So, it took me 22 months to do these 7 songs. E standard, no keyboards, sounds are midi, so all creativity and the soundworld comes through soulful songwriting. Every idea is original and not 'inspired' by other music. Very happy with the end result, it's much better than my earlier albums Silent Autumn and Buried Sorrow.
(Make sure you're reasonably loud on volume and bass, as the dynamics and the role of bass in songwriting is very carefully made.)
Deepest Calm
Mid January last year was still snowless (unnatural) when I went for a late evening walk in the woods. Instead of winter it was a darker season of autumn, with black soil, smell of musk and decaying earth, the forest seemed in a deep sleep, it was melancholic and surreal. You can hear that subtle feeling in this song, especially the chorus. The psychology underneath deals with anger, stress, loneliness and such emotions we sometimes suffer with in silence. The song goes from Cm to C#m with nice subtleties on bass chordal tones, then there's a chromatic chorus.
-
Poison Well
First song I did, to set the mood for the album. The witchy atmosphere works perfect with the song name and the psychology (it's literally about 'poisoning the well'; metaphora about talking bad behind the back). That heavy chorus riff is so heavy purely due to creativity: guitars never go below A, bass never goes below C.
-
Hillside Funeral
I felt like doing a song describing a nightside hill with an element of witchcraft and grudge. While doing this song I was reading Pet Sematary and listening to Natassja In Eternal Sleep (which oddly enough was mentioned in another novel that summer), so maybe those had some subconscious influence.
-
This Greyness
Theme song, it's about situational depression, when you have desire for life, but too much stress is draining colour of out your life, and you want to change things but are at loss how to do it. It was a very foggy late evening when I came up with the idea by a lake and took the artwork photo (it was much darker so it's lighted because your eyes adjust to the gloom in real life but a camera won't).
The song is in Dm, you can hear the shivering drizzle of rain and ghostly mist throughout it. Riff after the intro I think is as cool as it gets. The chorus sounds quite bad in midi, but it sounds epic in real life, so here are the notes you can try on your guitar (quarter notes):
----------------------------
----------------------------
------6---------6----------
---------9----------9------
---7---------7---------8--
-0-------------------------
The harmonic feel is done with a tapping chord on bass.
-
Lost Hiker's Path
Song with the feeling of losing path in a foggy forest, the sheer fright of being lost when it's getting dark and cold, you'll know the feeling if it ever happened to you. It's even got the 'flute' in the beginning some missing hikers claimed to hear before getting lost (some of them are never found, it's a mysterious phenomena going on in north America, lots of podcast about it). The chorus melody is quite sentimental. So very intense and mysterious track, it's like a story about tracing a hiker who wandered off trail and disappeared.
-
Hymn for a Dying Home
Song about a 'cursed house.' I had many interesting psychological ideas for it, but I leave it open so you can relate personally. Main thing is the feeling is both eerie and sort of 'lulled under a spell.' Eventually it took a long time to understand what the song is really about, to be able to create it.
-
Lightship
Song about someone who is so tied to his heritage he refuses to 'follow the light' even when someone comes to offer salvation out of the lonely place. It's got a feeling of floating in cold sea water.
-
I still intend to record it in studio one day, it deserves the real sounds and vocals (to reach more listeners, too). I've moved on from the themes and don't want to dwell on those energies, so never say never but I'm not very hesitant about putting up the band. The album took every bit of creativity I had for it, so I feel it could be my last metal album. The intention was to make it so satisfying it could be the last, and it is, so nothing left to give for this project. Now I can listen to it whenever I want and play it on my bass. Musically I'm now listening to other types of genres after getting to the bottom of those dissonant black vibes. I love listening to this at times, but have taken distance to the mentality and am relieved I no longer need to immerse in its creation process. If I ever did another album for this project it would be either with a band, or I'd tune down to B with just one guitar and include keyboard, but there's no such plans now.
So hope you enjoy, I'd like to hear feedback. At least I did compose that solid album of 'trees, lakes and atmosphere', and it wouldn't have happened without Laiho's influence. But since Bodom is no more, and I've changed too much to write under an old profile, I'll say good-bye and take care. This album led to me growing up over a year ago: I devoted to spiritual growth, healthy lifestyle, nature, sports, art, work, and let everything else go, so this album was more like therapy which isn't meant to dwell on, but it's good it happened.
