I'm pretty sure the song is about environmental damage and the lies corporations tell to get away with it. I think Black Tongue refers to a liar, their tongue is black because of all the lies they told. I think it's from the perspective of a man who was once a pawn in the system, he burned out his eyes so he wouldn't see the evils around him and cut out his tongue so he wouldn't speak against his overlords, and since he did it for pay he "sealed it with silver". However, he then realized that the money was not worth the evils, and in the end he was just being robbed of what matters most, which is why he now has none. Killing the life, the vine, and the sun are all about the destruction of the environment. Taking the diamond is a duel metaphor, it both refers to the wealth these people are stealing, and to the damage required in order to mine diamonds. The lord of darkness lines are referencing the power these corporations have by lying to people, hiding the truth. The running lines are about the fact that even if these people can run from the law eventually they will have to pay the burdens of their crimes as they will ultimately die with the world they killed. This coming penance is what the next lines are about, how they can't hide for ever and one day they will pay one way or another. The final verse serves to iterate one last time these evils, and the final line stands as a bitter warning that if we don't shape up we will destroy all that is precious.
I'm pretty sure the song is about environmental damage and the lies corporations tell to get away with it. I think Black Tongue refers to a liar, their tongue is black because of all the lies they told. I think it's from the perspective of a man who was once a pawn in the system, he burned out his eyes so he wouldn't see the evils around him and cut out his tongue so he wouldn't speak against his overlords, and since he did it for pay he "sealed it with silver". However, he then realized that the money was not worth the evils, and in the end he was just being robbed of what matters most, which is why he now has none. Killing the life, the vine, and the sun are all about the destruction of the environment. Taking the diamond is a duel metaphor, it both refers to the wealth these people are stealing, and to the damage required in order to mine diamonds. The lord of darkness lines are referencing the power these corporations have by lying to people, hiding the truth. The running lines are about the fact that even if these people can run from the law eventually they will have to pay the burdens of their crimes as they will ultimately die with the world they killed. This coming penance is what the next lines are about, how they can't hide for ever and one day they will pay one way or another. The final verse serves to iterate one last time these evils, and the final line stands as a bitter warning that if we don't shape up we will destroy all that is precious.