Track By Tracks: Epoch Of Unlight - At War With The Multiverse (2022)

1. The Anthropocene (Scott):

These were the first set of lyrics I wrote when I joined Epoch of Unlight. It’s a story about Immortals who create life on a world, then when that world and its inhabitants are no longer entertaining, they pit their creations against one another, and eventually overload the world with “natural” disasters to clean the slate. Then they start another cycle with different beings. These Immortals also influence three other songs (“An Amaranthine Line”, ”Beneath a Dying Sun”, and “Elysian Immortals”) that depict those events in more detail and from different sides.

2. The Numbing Stillness (Scott):

This deals with the inevitability of death and how people cope with that. In this instance, it's the use of religion to put one's imminent demise to the back of one’s mind. Existing just for the prospect of an eternal afterlife, with your "eye on the prize," rather than cherishing every moment you're *actually* living is a life wasted. When you're gone, you're gone, so take in and appreciate every second you're gifted on Earth. Celtic Frost used some poetry from Emily Bronte as lyrics in my favorite song of theirs, "Inner Sanctum," so I decided to snag some of her quotes for myself to use in this one.

3. Wrath of the Cryomancer (Tino):

A long-banished tribal mage with the ability to control and manipulate ice through the moisture around them plots revenge against the tribe that wronged him. Fear of the unknown, and of his ever-increasing power over these elements lead to a betrayal by those he now considers “of the light.”

And with that choice, they must pay the ultimate price. (BONUS: the long ethereal blast section after the break symbolizes the slowly growing ice sheets issuing from the Cryomancer as he begins his assault on the village below.)

4. An Amaranthine Line (Scott):

This is a closer look at the Immortals from the first song. It explains how they create these beings so they can experience mortality. They control those beings by portraying themselves as gods, with one of them being Supreme for one clan, and others being Supreme for other clans in order to foster the division and war they’ll eventually need when it’s time to end that cycle. The song ends with the victorious clan expecting a Rapture, but they are instead swept away by the cleansing mentioned in “The Anthropocene.”

5. Beneath a Dying Sun (Scott):

With this song, we take an even closer look at the topics of “The Anthropocene” and “An Amaranthine Line.” This song depicts the final war between the two remaining clans, with both believing the victor will be The Last to Stand and live for eternity with the Immortals. The story is from the view of the Eastern clan, who are advanced in both technology and magic, as they try to repel the more savage clan from the West. The Western soldiers are tricked into funneling themselves in a narrow pass, where a massive blade was previously forged and installed. The blade guts the soldiers as it slides down the pass, while at the same time, the flames from the forge are released. The Eastern clan dances and feasts on their remains while awaiting the Rapture, which they eventually realize is never coming.

6. Elysian Immortals (Scott):

This is the final song dealing with this Immortals universe. It’s the same story as “Beneath a Dying Sun,” but told from the side of the Western clan. You already know how it ends, but the middle just sort of details their preparation for war, their march to the East using giant serpents to clear the path, and how they were ambushed once they reached those shores.

7. The Möbius Path (Tino):

Another Brian Lumley/Necroscope influenced song. The Mobius Path is the key to unlocking time travel and portals between worlds and space. The path is through the Mobius Continuum, which is the “space between spaces” that are unlocked through a higher order of Mathematics that was developed by German mathematician August Ferdinand Möbius both during AND after his death. His continued work to solve this “problem” was only accessible to those that can communicate with the dead (i.e. the Necroscope). The protagonist of this story is spurred ever forward by their sheer will and appetite for knowledge to gain the ultimate knowledge and power over time and space. What he does with this ability is…to be continued!

8. Night Hunt (Tino):

This song is the 2nd song based thematically on the “Hounds of Tindalos” short story by Frank Belknap Long published in 1929. (The first song appeared on the Caught album.) These foul, life-draining, creatures are said to materialize through specific geometries (angles) in space and are attracted to time travelers. Once an entity becomes known to one of these creatures, a Hound of Tindalos will pursue/hunt its victim through time and space to reach its quarry.

9. All Light Dies (Tino):

In previous albums the personification of the “Unlight '' was expanded on in detail: the ancient, omnipresent entity moving through the Multiverse as a malevolent, albeit sometimes selective, consumer of “the light.” A.L.D. is really a prequel of sorts to the last song on the album (“The Lie of Tomorrow’s Dawn”) and is meant to be a rallying cry of the precept that any light or life caught in the path of the all-consuming Unlight will be extinguished. It’s brief, it's violent, and it is inevitable.

10. The Lie of Tomorrow’s Dawn (Tino):

As the closer to the album, this song represents the false hope that those of the Light fill themselves within their darkest hour. In a way, it is the antithesis of the hope of the Eagles in the Tolkien mythos. Here, there is no savior, no respite from the darkness with the birth of a new day. Only the lie they keep telling themselves – another day to fight with tomorrow’s dawn.