June 2020 - Civilization

I've released a new album to Bandcamp consisting of a single 21:30 instrumental track, Civilization, an homage to one of my favourite game series.
The idea behind this one was to have a number of acts that would relate to different civ eras, where progressing through them would change the instrumentation and increase the phrasing being used. For example, while the first act consists mostly of percussion and 1-2 bar phrasing, the final act uses synthesizers and 6-8 bar phrasing. Everything is then tied together with guitars, drums, and a few subtly changing melodies that signal the start or end of an era.

Link: https://sequester.bandcamp.com/album/civilization

December 2019

I wanted to take a brief break from my other projects and do a Grinch cover for the holiday season: https://youtu.be/aMR0wzN2xcE

Merry Christmas and happy LOTR binge.

August 2019

I can't believe it has been over a year. As you probably all know by now I'm not much of a social media guy, so figured I'd at least show a sign of life here. No real news to report just yet, though there is most definitely stuff in the works. I'm currently working hard on another project (I'll make a proper announcement on that eventually) and the next album is still a few years out; in the mean time there are also a few covers I've been wanting to do, so expect those on my YouTube channel-- one of which I'll put out in December. And thank you to everyone for checking out Hermit and for all the kind words that were sent my way.

May 2018 - Hermit

It has been a long time coming, but I've finally finished and released Hermit.

You can find the album available for download at CDBaby here:
https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/sequester4
It will also appear on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and Google Play within a week or so.

This website is updated with the lyrics and album info in their appropriate sections, and I've also uploaded track two, "Bloodborne," to my YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCkd8BRVzXc

Although the overarching themes of Hermit could be considered mostly negative -- with some reoccurring topics being isolation, stress, anxiety, depression, failure, love and death -- its actual finality and the conclusion to this laborious process feels quite positive. There is admittedly a bittersweet tinge, as goes for each album release (or any journey's end for that matter), since it leaves behind a void of sorts in the sudden, unaccustomed absence of what was. Thus the cycle continues, with fresh musical ideas and other projects already in the works.

It has also been 11 years this month since Visions of the Erlking, which is rather difficult for me to fathom. I'd like to sincerely thank everyone who has stuck around or joined in along the way.

Goodbye for now,

Ryan

March 2018

Hard to believe it has been a year since the last update. Time really flies.
I still have three songs worth of vocals to record, but otherwise everything else is done (including all the lyrics and the artwork). The release will be within a few months at any rate, likely in June.

Here's the track list:

Hermit

1. Safe in Obscurity
2. Bloodborne
3. The Boy Who Lived
4. The Black Company
5. Forgotten Ones
6. Magicant
7. Dead Man's Switch
8. Means of Comfort
9. Augment

1 and 8 I'll leave to interpretation, but the rest are pretty identifiable.
Game-wise, there's 2 (Bloodborne), 5 (Torment: Tides of Numenera), 6 (EarthBound), and 7 (Shadowrun Returns). Number 9 shares themes with Deus Ex, but I wouldn't say that was necessarily a direct influence; more so the notion of aging as a disease and how man's potential immortality could be achieved through biotech.
Book-wise, there's 3 (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone), and 4 (the first book of Glen Cook's series of the same name).

While I try to pay homage to inspirers from various chapters of my life, I'd say 3 and 6 are the more nostalgic songs on this album. Generally, my most-played games are strategy related, having started with Civilization around '92 (well shit... seems I'm getting old); however, it has always been those story-rich RPGs like EarthBound that first come to mind when it's time for writing lyrics, as such were the stories that sparked my childhood imagination the most. EarthBound was actually the first RPG I ever owned, which I craved for my ninth birthday due to schoolyard and Nintendo Power hype. I remember us looking all over town and, just before defeated resignation, finally finding it at a Canadian Tire of all places-- that giant box with the included player's guide sitting high on top of a glass case.
And a few years afterward, I have Rowling to thank for really getting me into reading novels. Prior to that, it would have been just the occasional Goosebumps or Animorphs. And comics, but those are still on the menu.

Anyway, this will be the last update since once the vocals are all tracked the album will be released shortly thereafter, as I've been iteratively mixing along the way so there shouldn't be too much work left to do at that point. See you then.

March 2017

I'm working on the remaining instruments for the final song, then from there will move on to writing and recording all the album's lyrics and vocal melodies. Everything has been taking a bit longer than I would have liked, partly due to a wrist injury that happened autumn 2015; playing guitar wasn't possible for about four months there, and it still hasn't fully healed yet so frequent breaks have been required. But the worst is over and here we are now in the final stretch of my sixth album, which will simply be titled Hermit. I'll post the artwork, full track listing and usual song descriptions in the next update after some final deliberation. I'm also moving at the end of the month, which is never fun, but a quieter building is most welcome.

September 2016

Since the last update I've finished all the guitars, bass, and keys for four of the songs. I should be finished recording the rest of the instruments before the end of the year, and then will start doing vocals early 2017. I'll aim for a summer release, but we'll see how things go.

I might put aside one of the planned songs for a future album, however; said song acts as a successor to an earlier one of mine, which in turn is to be based on a certain game's successor that unfortunately keeps getting delayed. The wait has been tormenting, if you catch my drift. Whether that track makes the cut will depend on which month of Q1 the game supposedly gets released, so that I'd have time to actually play it and write appropriate lyrics without delaying the album itself. For all I know the story of these Forgotten Ones could end up being a forgettable one though, in which case I guess I could turn the song into an instrumental? Or just write about the original again. But with Avellone, McComb, and even Rothfuss on board... I can't say I'm too worried.