In attendance were some old friends and former band mates who I'd known since I was 15, namely Michael (who also played guitar on Empyreal Progeny with John) and Jud (who used to play bass in bands with Michael and I when we were young and stupid). Also there were friends of the band like Josh Wombeck of the band Fell, and a group of musician housemates, who, obviously, live in the same building as me.
I can tell you that this was both an exciting and also quite nerve racking event, as no one besides the band members themselves had yet to hear the new monstrosity I had been concocting over the last several years, and I felt I needed to justify myself. I'm sure my so-far faithful musicians could use a pat on the back too after putting up with me and performing beyond their previous level.
I began the presentation with a short speech about the trials and tribulations it took to get to this point, about the new musical and stylistic approach of this album, about origin of the story, and some background on the premise, and underlying concepts of the narrative. With an album so focused on delivering a full, tangible experience, I had to do at least some preamble to put things in context.
Since the story and the music are so closely related, Bryan suggested the idea of printing out a short synopsis of each chapter, so that everyone could follow along with the main ideas of each song, as the events happen. In the end this proved to be a great strategy for bringing people into the complicated world of these fictional characters and events.
With synopses handed out and beer in hand, I nervously pressed play and stood back.
The first few minutes were quite hard to bare, as it was challenging to glean what people's early impressions were. But soon people began commenting to one another, and to myself about specific melodies, rhythms, vocal lines and moods. So far it seemed positive, but we had a long journey ahead of us.
A long time friend and supporter of mine, Jud, had pulled me aside several times during the course of the album to tell me that "This is really good, man". Later he would confess, "I honestly expected another Empyreal Progeny, but this is completely differnet." He meant this in a good way, even though he is still a fan of the last album.
One of my fellow housemates turned to Eric during a particularly strange odd time signature passage in one song and asked with wide eyes, "how long did it take you to learn that?" Eric's answer was, of course, "a long time".
Eric and John's parts are especially easy to call attention to, due to their very up-front musicianship and technicality in many of the parts, but Bryan also got his fair share of positive comments, including several "air bass shredding" parodies by Josh Wombeck after hearing certain stand out bass lines and runs. I am quite biased, but the bass lines on this album are pretty damn cool, and Bryan deserves all the air bass parodies he can get for his drastically improved performance.
The end reaction from everyone who attended was beyond what I had expected. Vadim, a friend of John's who had been a bit critical of my previous work, surprised me most with his comments. This is a gentlemen who is a musician himself (like most of the people there) and listens to quite a lot of metal. With this in mind I expected him to comment on some of the heavier or more complex moments of the record but instead the first thing out of his mouth was how much he could feel the story and the characters in the music, and how much the emotion and the events came through in each song. And this was from a metal guy! Wonderful!
And so went the theme of the rest of the comments that night. People telling me how they felt sucked right into the world we had created and were taken on a journey through the emotions of the characters. I have to say this was the most amazing thing I could have heard, as creating a tangible emotive landscape that could convey a full story was my ultimate goal. It sincerely blew me away, and I'm truly thankful for everyone's overwhelming support and positive reactions.
Vadim added, honestly, "I didn't think you guys were capable of something like this."
Below are a few photos from the event taken by John's girlfriend Bailey.
Waiting for everyone's arrival
Bryan and John discussing something using "evil" gestures. Probably ponies.
Myself, my sister and others talk in a jovial manner (as people do).
Making my speech before the premier.
Listening commences.
Eric plays air guitar, or banjo, or ukulele, or bag pipe, or a pair of glasses. Who knows.
"How long did it take you to learn that?"
Bryan, Michael and John listening, because I made them.
Eric playing the air zipper part note for note.
Josh whispering sweet nothings into John's ears.
Josh talking about how "jazzy-fraz" Bryan's bass parts are.
Pleased with the results, and mostly inebriated (John that is).
