Track By Tracks: Thomas Carlsen's Transmission - Redemption (2021)

1. Cloudbursting:

The main riff was an old idea I had lying around. It was probably written around 2015. I reworked the intro, added the melodies and thought it worked well as an instrumental introduction to the EP. The song has its title from the "weather" effect which you can hear the first five seconds before the drums kick in. The way the intro builds up to the main riff gave me a picture of an airplane flying through the clouds on its way to cruising altitude. Hence "Cloudbursting", which I'm not sure even is a word, but it does sound cool.

2. Redemption:

This one also began with the main riff, which you can hear between the intro and verse. It's repeated several times throughout the song. The middle section was something I had lying around for another track, but I decided to use it on this one because it fit the mood. Originally, it was meant to have an acoustic intro. The lyrics to this one was sort of a poem I had written in my phone's notebook, called "Rapture or Salvation". It's about the spiritual journey of a person who lives in a secular world. So I reworked the words to fit the music, and there it was - my first single!

3. Fallen from Grace:

The intro to this song was demoed in 2016. The main riff is a newer idea I had been jamming for years, but never actually made into a complete track until now. The middle section is inspired by Judas Priest's "Rising from Ruins", where the intro melody is reprised as part of the solos. The lyrics are generally about how greed and corruption triumphs over companionship these days.

4. Still Life:

When I was little, I used to watch a lot of my dad's VHS concert tapes, one of them being Maiden England, where they performed this particular song. I've always loved the melodic intro, and the peculiar riffs they play throughout it.

I felt the EP needed a track that started out a bit slow, just to give the listeners a little headspace. So I thought, why not cover one of my favourite heavy metal tracks of all time? After all, Iron Maiden is my biggest musical inspiration.

5. Hard Line:

This song is inspired by the American heavy metal band Riot. I had the main riff recorded on my phone, which I evolved into an up-tempo rocker with some really bluesy licks in the middle section. These type of tracks don't usually have the deepest of lyrics, therefore I wrote down some words about someone who's paved his own path in life, instead of following the pack.