Track By Tracks: Neolia - Neolia (2023)

1. The Shed:

The shed relates to a point in time when the main character (Alex) was around the age of 11-14 living on the streets and sleeping underground. Alongside other left-out kids, he managed to persuade them in following his path of rage the group becomes a teen gang that acts on their misfortune in life.

The song starts with a guitar duo followed by the main riff of the song that with each section progresses into different variations both rhythmic and harmonic but it is very clear to the ear that they have this common bond that holds them together.

The track has a pretty straightforward structure, but still keeps a unique groove. The energy reaches its peak at the very end of the song with an aggressive outro that collapses into a meditative percussion-based section.

2. Your prophecy:

This is a personal song for Tomer as it derives from his day-to-day life as both a silent observer as a child, and an active participant in trying to save his father from his own self as an adult, almost, as if he was living in a parallel world not realizing his the path he is on. As things would tend to get violent in the house, it was inevitable that something would break and grow distant. On many occasions, Tomer would try his best to reach out to his father's heart but it would either create more distance or lead to more anger. The track gradually increases in its energy and dives back down and up again showing how from the softest moments things start to boil and finally explode. Tomer injected both Latin and Jypsy elements into the track which included sending Ben (Lead singer) to research specific influences. Ben of course took things through his own filters allowing another texture and dimension inside the track.

3. Dance of violence:

The song’s lyrics are directly connected to the norm of Israel’s day-to-day life. In our story, at the age of 18, Alex joins the army, but he doesn't do it out of patriotism, but for his selfish need of acting out on his raging emotions. He becomes the commander of a vicious fighting team that worships him and follows his every word and leads them to death and destruction.

The music flows with the chaotic personality that is in constant change, switching through a spectrum of pure unaware anger and total exhaustion. The song doesn't follow a specific structure though it does have its verse and chorus, but the second verse is a softer variation that leads to a vocal solo part, trying to give a sense of being as one with his inner beast during the battle moments, where the body sort of acts on itself.

The song tends to go through some sharp turns as it is a reflection of the roller-coaster of emotions that tends to overflow Alex's mind. As we arrive at the coda section that suddenly switches from a 4/4 time signature to a 5/4. A final twist of events occurs as Alex decides to stop fighting and acts as the opposition while trying to drag the rest along with him.

4. Carried Away:

This is a bitter, sweet memory, a sharp twist to a childhood memory from age 7. Being barely woken up, after fainting out repeatedly and passing out from rat poison fumes that were sprayed throughout the house, Alex was experiencing hallucinations while being unconscious and imagining being at the same location where he found his mother dead while nature around him came to life in the form of a nightmare. But even within this horror show, while feeling scared, cold, and alone he managed to take control and put up a fight.

The music starts gently and gradually. A fragile moment yet intense drops with a drum groove on the ride symbols paired with a dark and busy bass line that is balanced by a tender choir section and guitars that contrast each other. Gradually the music intensifies and gets even darker reflecting an emotional spiral that reaches a certain climax after the second verse. After the last chorus, the song ends with vigorous unison of guitar and Synth lairs that drop.

5.Karma:

The song actually starts from the conclusion, that we are all temporary, and so our actions are also temporary, but it also plants seeds and affects our surroundings. Alex realizes he had been under the same ego trip as the people he had blamed for his misfortune and mistreatment. This criticism slowly throughout the song becomes self-pity and grief on the self, and instead of channeling these emotions to becoming better for himself and for others, Alex channels them into depression and self-hatred.

The music reflects the duality Alex holds, and builds up from this moment of clarity with an atmospheric reggae feel that drives you gradually into a fast and thrashy instrumental groove that drops at the verse. Although the song maintains its extreme energy while showcasing intensive changes in mood and tempo, it still maintains certain softer moments, the chorus is one of them. Throughout the track, the chorus increases in its energy up until the third and last one. The outro is stripped down into a piano only that uses the melody from the melody in a broken kind of way, desperately outlining the need to refuel energy and rest.

6. Day In Day Out:

This song gives you an inside glimpse of what happens when you don't follow military protocol and undermine the sacred codes of the army and commit treason to the country. It tells Alex’s story in captivity by his own country, of being broken down into small pieces while kept isolated and frequently tortured and drugged for 6 months.

The main character could barely speak and his only companion was his inner voice. He used to divide the people that came in and out as “demons and saints”, because every time after being beaten up, the “angels” would come and clean him up and keep him alive. It felt like an eternity inside but he accepted the punishment and did not resist as he knew that he deserved it.

