Under Neptunian Horizons
UPDATE (November 2009) – I redid the rhythm guitars and switched out the piano breakdown with a lone guitar as originally intended. The rhythm guitars were done using a tube-powered preamp for distortion and impulse responses to simulate speaker/microphone. Now they are fuller, thicker, and heavier than before.
This is the second song from my “2008 collection.” It’s in the style of epic doom metal.
Download the mp3 (8.4 MB, 192 kbps)
If that doesn’t work, download the zip file
Lyrics
In this world I reach for words divine,
To redeem survivors of the fallen kind.
Wander moonlit desert sands of time,
Bury treasures deep within eternal mind
You resemble a stone fallen from the sky
And when you hit the ground, dark waters rushed through your eye
Turns the maelstrom that calls you to his home, under neptunian horizons.
I believe in sailing the unknown,
Through fogs of ignorance that veil our own.
To the center where we find all truth,
In a ship of copper ‘round the circle blue.
You resemble a stone falling from the sky.
And when you hit the ground, dark waters rushed through your eye.
Turns the maelstrom that calls you to his home, under neptunian horizons…
...under an ocean of dreams
...under neptunian horizons
...under the ocean with me.
Background
This one is about the fall of spirit into matter, and how the seed of higher consciousness, which remains within the subconscious while the conscious mind sleeps through life, softly calls to the conscious mind to awaken to the higher spiritual reality. The ocean represents both the subconscious and the physical realm into which we are fallen.
The seed of higher consciousness is here also represented as the magical millstone (sampo) of Finnish mythology, which fell into the ocean after being stolen and spawned a huge maelstrom as the water rushed through its eye. The maelstrom pulls adventuresome souls into it, around ever closer to the eye of the vortex, the eye of the millstone, which functions as a portal of transcendence toward spiritual self-remembrance. The Finnish mythic hero Vainamoinen left the mortal world by sailing into this maelstrom on a ship of copper, promising to return when he would be needed again. The outtro symbolizes spiraling around the whirlpool, round and round, down and down.
The verse and chorus of this song I got directly from a couple dreams, including the line “You resemble a stone fallen from the sky.”
Technical Info
Four rhythm guitar tracks panned left and right using the Blackstar HT-Dual distortion pedal (with Tung Sol tube) direct through audio interface and into various impulse responses to simulate speaker/mic. Guitar was a Schecter Damien with Evo 2 bridge humbucker. AT2020 condenser used for vocals, and also for miking the introductory solo guitars through a Roland Cube 30X.
I did use some pitch shifting to reach the low note in the verses, and comping to capture the best parts of my takes. The outtro choir is my own voice recorded 17 times. The bass, strings, piano, and drums were VST instruments programmed via the piano roll in Logic Express 8.
Picture of my so-called “studio” (guitar amp not shown) —
