Now that the debut album of my solo project Nightmares of The Sun is finally out I thought I’d break down the tracks and talk about what they are about, how they fit into the story, and some of the history and ideas that when into writing them.
If you want to listen along while you read then fire up Bandcamp or Spotify or something else.
Track 1 - Visions of Helios
“Welcome... won’t you gather around... closer, come closer... for what you will hear is a story of the bizarre, the cosmic and the terrifying. As we begin our tale you are starting to have memories of places you’ve never been and people you’ve never met. Your days are feeling like a fog, a dream you can only just grasp.
This my friend is how you came to have NIGHTMARES OF THE SUN”
This is the song that kinda started it all. The first one I wrote and set some of the parameters of what I was trying to create. I really wanted the Opeth style of cutting from ultra heavy to clean and melodic, specifically inspired by Deliverance here. I’d also just bought a ukulele and wanted to try and work that into this track, I only ended up using it in a small part of the first melodic section, but I think it’s cool that it made it in there.
This track doesn’t include any of the synths or keys that are featured on the rest of the album. I considered going back and adding some in after I had decided that was an element I wanted to be in Nightmares of The Sunmusic, but felt that it would feel too tacked on if I did, so I left it as is. I think it sounds great as is and didn’t need it in the end.
This song was called Zombies Aren't The Death Of Meuntil a few months before it was released. The concept was that people are walking around in a zombie like fashion being controlled by the beings, but I thought the name was a bit too comedic, or at least didn’t set the right tone for the album, especially sauce it was the opening track. After some thought I decided Visions of Helioswould be a better name, as another aspect of the story at this point in the album is that people are having nightmares of the sun, so... visions of the sun. I’d just read the novel Circe which features the Greek God Helios as a character so I thought it worked perfectly using his name there.
Track 2 - The Head Key
“You wake with a start, only having drifted to sleep what seems like minutes earlier. Glancing at your alarm clock the blocky red numbers tell you you have only just crossed over into tomorrow. There must be some way out. Your mind is racing searching for a reprieve from these insomnia fuelled nights. Is the answer within?
If you could only remember more.
You had a vision of a glowing orb, The Sun perhaps? But not how you have always pictured it, no. There was an other-worldly feeling about the dark heart of it. And these strange symbols you are seeing when you close your eyes.
Eyes… those eyes. You can remember the eyes...
You know the key is within?”
The opening riff for this one was inspired by the grooving riffs of the Deftones and I wanted this to just hit the listener right from the start. Then, as the main riff comes in I wanted it to sound really raw so I layered in a fuzzed out guitar to add the extra bite and menace.
I love the way this one finishes, the deconstruction of the riff, with each instrument dropping out in turns leaving just the melodic dissonant guitar left. I also really wanted an acoustic guitar part to fade in at the very end of the song but as I was playing around with my Telecaster trying to work on what to play I just felt it really suited using that guitar rather than the acoustic. This was also a part I wanted to sound really loose, so I intentionally didn’t want it to sound super edited or tight.
Track 3 - Made To Suffer
“Finally a clue! The old man had more to say than you were sure you were ready for. Could you believe him? Beings from another dimension? Them?
But how would you fight back? The symbols are the answer to unlocking the gateway, you know you are close now, you have to find a way, you were not Made To Suffer!”
I really wanted to try and take the listener on a ride on this one, keeping things heavy but have a big prolonged solo in the 2nd half. I also started introducing keys in a more significant way with some sections where they are even coming into dominate.
I liked the contrast in the main solo section towards the end of the song where I‘d have this legato melodic solo over an 8 string slightly Djenty style of riff that kept the groove going the whole way though. I’ve always liked the contrast you get when you drop all the instruments out and have a sole piano playing before bringing everything back in with a bang. I played piano as a kid, but haven’t really touched it since I picked the guitar up at 15, so it was good challenge to sit down and compose that part. I really like how the left and right hand piano parts came together.
Track 4 - Beyond The Kuiper
“It worked! The gateway is unlocked, you need just to step through… It is time to challenge Them in their own domain.”
I like mood setting interlude style pieces in albums, so this is my attempt at doing something like that. It’s super simple straight forward, but I really think it helps set the mood for what’s to come. This is also the 1st track of the album that utilises the choir samples, which is an important element for the album as a whole.
