[Intro – female spoken, cold, with rising sub] First seal… First cost… I still remember how this works. [Verse 1] Water up to my knees and climbing Three names scratching at the floor below I don’t get the luxury of waiting So I cut the first binding and let it go Old words hit the air like broken glass My chest tightens the second they land Life force rips out of the remaining flesh Just to push one monster back into the sand [Pre-Chorus] I feel it leave Like heat from a wound Every syllable costs What I can’t afford to lose [Chorus] First Rite! Burn the edge off the dark First Rite! I pay in pieces just to leave a mark Bass gets heavier, body gets lighter, Something inside me starts to fracture First Rite and the night gets sharper [Verse 2] One of them hits the stairs and screams I slam the words harder, voice turning raw The construct stumbles, linen tearing open But I feel the drain like a blade in the jaw This is the tax I always knew was coming Keep the living breathing one more minute I was built to hold the line alone Even when the line starts killing what’s in it [Pre-Chorus] I feel it leave Like heat from a wound Every syllable costs What I can’t afford to lose [Chorus] First Rite! Burn the edge off the dark First Rite! I pay in pieces just to leave a mark Bass gets heavier, body gets lighter, Something inside me starts to fracture First Rite and the night gets sharper [Bridge – filtered breakdown, vocals strained + vocoder] Hands shaking Vision narrows The words still work But the price is honest One down Two still climbing And I’m already spending the last of the deposit [Final Chorus – kill-switch drop, heavier distortion] First Rite! Burn the edge off the dark First Rite! I pay in pieces just to leave a mark Bass gets heavier, body gets lighter, Something inside me starts to fracture First Rite and the night gets sharper [Outro – female spoken over dying, distorted bass] First rite done. One of them slowed. Two still coming. And I just got a lot more expensive to keep alive.
