The Life

Published in December of 2017, the band’s debut album featured eleven unique instrumentals, each capturing the major chapters of its author’s life. The overpowering emotions, the personality-shaping experiences, and the everlasting memories contained therein, when evoked in the clinical studio environment, created a nearly spiritual bond between the carefully picked musicians. The first and foremost aspect of the production was to emphasize the ambiance through which one might have gone before eventually refining it into a song. Then, there was the highlight of each member’s God-given talent honed by professionality.

Featuring:

• Josip Pesut – guitars, synth programming
• Damir Somen – drums and percussion
• Tomislav Lackovic – bass guitar
• Tomo Bacurin ‘Diamond’ – keyboards and piano
• Savfko Alimoski – kaval
• Giuliana Alimoski – flute

Produced by:

• Josip Pesut – arrangements
• Tomo Bacurin ‘Diamond’ – mix and mastering (Longplay Studio Zagreb)

Tracklist:

“‘Try To Find The Hope’ was one of the tracks I wrote during my teenage days when I used to gig with a solo guitar, jamming over backing tracks in local bars, sessions, competitions; wherever I could have earned an opportunity to set my foot on the stage. Therefore emerged the to-the-point guitar-based expression that always somehow worked better live than in the studio. The vibe of the song is meant to depict a struggle through the harsh times when coping with depression and helplessness, and then winning with patience and persistence; a symbolic outlook on the period during which any significant success with music stood no chance against the pending turmoil during that era of my life.”

“Contrary to the other vocal editions of the songs from ‘The Life’ album that will have later been reissued, I wrote music and lyrics for ‘Sight Of An Eagle’ with a powerful vocalist in mind, with whom I used to play together in a hard rock band dubbed ‘Same Destinies’ (that unfortunately never moved on from the stage of endless–and oftentimes aimless–rehearsals). The original version of this track came to life with the symphonies created in Reason software, and then the band futilely tried to recreate it. From there it waited nearly twelve years to make it to the proper studio but as a guitar-driven instrumental. What a destiny.”

“Inspired by the immense talent of ambient-trance artists, I wrote an electronic demo for this song in Reason software, allowing enough space for a surprise on how it would turn out when real musicians take over their sampled counterparts. The result was, in my subjective perception, a soothing beat-laden story spoken in the language of synthesizers and electric guitar, most enjoyable when listened to with closed eyes.”

“Originating around the year 2006 from the Guitar Pro MIDI experiments that accompanied a bold lead-guitar statement, this song carried my motivation for years as I desperately tried making it as a solo guitarist. The album shares its name for a very good reason, and even though much different than the initial idea, this song contains a lot of heartful memories.”

“A variation on a theme by the band’s one and only – Tomo Bacurin aka Diamond, playing on a piano with a sense of my nostalgia and life’s transience. It was a special experience to be with him when he recorded these takes.”

“Before I had become a fan of rock and metal, I was imbued in goa trance and its peculiar, mystical, and hypnotizing atmospheres often gone missing from the other genres. The depth, so deep it would become fathomless darkness, intrigued me in that music, and ‘Aural Spectrum’ is one of my attempts to lead the band in that cryptical direction.”

“I went to Oostende, Belgium, to celebrate the birth of my friend’s daughter. His name is Antony Reynaert, a remarkable blues guitarist who’s dedicating his life to teaching youngsters how to play. When we rendezvoused, among the first things we’ve done was shared a couple of licks. He started playing an intricate chord progression and I started soloing, creating melodies. From there, things went smoothly … as the song we’d dedicated to his daughter came into existence.”

“I wrote this instrumental for my crush when I was roughly twenty. Her reaction was a slightly unimpressed meh, as she was never quite fond of having such cunning melodies tell of our story to the outside world.”

“With ‘Shine’ I have begun composing tracks entirely focused on a solo guitar. Before that, I had preferred writing tunes that could have played replacement roles for the Final Fantasy 7 OST, since I was an unfixable Nobuo Uematsu fan. We are talking more than fifteen years before we stepped in the studio to record this song’s final version, which makes the fact that the arrangement hadn’t been at all altered a gesture of respect to my early-days aspirations and inspirations.”

“With a similar background to that of ‘Aural Spectrum’, ‘Godly Energy’ was left with even more of its original ambiguity and ferocity. I chose to keep the melodies played via multiple layers of synth I had compiled in Reason, and instructed the studio musicians to contribute greatly to the rhythm sections. The blend was not as obfuscating as I thought that it would be, which was relieving to hear as a part of this album, where every song has a different plot. While to play it live still remains an undiscovered treasure for the band.”

“This is one of the hundreds of tunes I had written as a teenager, trying to replicate the work of master Uematsu. I did my best to keep the melody’s core message as intact as possible, and having such a talented flute player as Giuliana at my disposal made it seem too easy.”