Track By Tracks: Anakim - The Elysian Void (2021)

1. Of Starlit Shrines:

The lyrics and concepts behind this track depict a mortal perceiving the ancient temples of a primeval deity, associated with the depths of the ocean and water, namely Absu. This is a reference to the diluvian extinction level event that occurred within earth’s history, referenced in multiple historic and religious texts. In perceiving the Starlit Shrines, the perceiver is flooded with images of ancient human civilizations and their alien conception, leading to the realization that perception of the true reality is limited by our own inability to experience existence in its entirety, both the light and dark and the beckoning of hidden ancient knowledge that will lead to the truth.

2. Infinite Realities:

The Anakim as a concept and inspiration for the band as 4 th density extradimensional beings is an integral theme throughout all of our songs as we seek to create and expand our mythos. Infinite realties deals with the concept of how they actual travel throughout time, and the theories that this fits into. In this instance; multiverse theory, that when travelling beyond space and time the Anakim are in fact exploring infinite dimensions controlling and affecting third density beings in order to move energy in a grand scale toward their ultimate goal of ascension and assimilation of that energy. In this form the suffering that humans endure acts a catalyst and all experience energy that cannot be destroyed. This expands on the concept that all energy and matter was once in one form or “being” but to be able to experience it separated itself and was therefore limited so it could exist separately, to experience itself and then die thereby combining all of the knowledge and experiences it had perceived in that separated form, with its energy returning to itself so the cycle can repeat. As fourth density beings that can exist outside of time the Anakim have been harnessing this energy and have been travelling Infinite Realties, perceived in our world as ancient golden gods that created the pyramids and seeded earth with human life so we could harvest gold for their ships and would be capable of converting matter into spiritual energy once we had become selfaware.

3. Casualties of an Ascendant War:

The Casualties of an Ascendant War refers to humans that have died and suffered because of human stupidity and humanities inherent evil. Whilst the Anakim are influencing humans to try and help us ascend to fourth density beings, where we would become one with our ancestors as we would exist outside of time, there is a darker force working against this to maintain a balance. The Anakim want humanity to take the next step to true ascension and godhood as the dissipated energy throughout the galaxy returns back to itself, therefore in order tomaintain balance a daker form has come forward and seeks to hold humans back from their natural and right ascension. Filling this role is the Lovecraftian mythos initially created by H.P Lovecraft as a way to deal with man’s inhumanity to man. After witnessing the horrors of WWI, Lovecraft created otherworldly horrors and abominations to cope and process what he had witnessed, giving form to the evils that man had wrought. I chose to use the Cthulhu mythos a representation of all of humanities evils and negative traits as, humans as a species are one of the only species in the galaxy that are self-aware without having some sort of telepathy within the species. Also due to the introduction of hallucinogenic mushrooms at a key point in our evolution we have been given the ability to create and shape our own reality through perception and belief but are still figuratively and literally fighting against ourselves and holding ourselves back. As such we have been excluded from the rest of the galaxy until we have ceased to kill ourselves and cease to be a threat to other life forms. Due to our ability to shape reality with focused perception (e.g. creation of all religions though mass belief) the negative focal points of energy have coalesced and manifested in the Lovecrafftian mythos, meaning that the dark and negative influences that keep us from ascending are at war with the Anakim and their designs to allow humanity to ascend and thereby be converted into another form of energy. For us third density lifeforms experiencing this we are the Casualties of the Way between the Cthulhu Mythos and the Anakim, caught in a perpetual circle of endless and needless hatred and suffering.

4. The Augeries of Virgin Soil:

This track explores the concept of panspermia (the idea that life on earth was seeded from another planet). Within this framework the god or driving force behind the seeding of life has been categorized as female. The song initially explores the context of seeding the planet at the planets dawn, but then being awakened following calamitous events due to the Anakims interference with life on the earth and the subsequent manifesting of negative energy in order to maintain balance. The outcome of the war for the soul of humanity in energy formed is ultimately given to the mother of life as she holds all of human experience within her control and can ultimately decide who to gift with this power.

5. Bearer of the Sacred Flame:

This song explores how knowledge is passed on throughout generations of humanity, the Scared Flame itself is the flame of knowledge that was bestowed from the heavens by the gods / from beyond the stars by alien lords. It discusses the clues left for us by ancient civilizations that have long since been destroyed and the markers they have left for us to find to remember who we are and where we have come from in order for us to understand and expand our influence upon the perceived worlds.

6. Malformed Chthonic Dream:

As Cthulhu is known as the high priest of the great old ones and the ancient dreamer, this song puts forth the concept that our entire existence exists within Cthulhu's dream state. It explores the concept of the deification of abstract concepts through the belief of man and once manifested the concept can then influence the species that created it. That all of the negative / evil ideas and constructs have been the result of Cthulhu's influence reaching out through his dream to steer humanity aware from unifying and ultimately ascending to fourth density. By keeping us fractured and broken the great old ones seek to create a physical plane of madness and suffering so that they can break free from their conceptual prison and take control over the power that resides within humanity, namely the power to create and imbue deities with divine power.

