"Extinction Level Event" is my second full-length album, following 2021's "From Across The Sun's Glowing Sphere, Slowly, The Moon Swims Away", and my 5th release overall.

This release differs from the previous 4 as the concept is not a "personal" one. Whereas the other 4 releases have all been based around my own mental health ("Melancholia EP" is technically based on the film of the same name, but I was inspired to it based on my own low mindset at the time, so it could still be considered something "personal" in that respect)

"Extinction Level Event" is based on the hypothetical situation; "what would happen if a super volcano, such as The Yellowstone Caldera, were to erupt at VEI-8 level?" - I did some digging into this. Considering the size of Yellowstone, the size of the magma chamber etc, a VEI-8 eruption would be catastrophic on a Biblical scale. The initial eruption, pyroclastic flow, tephra etc would decimate the neighbouring states, the ashfall would take out the ones slightly further out, causing damage to the land/buildings, potentially killing people if the falling ash was to hit them (it can weigh a lot), and killing others with inhalation as it forms a concrete-like substance in the lungs.

The level of the explosion would also likely cause issues with rising sea levels and/or earthquakes, both of which could cause huge tsunamis (and the earthquakes could cause mass destruction in their own right), and there is even potential for these kinds of occurrences to trigger more volcano eruptions elsewhere.

The ash cloud would block out enough sunlight on such a scale that global temperatures would be affected, and crops/plants would likely wither and die (if not already killed by the happenings to this point). It is reasonable to say that, in not much time, this would be an Extinction Level Event, wiping out all of mankind.

The tracks are intended to reflect this;

"Magma Chamber" is quite free, steady, almost pretty sounding, despite the heavy sound. This meant to reflect the Magma Chamber itself; the beauty of the magma flowing and "dancing" freely, with more than an undercurrent of dread and danger

"Harmonic Tremors" represents the first warnings of an impending eruption - thunderous opening tremors that shake the ground, and then low end rumblings as the effect of the tremors shake the neighbouring area

"Earth Sleeps - Nature is Stirred - Eruption Begins" does exactly what the title suggests; a clean, calm opening to represent a sleeping, unaware world. The piano and drums enter with a small sense of something about to happen, and this represents the animals in the immediate area being stirred by the harmonic tremors. The distortion kicks in to represent the start of the Eruption.

"Pyroclastic Flow" is meant to represent the sound of the pyroclastic flow itself. The track starts with a sample of an erupting volcano, before morphing into a nearly 12 minute long thunderous sludge fest. This is representing the pyroclastic flow surging down the side of the volcano, and destroying everything in its path as it goes. The calmer moments are intended to represent the last minutes of something alive and beautiful (such as local woodland etc) before it is ruined by the flow.

The 2 part "Bliss to Devastation" are sub-titled by what they represent; the aforementioned ashfall, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Much like with the previous track descriptions, the music is intended to reflect the destruction caused and the aftermath of these occurrences.

The outro track, "Year Zero - Human Extinction - Nature Starts Over" sums up the aftermath; the gentle, serene chords have a feeling of sadness (representing the overall death and devastation), but with a hint of hopefulness in the scattered major chords (representing nature starting over). This starting over is some years after the eruption, so the slowing of the final bars is to represent a long time passing before the sounds of nature and birds appears, as nature starts to reclaim the world that is now free of humans. I used a piano sound that has been affected to sound like it's on an old, worn-out tape, because I wanted it to sound like something new and beautiful on something worn out and dying (representing new life on a damaged world). The final chord of the closing track is the same chord track 1 opens with - this is because it is intentionally cyclical, just like life; volcanoes will erupt again, earthquakes & tsunamis will happen again, the cycle will repeat even if in millions of years, but nature will always find a way.

Maybe all of this is metaphor for someone going through life with colossal sadness inside them, "erupting" and their world becoming "extinct" when they pass....or it really COULD just be an album about a volcano...I will leave that to the listener to decide.