Tales Of The Grotesque

Julia Marou	Gesang
Oliver Bandmann	Gesang
Alex Hunzinger	Gitarre, Gesang
Anja Hunzinger	Keyboard
Daniel T. Lentz	Gitarre
Rick Corbett	Bass
Frank Mölk	Schlagzeug

Musik	Alex Hunzinger
Texte	Alex Hunzinger
Produktion & Mix	Alex Hunzinger
Gesangsproduktion	Henning Basse (Vocalbase)
Mastering	Darius van Helfteren (Amsterdam Mastering)
Studio	SonoFactum
Aufnahmezeitraum	August – November 2017
Orchesterproduktion	Alex Hunzinger
Cover Artwork	Kurt Wörsdörfer (www.headcrime-artwork.de)

The Tell-Tale Heart

Based on „The Tell-Tale Heart“ by E. A. Poe

 

No sensible cause for him to die
But only his pale blue vulture eye

 

You can even call me demented
But the plan that I have invented
Is impossible for a madmen
All my senses are in a perfect shape

 

It’s such a demoniac deed
But I will proceed!

 

KNOCK, KNOCK! Horrible sound!
KNOCK, KNOCK! Standing my ground and awaiting the deed
KNOCK, KNOCK! Beatin‘ the heart!
KNOCK, KNOCK! Close to depart from his tedious life!

 

The old man he trembles with a sigh
Wide open in fear – the Evil Eye

 

In the dark I’m patiently waiting
The last nights were almost frustrating
But the time has come for the old man
And his eye would trouble me nevermore!

 

That was a demoniac deed
And I will succeed!

 

KNOCK, KNOCK! Sounding no more!
KNOCK, KNOCK! Under the floor is the terrible grave
KNOCK, KNOCK! Open the door!
KNOCK, KNOCK! You can look for, but you won’t find a proof!

 

Louder! louder!
Hypocrites! Stop the mockery
Louder! louder!
I admit! Stop my agony

 

KNOCK, KNOCK! Never to stop!
KNOCK, KNOCK! Standing atop of the mortal remains!
KNOCK, KNOCK! Out of the spot!
KNOCK, KNOCK! Beatin‘ and beatin‘ the hideous heart!

 

The Raven

Based on „The Raven“ by E. A. Poe

 

Once upon a midnight in December
Shadows fell like ghosts upon the floor
Lost in thoughts and staring at the ember
When he heard the rapping at the door

 

This might be some visitor for certain
So he went to open up the door
Darkness was outside like a black curtain
Merely the dark night and nothing more

 

Suddenly a heavy sized raven flew inside
Perched and sat upon the ancient bust

 

Oh, nevermore, no, nevermore!
This is your destiny – you can’t deny it!
Oh, nevermore, no, nevermore!
Will be the final answer of the raven
And nothing more!

 

„Tell me what’s your name?“ at last he muttered
And the raven answered: „Nevermore.“
Even not a feather then it fluttered
Sitting on the bust above the door

 

He returned in dreary thoughts of sorrow:
„All my friends and hopes have flown before –
Even this dark bird will leave tomorrow“
Here the raven answered: „Nevermore.“

 

Silence fell upon the room and he was turning pale,
Thinking of the dead and lost Lenore

 

Oh, nevermore, no, nevermore!
This is your destiny – you can’t deny it!
Oh, nevermore, no, nevermore!
This is the final answer of the raven
And nothing more!

 

„Devil or bird – tell me if I go to heaven
Will I return to Lenore?“

 

Still there it sat the dark raven
And then it quoth: „Nevermore.“

 

Oh, nevermore, no, nevermore
You will receive an answer from the raven
Oh, nevermore, no, nevermore
Your soul will never lifted from the shadows
No, nevermore!

 

The Experiment

Based on „The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar“ by E. A. Poe

 

All seems well prepared
For your strange experiment
What if you will fail?
Can you bear the consequences?

 

Walking on this path
Far beyond humanity
There is no return
If you cross the final border

 

Our nerves, they were strained to the breaking point
The spine-chilling story begins…

 

Let him go
To the final horizon
Let him go
In the far shining light
Let him go
Cause the darkness is rising
Let him go
And escape from the night

 

You were too obsessed
With your curiosity
But the game of life
Cannot steadily be cheated

 

Looking for a way
To overcome the bounds of death
You have gone too far
You forgot your own morality

 

This shuddering horror has frightened all
Now finish this devilish show

 

A distant voice begged for deliverance
The last words of a tortured soul

 

The weird experiment is broken down
It fully went out of control

 

Dream in a Dream

Based on „A Dream within a Dream“ by E. A. Poe

 

Take this kiss upon the brow!
Thus much let me avow—
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;

 

Oh, led astray—
Yet if hope has flown away
Oh, led astray—
In a night or in a day

 

In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
And I hold within my hand
The grains of the golden sand—

 

Oh, while I weep—
How few! yet how, yet how they creep
Oh, while I weep—
Through my fingers to the deep

 

And is all that we seem
Just an endless, pitiless dream?
Are we swept away by a stream?
Is it all just a dream in a dream?
Oh please, let me awake,
Hear my plea; for God’s sake!
Let me find the way out of the darkest night!

 

O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the cheerless wave?

 

And is all that we see or we seem
Just an endless, pitiless dream?
Are we swept away by a stream?
Is it all just a dream in a dream?
Oh please, let me awake,
Hear my plea; for God’s sake!
Let me follow the way in the saving light!

 

Child Of The Darkness

Based on „Morella“ by E. A. Poe

 

Once the fires burned in me
Now the flame has disappeared
What is left is a haunting hole
Where the shadows fall upon my soul…

 

There is only one identity
And from itself it will persist eternally
Now the time has come for me to die
But I foretell that I will live so do not say good-bye

 

In the moment when she passed away
Morella’s daughter saw the light of day.

 

This was next door to a miracle
But so mysterious that she remained a nameless child – nameless and hidden

 

Child of the darkness
Fallen from grace
What is your secret?
Will you return
Born from the shadows
Into the night
What is your name?

 

While she grew up in this darkened place
The child evolved the likeness of her mother’s face

 

Also strange was her maturity,
She spoke a woman’s words, but she remained a helpless child – helpless and hidden

 

Standing at the altar
Waiting to proclaim
The priest looked at her father
„Morella is thy name!“

 

Dark, cold and frozen was her response: „I’m here!“

 

Child of the darkness
Fallen from grace
Fallen Morella!
Born from the shadows
Out of the night:
Raised from the dead
She was reborn

 

Eldorado

Based on „Eldorado“ by E. A. Poe

 

Once a gallant knight
On a journey so long
Gaily bedight
He was singing a song

 

And the song that he sang
Was about his long journey to Eldorado
Cause his heart it is bound
By the oath that he took long ago

 

Over the hills
Down by the sea
Where is the land you long to be?
Beyond the stars
Behind the moon
Down in the valley of the shades…
… lies Eldorado

 

And the years gone by
While the knight, he grew old
Faded the dyes
Where he once was so bold

 

Almost lost all his strength
But yet he was still searching for Eldorado
Cause his heart is still bound
By the oath that he took long ago

 

Deus Ex Machina

Based on „The Pit and the Pendulum“ by E. A. Poe

 

As you wake in the vault
Words return: „You’re at fault!“
Finally you recall the sentence of death

 

Step by step, in the dark
Slowly moving on
Confident to escape
From this torture cave

 

With darkness everywhere
I fall into despair
Take me away from here
I suffered all night long
But still my will is strong
Only to see the real suffering

 

Failed to fall in the pit
Feel relieved, but just a bit
Rest assured that your fate is already sealed

 

Down and down steadily
Creeps the pendulum
Sweep by sweep, merciless,
Death is coming soon

 

With darkness everywhere
I fall into despair
Take me away from here
There’s nothing to hold on
And all my hopes are gone
But in the end it’s clear: I am free!

 

Deus ex machina

 

The Bells

Based on „The Bells“ by E. A. Poe

 

In the icy air of the night
What is that sound that slowly swells?
All the stars shine in crystal delight
It seems to be the lifetime bells

 

Trough the balmy air of the night
Why do you trust their melody?
How they ring out their lovely delight
It all begins in harmony

 

Can you hear the gentle ringing
Of the shiny silver bells?
What a calm and peaceful world
That their melodie fortells
Can you hear the mellow ringing
Of the distant golden bells?
It’s a far, delusive world
Of which their harmony fortells
Keeping time and time
In sort of Runic rhyme
How it swells and dwells
The ringing bells – ringing of the bells

 

In the startled ear of the night
What do you hear, what do you fear?
How we scream out the awful affright
The end of time is drawing near.

