Tag: Thanatology

Thanatology is featured on the Breathing The Core webzine! I briefly summarized my thoughts there on each tracks of the new album. You can either check out the original post here, or scroll down and read the entire text below!

“Thanatology is a scientific discipline that examines death from many perspectives, including physical, ethical, spiritual, medical, sociological, and psychological.” 

Despite its title, this album has nothing to do with depression or sadness. This album doesn’t even intend to transmit negativity. On the contrary: Thanatology is an instrumental diary with six “inner snapshots” of a deeply spiritual journey starting with the realization of existential transience towards a glimmer of optimism. “Everybody is going to be dead one day, just give them time” said once Neil Gaiman – and indeed, death puts the big question mark upon our whole existence. Still, Thanatology tries to transmit feelings on a wide scale ranging from sadness and bitterness to joy and positivity that emerges from the realization that acknowledging life’s ephemeral nature can lead to a profound appreciation of the present moment and the beauty of existence.

(1) The Last Wasted Dawn

The opening track – with a title referring to the realization of the fragility and brevity of life – starts with an oriental guitar theme that subsequently melts into a flute solo. I am a big admirer of Devon Graves of Psychotic Waltz, therefore the involvement of flutes in a metal song has always been something fascinating to me. Here, the eerie sounds of the flute intend to paint pictures of a distant “inner desert” – a landscape that represents everything that we should abandon, leave behind. Then we arrive at the main body of the song that starts with an energetic part with even more flutes and jazzy-sounding piano harmonies (another amazing instrument in a metal track – look, what Francesco Ferrini does in a Fleshgod Apocalypse song!) combined with heavy riffs and guitar solos. Then comes the second – initially slower, then increasingly faster – part of the song with numerous multi-layered guitar harmonies and solos. In these parts I tried to incorporate feelings of bewilderment, bitterness and confusion that culminate in a fast, thrash metal-like part towards the end of the track (thrash metal has always been one of my major influences, therefore it’s almost inevitable that most of my songs have such parts…). Then the track ends with slowly calming down, by returning to the original oriental motif (however this time without a flute).

(2) Stepping Through The Shadow Line

The second song of the album is somewhat intentionally Janus-faced – just like the situation I tried to depict in the title: a paradox compendium of uncontrollable joy and happiness together with immense frustration and sadness. In other words: the duality of everything that’s left behind, vs. the coming future. The song starts with outbursts of happiness and energy that melt into richly orchestrated melodies, while bringing back the oriental feeling of the previous track (you’ll see later that these oriental parts have a somewhat cohesive role in the context of the entire album). Then we arrive again at a thrash-metal based fast and furious part colored with church organs that culminates in some kind of a “chorus” (I tend to like unconventional song structures – but if we want to make analogies, then I would call this particular section of hectic, disturbing keyboard melodies accompanied with subsequent guitar harmonies a “chorus”). Then the song immediately slows down to become a kind of “marche funèbre”, before the return of the initial thrash metal-like part and the chorus, to wrap everything up with the original energetic and joyful theme. 

(3) Necronym

A necronym is a name of or a reference to a person who has already died. Therefore, this song is an obvious recollection of those deserted “personal landscapes” that I already left behind in the first two songs (before “crossing the shadow line”, if you know what I mean…). The jazz-like guitar themes in the beginning of the song are accompanied by slightly unconventional harmonies played on an acoustic guitar. In contrast, the main body of the song is based on a monotonous, pulsating, and rough riff, which tries to dig deep into the mind of the listener, creating a recurring pattern like a continuously returning, unpleasant memory. If you ever wandered in your apartment sleeplessly, haunted by memories from your past, then you’ll understand the motivation behind this section. The piano-based, gloomy middle part is then followed by a bridge section that shows some resemblance to the dissonant harmonies used by the late Piggy of Voivod. The song ends up with the original riff enriched with synthwave fills.

