Tides of Entropy

The opening track consists of two different parts: the first one is defined by an orchestral, classical style, followed by a second progressive metal section.

To us, the orchestra (we write and record orchestral tracks with top-quality virtual instruments) is one of the most powerful, expressive and intriguing 'instrument' in music, since it is endowed with a variety of sonorities and colours which can generate infinite combinations.

Remanent is the result of experimentation: we wanted to entrust this intro to an orchestral section which then passes the baton to the metal side of our sound. This song is the beginning of a journey, in which a classical and a metal part shyly try to chase each other, yet without actually meeting.

The two sections have been developed alongside: the second one works as a binding force linking the intro to the next song of the album. It’s characterized by a long, increasing, non-diatonic progression, whose chord sequence gives the idea of an endless ascent.

The song comes from a rhythmic idea by our guitarist Matteo and drummer Alessandro. It’s build on the C# phrygian chord and it was arranged by Matteo, who draws inspiration from Symphony X repertoire. The song contains frequent references to Remanent, in order to give a sense of continuity to the album.

The title is an ‘untranslatable’ German phrase, which comes from M. Kundera’s novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being and whose meaning can be explained with this quote from the novel and it’s inspired by Nietzsche’s philosophy:

“There is no means of testing which decision is better, because there is no basis for comparison”

which means that, since we always live everything for the first time, we haven’t really lived because we don’t know how to do it, if the choices we make are the right ones.

The lyrics, written by the singer Beatrice, as for all the other songs, describe the beginning of an inner crisis, the start of the ‘hero(ine)'s journey’ of this album: the process of learning to live with a strong ‘existential angst’ and transforming it in a strength that allows the subject to experience life at its fullest, in the highest joys and sorrows, being the master of it, reaching towards infinity despite our mortal destiny (condition described in Leben ist Streben, parallel song to Einmal ist Keinmal, both in terms of meaning and position in the album).

From a musical standpoint, the song is full of odd-times signatures, polyrhythms and many typical progressive metal elements: the pre-solo section, in particular, features continuous time shifts from one bar to the next, making the groove quite complex to grasp at first. The tension is then released in the guitar solo, with a straight 4/4 section and long, mellow chords.

The soothing melody of the song comes from Beatrice and describes the melancholy, the longing, the unattainability of light in this phase of the crisis. It feels like drowning in a warm poison, like losing one’s identity in an infinite labyrinth of mirrors created by the mind, which reflects only the current painful condition with no way out.

Matteo and Davide’s ending section show how well guitar and violin can dialogue with each other, through several unisons and solos.

This song describes the other side of the coin of the crisis, which alternates with depression: it’s euphoria, represented by an ‘untamable tide’. But it’s not a genuine emotion, actually it’s a sick one, but at least it gives the impression of life, of a strong storm of feeling sweeping away one’s pain, but it’s like a flash in the pan and not a remedy.

Musically, it can be described as a pretty straight-forward metal track, easy to grasp and to headbang on. The whole piece is in B minor, with a little slide into B phrygian before the breakdown. Speaking of the breakdown, this is the only moment when the band went for a complex rhythmic approach, choosing a 7/4 time signature with long pauses, followed by another dialogue in 5/8 time signature (which can remind of Golden Threads) between guitar and violin.

We got to the core of the album: a song with no parallel but itself at the center of the journey. The beginning melody in the piano/vocal section comes from our singer and it represents the core of the existential pain which permeates all songs, but also a step in overcoming it: awareness and will to change. It’s a song which crosses a metaphorical death and rebirth. It’s a bend (a change), but also an end, the death of a part of the self.

Mirror-like counterpart of Eerie Euphoria, it’s another journey in insanity, a madness going through different phases described by the variegated song structure. It represents the conscious metaphorical death in oblivion of a part of the self, like the death of the older ego, drowned in the previous song.

The songwriting process for this song started from the first guitar riff and quickly evolved into one of our longest pieces (yet!). A peculiar characteristic of the piece is the transition between the heavy and the mellow part in its core. It is one of the hardest to perform live because of its numerous polyrhythms and technical parts. Matteo loves that guitar solo, also!

This piece is characterized by a huge timbric experimentation; Davide’s violin (the main composer of this song), plays a key but unexpected role: instead of the usual melodic way in which it expresses itself, it becomes rhythmic and percussive. The timbric research involves all instrument (also the voice, which experiments with whispered nuances of the spoken voice), creating a colour which diverges from the other songs, being gloomier, mysterious, introspective, even if it doesn’t lack melodic moments, as in the chorus.

Thematically, it is like the 'broken mirror' of Golden Threads: the chorus has the same melody, giving a sense of continuity, but transfigured in a way darker environment: the fear, the doubt, the 'dark night of the soul', the obscurity before the dawn - the final step of the journey where the soul overcomes the crisis.

The stylistic influences for the arrangement can be found in the work of composers such as Hans Zimmer and Max Richter.

The core of this song comes from a melodic idea of our keyboardist Enrico. The phrase of the title has been made-up by Beatrice along the lines of “Einmal ist Keinmal”, being its ‘positive counterpart’; it represents an active, constructive attitude towards life, despite its intrinsic tragic nature, inspired by Goethe’s Faust, as represented by this quote of the lyrics:

“I welcome you all, joys and sorrows of mankind / I want to embrace all your heights and abysses / Harbour in my breast all your good and your evil / To fulfill our destiny of doom and demise / But not afraid of drowning with you anymore.”

The ‘drowning’ motif is a recurrent one in all the lyrics, as the ‘tide’ one, but they assume a different connotation in each song. It’s up to you to interpret the meaning and make it yours every time you encounter these motifs.

From a vocal point of view, since it’s one of Beatrice’s favourite songs in the album, it has an interesting structure: it starts with a metal section, sung with a powerful, contemporary singing voice, then it comes to a spoken, whispered, acted section which opens up towards the chorus, sung in a classical style that reminds of ‘old-era Nightwish’, giving Beatrice space to express herself at her best.

Coercive represents the end point of our journey (which can also be seen as a circle), started with Remanent; it reflects the experimental style of the first track, it reflects the experimental style of the first track (and mirrors its structure too, starting ‘heavily’ and ending in a calm way), elaborating it and taking it to a higher level; classical and metal styles blend, having no more fear of intertwining and finding their own dimension in harmony.