I know I've said this before, but this album really should be considered my Magnum Opus. I've learnt some actual music theory and I've migrated from Soundation to FL Studio. I've decided that for this album, and for any future albums, I'm going to go into a little detail about each track.

Vanquisher
When making Vanquisher, I was listening to a lot of Carpenter Brut. I wanted to make something quick and punchy, which doesn’t bother with a build-up or an intro. Which ironically, is probably a decent intro to an album.

Conflagration
This track is my joint favourite of the album (the other one being Electrolysis). I aimed to make a track that sounds bit like Cheshyre (the guy who composed most of the music for the Madness Combat series) crossed with Drum and Bass crossed with whatever weird style of music it is that I make.

Royal Rondo
This one’s kinda ironic, because technically, it’s not a rondo. Like a few other tracks, RR was one where I really experimented with drum rolls and power drum kits.

Pandemonium
When making this track, I realised right at the end that some of the notes weren’t in key for the scale I was working in. All I needed to do was shift the offending notes down a semitone, and it’d be fully in key. So I did that, and it sounded shit. So I changed it back!

Electrolysis
This bad boy is my other favourite track from this album and the one I jam to the most. This track started off as a remix/redo of [BOSS BATTLE], but ended up becoming its own song. I took a lot of inspiration from the Gen V Pokémon battle themes and also all the videos on YouTube with titles like “Gen V hits really hard”. As a boss battle fan myself, I think that the music is the most important part, as it really sets the scene. My favourite boss themes are ones that make you think “oh fuck…”, like One-Winged Angel and most Pokémon themes, and I’ve tried to emulate the latter with this track.

Amalgamation
The middle track, and quite possibly, one of the weirdest tracks I’ve ever made. I had this idea to make a song where no two parts of it are the same, and ended up with this. There’s also a sample of my cover of the Pillar Men theme (so a sample of a sample, if you like). This was originally called Non Sequitur, due to its unusual nature, but I think Amalgamation is better, seeing as the track is an amalgamation of different tunes.

Swordmaster
It may not sound like it, but when making this track, I’d been listening to a lot of old-school Pendulum and the Qemists. The only direct influence I’d say I took was at around 1:56, where the synth plays on its own, followed by the bass drum, and then finally with the snare drum. This has probably come across really strongly throughout the album to anyone who knows their music, but I LOVE 4 on the floor kicks.

The Chains That Bind Us
Every album I’ve ever made (even back in my Vox Sine Verbis days) has always had 1 really out-of-place track. In CEHGLFTB, it was Alphonse, in BAD THOUGHTS, it was SADNESS (the Guts theme remix), and in this album, it’s this track! I wanted to make something more melancholy, with no thumping beats or drum rises. As I was composing and listening to this track, the mood that screamed out to me was one of being stuck in a bad place or situation and watching life move on without you. Thus the title.

Kaleidoscope
I didn’t really have much influence from this track. Upbeat dance music is just a type of music I like making. If it was ever used in a game, I don’t think it’d be boss music, maybe more like racing/pursuit music. In actuality, it probably wouldn’t suit a game at all, but I always envision my songs being in a game. Just a fantasy.

Non Compos Mentis
It’s Latin. It means “of unsound mind”, which I think works for the creepy/surreal vibe I was going for. This, like The Chains That Bind Us, is also something a bit different to what I usually make, but I don’t think it’s as out-of-place. Although it sounds nothing like them, this song always reminds me of Depeche Mode.

Vanquisher (Reprise)
I have ALWAYS wanted to make a reprise of a song, and put it at the end of an album. So with this track, that’s one off the bucket list. It’s more like a remix, but I think it can be classed as a reprise. Anyway, I was inspired by remixes as a whole with this song, and seeing how they keep the sound the same but change the vibe of the track.