"THE ISOLATION SESSIONS"

06/15/2022

NOT A PLEASURE

THE RELEASES WITHIN THIS SERIES, UNTIL NOW, HAVE PRIMARILY CONSISTED OF REVISITED AND REMASTERED MATERIALS, ALL OF WHICH WERE ORIGINALLY CONCEIVED DURING THE SESSION RECORDINGS OF "ARETE." HOWEVER, "ISOLATION" DEVIATES FROM THIS PATTERN, HAVING NOT ORIGINATED FROM THE SAME PERIOD OF INTENSIVE CREATION AND REFINEMENT. SURPRISINGLY, IT EMERGED AS THE COLLECTION'S MOST ESTEEMED COMPOSITION. THE ENTIRE PROCESS OF COMPOSING, MIXING, MASTERING, AND PRODUCING "ISOLATION" DEMANDED A MERE 35 HOURS-A STARK CONTRAST TO THE MONTHS OF DEDICATION AFFORDED TO ITS COUNTERPARTS. THIS TRACK STANDS OUT AS ONE OF THE RARE INSTANCES WHERE I REFRAINED FROM EXPLORING ALTERNATIVE INTERPRETATIONS, RESULTING IN THE ABSENCE OF "ISOLATION SESSIONS." THE "LIVE DEMO," PERFORMED IN JANUARY 2019, MARKS THE GENESIS OF THE TRACK, CAPTURING THE SONG'S CREATION IN AN IMMEDIATE AND RAW FORM. IT WASN'T UNTIL MAY OF 2021 THAT WORK ON REINTERPRETATIONS COMMENCED, PROMPTED BY THE PRECEDING YEAR'S CHALLENGING CIRCUMSTANCES. THE CREATION OF THIS PIECE WAS NOT A LABOR OF LOVE; THE HARSH, DISCORDANT STRINGS AND THE ABRASIVE SOUNDS OF SCRATCHING VIOLAS AND VIOLINS ENCAPSULATE MY FRUSTRATION AND RESENTMENT TOWARDS THE NECESSITY OF ITS COMPLETION RATHER THAN A GENUINE EXPRESSION OF MUSICAL INNOVATION. IT IS MY HOPE THAT THESE COMPOSITIONS WILL RESONATE WITH YOU AND BE RECEIVED WITH A GREATER DEGREE OF APPRECIATION THAN WAS EXPERIENCED IN THEIR PRODUCTION.

VI Full Cover

TRACK ANALYSIS -

"REMASTER '22"

THIS RENDITION OF "ISOLATION" REPRESENTS THE TRACK IN ITS QUINTESSENTIAL FORM, HAVING UNDERGONE A METICULOUS PROCESS OF EXPANSION AND REMASTERING. IT ENCAPSULATES THE ARTIST'S ORIGINAL INTENT, AS CONCEIVED DURING THE MIXING AND MASTERING PHASES IN THE STUDIO IN 2019, A VISION UNFORTUNATELY COMPROMISED BY THE SUBSEQUENT VICISSITUDES OF DISTRIBUTION AND COMPRESSION. IN THIS ENHANCED VERSION, THE BASS ENVELOPS THE LISTENER, EMERGING FROM THE CONSTRAINTS THAT PREVIOUSLY DIMINISHED ITS PRESENCE TO A MERE AUDITORY FOOTNOTE. IT NOW ASSERTS ITSELF AS A PALPABLE FORCE. THE OVERDRIVEN ELEMENTS ARE GRANTED THE LIBERTY TO EXPAND, ENSURING THAT THE SONIC LANDSCAPE IS SUFFUSED WITH A BREADTH PREVIOUSLY CONSTRAINED, AND A CLARITY IN THE MIDRANGE THAT DELINEATES AN AUDITORY DEPTH AND SPATIALITY SURPASSING ITS PREDECESSOR. FEEDBACK HAS INDICATED THAT THE ORIGINAL PIECE SERVED AS A MEDITATIVE CONDUIT FOR MANY;

THIS REMASTERED VERSION, WITH ITS AUGMENTED IMMERSIVE QUALITIES, PROMISES TO AMPLIFY THIS EXPERIENCE ACROSS A BROAD SPECTRUM OF PLAYBACK SYSTEMS.

