Track By Tracks: Orbiter - Hollow World (2023)

1. Silence Breaks:

Carolin Koss (Vocals): When we went with Alexander to our producer Hiili’s studio in Hämeenlinna, Silence Breaks was the only song for which I hadn’t managed to fully finish the lyrics yet. So, on the train there, and the night before the recording started, we were literally bending our heads to different dimensions to finalize the lyrics. The chorus was especially missing until the very end, but it appeared somewhere around midnight, 10 hours before the recording started. Sometimes it’s good to have that little extra time pressure.

Tuomas Talka (Bass): Despite being the first track on the album, this is actually the last song we composed. The rest of the album was pretty much ready for studio when we realized we needed one really heavy-hitting opening track for it. We were also struggling for quite some time to get it to its final shape before Hiili just told us that he had booked the studio for us four weeks ahead. This time pressure then forced us to finalize the song, and I feel it did only good to it!

2. Beneath:

C: Beneath is a song about struggling, drowning, gasping for air, and at the same time obeying the rapid current and going through the pain, that may be the only way back to the surface. My singing approach tries to capture this notion of struggling and suffering, and then again finding calmness and enlightenment within the chaos.

T: The main riff of Beneath is some alteration of a riff I had in my demo pile for quite a while. It was originally supposed to be some quite long and epic song, but then we dissected it with Alexander and reshaped the remains to a heavy rocker song, with rhythmic and dynamic changes, and catchy hooks. Thanks to Hiili, it got even more of those during the pre-production phase.

3. Kolibri:

C: Before recording vocals for Kolibri in the studio, I had different ideas and did a few test recordings at home, which were rather complex. When we then went to the studio, I remember Hiili suggested quite spontaneously ”Hey, let’s record vocals for Kolibri now.” I wasn’t prepared, I didn’t have my test recordings with me, but thought why not. So he pressed record and I more or less improvised what came to my mind at that moment and from my faded memory of what I had tested before. Then Hiili cheerfully slapped the stop button after my first vocal recording and said: “That’s it, we have it!” I suppose this is what you call a one-take wonder.

4. Hollow World:

T: The idea for Hollow World came as I was just doodling around with a guitar with a tremolo effect. That became the verse for the song, which I thought could be some interesting mixture of smoky lounge jazz type of approach and heavy riffing. The song title Hollow World was actually a working title for this song also, reflecting the state of mind and surroundings of the moment when the original idea for the song emerged.

C: I have been a big fan of Hollow World from the beginning when the guys brought their first ideas of it to the practice room. I loved the smoky jazzy and desert vibe, so it was actually quite easy to come up with vocal melodies. I also liked the dynamics and versatility of the riffs, which enabled me to play with my voice and go from a fragile and sensitive tone to an explosive, intense expression. In the bridge part “Immortal madness, ruled by injustice” I also set myself out for a challenge, where I try to hold and glide on one long sequence. The funny thing is, that I so far have always managed to pull that off live, but then when we went to the studio, I was suddenly struggling with exactly that part. I still wonder if it was a lack of air in the small recording booth or if it was just my head that played tricks on me. Luckily in the last take, it turned out beautifully.

5. Raven Bones:

T: With Raven Bones, we wanted to implement some primordial rhythms and synergy of bass and drums. The song has a sensitive and mystic atmosphere in the verses, and high-energy riffs to bang head to, during the main riff and chorus. This song is a killer track on our gigs.

C: The original lyrics idea for Raven Bones came during a time, when I was sorting out my whole apartment, going through things, and throwing away stuff. It also became a mental clean-up at the same time and I was surprised how I reached more clarity and focus inside when I cleaned up the outside and my surroundings. Alexander also came by sometimes and radically confronted me and questioned the usefulness of certain random objects I was still attached. Some of which I managed to let go of and some of which I still hold onto...but psst, don’t tell Alexander.

6. Transmissions:

T: We discussed with Alexander that it would be interesting to have some pretty trippy and experimental instrumental tracks on the album. We then decided to go for this approach, in which the bass riff is the static North Star which the drums and guitars can navigate with while getting through the sea of psychedelia and getting really trippy and totally over the board on the way.

7. Under Your Spell:

T: This is actually the oldest song on the album and to my knowledge the one and only song this far that got all the essential parts composed in one go. It was the spring of 2020 when I went by the sea with Carolin to try something out with acoustic guitar, and this song just somehow emerged to me. After that day the rest was just some minor arrangement changes, and lyrics writing for Carolin.

C: When recording Under your Spell, Hiili had the idea to not record the song in the studio, but in the hang-out area instead, so we would get a more intimate relaxed atmosphere. Hiili then set up a few room mics and Alexander and I did exactly two takes and we chose one of them. So it’s basically a bit like a live recording that was done in one take.

8. Last Call:

T: The closing song of the album, “Last Call”, is a non-typical Orbiter song in the sense that it is strongly rooted in our world, with a timely anti-war message. As oppressive as the thematics of the song are, we wanted to also plant a seed of hope in this song, as all hope is not at all lost.

9. Hollow World:

T: We were going through some interesting artists we would like to collaborate with when we started thinking about the cover art for the album and I raised the chance of working with Akatius, who I knew already from Lappeenranta as we had friends in common. I had also been following his art for a few years already at that point and admired his ability to capture esoteric and mystic thematics in otherworldly photos. We visited his home to gain some inspiration for the clothing, props, and set for the album cover art, and quite quickly got it converged to something we wanted to execute in practice. The cover art ties the atmosphere and thematics of the album very well together, and the sharp-eyed can spot direct references to song lyrics. The cover art gives a colder feeling than the clearly warmer cover art of our EP, “The Deluge”. The colder cover art is well aligned with the songwriting of a less innocent and more hollow world of the album.

C: Working with Akatius was very inspiring. We met up on one icy cold winter day in Lappenranta at his home and he gave me two trays of black and white face paint, which I spread quite intuitively over my face. We then walked down to the bay and I positioned myself on the ice. We installed the raven on my shoulder and Akatius threw layers of robes over me and handed me the moon. I then started winding and bending my body. I often draw inspiration from all the movements I learn from my Kung Fu and Qi Gong practice. When choosing the photo for the album, Akatius and I were immediately certain that it had to be that one specific photo. It radiated something magical, something complete.