Track By Tracks: Whispers In The Maze - Stories Untold: Chapter 1 (2022)

1. Poisoning Imagination:

Lyrics:

Ben: This song is about a losing battle against anxiety. Whereas most songs on the topic would generally tell a story from the viewpoint of the person suffering from it, this one is told from the viewpoint of Anxiety itself, personified as a kind of imaginary enemy. The song's title, 'Poisoning Imagination,' reflects this idea of self-inflicted harm. I chose this viewpoint as I prefer to sing from a position of strength rather than weakness and self-pity. The energy is totally different.

Music:

Ben: I'm the Tribulation fan in the band, but I can't help but find that this song has some Tribulation influences somehow. Musically, I find it's a good companion song to Ink.

Emine: Musically 'Poisoning Imagination" is probably our most energetic starting song, and I especially like that the vocals start right away. It is also a song that began at the jam space rather than a riff being brought, so it is different in that sense. Despite the lyrics being about anxiety, I find this song fun and highly energetic.

2.Ink:

Lyrics:

Ben: Written by our original singer Zach Dean, Ink's lyrics are about the alienation that is organized religion. 

Music:

Emine: "Ink" starts with a very Middle-Eastern-sounding riff. And given my origins, sometimes I am thought to be behind that riff, but that is not the case! It was actually Zach (our first vocalist and then second guitarist, now of Messora) who wrote that riff. And we actually recorded that song as a single a few years ago. But we decided to rerecord it as the new members added new flavors to the music. We always have the mindset that "songs can change till it is recorded." We surpassed that with Ink!

Ben: Ink was built around a "middle eastern sounding" riff brought to the jam room by Zach Dean, our original vocalist who also covered the second guitar live for a while. The rest grew organically from there. The middle part of the song was later modified after Vitto joined us. You can dig out our old demo recording of Ink if you want to hear the difference.

3. Chained Till The Grave:

Lyrics:

Ben: Thematically a companion song to Ink and also written by original vocalist Zach Dean, Chained Till the Grave is about the prisons that are pre-formatted belief systems and coming to that realization, sometimes too late...

Music:

Emine: Sometimes a riff can wait for years to find a home. "Chained Till The Grave" s intro was written many years ago, but it just couldn't find the right home until it was played by this band. And the wait definitely paid off. It is not necessarily unique to this song, but I love how the two guitars mangle each other in this song and weave something beautiful.

Ben: Musically Chained Till The Grave has a doomy intro, a chuggy transition that then goes into a neo-classical tapping part before ending with a melodic outro.

4. Behind Your Eyes:

Lyrics:

Ben: Written by original vocalist Zach Dean, the lyrics of Behind Your Eyes are about carrying a self-destructive addiction or mental condition and the urge to succumb to it.

Music:

Ben: Behind Your Eyes owes a lot to our former guitarist Amaury and his Gojira influences. You can hear that in the pick scrapes and the bent tremolo notes. An intro saturated with flanger and phaser effects and the clean vocal chorus that could belong in a rock song is other highlights of this song.

Emine: "Behind Your Eyes" is the first song I ever recorded lead vocals for. And incorporating clean vocals was a very fun experience for me, and I believe it added something different to its vibe. In terms of transitions, there is a phase difference in when my guitar does a transition and joins the rest of the band. It is almost like "I am behind"—very fitting to the title.