Track By Tracks: The Wave And The Particle - Electric Sheep (2025)

1. Per Aspera:

"Per Aspera" serves as a haunting prelude to the album, a fully-synthesized piece inspired by Hans Zimmer's evocative score for Blade Runner 2049. The track introduces a recurring motif by borrowing a verse from the album's climactic finale, "Transhumanism," hinting at the journey to come.

2. Ad Astra:

"Ad Astra" is our symphonic metal track, a tradition on every album inspired by Katie's love for the genre. The song features layers of orchestral strings, brass, and choirs—blending recordings of Katie and Vasiliy with synthesized elements. Its structure includes an intro and a coda, adding to its sense of scale. The lyrics explore escapism, imagining a journey away from a difficult reality into a world of our own making. Beneath the surface, it’s also a reflection on isolation, the struggle to let go, and the hope for something better, even if it means leaving everything behind.

3. Animus:

Like most songs on the album, Animus is a blend of electronic and symphonic elements overlayed with a more traditional metal arrangement. The lyrics explore a classic sci-fi theme—a robot searching for a soul—but with a visceral twist. Here, the robot’s quest becomes physical, vivisecting a body in its attempt to uncover the elusive essence of humanity.

4. Legacy:

"Legacy" echoes themes from "Transhumanism," both musically and lyrically. Originally built around an extended version of Al’s bass solo from "Transhumanism," the song shifts from a light alt-rock feel in the first half to a heavier, doom metal atmosphere in the second. The lyrics continue the story of a being who has evolved beyond humanity, but where "Transhumanism" explores the promise of transformation, "Legacy" delves into its darker side: the isolation and emptiness that follow. The song ends with a recitation of Percy Shelley’s Ozymandias, a poignant reflection on impermanence and the fragility of legacy.

5. Integration:

"Integration" explores the darker side of globalization and cultural assimilation, a theme rooted in cyberpunk literature but far from new. From Alexander to Genghis Khan to modern powers, history is filled with examples of conquerors erasing or twisting cultures to fit their own. The lyrics, told from the perspective of the aggressor, chart this process of domination and erasure. Musically, the song begins softly and deceptively, building tension until it erupts in a violent ending where the truth is laid bare: “There is no you, there is only us.”

6. Simulation:

"Simulation" draws inspiration from Muse's The 2nd Law, alternating between driving rock and electronic-inspired sections. The lyrics explore the idea of trying to control life through endless analysis and prediction, a common sci-fi theme. This quest for perfection traps the protagonist in a loop of possibilities, ultimately leading to frustration and a breaking point. In the end, they abandon control, embracing the chaos of life and whatever the future may hold.

7. The Other:

"The Other" began as a nod to The Birthday Massacre but evolved into something uniquely its own. The lyrics explore humanity’s tendency to seek reflections of itself in others, whether in people, cultures, or even alien worlds. Inspired by Stanislaw Lem’s observation that “We have no need of other worlds. We need mirrors,” the song questions our ability to truly embrace difference. Musically, it balances introspection and intensity, mirroring the push and pull between connection and projection.

8. In Vitro Veritas:

Like "Integration," "In Vitro Veritas" tackles a contemporary theme: the use of propaganda and manufactured truths to manipulate and radicalize. The song captures the journey from chaos to control, representing the stages of falling into propaganda. It begins with the dissonance of clashing perspectives, moves into the deceptive calm of a "rational" lie, and culminates in the violence and destruction that follow when falsehoods take root as unshakable beliefs.

9. Beyond Sorrow:

Written by our vocalist Katie, "Beyond Sorrow" echoes the theme of transformation introduced in "Ad Astra." As the second track on the album with a more traditional symphonic metal feel, it combines orchestral grandeur with introspection. The song is about letting go—saying goodbye to a soul-crushing chapter and finding strength beyond sorrow to embrace new beginnings. On a personal level, Katie wrote this as a farewell to her fifteen-year career in big data and machine algorithms. The lyrics reflect how, like machines, humans undergo iterative evolutions, breaking down and rebuilding to face the future with resilience.

10. Electric Sheep:

We humans love our communities—they make us feel whole, part of something greater. But these same communities often draw harsh lines, shunning or excluding those who don’t fit in. Today, if you’re not part of a social network, it’s almost as if you don’t exist. So why not join us? Join us in the digital hive, where individuality dissolves, and you’ll learn to think, act, and exist just like the rest of us. After all, we are the electric sheep.

11. Decima:

Every transaction, search, and login leaves a trail, creating a complete digital profile that reveals—and predicts—our interests, actions, and even our lives. Imagine placing this vast web of patterns under the control of an artificial intelligence, a modern-day personification of Fate. In Roman mythology, Decima was the goddess who measured lifespans and determined destinies. In our digital age, she takes the form of algorithms, always watching, always counting, and always in control.

12. Transhumanism:

"Transhumanism" serves as the grand finale to Electric Sheep, capturing the essence of the cyberpunk aesthetic with dark electronic textures, a driving beat, and a cello line that evokes the lingering humanity within the machine. The track is a journey through transformation, weaving optimism and melancholy into its fabric. Extended guitar and bass solos add a dynamic, organic contrast to the synthetic foundation. The song begins by celebrating the possibilities of transcending human limitations, but as it unfolds, it confronts the solitude and disconnection that come with leaving humanity behind, leaving a bittersweet resonance to close the album.