Listen to my album

[(__Joonas__)]

Situation is the album is now ready and each song is worth a nine on a bad day. Now waiting for some frost and mist to form, cos I crucially need it for the artwork idea. So stay tuned till next Fall I guess, unless I find a painter who could create my idea. Still about to finish lyrics and stuff when I get a free evening.

This album is psychic, chilling and eerie, it's musically more coherent than the first and stylistically it has a ghostly vibe. There's a symbolism in each track and the ideas weren't forced, instead they surfaced thru listening to my subconscious. The common theme is the bottomless sorrow of a broken heart and what goes thru the mind when left alone in the cooling night; will the silence of the forest heal your grief or will it take your sanity?

 

[ESA1996]

The first album was already really gloomy and atmospheric so I was expecting that already. Being more musically coherent sounds interesting. Will be interesting to listen to it once you get it released. Next fall is just an unfortunately long wait

 

[(__Joonas__)]

I might just create a temporary artwork (like for the first album) that roughly describes the intended vision and captures the feeling, and only worry about the final artwork once the album is recorded some day. I just have a really gloomy idea for this artwork, and had talks with some charcoal drawing artists, but got sick of waiting, and they're either very pricy or hesitant to reply or have wrong style, and am starting to lose patience, cos I need to get this midi out so I can dive into the third album which already has a strong idea, but I’d not like to rush the final artwork.

So I'll upload the tracks one by one again, to give each some attention... The album is a gloomy, frosty trip to a dark and sorrowful place in the human mind. Something the songs also have in common the realization in a cold world that the only way out of sorrow is to hate and the only way out of anger is to grieve. All the songs have a psychological metaphor which I will open so you know what mindset to approach them with...

 

[(__Joonas__)]

I've decided to strictly underline my music is not black metal in spirit, it's just the closest subgenre to describe the music... because unfortunately black metal is stereotypically associated with certain ideologies I'm not really fond of. Many fans of black metal claim to want to protect nature, but are not doing anything for it or even researching the subject, I feel their longing for nature is more about being anti-humanity (so it only shares half of my ideology). And what about their anti-society, is it about not fitting in (and why?) or the collective stupidity (do they just complain... cos nobody cares unless you really understand what's wrong and what the solutions are). It's all very vague and all the angst is huddled into one clump of plain negative energy.

Many of them are downright anti-vegan (pro violence or just stupid or uneducated?), but I won't even go there. Also to worship an antagonist figure of Christianity and claiming to be anti-Christian (or longing for old Nordic religions / being bitter over Rome for forcing them an alien religion), especially when Satan is the epitome of undeserved pride and the me-me-me mentality... I get a vibe this sort of individuals were bullied for whatever reason, yet didn't become any better than their bullies, instead just want to project what was said about them and to live in some imaginary sense of power fueled by the music.

For me my music is about the darkness of psychic trauma, the anger for misuse of power, and searching for pure peace from the nature. I sometimes call it 'sorrow metal' (which I even considered as title for the album, but chose not to, as there is a form of black metal that deserves that title more than mine) since 'black metal' seems... musically limiting? It's literally to go out in the woods and let your trauma heal and breath out the anger. Some of the songs might fantasize about revenge in a blinding feeling of holy rage (such as Lycan on the first album), but eventually discover how to let go. But I'm not interested in making music that's just "being evil" to satisfy your little ego, that's too unintelligent and lacking of spirituality. It's probably best to keep all ideologies out the music and if anyone asks just say it's about mental distress and finding tranquility amidst the lunacy of people (not straight up misanthropy). I still think goodness should be forced; such as protect nature even if axe men or farmers lose jobs. In short I believe in 'good dictatorship', it's radical, but in a wise way. Solutions to suffering exist but their manifestation is blocked by uncomfortable truths being avoided in the media. Point is, if you preach with fire, at least have a good purpose. If the intention is just senselessly spewing malice, at least create enjoyable songs.

You don't want to get into weird arguments with individuals whose opinions are deluded by their negative emotions and sincerely think they're right even tho you know they're wrong, so they don't even deserve to argue with you. So it's wise to keep hush about ideologies when it comes to music, if you wish to stay sane.

 

[(__Joonas__)]

Yesterday evening I was out on a foggy beach and am now creating a temporary artwork from photos I took. Tired of waiting.

 

[(__Joonas__)]

1st song, Frostbitten. Album title is of course 'Buried Sorrow'.

This song is about a man being deserted by his wife and having to stay alone in their paradise home which is being rimed by frosts of the descending winter, as he's left alone with his darkening thoughts on the verge of losing his grip on sanity. Whole track is in A# minor, (apart from the semitone descend in the channel section).

Make sure to turn up volume and bass before playing.

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Unfortunately the video program blurs the image, so here is my temporary artwork in its true form. It doesn't match my vision fully, because I need the candle light level with the horizon to mimic a distant sun or moon glow, I need frost under the candle and mist over the lake, and the tree without leaves. I'll have that done one day when the thing's recorded.

 

[ESA1996]

Gloomy as always Being mostly in a single key makes it easier to remember the parts, which is nice. Some interesting timing stuff in the intro and again in the riff starting at 1:50. I like the verse and the melody thing that comes right before the 1:50 riff.

 

[(__Joonas__)]

^There's a guitar harmony in that melodic bridge and also in the latter half of the double-refrain at the end of the song. My favorite part is the slow gloomy channel, especially the last one with the shimmering cymbal which makes it sound like dripping icewater over the back.