My intention was that the choir itself would serve as a representation of the beings that are controlling our character, and so as our hero travels beyond out solar system, beyond the Kuiper belt, we get our first exposure to the antagonists of the story.
Track 5 - Approach of The Epoch
“You have travelled further than you could have imagined, and the time of reckoning is approaching. But you know now there is a question, how will you overcome… Them? How will you fight back?
Their technology is far superior to your own. Their knowledge is far superior to your own.
Seizing your chance, you set out to learn all you can.”
I ended up choosing this song as the lead single from the album, mostly because I thought it would be a good introduction to Nightmares of The Sunas it had a bit of everything, and I do genuinely think it’s really cool. I particularly like the riff around the 2:10 mark, that was me trying to write a metal riff that uses all 8 strings of the guitar, I didn’t quite get there as it only ended up being 6 it’s a really fun riff to play.
This song of course has the massive prog rock outro where I just jammed out on the Telecaster trying to be prog as I could. It turned out exactly how I was planning it, couldn’t have been happier.
Track 6 - Ceti Omicron V
“You survey Their world. Desolate. Destroyed.
Now you finally understand why they want ours so badly. As your journey deeper and deeper into their stronghold, full of strange sights that assault the senses, you draw ever closer to the final showdown.
But you are sure you’re ready, you have to be!”
Here I’m stepping up the keys, with the funky intro. I just wanted something totally unexpected here that would lead into an extremely heavy and trashy at times main first riff. I’d always loved After by Ihsahn and some of the riffing on that inspired this part of the song. I also wanted the choir (representing the beings) to feature very prominently on this track in the “verse” as it were.
For the second half I wanted some of the spirit of the outro to Deliverance by Opeth to come through, with the song going between a couple of riffs, the main first one and one with a more haunting melody over the top.
This track was originally called Ceti Alpha V for my love of sci-fi and Star Trek II and was supposed to be the name of the alien planet that our hero travels to. But, with the recent revival of Star Trek on TV I discovered they are planning a TV show called Ceti Alpha V, and so to avoid any trademark related issues I changed the name.
Track 7 - I Don't Think I Am Me, Anymore
“You find a moment for self reflection now that your battle is done. As you catch your reflection you realise you no longer recognise the person you are. Are you even you anymore?”
I had just bought my first telecaster and so I wrote this piece. I ended up liking it so much, and figured that it would fit perfectly at this point in the album that I just had to include it. To make it sound more suitable for Nightmares of The Sun I added the synth that is playing the same melody as the guitar for the first half of the song, adding what I think is this really cool duality to it
I was also experimenting more with drum sounds and wanted to offset the prog rock vibe that was coming from the guitar with something completely unexpected and swapped the drums I had written for the track out for a drum machine. I liked this so much I really want to write a more complete song in this style in the future. Although having said that I did take this idea into the next song also.
Track 8 - …But They Shall Be The Terrors of The Earth
“Returned, triumphant from the other side, you now possess the technology of the others. “But how has it changed me?” you wonder. Only time will tell. Or will it, you now possess the knowledge of time and space itself.
But if they return you know not what they will face …But They Shall Be The Terrors of The Earth”
This track was the last one I wrote, and I started it Christmas 2016 in Copenhagen, Denmark. I had taken a small midi controller with me and I was doing a lot with virtual synths, and also listening to a lot of Ben Prunty’s music (he’s an electronic musicians who write for games). So more than any other track the electronic influence come through strongly in this one.
When I cam back to Australia I worked heavily on the 2nd half of the song. Here I really wanted a vibey sparse mid section, with a pulsing bass. There was a track Ishan had released called In The Vaults that had this awesome bass and piano part that I took some inspiration from here also. I then wanted to put what I would call a Pink Floyd style guitar solo over it. I don't know if I really ended up achieving that, but I was really happy with the result in any case.
Finally I decided to go big on this track and incorporated some strings and big synths in certain parts to get the epic cinematic feel. I really like this track, and I can see myself pushing these ideas a bit further with future stuff I work on.
Any other questions hit me up on Twitter @_lukejmusic or shoot me a message via the contact page and if you’re interested in any of the making of this album check out this article.