Its been well over a decade since this project was first envisioned and executed upon. Its arrival feels like some form of closure, a haunting memory of unfinished business now laid to rest. On the heals of deep emotional pains, a change of direction in ones life became evidently necessary. The decision to focus on music for a sense of purpose and accomplishment became the goal. No longer would my guitar doodling and ambling forays into songwriting be an idol pass time but become a soul focus. Music had always been the freedom, a lone place of solace that always made sense. This had always felt right among the suffocating confusion.
Although I wanted to branch into many musical styles and sounds, the main "chapters", marked by roman numerals, would be the key ambition. These songs are a materialization of my most engulfing experiences as a musician. The project found itself unsurprisingly akin to Symphonic Black Metal, my youthful obsession of the time. The boundaries of extreme music paired with the diverse possibilities of synth tones created such an interesting terrain to explore, even if much of my own music fell into the typical formats and structures of that scene.
And so for this commentary on my own creation, I wish to give you a track by track insight into what was behind each song, as well as some dates and tidbits. Most important of all, I've spent the last thirteen years periodically listening and playing along to these tracks in their MIDI format. That means sounds synthesized by my computers hardware. I've had to bridge the gap with my imagination, always fearing it might not translate as I heard it. Having worked with producer Enrico Tiberi to bring this creation to life, I can put that demon to rest. I do know however, I would have tortured myself over every little detail if this production had not been in the hands of a professional. Those MIDI demos will be released soon, I wanted to share that experience and let anyone who's curious hear this music as I have done for so long.
The Curse Of The Eclipse was conjured after the inception of this album. Its name signifies my relationship to auditory emotion. As some of the brightest, uplifting vibes the record offers, it kicks things off with its glistening acoustic guitars, bold basslines and light guitar solo. This song was written to serve the albums flow, as the music creeps from this sunny start into the darkest reaches with Black Hordes Rising. Born of guitar jams and time spent toying with acoustic strummed melodies, things came together swiftly for this number with the final phases being written at different intervals.
Anxious
Obscurity was born from a low point, a personal pain which hit me hard.
My resolution was to turn these difficult feelings into a song. So I
went home, sought out sombre chords, reveled in melancholy and threw in
some aggression for the anger betrayal brings. It was a fascinatingly
focused affair, simply dwelling on the emotion and finding the melodies
to express it. I also wrote lyrics alongside the instrumentation.
Knowledge of such will illuminate the strange cadence of the synths on
this song, they were originally intended to signify the words pacing and
pitch, a mix of softly sung sorrows and angered screams over the
distortion guitars.
Bury
My Soul dates back as far as 2004. It was among a handful of
rudimentary "first songs". This one however seemed to resonate with my
friends who loved the lead piano melody. That initial riff, synth and
piano setup was the whole show. As years went by I would periodically
return to it with complimenting additions, figuring out its trajectory
and destination over much time. Although it may seem basic among more
accomplished pieces on the record, that initial melody has everything I
ever wanted to capture. The simplicity is its charm in my opinion and
this track along with the next one, best represent the innocence of
those amateurish baby steps into song writing.
Emporic Rain, not a typo, dates back to 06. Its a rather ambitious set of scaling, menacing riffs that pummel away with a fiery spirit. Paired with rather strange synths and spots of unconventional drum patterns, at least for Metal. It all converges on a grand rocking riff, laced with pianos to see it out. That ending was written many moons later. Having received a touch of polish and fine tuning over the years, its clumsy amateurish stride is still present, and one I adore. With this track I always felt the passion and vision somehow pushes past my lacking skills of the day.
With
a struggle for words, The Elemental Forge is perhaps the "outdone
myself" moment. Written almost to completion in 07, its had the most
enduring presence. Its origins feel almost mysterious now but I know I
was inspired by Dimmu Borgir's Stormblast. Trying to emulate those
simple, slower paced, higher register power chords, the song quickly
derailed into its own beast, exploring wild extremes with blast beats
erupting from a nebula of astral synths, transitioning into rocking
power chord progressions and the groovy drum pedals that kick in
underneath. Its magic is a strong, persuasive one that sways me to its
mercy every time!
2009
now. Nestled somewhere among the peak of my drug abuse and self
disregard, in the early hours of a substance fueled party I found a song
emanating from within. What started as guitar doodling quickly funneled
into a vivid vision, lavished with multiple synth tracks, pianos,
guitar solos and more! Like a man possessed I commanded the computer in
the room for many hours until the sun rose, writing all the
instrumentation into Guitar Pro, the software I used to compose then,
and still do to this day. I imagine a few touch ups came in among the
following days but this rapturous plunge into darkly majestic wonder
simply poured out of me in a single night. It seems it was a moment of
Arcane Pandemonium! Perhaps... I made that up just now, the song name
just simply sounded cool, in fact it was originally called Imperial
Wizardry, a joke name. The later originally being called Diabolical as
well. When first committing the music to a file name, I just throw down
the first thing that comes to mind and decide on a proper name later on.
The record has steadily grown deep and dark, this next beat dares to venture further. Written in 08, Black Hordes Rising started as an exercise in extremity, a dare to be wild and cunning, pushing my writing to new heights. Deeply inspired by Emperor's Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk, studying its composition gave me all sorts of ideas and new takes on song writing. That clearly manifested here. I also got to throw in that guitar fret tapping lick as the song transitioned into a pummeling grind for its outro. That one had been in my arsenal for quite some time. The track also housed a ridiculous inhuman blast beat that had to be creatively substituted for this record, you will get to hear the original idea when the MIDI demos are released. The attached synth at the end is known as "conspiracy", a doddle from learning FL Studio that I found really captivating. It serves as a curious oddity to break the mood before our final track.
Written
in 09, My memory of Ensl is strangely foggy. Or at least writing the
guitar solo is. The name comes from a musical session where I was trying
to emulate chemistry from an Enslaved song. In my futile attempts, I
fumbled onto something totally different, a series of discordant riffs
with a lovely warm uplift from the baseline. The song cruises through
these riffs in a repetitious notion, reveling on the throbbing drums.
The flushes of lead guitar, its eruption into a solo and looping outro
gave the whole song such a beautiful character. Its place at the end is
perfect, pivoting from the Symphonic Black Metal template into its own
Shoegazing stride to see out the record with a climax echoing some of
the vibes laid out at the records opening.
And
there it is, a track by track breakdown of the record. Where do we go
from here? I just don't know. What initially suspended this project
became the very thing to finance it. All the other paths that could of
been walked, who knows what musical creations it would of led me too.
What I am certain of is the great weight that's been lifted. Strangely,
It doesn't matter to me how far it reaches or if people love it as much
as I do. There is a great peace in just knowing it is out there in the
world for others to discover. Why I could never be content with keeping
it too myself is a question I have no answer for. What is expression if
no one else hears it? Perhaps that is the reason why.
