[Music and lyrics by Karl Sanders]
Khensu Neter Hetef.
Who Possesseth Absolute Dominion over the Evil Spirits that
Infest the Earth and Sky.
He of the Silence of the Moon.
Giver of Oracles.
He that Must Forever Wax and Wane.
Thou Art in
Union with Thoth.
The Excellent Tehuti of Truth and Time.
Keeper of the Lunar Cycle.
Whose Hands are Able.
Whose Tongue is
Mighty in Speech.
Author of the Works of Knowledge.
Writer of the Ancient Wisdom.
Master of the Words of Power.
Obeisance
before giving breath to the Inert One
In the presence of the Crescent-Shaped Horns.
Lord of the Two Horns.
God of the Full
Moon.
Aah Tehuti.
As it Was for Thoth So Shall it Be for Me.
As it Was for Thoth So Shall it Be for Me.
[Guitar
solo]
As it Was for Thoth So Shall it Be for Me.
As it Was for Thoth So Shall it Be for Me.
I am He Who Sendeth Forth
Terror into the Domain of Rain and Thunder.
I have Made My Knife to Flourish along with the Knife Which is in the Hand of
Thoth.
Lord of the Two Horns,
God of the Full Moon.
I am He Who Calleth Down Curses and Commandeth the Elements unto
Darkness.
I Hath Uttered the Hidden Words.
Even unto the Divine Words which Art Written in the Book of Thoth.
Written in the
Book of Thoth.
[Repeat and fade]
[This song combines several chapters found within the deep recesses of the Egyptian "Book of
the Dead". The chapter titles are so ridiculously long that tofully quote them here would be out of the question.
The chapters
coincide because they each deal with the necessary formulae and recitations and ritual actions needed to breathe new life into the
deceased. The powers of two distinct Egyptian gods of the Moon, Thoth and Khensu, are invoked with the common stylized formulae that the
god is first venerated and their attributes and mythical deeds listed ad nauseam, followed usually by phrases and words of power that give
voice to the entreaty: "As it was for the god -----, so shall it be for me."
Musically, I had thoroughly worked on the riffs (even
jamming on them with Dallas on drums), but when I made the demo to send to George (Kollias - our new drummer) in Greece (the drums that
Dallas and I had recorded were hasty rehearsal room recordings) it was hard to hear the cool things that Dallas was actually doing with
the drums.
So, I sent George the demo with no drums at all - just an impossible, confusing click track. Many of this song's guitar
riffs are "odd time polyrhythmic" (syncopations that go against what would normally be straight-time), and when heard with only a simple
click, make absolutely no sense on their own. I figured if this guy [George] is as good as we believe him to be then this would sure as
Hell act as a true test of will power and musicality, because he would not only be required to decipher the crazy jazz/death fusion timing
of the riffs, but also create drum parts appropriate from a rhythmic standpoint, and meaningful in a Death Metal context.
Upon his
arrival for rehearsals in America, George played his contributions flawlessly. Not only had he managed all the odd time syncopations, but
they were so seamlessly integrated in a Death Metal frenzy that it tied all the pieces together better than we had originally
envisioned.]