Silence Is Your Answer

[Verse 1]
Smoke on a sunless sky
Boot prints in bone-white dust
Names ground down to numbers
Steel turned back to rust
You drag that tattered banner
Through fields that once were towns
Tasting iron in the air
Hearing echoes underground
[Chorus]
Stand amongst the ashes
Of a trillion dead souls
Ask the ghosts if honor matters
If the oath can make them whole
All your proud and burning questions
Hang heavy in the cold
Stand amongst the ashes
The silence is your answer
[Verse 2]
Helmets split like fallen crowns
Charred rings on brittle hands
Medals black with melted pride
Scattered through the sand
You shout into the ruin
Throat raw from every name
Waiting for a verdict
From a kingdom made of flame
[Chorus]
Stand amongst the ashes
Of a trillion dead souls
Ask the ghosts if honor matters
If the oath can make them whole
All your proud and burning questions
Hang heavy in the cold
Stand amongst the ashes
The silence is your answer
[Bridge]
Was it glory?
Was it greed?
Were you faithful?
Or just in need? (oh)
Every flag you ever followed
Every vow you ever swore
Turns to dust between your fingers
As the quiet hits the floor
[Chorus]
Stand amongst the ashes
Of a trillion dead souls
Ask the ghosts if honor matters
If the oath can make them whole
All your proud and burning questions
Hang heavy in the cold
Stand amongst the ashes
The silence is your answer

Cinematic metal ballad: slow-building clean guitars and distant choirs under a low male vocal that swells into massive distorted guitars and pounding toms on the chorus; battle drums and choral “whoa”s in the bridge, ending on a single held guitar chord fading into reverb-drenched ambience