Track By Tracks: Avem - Meridiem (2019)

Meridiem by Avem - 12 tracks that tell multiple lifetimes’ worth of stories.

Avem’s debut release Meridiem features 12 songs that stand alone and stand together. Each track was composed as its own song to be added to a collection that fits together like a jigsaw. Within the blink of an eye and the length of eternity Avem challenge you to find your own meaning in an album strewn with multiple layers. Roughly following one life cycle sequentially, here is a description of the meaning behind each song.

1. Sun Chaser:

The opening track is everything that youth should be; energetic, fun and frantic. It rushes along trying to capture, discover and enjoy everything that it possibly can. Full of confidence, innocence and bravado this song is the birth of the album and it comes out kicking and screaming, opening its eyes to take in the world around it. We structured it in a way that you continuously feel like you are

going to catch the sun, just for it to elude you and move on. ...so you run and you run and you try to catch up but it’s sinking...

2. How I Got My Wings:

This song is as dynamic as it is elemental. It is about mastering the hardships in life. It kicks hard and then settles down into something beautiful only to rage again. On the surface, first experiences can be captivating but there is often a darker side and the balance must be understood. We wanted it to capture the warmth of the sun and the depth of the ocean. This song is growth. Growth is ugly and growth is beautiful. We grew to write it and we grew writing it. This is how we got our wings.

3. Bermuda:

Aruba, Jamaica, Oh I want to take you to Bermuda, Bahama... This song hops genres and feels. You could sit on a beach by an open fire and sip a cocktail listening to the loungey opening. You could also pilot your plane into the Bermuda triangle during a storm just to ride the chorus out. This song is the first awakening on the album and we want you to feel its ambiguity. It’s a hymn to life and an open world without borders, an encouragement to experience all there is to offer, to connect with other and overcome prejudices.

4. Star Gazer:

Did you ever sit outside in the summer as a child, look up at the stars and dream? We did and this is what we felt. From the opening guitar part that captures the wonder of space to the intertwining melodies in the open chorus right through to the determination to get there that hits you like a tonne of bricks in the bridge, this song is the quest to get to space. Look up and dream.

5. Lost Cosmonaut:

The soundtrack of those that want to fly a spaceship directly into the sun - this is the story of the star gazer that headed off into the abyss. Divided into 3 distinct parts, this song is literally the story of what happens when you chase your dreams and find that what they are built on is not solid enough to support your ambition. That realisation comes in the 3rd part of the song and we find it to be a highlight of the album. Clocking in at just under 9 minutes this one is an epic and is one of our favourites to play live and is fast becoming a fan favourite.

6. Phantoms:

Throughout history there have been people that have laid down their lives to better the lives of those around them and for the betterment of the human race in general. This song is a dedication to those that did exactly that. We like to think that these phantoms live on amongst us, not as ghosts or physical beings, but as examples to be followed. “Alive through our shades and dead without graves, none recall our names”. The lyrics and vocal melodies shine through on this song and the drums dominate. It is a dedication to the soviet cosmonauts that perished and have been forgotten.

7. Earth Shaker:

This is a rock song. A straight up rock song about defying those that inhibit you. A song about breaking things that deserve to be broken, wrecking what should be wrecked and being the change that you want to see. Look to the day the earth will shake, these weathered walls will fall away.

8. Whispers on the Wind:

This was one of the very first songs we wrote when we formed Avem. It’s a tale of two lovers circling each other and the power that can come from the relationships we have. We chose to bring our friend Andreas Gammauf from Chaos Inside in to capture both sides of the relationship. Musically this one builds through an exotic intro into a hard hitter. There’s an acoustic section featuring synth bass in the middle followed by a rare extended guitar solo before the groove of the song sets back in and the lovers embrace.

9. Chernobyl:

The subject matter of this song is laid out in the title but is the song itself is deeper than just a nuclear disaster. It is told from the perspective of those that stayed when they should have left. This is a bittersweet ballad of realisation that what once was can never be again. Time always takes its toll but that if you share an experience with someone that cannot be taken away. Experiences are for life and they shape us forever.

10. Storm Facer:

This is somewhat the bastard track of the album and we are quite sure that its parents were cousins. Heavy on the bass, this song grooves along like a broken shopping trolley. With wide open choruses featuring the vocal talents of Alexander Hirschmann from Terra Toma, this one is for enthusiasts of the strange, the different. The jarring keyboard lines show the mental instability in the song and it is the beginning of the end of the album.

11. Sonder:

This is an extremely personal song exploring the relationship between parent and child. Told from the viewpoint of the child finally coming to understand everything that the parent has done to set them on their way in life. This realisation of how much has been done behind the scenes is crushing in its enormity and the only way we found to deal with it was to show our gratitude by doing the very best we can. This realisation comes too late in the childs life but it doesn’t matter to the parent.

12. LDV:

L’appel du Vide – the call of the void. Have you ever wondered what would happen if you leapt from that tall building? Have you ever wondered what would happen if you drove your car in front of that truck? That is the void calling out to you. How will you answer? It’s a confusing call that is both soothing and terrifying. We wrote this one to be performed as a Viennese waltz, a dance with death. Maelstrom pull me down...