The introduction for the song starts off with a soft and uncomfortable melody as it portrays an animal being captivated. Then the instrumental intro shifts into a raging explosion of aggression with a rhythmic riff that appears in the track repeatedly. Day in and day out has other noticeable musical motives resembling its rhythmic and melodic elements. There are 3 unique moments in the song. One is the second verse, which is reflected musically with a dark and cold reggae-like feel with atmospheric guitars. The second one is the pre-chorus which has mystic and slightly spiritual energy, and the third is the coda part which is based on an afrobeat drum and bass groove accompanied by the lead guitar melodies and vocal that are played in unison and are based on the Ethiopian musical scale minor Bati. The song doesn't quite end and the coda is drifting into an acapella part crafted by Ben Reiss representing the faze of madness the main character had reached.

7. Anchors:

This song contains some of Alex’s greatest revelations while dealing with his greatest demons and fears. As he returns to his home, and to his crumbling family and the absurd life that has become of it, he then decides to remove his burden by running away from his family and other remaining individuals that he has been carrying with him and so deeply loathes.

Anchors is an explosion of emotions and is packed with peaks and drops.

Throughout the first half of this song, there are two main musical ideas. The first idea is anchored by a guitar riff that comes in and out dynamically to reflect the hidden roots that bother Alex, throughout his journey. The second and main theme in the song is a five-note melody that is played throughout the song in different variations and slowly steps farther from the starting point.

In the second half, the riff reaches a peak and breaks apart while exploding into a psychotic bridge that repeats ragingly and unbalanced. Once the storm calms and the song remains unchained to the riff, the song lifts up to an upbeat African Drum & Bass groove that deep down in its core, contains and accepts the DNA of the initial riff.

8. Rise and Fall:

This song relates to the hardest point in time in Alex's life when first realized he was alone at the age of 21. He tries to recreate his past steps and become a raging prophet. He starts his journey with a clear purpose to awaken the people that surround him about the false world they live in. Shortly after, Alex realizes he had been overlooked, and that no one believes him, and in fact, they feel comfortable maintaining their current daily lives. In the midst of it all, Alex finds comfort in his depression, his demons reach out to him in his time of despair while reassuring him that he is where he needs to be.

The track starts off with a heavy groove intro, but it breaks once the verse enters with a drum & bass groove basically stating the main characteristic nature of the song which is a sort of bipolar feeling as the energy stretches back and forth in. The song contains some odd signature rhythms and polyrhythmic components and even leans into different genres.

9. Blow the Leaves:

Is a deep dive into Alex's imaginative journey inside a river that runs inside a big dark maze while drowning in a paralyzing sense of being defeated. His demons are hovering above him at all times up until the point he just ignores them completely. As the journey evolves, Ales’s thoughts and conclusions get more and more complex and his pain and suffering intensify even more up until he can not handle it anymore and considers suicide but rather quickly regrets his thoughts and wishes to return to his path in life.

The music's main theme starts at the very beginning as a dark polyrhythmic verse that transforms its energy building up and dropping down much like waves. The track slowly intensifies and reaches a heavy hardcore chorus building up into emotional catatonia that gradually decreases back into the main theme. The middle section is in ⅞ time signature and while it keeps a gentle feel it still maintains that uncomfortable feeling. The track shows various peaks, twists, and turns and eventually arrives at the main theme again but in its most aggressive and hurting form.

10. A Better Version Of You:

After a brutal journey, Alex manages to visualize a somewhat brighter horizon but he still carries with him his bag of self-pity, confusion, and pain. Alex keeps wondering if only he could point the finger at what is inside him that keeps circling back to that big black hole inside him and wishes he could pull himself out of this state of mind and become better.

The track starts with an asymmetric guitar harmony that arrives at an explosion of screams and distortion dressed on an African-style drum groove that keeps appearing in the track and acts as a motive. The track has rhythmical twists that lean on different ¾ patterns in most parts and a chorus that takes all the complexity and turns it into a slow-motion dance with a flamenco-like feel. The middle part of the song is a broken down section that has its own unique character and while being unpredictable and aggressive, it shows much vulnerability that exists despite the rage.

11.Refahim:

This final track is unique in this album, but not because it’s totally in Hebrew, moreover because in its core - Refahim is an improvisation experiment.

At the end of the last recording session, Tomer reached out to Dror (the drummer that recorded the album) and told him to just play, whatever comes to mind.

At a later point, Tomer filled the track with his interpretation, of this random yet mysterious rant, and passed it to Ben with the same amount of freedom, which made it an opportunity to allow a glimpse into the future for Alex (in a narrative way), and also for the band, as a continuation for the vision of Neolia.

The lyrics to this song are derived from an inhalation of The book of Tao and present a moment of clarity as we break our own chains of perceptions and lead our path toward new realms.