(4) Legacy Of The Worthless

I was around 15 or 16, when I first heard Deep Purple’s Concerto for Group and Orchestra – and in that very moment I realized that there aren’t any substantive differences between the artificially divided “classical” and “modern” music genres. To me, these genres appear nothing else but different expressions on Art’s beautiful face. That’s why I love playing with orchestration, even in the most brutal songs. And this is definitely one of the straightforward ones, trying to transmit feelings of despair and anger, and of being in the bottom of the hole from where one can only proceed upwards. Most of the time I used to play the guitar in standard tuning, but this song was written in drop D, which renders it a deeper, and more robust sound than the other tracks of the album. My enthusiasm for piano harmonies and synthwave fills is evident here, too. 

(5) All Shall Perish

The fifth song of Thanatology intends to be some kind of a recognition of our own mortality, signified with the tolling death bells in the intro. After haunting piano sounds and guitar harmonies we arrive at a part of slow brutality supported by the accompaniment of a brass orchestra. Then the jazzy middle part with pianos precedes one of the fastest moments in the whole album: a good old-school thrash metal riff. This is the song of burning bridges: the checkpoint, where we finally realize the transient nature of our own existence – and this recognition triggers us to take a big step forward.

(6) Farewell Before Sunset

The last song of the album is again a thrash metal-based track. The initial section with an almost nu metal-like riff is followed by the ultimate thrashing madness of the album colored with the sounds of a Hammond organ, that somewhat soften the harshness of the fast riffs. Then comes a melody that I find particularly meaningful and emotional – if I should name a single riff that I’m most proud in the entire album, I would mention this one. For me, it’s like the wrap up of the whole record’s essence: it’s extremely sad but still, full of hope, like in that old Virgin Black song with Rowan London screaming in his haunting, tortured voice: “All is lost but hope…”. Then the oriental motif from the first track comes back, taking the whole album structure into a frame, with fading out at the end, leaving the big questions concerning our own existence open.

“One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important.”
(Bertrand Russel)

As I’m not a therapist, I cannot tell you, whether Bertrand Russel was right or not. Maybe he was, or maybe he wasn’t. Or maybe my whole adult existence was nothing but a prelude to a forthcoming grandiose nervous breakdown. I really don’t know. But I can assure you of one thing: I took every step towards the birth of Thanatology very seriously. From the songwriting to the recording, mixing, mastering (etc.) of this album, I poured my heart into these six songs.

Without having the intention to repeat my previous post on the meaning of Thanatology, I try to elaborate my thoughts on this album from another – a very personal – perspective. You could say that talking about the impermanence of life is a somewhat depressive topic – and I will eagerly agree with you on that. Death is the big question mark upon our existence. However, I don’t want (and hopefully won’t) sink into depression, while exploring themes of existential transience. Although “everybody is going to be dead one day, just give them time” (Neil Gaiman), Thanatology is intentionally connected with offering a glimmer of optimism. This positive outlook emerges from the realization that acknowledging life’s ephemeral nature can lead to a profound appreciation of the present moment and the beauty of life.

Why is it so important to me? What’s this slighlty morbid interest all about? It’s quite easy to answer these questions. The last twenty (or at least fifteen…) years of my life were spent under the sign of constant procrastination. I always had big dreams: I started to write a book (I never finished it…), I climbed beautiful rock walls in the Alps and High Tatras (I had to stop doing it for a long while due to health issues…) and practiced a lot on my guitar (but my dream music to-come has actually just started to come into life). And finally, at a certain point started to feel that my whole existence was nothing but a compilation of unrealized possibilities. I was probably too afraid, too hesitant or simply just too lazy to fully dedicate myself to implement my dreams, until – probably during one of the lockdowns, when I had enough time to contemplate on matters like these – I finally realized that I don’t have unlimited time anymore. “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us” teaches us the famous quote by J. R. R. Tolkien – and actually he was damn right: time is running out, and each of us must find out, what to do with what’s left of it.

