand our ground
In the cold winter sun our blades of metal do glow
Mixed with morning dew our enemies' blood will flow

chorus

In the mist of a winter dawn, the trumpets sound
In bloody battle honour and glory will be found
Before the sun has fully risen victory will be ours
We shall burn the spoils to thank the dark powers

chorus

3. Sword And Sceptre

A prince in exile for all of his life
Raised far from his father's lands
Believed dead like all of his kin
His throne in vile usurper's hands

A child unaware of his noble blood
Frustrated by his simple peasant life
Unlike others without knowing why
Unable to identify his urge for strife

A mysterious visitor in his village
Seeking him out when coming of age
Revealing to him the truth of his blood
In ignorance facing the giver of rage

chorus:
Sword and sceptre
Crown and ring
Sword and sceptre
All hail the king

Taking the sword and the sceptre
The visitor gone not a trace left behind
Holding the relics of his ancestors
Images of old flooding his mind

Years of preparing, hardship and pain
Gathering men still loyal to his blood
Building an army to overthrow the usurper
Always guided by the wandering god

The right of vengeance now his to claim
Glory in battle for those sworn to the ring
Power of the sword, wisdom of the sceptre
All hail the rightful heir, all hail the king

chorus

4. Torch The House Of God

The house of god is a vile site
The sheep who follow him there gather
To bow before him and writhe in obeisance
To crumble before their would-be father

The house of god is a disgusting mental brothel
It must be devoured by the flames of Hell
Crush the hold of monotheism once and for all
Let none of its slaves be allowed to live to tell

Beneath the cold moon evil's warriors ride
Carrying swords, torches blazing in the night
Hearts filled with hatred of all that is holy
Before long the house of god will be set alight

Wolves are howling and rain is falling down
A black storm bellows its symphony of gloom
Wakened by this threat the virtuous know fear
Tonight the slaves of god meet their doom

chorus:
Torch the house of god
Burn it down to the ground

The minions of god try to defend his house
But against the steel of evil they cannot fight
And the torches of evil do their wicked duty
The house of god burns to embers this night

On the ashes of the one god's whorehouse
Temples of sin will arise all over the earth
Where heathen rites dormant for aeons
Shall enjoy a glorious rebirth

chorus

5. Alone Against The World

A fire burns within
The flame of steel and hate
I stand against the world
Solely guided by my fate

No possibility of retreat
My steel will soon be tried
My courage will come through
My glory will not be denied

bridge:
Fighting with metal, the power of steel
Victory or death, to none I shall kneel
Blood will be shed, my enemies fear
The whole world, my war cry will hear

chorus:
Alone against the world
The courage to stand tall
Alone against the world
My enemies will surely fall

My armour blinds my foes
Shining metal for all to see
The time of wrath has come
All will die or bow before me

Dark knowledge at my side
Wicked powers to prevail
The light forever to wane
The forces of good shall fail

Much hardship I will endure
To overthrow all conformity
Mighty steel will bring victory
Eternal glory waits for me

bridge

chorus

6. Thermopylae

Amidst the great deeds of Xerxes and his Greek foes
All the valour of the second of the Persian wars
Stands out a single battle as the most heroic
The defence of a mountain pass by a Spartan force

A strategic error left several hundred Spartan men
Surrounded by an overwhelming Persian might
For two days they managed to hold on to the pass
Led by king Leonidas to the last man they did fight

Thermopylae (4x)

The Spartans were exceptional in their courage
Whatever number their foe they would not retreat
With hearts of steel and incredible battle prowess
They managed to achieve such an amazing feat

Even though the Spartans lost this great battle
Time was gained for the Greek armies and fleet
The progress of the vast Persian army was halted
And the Greeks were prepared their foe to meet

Thermopylae (4x)

At Salamis the Persian fleet was largely sunk
And at Plataea the Greek army proved the best
It was the beginning of the empire's downfall
Establishing the Greek dominance of the west

