Behind The Artworks: My Silent Wake - Damnum Per Saeculorum (2020)

Dave: I was going to volunteer to do artwork for the album when Ian asked me if I wanted to do it, so of course I said yes. At that stage of the album’s completion, I wasn’t fully aware of the majority of the songs’ lyrical themes, so I used the theme behind the song ‘To Feel the Caress of Long-Dead Lovers’ as a basis for the artwork concept. I started with an initial pencil sketch, which before I knew it had turned into the final piece – I am not very disciplined in creating multiple draft versions! The artwork you see is just a small part of a larger concept – but after much deliberation we felt the ‘downward spiral’ spoke for the album as a whole so we went with that for the cover. I also produced some accompanying pieces for the CD package and I handled the layout too – as a band we like physical media and I have always felt the album art to be part of an album ‘package’ – a small icon on a streaming platform or MP3 player does not do it justice – and you get no lyrics or sleeve notes. I always recommend buying a CD for the full package and artwork! You also get to read the full list of guest artists and instruments that feature on the album, without which this album simply wouldn’t be what it is.