Well, my very personal solution to the problem of passing time is that I brought – among many other things – Darkwave into life. I know that it could (and should) have been done much earlier. But as Jack Kerouac once wrote: “I’m writing this book because we’re all going to die” (Visions of Cody). There is always a trigger that gives you a final push – and this time I felt triggered by the rush of time. So, please understand it well: I’m presenting these songs, because we’re all (including myself) going to die. And before our time is running out, I wanted to create something meaningful. A nervous breakdown? I don’t think so. Thanatology is a giant leap for me, but only a small step for mankind – and in this regard I will never assign to it unhealthy significance. But still, I poured my heart and soul into these six songs until the point that they became the honest representations of who am I.

Please, listen to them if you want, and take a piece of my soul.

Are you ready to listen to a longer excerpt of the fourth track (Legacy Of The Worthless) of the new album? Click on the video below, and write me what you think!

And… please save the date: the new album will be available on 3. August 2023!

Thanatology, my upcoming album will be available on the main streaming platforms on 3. August, 2023. If you want to presave the album (Spotify, Apple Music), you can do it by clicking here: https://ffm.to/thanatology!

Stay tuned, friends – it’s less than one month!

“Thanatology is a scientific discipline that examines death from many perspectives, including physical, ethical, spiritual, medical, sociological, and psychological. It emerged out of the “death awareness movement” that started in the 1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.” (source).

Despite its title, my upcoming album has nothing to do with depression or sadness. This album has nothing to do with gloomy feelings or fear of death, too. This album doesn’t even intend to transmit negativity. On the contrary: Thanatology is my very special diary that tells you in six songs, how I slowly became aware of the fact that the time – my time – is running out. I try to present a multifaceted and very emotional picture of this deeply spiritual journey.

The opening track (“The Last Wasted Down“, referring to the realization of fragility and brevity of life) starts with an oriental flute theme. The sounds of a flute and a piano combined with progressive metal riffs lead to another oriental guitar motif, then subsequently into a faster part with tight blastbeats.The second track (“Stepping Through The Shadow Line“) is intentionally two-faced: it combines brutality with orchestrated melodies, a thrash-based speed with a funeral hymn-like gloomy bridge. “Necronym” (the name of or a reference to a person who has died – an obvious link to all things I’ve left behind to have time and dedication to do new ones) starts with an acoustic, jazzy part followed by some unconventional melodies upon a monotonous, pulsating riff and a piano-based, gloomy middle part. Following a Voivod-like bridge, the song ends up in the original riff packed with synthwave fills. Then there immediately comes the orchestral into of the fourth track (“Legacy Of The Worthless“) with tons of guitars tuned in drop D and some synthwave support. The fifth song entitled “All Shall Perish” intends to be some kind of a recognition of our own mortality, signified with the ringing bells in its intro. Then comes a part of slow brutality supported by a brass orchestra and followed by a jazzy middle part with pianos and one of the fastest moments of the wole album in the shape of an old-school thrash riff. The closing track (“Farewell Before Sunset“) is again a thrash metal-based song combined with a melody that I find very emotional.

Well, that’s basically the structure, the logic and the message of my third album that will be released exactly on the second birthday of my debut material Hexapla, on the 3rd of August 2023. I can’t wait to show you the results of the hard work of more than one year! I hope you guys will enjoy the final product!

Despite that most of you probably already saw it, still I think it’s time to officially unveil the cover art for my brand-new album Thanatology!

As always, the cover photo was done by my talented, long-time friend, Dávid Ujhelyi. We’ve been friends for decades, so besides my music, he also knows the person behind it. Consequently, his cover art concept with a blend of dark artistry and clear-out symbolism serves as a visual gateway not only into the sonic realm that awaits the listener, but also to the deeper layers of my true self – a kaleidoscope of emotions, stories, and experiences that will hopefully ignite your imagination and resonate within your soul. Let me thank him again wholeheartedly for this amazing piece of art!

Stay tuned friends, as Thanatology will be released on the 3^rd of August!