7. The Metal Creed (The Oath Of Steel)

chorus:
I swear allegiance to true metal
To fight the false with the power of steel
Forever true to the gods of metal
To no man shall ever I kneel

There's blood upon the walls of conformity and greed
Swords of doom are whirling to fight for the metal creed
We exist and breathe for metal, it's the only way to live
Forever sworn to steel, the false ones we won't forgive

Hear the sound of metal, so strong and pure and mean
Striking with dark powers we're louder than we've ever been
No mercy and no love for such weakness we don't care
By the power of the hammer the oath of steel we swear

chorus

There's blood in all the halls of sanctity and lies
Blades of gloom are spinning through the metal skies
We hear the call of metal it's rallying us to fight
Forever true to heavy metal we ride on through the night

Hear the clash of power, so wild and crazy and rough
Attacking with evil might we're never gonna get enough
Warriors of true metal we take on all who dare
By the force of metal's gods the oath of steel we swear

chorus

8. Rise Of The Warrior King

A people enslaved by the laws and lies of the book
Hear freedom's call
Corrupt clerics clinging to the power they once took
The priest must die
One fateful day in this land a little bastard boy is born
Hear freedom's call
Shunned by his society his youth is lonely and forlorn
The priest must die

chorus:
Rise warrior, out of the night
March sword king, into the light
Fight the battle, now stand your ground
Slay the enemy, war drums resound

Poverty is all he knows, petty crime his single goal
Hear freedom's call
Vengeful wrath and rebellion are burning in his soul
The priest must die
One day thrown in jail for breaking religious rules
Hear freedom's call
But one day he will surely crush all the holy fools
The priest must die

chorus

Finally he breaks free
Rising for all to see
War is upon the land
The king will make his stand

Angry young people flock to the self-proclaimed king
Sound the drums of war
By the thousands they march while battle hymns they sing
Sound the drums of war
The clerics try to crush the rebels but they are too late
Sound the drums of war
Their holy buildings soon to be destroyed by fate
Sound the drums of war

chorus

All holiness defiled by the rise of the warrior king
Hail to the king
Holy books are burned everywhere blasphemy does ring
Hail to the king
The slaves of the book are destroyed once and for all
Hail to the king
Glory abounds for those who heeded the sword king's call
Hail to the king

chorus

9. Ghosts Of Leather

We're ghosts of leather and spirits of steel
From the distant past when metal was real
We have no place in the modern age
Our souls are burning with hate and rage

We're relics of the past, we're out of date
But we don't care that we were born too late
We refuse to conform to fashion's flow
The power of ancient metal is all we know

bridge:
Black leather and loud guitars
Spikes and chains and sleazy bars
On every smoke-filled stage we cry
We're ghosts of leather and we'll never die

chorus:
Ghosts of leather; spirits of steel
Warriors of metal; to no man we kneel
Ghosts of leather; demons of fire
Ghouls of iron; we live our desire

Wimps and posers may say we're antiquated
But the might of steel and metal is never outdated
We are beyond trends 'cos metal never dies
In the end once more we'll hear the false one's cries

bridge

chorus

10. Knights Of Baphomet

Back in early twelfth-century Europe
In a time of reform and spiritual rebirth
An order of knights was brought to life
To defend the holy land from the infidel

A new kind of knight, a warrior-monk
Soldiers sworn to poverty and self-denial
Yet fighting bravely with primitive means
Against a vastly superior force

Years of battle, blood, fire and death
But between slaughtering and pillaging
The knights stumbled upon various cults
And delved into mysterious mysticisms

The knights discovered the forbidden
They saw the pleasures life has to offer
And ultimately they decided to change
They chose to tread the Left Hand Path

The order throve in its new-found power
Acquiring massive material possessions
Becoming a force to be reckoned with
While rejoicing in lustful blasphemous rites

