Veins of the World!

[Intro - A dark, galloping folk fiddle, A cavernous guttural growl into a melodic death metal riff with frantic double-bass drumming] Before the first sun rose, the thirst was already born. A shadow that walks in every land, drinking from the veins of the world!

[Verse 1] In the shadows of the Himalayas, the Churel stalks the night, With feet turned backward, hiding from the morning light. Deep in African jungles, the Asanbosam waits, With iron hooks for feet to seal your bloody fates. From the Philippine jungles, the Manananggal takes flight, Severed at the waist, she haunts the blackest height. A world of varied terrors, bound by one desire, To quench the inner cold with a liquid, crimson fire.

[Chorus] No witch can halt the hunger, no prayer can stop the feast, From the shadow of the mountain to the spirit of the beast! Bound by the silk of a scarlet thread, we dance to the rhythm of the living dead! One hunger, a thousand different names, Feeding the embers of the undying flames! From the mountain peaks to the ocean floor, The night is a portal, death is the door. Across every border, through every tongue, The song of the predator is forever sung!

[Verse 2] Across the Australian outback, the Yara-ma-yha-who creeps, Dropping from the fig tree while the weary traveler sleeps. In the heart of Japan, the Nukekubi’s head takes wing, Leaving its body behind to hear the sirens sing. No simple wooden stake can end every dark decree, For the forms of the parasite are as endless as the sea. A global tapestry woven in a scarlet thread, The living are the harvest for the legions of the dead.

[Chorus] Every map is stained in red, every border is a vein, A world of different faces sharing one eternal pain! Bound by the silk of a scarlet thread, we dance to the rhythm of the living dead! One hunger, a thousand different names, Feeding the embers of the undying flames! From the mountain peaks to the ocean floor, The night is a portal, death is the door. Across every border, through every tongue, The song of the predator is forever sung!

[Bridge - deathcore breakdown. The vocals drop to a wet, tectonic slam-style growl] the skin-tear! the fluid-strip! every culture bleeds under the fanged grip! no refuge in tradition! no safety in the map! the whole damn world is a predator’s trap! sever the head! salt the earth! (Blegh!)

[Verse 3] From the Caribbean shores where the Soucouyant sheds her skin, To the Scandinavian barrows where the Draugr dwells within. They aren't just myths or stories to keep the children still, They are the ancient shadows of the primal, predatory will. The types are many, but the outcome is the same, A life extinguished to keep alive the flame. The sun may rise tomorrow, but the night is never gone, As the cycle of the sanguine continues on and on.

[outro - haunting, dissonant fiddle. the rhythm slows to a funeral march] every shadow has a mouth. every history has a stain. we are the pulse in the dark. We are the veins of the world!