Traiken
Now that it's done, it's hitting me how long it's taken to complete this journey. This was supposed to be one album, a study in a "fake genre," that I first had the vague notion for around the end of 2007. https://traiken.bandcamp.com/album/heartless-angels
Heartless Angels, by Traiken

13 track album

Traiken
Dec 6 at 12:19amWeb
Show threadTraikenDec 6
The earliest version, before I thought the phrase "hot metal" sounded like a genre, can be heard here: https://traiken.bandcamp.com/track/perpetual-collision A track I recorded after getting in a minor car accident.
Perpetual Collision, by Traiken

from the album Sketchbook Two

Traiken
Show threadTraikenDec 6
The largest influences were Nine Inch Nails' "The Big Come Down" and Bear McCreary's version of "All Along The Watchtower," from BSG earlier that year (2007), along with the usual smattering of industrial, rock, electronic, and experimental sounds I gravitate to.
Show threadTraikenDec 6
The first "hot metal" song (with the placeholder "Hot Metal test 1" that just became "Hot Metal") was recorded January 16th, 2008. It took until January 2024 to finalize it. https://traiken.bandcamp.com/track/hot-metal
Hot Metal, by Traiken

from the album Broken Angels

Traiken
Show threadTraikenDec 6
I might throw together a comparison/contrast for the tracks that eventually made it onto albums, if that would interest anyone, but suffice to say: 2008-2010 saw an occasional return to the idea of "hot metal" with ambitions to make it a future album, but it kept getting pushed back.
Show threadTraikenDec 6
There were other interests and distractions, and it was always easier to make an album that didn't have a vague-but-specific sound assigned to it. In 2017, I took a photograph in a graveyard that became the cover and inspired the title of that "hot metal" idea: https://traiken.bandcamp.com/album/broken-angels
Broken Angels, by Traiken

12 track album

Traiken
Show threadTraikenDec 6
So I had a bit more direction to bolster me, and I started using other photos from that graveyard for album art. But by the time I started focusing on Broken Angels, the pandemic had begun, and I wasn't about to leave the house to take more photos.
Show threadTraikenDec 6
So I had the idea to buy angel statuettes and figurines that I could photograph and manipulate, even break. One of those photo experiments led to a shot that struck me as perfect for an album cover--but I already HAD the cover! It's what gave me the title for "Broken Angels" in the first place!
Show threadTraikenDec 6
That's when I decided: I'll go with the graveyard photos for one album, and then use the statuettes for a second album. I already had more than enough works-in-progress to make two albums worth of music, and thus the plan expanded.
Show threadTraikenDec 6
What's worse than an angel who's broken? One who never cared in the first place. https://traiken.bandcamp.com/album/heartless-angels
Heartless Angels, by Traiken

13 track album

Traiken