Track By Tracks: Libricide - Consilience (2022)

1. Fork Union:

Harun: Initially the name and premise of this track came from a purer place. I had gone to an all-boys military school in Virginia in my younger years. It also just made sense as an initial representation of what Consilience is all about; teamwork, the joining of paths, and the new roads we create together as a result. I think it has (or may have unintentionally had) that fun, upbeat, youthful feeling of potential where everything is possible (and it is)!

Dylan: This one was in the works for a few years. Originally it had an outro solo, but it was scrapped as I didn't feel that an outro solo was necessary. While this song has a similar format to the 1st record's tunes, it still serves as a set up for the vibe of the second record. It's a strong intro to what the second record is all about!

2. Over Everything:

Harun: Over Everything reflects a general frustration with the world and everything around you – to the point where you’re just done with all of it. It was kind of perfect it came together just around the time of the pandemic.

Over Everything and Everything Is Easy were initially written as shorter, “punkier” sister songs whose subject matter complimented but also juxtaposed one another in the greater context. It was supposed to be a shortened/simplified thematic throwback to the first record’s Destiny Weights/Encumbrance Removed suite, though much more to the point (as this entire record seemed to be), almost like the two songs would become one together.

Jams in the rehearsal space ended up yielding two longer, more fully fleshed out standalone tracks, while still maintaining the thematic relationship between the two. We ended up adding a second verse/chorus to Over Everything, and came up with an outro section to Everything Is Easy.

3. Everything Is Easy:

Harun: “Everything Is Easy” is the sister song to “Over Everything”. Kind of tongue-in-cheek, kind of serious- it must have been a hokey/half-sarcastic way for me to feel better about resolving everything causing the subject grief in the preceding track. We went all Van Halen-y with it in the second verse and outro, while also taking from some contemporary influence.

4. Silence:

Harun: “Silence” depicts the world of a concerned and increasingly exasperated citizen in an over-reaching surveillance state. The song jumps in parts between the subject and their issues with modern society, and a falsely placating, propagandizing, “sentient” governmental technology.

Dylan: “When we were working on this song, we had no idea what the end result was going to be,” explains lead guitarist Dylan Stark. “When you write a tune and flesh it out in either the rehearsal room or the studio, it takes on a life of its own and doesn’t always turn out the way you had originally envisioned. This was one of those tunes. Once we started to work on it and put all of our ideas together, it indeed took on a life of its own & began to write itself out.”

5. Them Without You:

Harun: They Without You became the main (and only) ballad on this album. I had written it over the course of summer during the start of the pandemic and the idea itself had been brewing in my mind for some time, as things at an old job, as well as some past relationships, began to naturally wind down. It really did come out beautifully- capturing the essence of how one can feel in that place; somber, but also with an undeniable profundity in the freedom of being true to oneself again there.

Dylan: We had a lot of fun with this one. I used at least 3 guitars on this particular song to capture a certain sound. I always envisioned a Fender Stratocaster-type sound for this one. Me being a huge fan of players such as Eric Johnson & John Mayer, I decided to experiment by using a few guitars for the rhythm & lead sounds. A Telecaster & Stratocaster was used to record the arpeggiated chords & volume swells in the background. For the solo, I used the neck pickup of my old 1996 Stratocaster that I've owned since I was 14 years old. It captured a sound that complimented the song & the acoustic guitars & is very pleased with how it turned out.

6. Last Time:

Harun: Such a catchy, heartfelt, straight-ahead rock track. I love the guitar riff in the verses, but also how well they tie in with the atmospheric, yet still dark and grungy-sounding choruses, before that BIG final resolve at the end. This was also inspired by an old romantic relationship of mine and served as a taste of our new music when we recorded a single version of it back in 2020 (a video on those recording sessions can be seen HERE). Its quality was also significantly brought up when we went to rerecord it for the full-length record, including entirely newly recorded drums, rhythm guitars and vocals. The differing single version is also actually still up on our Spotify and YouTube.

7. Consilience:

Harun: “What started out initially as a minute-long intro soon evolved into a progressive rock journey.”

Dylan: A tune that was experimented upon when in the rehearsal room. Half of what was on the original demo ultimately got scrapped for what you now hear on the record. Using a combination of 6 and 7 string guitars & odd time signatures in the final version, we turned that tune into our own prog fusion opus reminiscent of Rush's “2112" & Dream Theater's "Overture 1928".

8. Acceptable Losses:

Harun: This was a heavy, death metal inspired track whose main riff I had actually come up with a number of years ago. It was never fully fleshed out then but a heavier angle was always something we also wanted to try incorporating more of into our music. I think the breakdowns and solo section really tie it together, and it was a great chance to stretch out my dirty vocal abilities a bit, in case you have trouble recognizing it’s us otherwise [laughs].

9. Work Right Now:

Harun: Work Right Now was a hip-hop number I came up with wanting to delve more into that genre, too, and widen our collective sphere of influence as a group. I grew up writing poetry and my approach to songwriting even on guitar was always very rhythmic. I’m also a fan of many emcees both new and old and wanted to try my hand at it on the musical front. The fact that it still also pulls together contemporary dirty vocals, guitar solos, and DJ scratching on top of it all- while still maintaining a fun, tasteful, and upbeat vibe, makes me feel like we were successful with this one. It’s also always well-received live and get people AMPED.

10. Deliver Us:

Dylan: A personal one of mine as I wrote it while in quarantine during the peak of the Covid 19 pandemic. All I had was my guitar and my home recording rig during that period & began to pour from the heart. The song reflects on the feelings of loneliness, isolation, self-destructive behaviors, and depression- all issues we have experienced during the height of the pandemic. While not normally a lyricist, this one came fairly easy to me as I had a melody worked out already and was improvising words and phrases to it. When I introduced the song to the guys, they loved how it sounded and we began to rearrange parts of the song. What was originally a pre-chorus became the main chorus & the original chorus became the first half of the second verse. It all came together extremely well in the end.

11. It All Might Fall:

Harun: This was originally going to be earlier in the record. It did end up making sense conceptually as a closer when we were deciding the final track order. We initially had the main guitar hook and choruses and were trying to flesh out the verses and bridge sections. This was the last track we finished in the studio as time constraints started to creep in. Nevertheless, it seems to resonate with an alternative audience and we were surprised with how much love this otherwise pretty experimental track attracted!