Track By Tracks: Metasphaera - Metasphæra (2023)

1. Fall:

Written in 2019, the introductory overture of the album "Fall" contains the main musical themes of the songs that follow, and by its name signifies a fall or decline, which in human existence symbolically represents a rupture of perceptions and expectations and brings about an overthrow of unconscious inner autonomies, such as caused by forms of chaos or crisis. The musical introduction describes a fall into the personal abyss, in which fear, awe, pain, and wonder merge.

2. Exil:

"Exil" was created in its first version between 2010-2011 and was recorded and produced as a demo version in 2013 along with the track "Portal".

It describes the process of how a person finds themselves in a state of separation and existential isolation after a collapse, in which projections onto the outside world and unconscious dependencies on it are recognized and resolved. Forgiveness and taking personal responsibility are central themes dealt with in the song. It describes the process of how a person detaches himself from his identification with the past in order to finally symbolically triumph over it as a mental concept.

3. Einheit:

"Einheit" is one of the earliest songs of Metasphæra. The track was already composed and recorded in its first demo version in 2008 and in this piece, the melodic and classical origin of Metasphæra is clearly audible.

It describes man's existential striving for oneness with his own nature, in which no separation exists. The illusion of separation and duality, which the soul experiences in the human form, is described as an essential feature of human suffering.

The conflict between the polarities of being all one and one's own personal limitations is the thematic focus of this song. Superficial, worldly, and consumerist behaviors of man are described to illustrate his existential alienation through false shifts in values.

4. Katharsis:

The track was created between 2014-2017 and is one of the more recent songs on the album. Tom Heckmann used the riff from the first two bars as the basis for the composition. The motif comes from the time of collaboration with former bassist Matthias Wolf.

The song describes a process of soul liberation that proceeds through a repeating cycle of collapse, spiritual death, growth, and transcendence, and the song's structure can be understood as a symbolic form of the hero's journey.

It describes the process of losing one's self in the pursuit of exclusively positive experiences, succumbing to painful disillusionment, and allowing the constructed personality with its masks to die spiritually in a cathartic purification process until a new state of consciousness is reached that has inherent acceptance, power, and liberation.

In terms of content, the parable makes use of metaphorical elements such as fire, which symbolizes the essence of pain and rebirth, and rock, which is formed from immense forces and symbolizes growth and strength.

5./6. Realitäten:

Although "Realitäten" was completed as one of the more recent songs between 2015-2017, Tom Heckmann used the main theme from a song called "To Reality" that he already wrote in 2006 for his former band SAYN (2003-2008) and created a new version using the old motif.

The song is about the discontinuity and variability of human perception. In this sense, there is no fixed reality, but only subjectively perceived realities that arise from projections of the mind on the outside world and the perceived world is accordingly a representation and thus a selective, subjectively experienced phenomenon.

The song deals with the transmission and maintenance of unconsciously conditioned and self-perpetuated structures of ego-based human reaction patterns that keep the individual trapped in a delusion adapted to the environment.

The song addresses the possibilities of recognizing delusions to question one's reality and step out of the illusion of our mind while restructuring perception, expanding consciousness, and integrating personality traits.

7. Weite:

The interlude was written in 2011 and the title represents a place of rest in the midst of a growth process. The individual has arrived in the present moment and senses a vast space within and around him or her, where reflection, calm, and peace are experienced. Until the next process is approaching again:

8. Portal:

The first version of "Portal" was written in 2007, finalized by 2011, and recorded as a demo version together with "Exil" in 2013.

The title stands for a passage that opens up and can be traversed in the midst of a tearing conflict that cuts across perceptions. On the way to this "growth portal" the human being experiences in a tearing inner conflict, which is symbolically represented as the eye of the storm in which the individual finds himself. Polar forces struggling for dominance between instincts and impulse suppression create a field of tension within and test the integrity of the individual.

In terms of content, the boundary between internal and external conflicts becomes blurred, since they are viewed as universal reaction instances that are directly related to one another. The discrepancy between aggression and powerlessness is described as an expression of a human condition that leads to (self-)destructive behavior patterns and is due to the system of origin-related suppression of impulses and developmental trauma, which are regarded as shadow parts and reveal themselves in the course of life.

The portal here represents surrendering to the pain of the past, integrating and transmuting the shadows, shedding the layers of ego, and moving through our own inner realm toward our growth.