But the success of the knights templar
Would ultimately become their undoing
The king of France envied their wealth
Charged them with heresy and blasphemy

Through torture confessions were extracted
And the order was completely dismantled
Its vast possessions seized by the king
Its leaders burned to death at the stake

But the order triumphed beyond the grave
Both king and pope fell to the curse
Cast upon them by the Grand Master
While flames were already caressing his flesh

The templars lost a battle but not the war
The order went underground and survived
Throughout the centuries it exerted its power
Its rituals being practised to this very day

11. The Seal Of Wrath

Beneath forgotten castles in deserted wastelands
In the darkest of dungeons the seal of wrath is hidden
Once broken the seal will unleash the darkness
For the Earth to be consumed by all God has forbidden

Thirteen warriors are chosen to commence the quest
Conceived in the most unholy of rites
Raised to withstand the treachery of God
With hearts as black as the darkest of nights

On the eve of the longest night the quest begins
Armed with magic the thirteen warriors advance
Their swords of steel slay the servants of God
Against the strength of hatred the meek stand no chance

The thirteen swords create a whirlwind of doom
The warriors come ever closer to finding the seal
No crosses or garlic or holy relics can stop them
They march on to the tones of metal that's real

The warriors ride to the heart of the wastelands
After years of hardship the quest's end is near
They enter the castles and stride through the dust
Until they locate the dungeons of pain and fear

Breaking the shields woven by spells of white magic
They go down into the dungeons and uncover the seal
The chosen warriors use their powers of black magic
To break the seal and unleash the reign of steel

The seal is broken and the Earth violently opens up
The dungeons explode in an eruption of Hellfire
The world is engulfed by unholy waves of lust and hate
All of Earth is consumed by darkness and desire

12. March Of The Ten Thousand

In the aftermath of the Peloponnesian war
A young Persian prince with a ruthless aim
Cyrus assembled a vast host of mercenaries
Thinking good pay and rich booty they'd gain

Ten thousand Greek hoplites ready for war
They set out eastward in March 401 B.C.
Expecting to suppress some dissident tribes
The true goal of the endeavour they didn't see

In a sudden skirmish one hundred were lost
Unrest among the men soon started to grow
Spartan Clearchus managed to keep them in line
But their true purpose they still didn't know

On the banks of the Euphrates Cyrus did speak
Revealing his plan to overthrow his elder sibling
To forcefully seize the throne of Persia for himself
The army indeed a formidable threat to the king

On towards Babylon (4x)

Across Northern Syria into the Arabian desert
Until they were confronted with the king's might
A cloud of dust first appeared on the horizon
Then helmets and armour flashed in the sunlight

The sides drew up in battle-order near Babylon
Combat was engaged close to Cunaxa on a plain
The Greeks fought against numerical supremacy
But all became irrelevant once Cyrus was slain

Before the Greeks could return a ploy unfolded
Tissaphernes lured their five generals into a tent
And slaughtered them and all their attendants
On vengeance the treacherous satrap was bent

The Ten Thousand now aimless and leaderless
Seeming to be lost in these vast and hostile lands
But one of the men received an omen from Zeus
Xenophon rose to take matters into his hands

He advised the officers to choose new leaders
To all the forces a rousing speech he made
So they decided not to lay down their arms
But to persist against odds that were great

The retreating army's progress was slow, arduous
In the mountains of Kardouchia they had to fight
Vulnerable they were to mounted Persian archers
But cavalry and slingers demonstrated their might

In the Armenian mountains the weather was the foe
By hunger and frostbite the troops disheartened
But through personal example Xenophon led on
And upon reaching the sea the men were elated

There were more adventures on the long road home
Before many of them at last to Greece returned
Xenophon was then banished from his city Athens
A friend of Sparta by the democratic rabble spurned

The Ten Thousand's march was a significant feat
Their journey showed what the Greeks could gain
The possibility of conquest seen for the first time
The wealth and weakness of the Persian domain