Track By Tracks: Skylake - The Deep Dive (2026)
1. Haunted:
The album opens with Haunted, a prog epic that is inspired by a tragic and disturbing horror story. It opens with a crescendo full of unsettling sound effects, opening up to a big wall of sound, and then alternates between heavy sections and serene backdrops to let Suzan's vocals shine. It features cello, electric and concert harp, as well as a mellotron in some places to enrich the unsettling atmosphere. Expect heavy, headbang-worthy riffs, emotional key changes, and lush orchestral arrangements.
2. Wide Open:
Haunted leads into Wide Open, the second track, which is a lot lighter in atmosphere. It doesn't beat around the bush and kicks off right into an energetic yet yearning-sounding guitar theme, which transitions to an upbeat verse. This song tells the story of an adventurer stepping into the wide-open world, looking for freedom and how this confronts and shapes them as a person. After a melancholy chorus, there's a slow build unfolding into a guitar solo, leading into a powerful, bombastic climax where we fire on all cylinders. And finally, it concludes with another chorus, where the lyrics reflect the change in the character after his journey transformed them.
3. In Shatters:
‘In Shatters’ is one of our more emotionally heavy tracks. The theme had its origins in the contrast between the dark riffs in the verses on the one hand, and a calmer and melodic chorus on the other. It got us thinking about the wide range of emotions found in human relationships, and we found ourselves fascinated by the often coexisting feelings of love and anger, and safety and anxiety. While writing the lyrics, we drew inspiration from our own experiences, which we magnified and dramatized quite a bit. We ended up with a story about crossed boundaries and the realization that splitting ways, however painful, is sometimes the better option.
4. Freefall:
After three songs on full power, our fourth song introduces a more mellow, ballad kind of feel. It’s carried by acoustic guitar and harp, and features a beautiful cello solo. The reassuring words sung in the chorus are addressed to someone who acts distantly to protect themselves.
5. Nocturnal Dissonance:
We’ve all been there: as the night falls and you look at the clock, your time to sleep starts ticking away, and your battle against insomnia begins. In one of our heaviest tracks, the guitars alternate between funky and heavy, referring to the state of feeling simultaneously anxious and exhausted. The second half of the song starts out with a catchy bassline, and depicts the restless twilight zone between wakefulness and sleep. Carried forward by increasingly desperate vocals and intense drum fills, the story approaches its resolution in the last chorus, when the exhaustion finally wins, and you truly fall asleep.
6. In the Shadow of Consequence:
For the sole instrumental track on our album, we take you on a harp-driven ride. It opens with an ominous harp part backed by propulsive guitars and heavy drum hits. Soon after, the guitars expand on a riff that makes you want to bang your head progressively further back and forth. After an atmospheric groove and more riffs, the rhythmic meter changes for an atmospheric section with a steady build-up. The bright harp arrangement and guitar solo set a more open mood and allow you to dream away. Before long, it switches back into the 4/4 rhythm and into a (dare we say) djenty riff that combines the first two riffs, tying everything together. The title is a reference to the struggles of the guitarist with his chronic illness, which forces him to continuously consider the consequences of undertaking any activity.
7. Nowhere to go:
Starting out with a calmer acoustic section, the first few lyrics of this song describe what it’s like to feel completely drained and overstimulated, and the long way to recovery. After an instrumental passage featuring both harp and cello, rhythmic acoustic guitars shift the mood to a sense of anger, unacceptance, and agency. Soon a riff launches the listener into an energetic rock song. The second chorus introduces a feeling of hope that sets the tone for the end piece, which features the whole band singing.
8. In My Arms:
The theme of In My Arms is based on a personal experience of a family member of one of the members of Skylake. The band took a text written by the person in question and began associating. The track starts out calmly, featuring dark harp sounds, a flute solo, and defeated vocals about trying to find a way out. The chorus, in contrast, feels warm and welcoming. The protagonist is told that all will be fine, but the following soundscape tells a different story. A dark, tight groove featuring eerie harp notes carries the story to a point of no return: the protagonist has let go, and their friends and relatives are left behind with grief. A darker version of the chorus builds up to a big and heavy conclusion.
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