Behind The Tracks: Asylum Road - Mask Of Oblivion (Single) (2025)

When Paul joined the band late last year, he turned up with a pile of demos he’d been writing. There was a chord structure in one of them that just caught our attention, so we decided we’d give it a go.

The first song we wrote, “Cerca Trova,” was pretty much sorted after our first-ever session as a group. We thought writing was going to be a straightforward process from there, but Mask of Oblivion was a different story altogether. We got a verse riff down, then put it aside to work on other singles because we couldn't get the structure right.

A few weeks later, Brian came into practice with a bass line for the chords and an idea for an ending—an arpeggio thing on the guitar and synth with a choir and piano under it. We kept the bassline, but that ending wasn't quite right. We set it aside again and went back to work on other tracks.

We were maybe 80% there, but it was one of those songs we just couldn't figure out. We knew it had potential, but trying to get the ideas out was a nightmare. Eventually, Brian came back with a new piano and choir bit that suited the lyrics far better. Next thing we knew, Paul had an intro and a solo written. The minute we heard the full version with the solo, over the piano, we knew we had something decent.

Eithan and Paul had a couple of sessions to get the drums sorted. The verse and chorus were written, but we needed the drums for the intro and solo. Once the solo hit, Eithan and Brian teamed up to make sure the rhythm section was enhancing what Paul had with his solo. It was a case of dropping the bass line down an octave and using the double kick under the tapping section to support the guitar.

The last part was the vocals. The Lyrics were written, they are about mental health struggles, being in a really dark, lonely and grim place and putting on a brave face for the world around you, so we knew the lyrics were dark, but the rest of us hadn't heard any indication of what Darryn Was Planning in terms of how they would be performed. Darryn and Paul went into the studio with our friend Niall for an all-night session, and they came out with the finished song. The melodic vocals combined with the gutturals were completely unexpected. We have never tried anything like that before, but the lyrics and music needed that melodic element to showcase the emotion of the lyrics. When we all sat down and had a listen to it, we were absolutely buzzing about how it turned out. It’s one of those tracks that could have been easily left unfinished, but thankfully, we stuck with it.