"ISOLATION (REMASTER '22)" - IS 4 MINUTES AND 14 SECONDS LONG. IT'S IN THE KEY OF G MAJOR, AND THE TIME SIGNATURE IS 4 BEATS PER MEASURE. THE LOUDNESS IS -12.98 DB, AND THE TEMPO IS AROUND 114.89 BPM.

"THE MALEFIC POSSESSION" ISOLATION: THE MALEFIC POSSESSION I & II

INITIALLY CONCEIVED AS A SINGULAR COMPOSITION, THIS PIECE WAS SUBDIVIDED INTO TWO DISTINCT SEGMENTS, EACH MARKEDLY DIVERGENT IN CHARACTER AND ATMOSPHERE. THE FIRST SEGMENT, STEEPED IN A MELANCHOLIC PROFUNDITY, CONTRASTS SHARPLY WITH THE SECOND'S FRENETIC CHAOS. THIS DIVISION WAS DRIVEN BY A DELIBERATE METHODOLOGICAL SHIFT TOWARDS ACCELERATING THE NARRATIVE'S PROGRESSION TO ITS ZENITH, ESCHEWING PROTRACTED INTRODUCTIONS IN FAVOR OF IMMEDIACY.

THE OBJECTIVE WAS TO SPARE THE LISTENER THE NECESSITY OF TRAVERSING THE DESPONDENT DEPTHS OF PART I TO EXPERIENCE THE TUMULTUOUS FERVOR OF PART 11, THEREBY EFFECTUATING A SEAMLESS YET POIGNANT TRANSITION AT THE PIVOTAL MODULATION. THE PRODUCTION OF THIS WORK ENTAILED THE METICULOUS ASSEMBLY OF SEVENTY-SEVEN UNIQUE INSTRUMENTAL AND VOCAL TRACKS, INCORPORATING SOUND DESIGNS AND VOICE SAMPLES PROVIDED BY TES. THESE COMPONENTS WERE METICULOUSLY RENDERED IN SEGMENTS, SUBSEQUENTLY UNIFIED TO FORM A COHESIVE WHOLE, ALL REALIZED IN A HIGH-FIDELITY 24-BIT RESOLUTION AT A 96KHZ SAMPLING RATE.

"ISOLATION: THE MALEFIC POSSESSION, PT. I (THE CHANGELING)" - IS 2 MINUTES AND 4 SECONDS LONG. IT'S IN THE KEY OF F MAJOR, AND THE TIME SIGNATURE IS 4 BEATS PER MEASURE. THE LOUDNESS IS -16.95 DB, AND THE TEMPO IS AROUND 135.19 BPM.

"ISOLATION: THE MALEFIC POSSESSION, PT. 2 (THE CONSUMMATE)" IS 3 MINUTES AND 27 SECONDS LONG. IT'S IN THE KEY OF D-SHARP MAJOR, AND THE TIME SIGNATURE IS 1 BEAT PER MEASURE (HOW UNUSUAL). THE LOUDNESS IS -14.26, AND THE TEMPO IS AROUND 187.57 BPM. --------

"ISOLATION (HEROIN HOTEL) - IS 3 MINUTES AND 21 SECONDS LONG. IT'S IN THE KEY OF G MAJOR, AND THE TIME SIGNATURE IS 3 BEATS PER MEASURE. THE LOUDNESS IS -20.63 DB, AND THE TEMPO IS AROUND 69.08 BPM.

V - ISOLATION (LIVE DEMO) - IS 3 MINUTES AND 56 SECONDS LONG. IT'S IN THE KEY OF A MINOR, AND THE TIME SIGNATURE IS 3 BEATS PER MEASURE. THE LOUDNESS IS -14.83 DB, AND THE TEMPO IS AROUND 111.46 BPM.

"ADEPT (ASCENDANT Mix)" & "THE SAMPLE SESSIONS* 9:30:3018 @ 10.10PM"

are available on the vinyl, CD, and digital download only.