(Make sure you're reasonably loud on volume and bass, as the dynamics and the role of bass in songwriting is very carefully made.)
Deepest Calm
Mid January last year was still snowless (unnatural) when I went for a late evening walk in the woods. Instead of winter it was a darker season of autumn, with black soil, smell of musk and decaying earth, the forest seemed in a deep sleep, it was melancholic and surreal. You can hear that subtle feeling in this song, especially the chorus. The psychology underneath deals with anger, stress, loneliness and such emotions we sometimes suffer with in silence. The song goes from Cm to C#m with nice subtleties on bass chordal tones, then there's a chromatic chorus.
-
Poison Well
First song I did, to set the mood for the album. The witchy atmosphere works perfect with the song name and the psychology (it's literally about 'poisoning the well'; metaphora about talking bad behind the back). That heavy chorus riff is so heavy purely due to creativity: guitars never go below A, bass never goes below C.
-
Hillside Funeral
I felt like doing a song describing a nightside hill with an element of witchcraft and grudge. While doing this song I was reading Pet Sematary and listening to Natassja In Eternal Sleep (which oddly enough was mentioned in another novel that summer), so maybe those had some subconscious influence.
-
This Greyness
Theme song, it's about situational depression, when you have desire for life, but too much stress is draining colour of out your life, and you want to change things but are at loss how to do it. It was a very foggy late evening when I came up with the idea by a lake and took the artwork photo (it was much darker so it's lighted because your eyes adjust to the gloom in real life but a camera won't).
The song is in Dm, you can hear the shivering drizzle of rain and ghostly mist throughout it. Riff after the intro I think is as cool as it gets. The chorus sounds quite bad in midi, but it sounds epic in real life, so here are the notes you can try on your guitar (quarter notes):
----------------------------
----------------------------
------6---------6----------
---------9----------9------
---7---------7---------8--
-0-------------------------
The harmonic feel is done with a tapping chord on bass.
-
Lost Hiker's Path
Song with the feeling of losing path in a foggy forest, the sheer fright of being lost when it's getting dark and cold, you'll know the feeling if it ever happened to you. It's even got the 'flute' in the beginning some missing hikers claimed to hear before getting lost (some of them are never found, it's a mysterious phenomena going on in north America, lots of podcast about it). The chorus melody is quite sentimental. So very intense and mysterious track, it's like a story about tracing a hiker who wandered off trail and disappeared.
-
Hymn for a Dying Home
Song about a 'cursed house.' I had many interesting psychological ideas for it, but I leave it open so you can relate personally. Main thing is the feeling is both eerie and sort of 'lulled under a spell.' Eventually it took a long time to understand what the song is really about, to be able to create it.
-
Lightship
Song about someone who is so tied to his heritage he refuses to 'follow the light' even when someone comes to offer salvation out of the lonely place. It's got a feeling of floating in cold sea water.
-
I still intend to record it in studio one day, it deserves the real sounds and vocals (to reach more listeners, too). I've moved on from the themes and don't want to dwell on those energies, so never say never but I'm not very hesitant about putting up the band. The album took every bit of creativity I had for it, so I feel it could be my last metal album. The intention was to make it so satisfying it could be the last, and it is, so nothing left to give for this project. Now I can listen to it whenever I want and play it on my bass. Musically I'm now listening to other types of genres after getting to the bottom of those dissonant black vibes. I love listening to this at times, but have taken distance to the mentality and am relieved I no longer need to immerse in its creation process. If I ever did another album for this project it would be either with a band, or I'd tune down to B with just one guitar and include keyboard, but there's no such plans now.
So hope you enjoy, I'd like to hear feedback. At least I did compose that solid album of 'trees, lakes and atmosphere', and it wouldn't have happened without Laiho's influence. But since Bodom is no more, and I've changed too much to write under an old profile, I'll say good-bye and take care. This album led to me growing up over a year ago: I devoted to spiritual growth, healthy lifestyle, nature, sports, art, work, and let everything else go, so this album was more like therapy which isn't meant to dwell on, but it's good it happened.
Last edited:
