Beyond The Marrow Gates, by Ineffable Demise (2024)

1.

I am the Lord of Deadside, Shadowborn at the confluence of worlds to walk between. Liveside is without the meaning That my partly living Possesses here in Deadside, Where the darkness is manifest At the edges of reason. As a God, I step forth upon the writhing, supporating surface of the Deadside serpent. What sleep is here? What dreams there are In the unctious coilings of the snake's mortal shuffling. Weapon in my hand, my hand, the arching deathblow at the End of All Things. The Horror, the horror, I embrace it.Unsalvaged souls drift beyond the Marrow Gates for an eternity of waiting. This infinite limbo, This Wasteland. This untamed, unatural afterbirth I command with my endless darkness. What ineffable secrets are whispered Within the Paths of Shadow? What red-edged realities, rising bleak above the blasted skyline? Deadwing, Duppy, Zombiemother, This voodoo lord outlasts them all.

2.

And into Asylum Like a great, black engine Roaring to eternityRavaging the already benighted landscape With its savage, malevolent presence. And within the legions of the truly damned,Insanity. Sheer and stark And once in human form Now gutted and torn By eons of glutted indulgence. Their bloodlust flecking the oily walls,Living in the shrieks of victims ensnared Hanged, drawn and quarteredBy the serpents squalid writhings. This is the place I have not wanted to dream of, And the dream is now a place I partly live through.I've followed the dark souls trail into the Asylum, But where are The Five?Five mortal men Touched by the power of the Dark Souls. No Mask of Shadows Controlling and channeling The dark power. It twists their minds, Fills their already tainted hearts With even greater perversionsAnd a hatred so terrible it has sent them insane.I have entered the Asylum, A truly terrible place, far more dreadful Than even the most twisted mind could have imagined.

3.

The way I see it You trap two souls And keep them in a state of flux Between the worldsOne in Deadside and the other in Live side.Neither can cross over From one plane of existence to the nextNor pass on beyond. Ergo, a schism, or bridge is formed Between the worlds. So yes, You're looking for five ritually slaughtered corpsesSomewhere in the asylum.Spoken of in whispersAt the Deadside marginsIn the hushed and shivering tones Of the lurking, lurching revenants. These ancient places, Blood temples to the Loa, Spoken of in whispersAt the Deadside marginsIn the hushed and shivering tones Of the lurking, lurching revenants.Where the Dark Souls did findTheir secret cornerHidden by the sanguinary sistersSteeped in voodoo lore.

4.

And deeper still, The morbid mystery entwines. What love I ever had for life Should find its place in here, Locked within a cankered cell. Beset by madmen, Chained to Hell. And deeper still, A vast, dark love I find. Within Asylum's darkly thrumming heart. No love of mine, not mine to love For twisted is the purity of that finer thingAnd I should lay my partly living down To free the world from terrors,Tyranny.The Five are mortal men Under the influence of a greater evil. They are the heralds of the Apocolypse, Opening the way for the armies of darkness. The power of the Dark Souls Unleashed upon the Earth.Bringer of Night, L'Eclipser, Release the Shadow into the world of men. Bringer of Night, L'Eclipser, Release the Shadow into the world of men.La Soleiel, Brother Sun...La Luna, Sister Moon...La Lame, The power that binds. And the sorceress fell into a deep trance, Her powers exhausted.And a Shadow did fall, Upon the world of men. The Prophecy is fulfilled.It is done, seek out The Five. Destroy them and the evil that controls them. I must sleep....must sleep.

5.

6.

What further horrors lie within this terrible place?Wherein in a time Before these catastrophic events, I would have willingly acceptedPallid immitations of such horrors. I now have come so far My sensibilities lie benumbed By all I seeI do not embrace this horror. But rather, stand immobile Beneath its self-indulgent gaze.Confusion reigns And I fear the God within the machine is no longer there.In praise of the Gads, tattoed trinity, Drumming ineffable power Burning through the flesh. My ebon body wrought With arcane designs Drawn by the Deadside's dragon breath and entreated by the talons of the terrible mother. Dread beauty brings them unto me In praise of the Gads, tattoed trinity, Drumming ineffable powerIn praise of the Gads, tattoed trinity, Drumming ineffable powerPalms to flame, Soles to firePalms to flame, soles to fire, Black-bloodsong coursing Through the dragon's searing veins.Palms to flame, soles to fire, Black-bloodsong coursing Through the dragon's searing veins.

