Track By Tracks: Forsaken Eternity - A Kingdom Of Ice (2022)

When I joined Forsaken Eternity and heard what Vlad was working on, I became extremely excited to write out some lyrics with the main theme of "adventure" in mind. He'd presented me the song titles he'd already come up with, and there were a few discussions on what themes he had in mind for each title but beyond that, I ran wild with each song. While I had written the majority of lyrics on this LP, Vlad wrote out "Forsaken Eternity", our self-titled song, prior to me joining the band from our previous EP, and I think that those lyrics are beautiful so I just did my best to live up to what that song was from the EP.

1. Skyrider:

Skyrider only had a couple lines of lyrics when Vlad first presented it to me. The one that caught my attention was the opening line "Skyrider, do you hear the message of the wind whispering into your ear" so I took the approach to this story that it was being told from the perspective of the Skyrider's father. Essentially, their world is being torn apart by inter-dimensional beings, but the father had expected it and now was the time for his son to truly rise up to the challenge of his family's legacy to be a protector of their world and one who inherits all things that come with being a leader on his father's world. In the end after his son's success, the father speaks about his remorse for the decision but it's the path he knows his son must walk.

2. The Dark Divinity:

This was the last of the lyrics I wrote for this album, and the one word that circulated in the conversation with Vlad was 'betrayal'. The story is told from the perspective of a man who befriends this shadowy character but through the years they develop what seemed like an unbreakable friendship. Little did our man know that this shadowy character was contracted to kill him, yet this shadowy character developed a bond with his prey and couldn't fulfill the contract for years. Alas, with the pressures that are tied to one's profession and the poverty we all face, our shadowy character ultimately decides to fulfill his contract and ends our man's life. I wrote this song so that it would unfold the ultimate betrayal, so the first half takes us on a journey through the lens of the betrayal as our man tries to escape his imminent end. Once his doom is ultimately met, the remainder of the song describes the skill and precision our shadowy character had in his ability to do the job he needed to do, but he suffered from the immense regret of his actions as he kneels beside his friend's grave.

3. Shadow Fortress:

Shadow Fortress explores the darkness of oneself, how we can lose ourselves during trying times and it's up to 'you' to navigate through that darkness. I wrote this song as if it was an adventure through the mind, the adventurer is always hidden from the darkest parts of one's self, but we ultimately experience these horrifying moments in our lives and have to path through the iron fortress of our minds, with creeping infinite halls and dingy dungeons. This isn't when we reach the end we're met with grace, and we're stronger because of the experience.

4. Endless Light:

Endless Light tells a story of a man who's sailing across the seas with his family, friends, and everyone else he knows. They stumble upon a grouping of islands with ships crashed upon them on the horizon, the song then looks inward into the mind of this individual as he watches a massacre unfold before him, these undead creatures were pirates that used to sail the sea and are now forever cursed to hunt for meat. I wanted this song to tell you the story of his heartbreak and his world being taken before him right before his eyes, he then has to struggle with the thought of "do I fight? or do I give in?". He ultimately gives in and the song rings into the slower more ghostly singing section, my singing here represents his fading life as he feels the ravenous hunger take over as he's turned.

5. A Kingdom of Ice:

Vlad had actually begun writing the first few lines but wanted me to take a go at finishing it. What he had already written was telling a story of a queen that ruled in a kingdom made of ice and when I added my elements to it I wanted to paint the picture of the cruelty of her rule. It whirlwinds through the tale of an individual crossing through frozen tundra and witnessing creatures of the kingdom being sacrificed by her orders. We then lead to this individual being taken by her spell as he enters the kingdom, the song describes how the spell takes him and has complete control of him. Because he is a stranger to this kingdom, the queen decides to take his soul for her own, and use the body to build the kingdom as it slowly turns to snow and ice. The whispered speaking at the end is the soul essentially closing the chapter for the song and the album as it describes the body merging with the kingdom.