 

When the silence fell in the night
Why don’t you see the near decline?
How we shiver with dire affright
The bells have rang for the last time

 

Who is the ringer who tolls the bell
Causing this merciless sound?
It is the king of the nether world
Whipping his mallet around!

 

Can you hear the hollow ringing
Of the massive brazen bells?
What a tale of frantic terror,
Now, their turbulency tells
Can you hear the morbid ringing
Of the heavy iron bells?
What a world of solemn thought,
That their monody compels
Ringing of the bells

 

The Portrait

Based on „The Oval Portrait“ by E. A. Poe

 

I will dearly honor, love and cherish you
And I will fulfill you every wish

 

There is only one desire
There is only one request
On my search for the ultimate painting

 

Elegance and beauty
Innocence and grace
Everything forever preserved

 

Shadows and light
Day turns to night
How long it takes,
‚till beauty awakes?
Colors will glow
Spirit will grow
Art comes to life
Painted with all the soul

 

I am still so humble and obedient
Weakening, but I will not complain

 

I need only one more session
I need only one more day
And your image will lighten the canvas

 

Elegance and beauty
Innocence and grace
Everything forever preserved

 

My lips are turning pale
My eyes have lost its shine
Your passion sends a shiver down my spine

 

One brush upon the mouth
One tint upon the eye
This indeed is life iteself

 

Shadows and light
Day turns to night
How long it takes,
‚till beauty awakes?
Colors will glow
Spirit will grow
Life disappears
All that remains is: Death!
Is the Death!!

 

Eleonora

Based on „Eleonora“ by E. A. Poe

 

Love is strong, love is pure
It will last beyond our life for sure

 

You are all I adore
I will stand by you forevermore

 

Eleonora – you’re lost in the game
Destiny led you astray
Eleonora – the wind calls your name
Whispering words of decay

 

Full of hope, full of dreams
In the end it’s all in vain, it seems

 

Heaven wept, my Divine
As your light has lost its brightest shine

 

The void in my heart has torn me apart
I’m broken inside

 

Eleonora – got lost in the shades
Your fire will nevermore burn
Eleonora – your memory fades
There is no chance to return nor to burn

 

Annabel Lee

Based on „Annabel Lee“ by E. A. Poe

 

Many years ago
In a kingdom by the sea
There lived a maiden whom you may know

 

And this maiden lived
With no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me

 

And our love was deep
In our kingdom by the sea
That even angels coveted Annabel Lee

 

But we loved with love
That was more than love
In our kingdom by the sea

 

The angels constantly
Envied her and me
Until they bore her away from me

 

And so a wind came out
In our kingdom by the sea
The chilling clouds were killing my Annabel Lee

 

Neither angels high above
Nor the demons down in the sea
Can dissever my soul from you, my Annabel Lee

 

And every night I dream
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee
Within her tomb she sleeps
By the sounding sea

 

A Case Of Revenge

Based on „The Cask Of Amontillado“ by E. A. Poe

 

All of these words left deepest wounds in me
I will not bear this; I’ll take revenge on thee

 

All of these thoughts taking control of me
Never forgiving… never too blind to see

 

And it grows and grows – the deepest anger
Covering my soul
Patiently I have to wait
To achieve the goal

 

Higher rising my desire
This is not a joke, this is not a game
Once my heart was set on fire
It is burning like an eternal flame
This is all that matters
Yes it’s all that matters
And it makes me strong
And it makes me sick
And it makes me feel so alive

 

All of my life there was one rule for me:
No one attacks me with impunity

 

With all of my strength I’ll set the trap for thee
The execution will satisfy me

 

And the broadening anticipation
Fills my heart with joy
There is only one man left
I have to destroy

 

Day and night I think about the evil plan
Day and night I think about revenge
Day and night I am sick and tired to pretend
But the day is coming soon to reveal my dark intend