7.

The last of the ancient place lies beyond. These trials of Gads To prove that taker of the souls is me, The Shadow Man of Prophecy. Tested, tried, and placed. Upon the altar of this damndest destiny. For there can only be the one In a long and lusting line of warrior gods. Tis I, the truth is plain upon my back, My arms and in my eyes. I am the one, the Shadow Man of Prophecy.I feel as though my powers are at their peak. The souls within me burn With a dreadful fire that threatens to consume me. I must excercise the utmost care From hereon in or find myself succumbingto Asylum's dark allure.Do not walk softly into the eyes of the Dragon. Do not accept the loathsome embrace of the beast At the heart of the horror.But instead, discover the fearsome face, Teeth bared, eyes aspark with ice-cold hate, Sinews braced for the fall. And yet, I feel the beastDoes not await me at the mazes dark core. I am on the edge of knowingand yet I am afraid that the knowledge Will cause me to walk, A willing sacrifice, into the jaws of the Dragon.

8.

The Watchers of the Gate of Souls shall make the way,The Five are red in teeth and claw,The head, the heart, the hands, and the eyes,All combine and create the Five.For we are many...For in the western deserts He finds a form He is the Child with the Mouth of Blood, The bleakness before the Beginning of time, He is the glint of ice in a murderer's eye, The savage heart of every crime. For we are many...And lo, if War should have a face, This one of Five would show the bleeding mask,Ears pricked to savor every scream, Teeth bared to strip the carcass wet, And tongues to lap the vessels dry. For we are many...The knife shall curve its bloody ritual, A sanguinary return to a darker place. Flesh running cold with the shedding tears,To shred, to cut, to slice, to know The weeping wound and its glooming soul. For We Are many...From the east the idiot monster cometh, With nails to announce the blasphemous intent. In still dark chambers it awaits, the ShadowEbon body, scars the power,Dark Messiah with a hideous strength. For We Are Many...The Lizard King shall lead the FiveFrom out of the southern gaol shall cut his bloody swathe. True hate shall find a wayIn Him the Darkness stands revealed, His eyes as void as a dead man's gaze, As cold as the light from a dying star. For we are many...I am the lord of deadside, walker between the worlds, immortal voodoo warrior.

9.

released July 20, 2018

A message from Tom:
'Beyond The Marrow Gates' has been written about 'Shadowman'. A video game I adored when I was a young teenager. Each track represents a place within the asylum, a huge towering building located within deadside, constructed to harvest souls from the dead to power an immortal army. It starts with 'Limbo' where we see Shadowman wade through deadside in his quest to get to the front doors of the asylum, traveling through various areas of torture, horrors, and enemies (of which are the 5 serial killers that are transformed in the shape of the guest vocalists you hear in Pummel) and thus resulting in the showdown of Legion (the mastermind behind the asylum) in the final track 'Abolition'. This story/game has always held a place in my heart and I hope you all dig what we've tried to do with it!

Lineup:
Tom Allott | Guitars
James Shuster | Vocals
Chris Stratton | Bass
Roman Nox | Drums

Guest vocals on 'Pummel' by Paolo Chiti / Devangelic, Cyril / Excoriation, Hamish Maguire / Omnipotent Hysteria, Johannes Schmailzl / Infecting The Swarm, and Geoff Bradley / Oncology.

Audio samples are taken from the video game Shadow Man (1999) and are written by Tim Haywood the composer for the original Shadow Man (1999) score.
Mixed and mastered at Insidious Soundlab.
Cover artwork by Mourning Heaven.

Released by Realityfade.