Because the lyrical content of our songs is so important to us, we've decided to start a column called 'Lyrical Look-In' to give you some further insight into them and how they fit into the overall lore of our stories.
The first song we are going to dig into is 'THE PERILOUS PROSPECTS OF SHADOW'S HAVEN', which was the first single released off of our brand new album: 'Heirs of Isildur vs Tales From Nocturnia'.
This is the first of a three part arc that starts the album, explaining the three main elements that make up 'The Perilous Prospects' of our overarching story:
* The mountain village of 'Shadow's Haven'
* The scientists and their 'Portals'
and lastly
* Mykal Isildur, otherwise known as 'The Timekeeper' Before we dig too deep, here are facts and stats: SONG: THE PERILOUS PROSPECTS OF SHADOW'S HAVEN
ALBUM: Heirs of Isildur vs Tales From Nocturnia
Position on the album: Track 1 of 10
Musicians Involved: Matt Knowles, alongside: ANDREW POLO (Violin) and COREY STEGER (Additional Vocals)
Where do these events take place in the overall lore / universe of HEIRS OF ISILDUR:
* THE CROSSROADS CONUNDRUM is turned on its collective ear when this is revealed in Issue #9 (Chapter 16 in the Trade Paperback Graphic Novel edition), but this is a main overarching theme that has its fingerprints throughout the universe in TCC, 'Nightmare Scenario' and the upcoming 'The Perilous Prospects'. IMPORTANT NOTE! Be sure to hang around to the very end for a super cool behind the scenes FAST FACT that you won't see coming about this song! To start things off right, here is 'The Perilous Prospects of Shadow's Haven':
Now we'll share the LYRICS IN FULL: Nestled within the valley between two grand mountain ranges
sits our puritanical village known by the name of Shadow’s haven
The untrained eye would see a community in full order
But lying deep beneath are the scars we try so hard to conceal
(Chorus)
Unspeakable horrors unfold before our eyes
Our quaint mountain community now terrorized
Solve the riddle to break the curse
before we meet our demise
It's a perilous existence in Shadow’s Haven
Spreading throughout our streets are rumors and speculation
About the estate upon our farthest hill
its inhabitants (and) their occupation
Our citizenry (is) convinced they're sorcerers in our midst
So a decision's been made with impunity
That at all costs We must protect our community
(Chorus)
Unspeakable horrors unfold before our eyes
Our quaint mountain community now terrorized
Solve the riddle to break the curse
before we meet our demise
So as Havenites we must assemble
And do what must be done
Storm the estate’s borders
Extinguish the cause of this disorder
There was no repentance
No call for absolution
We had no choice
But total and complete execution!
Upon their filthy carcasses
reside all the blood that was shed
The events of that fateful evening
no guilt rests on our heads
Our only responsibility
is to establish an infallible community
After cleansing after altering
the historical record
because the future inhabitants
They must never fully understand
The lengths that we went to
To protect the citizens of Shadow’s Haven
To remove the curse from Shadow’s Haven
We can never let history repeat itself THE EXPLANATION (aka the 'Look-In'):
SHADOW'S HAVEN has always been a village that prided itself on freedom of thought and creativity... or so they wanted the outside world to believe. On the surface there was encouragement to push the boundaries of knowledge, but underneath a thin veil rested the town elder's desires to strategically suppress anything that wasn't easily explainable.
Although the history books in Shadow's Haven claim differently (we'll get to this later on), many decades ago an event took place that was so terrible, so horrifying that those in charge went to great lengths to bury and cover up all traces of it.
On day, with no explanation whatsoever, the citizenry started experiencing phenomena that crossed over into the supernatural. The closest of kin started uncontrollable bickering and infighting. There were reports that some individuals had temporarily gained the ability to control the supernatural: being able to manipulate energy with their hands, levitation, and more.
The skies physically darkened. Rational thoughts started to dissolve. No one had an explanation for why this terror had befallen their quaint, unsuspecting community, and it started to feel like there was no way to stop its suffocating crawl.
Rumors started to spread amongst the townsfolk that a rogue group, that they referred to as 'The Laboratorians', may be the nexus of the town's ills. There had always been suspicion about the group and the constant activity at the estate upon the town's farthest hill, but those speculations now were becoming rage and unmitigated anger. Intuitions were confirmed when members of this group started descending from their perch, coming down into the village, grandstanding about their activities and conquests.
The Shadow's Havenites had had enough. Desperate to reclaim the peace and sanctity of their village, they hastily assembled into a mob and stormed off to the borders of the Laboratorian's estate. Even though they didn't know EXACTLY what was happening behind their sealed doors, they were going to demand all of their activities cease immediately...
...But that's not what happened.
The resistance from the Laboratorians so angered the mob that the most extreme of actions took place. The Laboratorians and their activities were wiped from the face of Shadow's Haven, for good.
Shortly after, life in Shadow's Haven started to return to 'normal', whatever that meant. When the darkened cloud lifted out from over the mountain village, the citizens' minds also started to be freed from the fog that had enshrouded their thoughts and dictated their actions. They began to clearly understand the ramifications of what took place that day. They knew they needed to cleanse the historical record. Even though they had no guilt about their actions, there was no certainty that future generations would view these events through the same lens.
A pact was made by those in power to not only remove and rewrite all references to these events contained in the historical record (told ya we'd get to it), they also were going to rule the town with an iron fist. Anyone that stepped even a fraction out of line would be dealt with... swiftly.
They could never let history repeat itself. They were going to do whatever was needed to return the town back to the tranquil mountain enclave that they so enjoyed in their youth. They would take their secrets to the grave. No one would ever know the lengths they went to to protect the town... or so they thought.
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So there you have it, the first of many in the LYRICAL LOOK-IN series of articles. We hope you've enjoyed! So here is the FAST FACT we told you would be at the bottom: * This song musically was originally written and intended to be the theme song for an independent horror movie. When the production of said movie was halted (one of the writers / creators passed away and it was abandoned), the song was reworked to become a part of the HEIRS OF ISILDUR lore. Boom! We told you this was a big one, right!?!
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If you like what you've heard or read, we encourage you to check out the full album, our comics and more. Here's the link to our store: www.tinyurl.com/InsymSHOP
We also would be remiss if we didn't mention that we have a brand new crowdfunding campaign upcoming for our all ages title MISFITZ CLUBHOUSE, that is signed to SCOUT COMICS' SCOOT! Imprint. This will be a SHORT campaign so you'll want to bookmark it here so you don't miss the launch!
We'd love to know your thoughts on this song, the lyrics, the article, the lore, all of it!
Until next time, this is #TeamInsym signing off.
Matt & Steph
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