Chapter Of Obeisance Before Giving Breath Lyrics - Nile

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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.]

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