[cold atmospheric intro, distant water, low synth drone, clean guitar with Finnish folk melody] Beneath the birch roots where daylight dies unnamed a river moves in silence black as the oldest grief No stars upon its surface no moon within its skin only the breath of Tuonela rising through the mist [heavy doom riff enters, deep growls, slow drums] I heard the waters calling from beneath the world not with voice but with the weight of centuries Stones stood like forgotten elders on the shore of the dead their runes worn thin by rain, frost and sorrow [mid-tempo melodic death metal riff, atmospheric keyboards] The black current takes all names all crowns all songs of men It bears them downward past the roots of time into halls where no fire remembers the warmth of the sun [chorus, powerful growls, mournful lead guitars] Black current carry me below Black current where the silent kingdoms sleep Black current beyond the breath of life Into Manala into the endless deep [faster riff, old-school death metal drums, melodic lead guitar] Ravens watched from leafless pines as the boat came without oars a lantern burned with corpse-pale light and the ferryman spoke no word Across the waters the dead stood waiting grey faces in the fog hands full of withered reeds [doom break, slower, heavier, deep guttural growls] There is no thunder here no battle cry no weeping god Only the river only the cold only the slow surrender [melodic guitar solo, 90s Finnish folk-tinged lead, atmospheric keys] [final chorus, heavier and wider, layered growls] Black current carry me below Black current where the silent kingdoms sleep Black current beyond the breath of life Into Manala into the endless deep [outro, fading doom riff, distant water and wind] And when the last light leaves the shore and the world above forgets my face I shall drift beneath the roots where Tuonela opens
