‘Dissimulated; Decorticated’ Bandcamp (purchase) Individual Song Breakdowns --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About the record: In the autumn of 2023, a confluence of ideas for a new record epiphanized me with rapidity. Bent on a challenge, I set out to compose my own version of ‘extreme metal’ music to abuse my limbs and further explore extended vocal techniques. The lyrics would be written utilizing the ‘cut-up method,’ the guitar tunings would be rather unusual (faux-apologies to session guitarist Nico Santora), and I’d construct soundscapes for nearly each tune, limiting myself to the tracks inherent in each respective song—a sonic experiment I’ve carried out before. I also wrote a couple of piano arrangements with the intention of engineering and tracking them myself for the first time. The album title alludes to both the cut-up and soundscape construction processes. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Credits 1) Deus Absconditus 2) Charivari 3) (Hands) Creating Sipes 4) Stelliferous 5) Nihil Dicit 6) (Conduce) Ossification 7) Anamnesis 8) Sibylline Firmament Rent by Pareidolia 9) (There’s No) Elephant in the Room  · Travis Orbin - Drum set, Percussion, Bass, Baritone Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Santoor, Piano,    Synthesizer, Theremin, Xylophone, Programming, Vocals  · Nico Santora - Guitars on 1, 3, 5, 7, 9  · Ben Vize - Saxophone on 7  · John Henry - Guest Vocals on 5  · Tomas Perez - Guest Vocals on 7  · Mike Keneally - Guitar Solo on 7  · Everyone self-engineered at their respective home studios  · Saxophone solo on 7 by Ben Vize, comped by Travis Orbin  · Guitar solo on 7 by Mike Keneally  · Composed, Produced, and Mixed by Travis Orbin  · Lyrics by Travis Orbin  · Mastered by Taylor Larson at MixWave Studios  · Cover Art by Travis Orbin Thank you to my fans, friends, associates, and family; especially my mother for her perpetual support and my neighbors for putting up with all of the racket. Also, thank you to my endorsements: Pearl Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Remo drumheads, Vic Firth drumsticks, RTOM drum accessories, Vratim drum shoes, and E-Pad! Practice Pads. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cover Art Construction I had a couple of preliminary ideas. I knew that I wanted to utilize clay as a sort of frame, and I wanted to make something putrid, hah. Somewhere along the line it took more of a turn towards ominous. Here’s a breakdown: Phase one (didn’t take a pic): break charcoal, smear it into and randomly draw upon an 18”x24” canvas; pour a bit of water on it, allow to dry. Phase two: glue globules and rolled-up pieces of tissue paper onto canvas, allow to dry; paint the tissue paper and canvas with varying shades of red and brown, mixed with cold wax. Phase three: apply baked plastilina to canvas, acting as a frame; attempt to glue coffee grounds and assorted foliage from outside to canvas, only to curse when it loosens and breaks off at the slightest disturbance; then, apply more coffee grounds and shit from outside, patting it all down and slathering it with a palette knife loaded with wallpaper glue—it worked!; mush the remaining plastilina and hurriedly order more; take a palette knife loaded with gesso black and scrape it along the gradations of clay. Phase four: form more plastilina into the canvas; glue another piece of rolled-up tissue paper and paint it; shade inside edge of clay border with charcoal and various shades of red and brown. Phase five: use brushes and palette knife to add lots of shading and assorted details; add a bunch more gesso black to clay. Phase six: take photos with Canon 90D; postprocess in GIMP, drawing out saturation and adding title. Cut-up Technique: When first undertaking the application of the cut-up technique, I quickly discovered that in order to engender the previously penned prose with a more rounded, lyrical approach, I’d have to retro-/re-write several phrases, and/or add words. I utilized several cut-up generators online, configuring them to be less random, more, to scramble everything from one word to whole sentences, etc. There are also a couple of instances wherein not 100% of the words from the original piece were included. However, by and large, the method was adhered. In the interest of sharing the evolution of each piece, I will include both the original set(s) of prose alongside the finalized lyrics in the song breakdowns. Guitar Tuning Concept: The entire record was written for a 6-string and 7-string, tuned: D#-A#-C#-G#-A#-F; A#-F-G#-D#-F#-C-D# (half-step down, half-step up (correlative to standard tuning), rinse+repeat). Why? Why the hell not! Why So Much Screaming? As elucidated in ‘About the Record,’ I’ve become enthralled, enthused, entertained, and other E words regarding the varieties of distortion I can spawn with my vocal cords, mouth, tongue, et al. At the time, I had also kinda hit a wall with singing, and the tedium that can sometimes creep into tracking; ensuring the intonation, intention, interplay of all of the involved elements are integrated almost invariably induced irritability. I words! Screaming has a built-in histrionic component, and less singing permitted me a respite from staring at InTune constantly. It’s just stinkin’ FUN! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ‘Dissimulated; Decorticated’ Gear List: “Deus Absconditus” · 12”/16” Pearl Reference Pure tom-toms with Remo Vintage Emperor clear batters/Emperor clear resonants · 6.5”x14” Pearl Sensitone brass snare drum with Controlled Sound X/Ambassador Hazy snare side · 20” Pearl Reference Pure bass drum (augmented with a 24” Decade maple bass drum) with Powerstroke III coated batter/Ebony Powerstroke III ported resonant Cymbals (from left to right, player’s perspective): 20” K Heavy Ride, 19" K Dark Thin Crash, custom hats (14” K Constantinople bottom (top) / 14” K Custom High Definition Bottom (bottom), a regular ‘stack’ (14” A Custom EFX / 16” FX Oriental China “Trash”), 8” A Custom Splash, 13" A New Beat Hi-Hats, 19” K Custom Hybrid Crash, 18" K Custom Special Dry China, 19” K China “(Hands) Creating Sipes” · same setup as “Deus Absconditus,” except with an 18” A Uptown Ride in place of the 19” K China “Nihil Dicit” · same setup as “Deus Absconditus” “Anamnesis” · same setup as “Deus Absconditus” “(There’s No) Elephant in the Room” · same setup as “Deus Absconditus”

Back to Solo Music