Track By Tracks: Lightlorn - These Nameless Worlds (2022)

1. Unmapped Constellations:

This was the third song I wrote for the EP, and in my opinion, it’s ostensibly the most ‘black metal’ track on the EP, if black metal was played in major keys, of course. The lyrics of all the tracks tell a loosely interconnected story about a solitary spacefarer traversing the galaxy and beyond. It’s really a metaphor for isolation, loss, and, ultimately, overcoming.

In this chapter, the person is far away from Earth in a part of the galaxy never before seen by human eyes. Thus, the constellations he sees are not the same as those seen from the surface of Earth. It’s thrilling and liberating, but there’s also a sense of trepidation and an underlying sadness.

2. Through the Cold Black Yonder:

This was actually the first post-black metal song I ever wrote, and it has gone through several changes. A version of this song was recorded with my old band, but it wasn’t very good. I think this version does more justice to the original idea.

Now, the spacefarer has been alone for a very long time. He is lost and the novelty of exploration has long worn off. He just wants to go home.

3. Dilation Sleep:

I consider this a ‘black metal ballad’ (Haha!). It was the last song I wrote for the EP, and I wanted it to be softer, less frenetic. The use of clean singing and growled vocals at the same time serves to represent the inner turmoil and mental disassociation experienced by the spacefarer. Tired of existing, he decides to hibernate in suspended animation. The peculiarities of time dilation, which is an effect of general relativity, mean that the spacefarer, who is now traveling at a relativistic velocity, experiences less subjective time than the universe around him. So, by hibernating in combination with time dilation, thousands of years can pass while he may only be asleep for a hundred years or so. The lyrics narrate the reasoning behind his decision.

4. Stargazing in the Abyss:

The longest song on the EP. Waking up after millennia, our spacefarer believes he has come to terms with his existence. Although, he wonders whether he is perhaps insane. In the end, the fact of his continued existence and that he is essentially immortal, makes him view himself as a god.

The covid pandemic and associated lockdowns around the world forced many of us to isolate ourselves. We may even have suffered the loss of a loved one. Most people don’t enjoy being alone, they crave human connection. But however frightening solitude may seem, it’s an extremely liberating state of being and has the power to make us stronger in ourselves, provided we can overcome feelings of loneliness because the two are not mutually inclusive.

So that’s really what this EP is about. Overcoming feelings of alienation and isolation to become stronger as individuals.