7. Veins of the Unlight:

This song tells a tale of power and darkness imbued into mortals at the end of their reign of the earth. This depicts the end of days as the ascendant war reaches its climax and narrates the filling of a mortal with unlight running through their veins, to achieve a bastardised ascension so there are able to fight ascended beings. This energy is drawn from the darker aspect of realties, as such the reference to scales and the beast are down to the mortal’s preconceptions and concepts imbedded in racial memory of these forms made manifest. This all happens during the apex of a conflict that has happened before, will happen again and is happening now, recognizing the ultimate futility of a repeated third density existence regardless to the power gained.

8. The Elysian Void:

The final track and title of the album refers to a liminal space between dimensional realities where the soul of humanity hide’s following the diluvian wrath. It refers to the indomitable energy that see’s humanity resurrected, after repeated extinctions. The track then explores the endless cycle of the reincarnation of human souls into third density beings which draws the attention of the Anakim who seek to exploit the endless energy transference for their own gain.

Track By Track continued – musical inspiration:

Writing songs for Anakim always starts with the music. A question people often ask is “what comes first, lyrics or music?” The answer is purely down to personal preference. Some people find that lyrics provide the inspiration for the music, as theycan set the mood, style and possible rhythmic choices of a song before any actual music is created. In Anakim, however, we have always started with the music, allowing it to paint a picture in our minds and direct our lyrical choices. For whatever reason, our music has always suggested to us themes of ancient mythology and science fiction (of which our singer could go into great depths about). But ultimately, one thing that unites us as a band, is that our songsprovoke a feeling within us. The sole reason I listen to music is to experience feeling (whatever that feeling may be) so I’m always trying to achieve just that in my own writing. Does it provoke an emotional response? If the answer is no, it goes in the bin. If the answer is yes, then the idea gets developed.

I listen to a vast range of music but it’s safe to say that metal is my true love. Of all the music I listen to, metal moves me the most. I often find it hard to truly pinpoint what it makes me feel. Power? Awe? Wonder? Or perhaps sheer disbelief that something so sonically horrendous could sound so beautiful? I don’t know, but I enjoy this feeling and I actively pursue it. I find I’m intuitively using all the aspects of metal I find the most satisfying to hear and incorporating it in Anakim’s music – particularly in new album, The Elysian Void.

I have a real love for metal that is unrelenting. One of my favourite albums at the moment is “The Apostasy” by Behemoth - and what an amazing example of metal that just doesn’t give in. The speed and relentless blasting just does something to me, and whilst I wouldn’t directly compare our music to Behemoth, there are moments in The Elysian void where I think this unrelenting essence is captured.This is perhaps best heard in the middle section of the title track where the song just opens up to a prolonged black metal section with endless blast bleats. Whilst on the subject of “unrelenting metal”, I really enjoy moments in music of prolonged tremolo picking, particularly on lower notes coupled with the equivalent double bass pedal. This is a feature of death metal that never fails to make me bang my head and can be heard in most of our songs at some point. This technique is used for some of our more technical riffs too. A good example being the riff in “Auguries of Virgin Soil” after the main opening section. This features a fast tremolo picked note followed by 16 th note runs in a repeated sequence. Perhaps one of the harder riffs to play in the album!

Pursing the unrelenting side of metal is not enough for me though. Whilst I love listening to bands such as Nile, Behemoth, Archspire, Origin, Corpse, Vital Remains (to name a few), I also enjoy metal that features a more dynamic range. One band that massively influences me is Opeth. They have the ability to sound very heavy, yet very melodic at the same time and they seamlessly bridge the gap between “all-out metal” and clean, “mellow” sections. Whilst the music I write for Anakim doesn’t frequently change from heavy to clean (save the opening track, ‘Of Starlit Shrines’ and in the title track, ‘The Elysian Void’), I think the melodic and rhythmic choices I make are quite heavily influenced by Opeth, particularly from their works spanning from Blackwater Park through to Watershed.

One thing to note here, is that I don’t actively pick up the guitar and think to myself, “I’m going to write a song that sounds just like this band I’ve been listening to”. That’s not how it works. Writing music for me is a very organic process. I can’t force it, but when it comes, it usually comes in a great wave. The majority of the music for The Elysian void I wrote in around a three week period. The same goes for album three (yet to be bestowed upon the general public). Making links to bands I like just helps me process and explain where from within my brain this music has come from.

Once the music is written, I record demos and produce guitar pro tabs which get sent to the band. These demos and tabs include programmed drums (which are really just approximations of the kind of beats I would like in the songs. Ewan then embellishes these with drum magic)! The demos do not usually contain any bass or vocals. Ant will use the guitar tabs to learn the basic riffs of the songs, but has an amazing ability to slot in the most insane bass embellishments into the music which I couldn’t conceive on my own in a thousand years. Matt uses these demos to then form lyrical themes and craft well suited rhythmic patters to perfectly compliment the music. Everyone plays a role and without each individuals’ skills,the band wouldn’t work. Whilst I enjoy having some creative control over the music, I know that it is the input from everyone that makes Anakim what it is.