 

[(__Joonas__)]

2nd track, Buried Sorrow. This song tells about mental breakdown and slipping into psychosis when you face a sorrow that's so shocking your mind can't handle it, so you need to crush it deep inside and not think about it - that might save you from suicide, but eventually the trauma will surface from the subconsciousness. The beginning is in D minor, the slow section Cm (one of the melodic ideas which could not be transposed or it would lose its soul!), the fast stuff in the vein of that melody are in Fm, and then it's back to Dm for the ending of the song. The song has these slow sections which feel like actually burying something in the backwoods, still knowing it's gonna come back. But really it's about quenching your thoughts, trying hard not to think about something.

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[ESA1996]

I'd say this is my favorite track from you. The melody stuff halfway through the song that then gets modulated is really nice. I'd still recommend making the time signatures and riff / melody lengths a bit more standard in the future (4/4 or 6/4 for time signatures and 2, 4 or 8 measures for riff / melody lengths (I personally never make riffs / melodies where the length is something other than 2, 4, or 8 measures. Time signatures I do play around with occasionally, but mostly stay in 4/4 and 6/4)).

 

[(__Joonas__)]

^Cool and interesting, I did get some nice feedback from this song at Spring, it's quite soulful. It's born from real feelings so it's authentic. Yeah that bridge 2 I managed to derive from the verse 2 in a satisfying way, just curious choice of intervals. I actually use always 4/4 time signature, never even tried anything else, but some note lengths especially on the last songs on the album needed to be fucked with to get their duration feel right. Maybe someday I'll learn how to utilize them.

 

[(__Joonas__)]

3rd track, They Slither. This one's more psychedelic, I came up with the intro melody the morning after the events which inspired the 2nd track. It's supposed to have the feeling of walking in a foggy forest on a slushy day not knowing where your life's headed and what's behind the corner and who to trust, and if you're gonna find tranquil in the forest or if the silence will make your negative thoughts re-emerge. The title refers to withered tree branches slithering like eels up into the obscuring fog. This song's completely in Dm, except for the semi-tone descend in the interlude.

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[(__Joonas__)]

4th song, Rotten Shores. This one captures the eerie atmosphere of walking amidst dead, putrefying fish on a nightly sea shore, wondering what ill event is behind the fish mass dying. Psychologically it's about underlying guilt, how people know deep inside the ugly truth most of them cause terrible harm to the Earth due to greed, and what happens when one day we realize we're neck deep in our own misery as nature resources run out and even seas are poisoned. This is really disturbing and dark and it's the only chromatic song and first one I did for this album.

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[(__Joonas__)]

5th track, Memory of Sunlight. This one's about memory of the good days making you realize what a dark reality your life has become and how distant the sun is metaphorically. It's quite melodic, fast and teeming with surprises. My favourite parts besides the intro of course are when the speed kicks in (0:57), the climatic breakdown (4:36) and the ending. I think it was pretty much in F#m.

I can't stress enough how important it is to up your bass and volume for these songs. I paid so much attention and thought to the bass at all times.

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[ESA1996]

This might be my new favorite. I'd personally like the songs more if the drum arrangements were less tom heavy. Toms are mostly used in breaks and buildups in the stuff I listen to, so when most of a song is filled with toms it makes it feel like an eternal buildup and since it very rarely goes to any normal drum beats, it feels like a buildup to nothing (Should be said that this song is better than most of the others in this regard, but I'd still change at least half the tom stuff to normal kick/snare/hihat beats. They may not be quite as atmospheric, but they make the music far more catchy in my opinion). This song is probably the most "modal" sounding of all the stuff you've done. Not quite as dark and evil and gloomy as the rest, but still very atmospheric. Due to that it's probably closer to Bodom's style than any of the other songs.

 

[(__Joonas__)]

It’s likely gonna appeal more to Bodom fans stylistically.

The verse drum is like techno, to stabilize the tension. I actually try to intentionally find ways to use toms for atmosphere, just as I try to find ways to play bass stuff an octave (or two) up the low register for the same reason. You’re right, I really want to learn an effective way to lay down simple drum beats that do the job and get the head nodding.

 

[(__Joonas__)]

6th song, Dark Healing. This one took forever to write. It's got some feeling of shamanistic healing, as if in a cave sheltering from rain, searching for the soul from oblivion in a trance. Psychologically it's about inability to fall in love when you've been severely hurt a long time ago, hidden and sealed your heart in a dark place for well over ten years to heal from the deep wounds, then as you finally expose it to someone you get stabbed by the icy dagger again. Key is G#m except for the whole tone descend during the passage.

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[ESA1996]

Again it has some really nice pieces. The part after 3:40 reminds me of COB's cover of Don't Stop at the Top for some reason. The drum arrangements in this one are also a bit less tom oriented which I like. Doesn't quite make it to be my new favorite though.

 

[(__Joonas__)]

Nice. You said nothing about song 4 tho, that one’s the darkest for sure. The last one tomorrow is also insanely dark but also epic.

 

[(__Joonas__)]

7th song, It Stares from the Shadows. This one's about the feeling of something staring at you from the shadows of wintery trees, even more so the thought why someone or something could be haunting you. It's in Am (kind of mocking the C major, being its relative minor scale of course.) Lots of bass stuff in this song and many memorable sections.

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