Mourning Relay

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Lyrics

Bear the bell while one watchfire remains
(最後の篝火が燃えるかぎり 弔いの鐘を携えよ)

Beyond the keep where winter banners shiver
(冬の軍旗が震える城砦の彼方)
A rider waits beneath the western wall
(ひとりの騎手が西の城壁の下で待つ)
Black wax guards the names within his satchel
(黒き封蝋が旅嚢に眠る死者の名を守る)
One iron bell remembers them all
(ひとつの鉄鐘だけがそのすべてを覚えている)
He rides where ruined towers bruise the snowfall
(崩れた塔が雪原に黒い痣を刻む地を彼は駆ける)
Past splintered spears half swallowed by the white
(白雪に半ば呑まれた砕けた槍を越えて)
At every gate a stranger takes the burden
(門を越えるたび 見知らぬ者がその重みを受け継ぎ)
And bears its mourning farther into night
(その弔いをさらに深い夜へ運んでゆく)

城壁の灯が雪にほどける
(The light along the battlements unravels into snow)
掌の鈴に亡き名が眠る
(The names of the dead sleep within the bell in my palm)
白き街道を蹄が裂けば
(When hooves cleave the white road)
次の篝火が闇にひらく
(The next watchfire blooms in the dark)

Mourning Relay
(弔いの継承)
弔いの鈴よ 掌から掌へ
(O mourning bell pass from hand to hand)
Carry their names beyond the fallen gate
(崩れ落ちた門の彼方まで 死者の名を運べ)
暁の縁まで消えるな
(Do not fade before the edge of dawn)
Mourning Relay
(弔いの継承)
砦を渡る冬のこだま
(Winter’s echo passing from keep to keep)
Ash on the cloak and dawn ahead
(外套には灰 その先には暁)
祈りはまだ火を宿す
(Prayer still harbors a flame)

遠き修道院に鐘が滲み
(A bell’s voice seeps through the distant abbey)
霜の石畳へ月が砕ける
(Moonlight shatters across the frostbound stones)
黒蝋の巻物を胸に抱けば
(When he clasps the black-wax scroll to his breast)
若き騎手の影が鞍へ伸びる
(The young rider’s shadow lengthens across the saddle)
北の楼に篝火が生まれ
(A watchfire is born in the northern tower)
谷の戸口へ橙の灯が連なる
(Amber lights form a chain toward the mouth of the valley)
ひとつの嘆きは風を渡って
(One lament rides upon the wind)
名もなき祈りの列へ変わる
(And becomes a procession of nameless prayers)

Across the hills the watchfires answer
(丘々を越えて篝火が応え合う)
Their embers flower one by one
(その熾火はひとつまたひとつと花開く)
From keep to cloister rolls the mourning
(城砦から修道院へ 弔いの響きが渡ってゆく)
One hollow toll becomes the dawn
(虚ろな鐘の一打がやがて暁となる)

Mourning Relay
(弔いの継承)
弔いの鈴よ 掌から掌へ
(O mourning bell pass from hand to hand)
Carry their names beyond the fallen gate
(崩れ落ちた門の彼方まで 死者の名を運べ)
暁の縁まで消えるな
(Do not fade before the edge of dawn)
Mourning Relay
(弔いの継承)
砦を渡る冬のこだま
(Winter’s echo passing from keep to keep)
Ash on the cloak and dawn ahead
(外套には灰 その先には暁)
祈りはまだ火を宿す
(Prayer still harbors a flame)

One name beneath my tongue
(舌の奥にひとつの名)
Ten more beneath the bell
(鐘の下にはさらに十の名)
土の眠りに名を明け渡すな
(Do not surrender their names to the sleep of earth)
鐘の余韻を夜明けへ放て
(Cast the bell’s lingering cry toward dawn)

Mourning Relay
(弔いの継承)
弔いの鈴よ 掌から掌へ
(O mourning bell pass from hand to hand)
Carry their names where all the watchfires blaze
(すべての篝火が燃える地まで 死者の名を運べ)
消えた声さえ朝へ連れてゆけ
(Carry even the vanished voices into morning)
Mourning Relay
(弔いの継承)
城壁を越える冬のこだま
(Winter’s echo crossing the walls)
Hands make a road beneath the paling sky
(白みゆく空の下 手から手へ道が生まれる)
この響きはまだ途絶えない
(This echo has yet to fall silent)

When my saddle cools without me
(いつか私なき鞍が冷え果てても)
The bell rides on
(鐘はなお駆け続ける)

Prompt

Fast elegiac symphonic power metal with urgent double-time motion beneath a mournful medieval procession. Open with a three-note mourning call passed from handbell to bowed strings to guitar, then commit to the full band within seconds as the last note becomes the main riff. Keep verses shadowed, with tight palm-muted guitars, double bass, and brief rests that let the relay motif return like a funeral toll. Use female clean voice in the English verse, male clean lead in the Japanese verse, and a mixed duet for choruses. Favor minor-key melody, descending contours, suspended harmony, and aching choir over triumphant lift. Let choruses widen without turning radiant or victorious. Mid-song, fall into a sparse vigil where voices trade short phrases, then rebuild in two stages through the three-note motif. Return to fast motion for the final chorus with choral weight, darker harmony, and tragic catharsis. Keep articulation, clear mids, firm transients, restrained brightness, and grave tone.