After nearly two years of work, the fourth Akyrviron album is complete. Originally targeted for an end-of-2015 release date, I realized that the end result would be much better if I didn’t set an arbitrary deadline. Ten months later and I think the album is about where it needs to be, although music is never really “finished” in the true sense of the term.

Without elaborating too much on every little difference from previous work, the album is compositionally similar to Dreamscape Requiem, but with an atmosphere somewhat reminiscent of Light of the Ages. There are two “speed” songs this time around (Solar Regeneration and Creation’s Storm).

The title of the album is somewhat inspired by both the sound of the music itself and my general observations on the state of our world. With Akyrviron songs I’ve always gone for a generally “uplifting” and “positive” sound, and this album continues that precedent. But more importantly, with all the strife and challenges we face on this planet, whether they are political, environmental, societal, or whatever else — we often wish there was more harmony and justice in the world, and I think it is in our best interest to move in a direction that fosters that. Akyrviron in general is basically my attempt to create music that represents a more harmonious and utopian existence in a power/symphonic metal format. It is not really about being “epic” or creating elaborate/complex instrumental arrangements; if anything, the music has always been somewhat on the simpler side when compared to other symphonic metal, but my hope is that this allows the atmosphere to take precedent over complexity.

The beautiful album artwork was created by Belén Morante and Wappenschmied. It represents the atmosphere and theme of the album wonderfully, and is a great piece of artwork in its own right.

The album will be released sometime in November via Bandcamp (unless there are technical problems), with other avenues like iTunes and Amazon to follow shortly after. There will be a preview with 30-second samples from each song uploaded in the near future.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you all enjoy the album when its out!

– