Volume III | Tracks 5-7

Artwork, “Horror Beholding,” sketched by me in September of 2025.

Track five, whose lyrics translate to “I’m here, I’m not dead yet” was the song that I used to start working on this album in late December of 2025. Initially, I was going to leave it around a minute and a half long with a fade-out in order for it to function as a trailer. I only had the energy to record something short at the time. Eventually, though, I thought “I could add to that teaser that I recorded a few months ago…” I’m glad that I did because I think that the sentiment and sense that this song conveys add a lot to the album. It’s a bold and firm statement of presence. Fun note: The massive guitar tone is the result of my thinking “if double tracked guitars sound powerful… let’s see what TRIPLE tracked sounds like.” I think I actually fist pumped while shouting “YES!” when I heard it because I was so excited by the sound. It was time consuming, but well worth it.

“Alone Again” is an alternate version of the introductory track. It features rhythm guitar and light, wordless, wandering vocals. There’s also an ambient background recording that I took with my phone. At first, the guitar was just a scratch track, but I came back to it because I wanted to see how it would affect flow of the album. I honestly think that it makes the album a bit awkward, at least for this phase, but it makes sense artistically. It’s reflective of how life itself is frequently jarring and it also expresses how I repeatedly find myself in similar, yet different, holes of isolation. At least, that’s how I rationalize the wobbly flow… Too lazy to make it smoother? Preposterous! …

“Summoner” is not as sinister as it might sound. The day that I recorded it, I’d been trying to start a more traditional metal song, but I kept hitting walls. Finally, I said “whatever, I’m just gonna mess around and try to have fun.” I just aimlessly banged on drums and added a range of different vocal techniques (i.e., death metal growls, attempts at throat singing, whispering, a really high ~80’s wail, and quiet humming). Mercifully and fortunately, I found a lot of laughter through all of that. “Spirit rises from the deepest of hells” whispered here, contrary to the perhaps threatening tone, describes a determined soul pulling through dark periods to something better.

My next zine will comment on the final, uplifting phase of the album. The final zine for this album will talk about the artwork.

Thanks for listening and reading. Take care of yourselves and one another.