[Intro] / ambient rhythmic hiss of high-pressure steam, massive drop-forge hammer pounding in cavernous brick factory, iron chains dragging / rigid synthetic 16th-note bassline cutting in, dead dry / female French whisper, heavy tape delay Le long dix-neuvième siècle... l'empire de la vapeur s'éveille... (The long nineteenth century... the empire of steam awakens...) [Verse 1] / harsh male baritone, dry and deadpan delivery Seventeen-seventy-six ignites the flame A hundred years of iron, steel and shame The looms are running on a rhythmic beat Crushing down the workers in the factory heat Soot is drifting over Manchester skies Capital expanding as the daylight dies Mass production moving through the furnace door Steam and grease upon the stone-cold floor Colonial borders drawn across the sand Carving up the map with an iron hand Smelting copper, burning down the wood Where the old ancestral forest stood Piston pressure rising past the gauge Entering the fierce mechanical age [Pre-Chorus] #heavy metal kick slam #hammer strike Coal into the boiler! Drive the gears of stone! Building up an empire on the broken bone! #metal stomp #crescendo Steam whistles howling in the blackened air! The long century of sweat and despair! [Chorus] / aggressive male shout, full EBM sequence The long century! The gears advance! Locked inside the industrial trance! #metal stomp #hammer strike Capital and cannon! Forging out the state! Pounding at the threshold of a modern fate! Iron in the blood! Steam upon the gear! Marching through the revolution year! [Post-Chorus] / cold female vocal, distant reverb, minimal beat Révolution industrielle... la machine ne s'arrête jamais... (Industrial revolution... the machine never stops...) #industrial strike #steam hiss Production quota locked. [Verse 2] / harsh male baritone, tight sequence Locomotives screaming on the eastern line Digging deeper underground inside the mine Telegraph is clicking through the ocean silt On the foundation that the forge has built Armored cruisers steaming through the bay Sweeping all the ancient kings away Bessemer converter glowing white and blind Leaving all the pastoral world behind No time to falter, no relief in sight Pounding through the long industrial night [Bridge] / beat strips back to solitary 16th bassline and distant metal clang / harsh male baritone, low spoken tone From seventy-six to nineteen-fourteen. The longest march the world had seen. Feed the furnace. Burn the coal. / female French whisper L'acier règne... le siècle s'achève dans le sang... (Steel reigns... the century ends in blood...) #massive metal slam FIRE THE FURNACE! [Chorus] / aggressive male shout, maximum drive and hammer strikes The long century! The gears advance! Locked inside the industrial trance! #metal stomp #hammer strike Capital and cannon! Forging out the state! Pounding at the threshold of a modern fate! Iron in the blood! Steam upon the gear! Marching through the revolution year! [Outro] / beat slows down, heavy kick fades, solitary slow heavy hydraulic pump stroke cooling down into dead factory silence / female French whisper Fin d'une époque... la guerre arrive... (End of an era... war arrives...) #distant metal clang Shift completed.
