UPDATE: 11/7/13
After numerous attempts for help with friends to identify this song I HAVE FUCKING FOUND IT!!.
The band is called Cirith Ungol. The song is called “I’m Alive and was featured on their album “Front and Fire” from 1980. They were on some Metal Blade comps (must be where I had it originally).
More on the band later. Some members still around in other bands.
I’m ALIVE
I shiver when I remember
The things that I have seen
I know the light, I know the Night
I have walked with things unseen
I have been a king invincible
I’ve been the poorest of the poor
I’ve pulled the mighty from their thrones
And laughed at Death’s own door
I roamed the world in search of life
Death followed in my wake
I searched for truth, I want the truth
And learned more than I could take
I’ve walked the roads of mystery
And it’s aged me much too soon
I’ve paid the piper and I’ve paid him well
But he still calls the tune
I shiver when I remember
The shadow of the past
The lonely ways, the lonely days
When every breath might be my last
I lost my heart, I lost my soul
By every hand betrayed
But I’ve still got strength, I’ve still got life
And that will never change
‘Cause I’m alive
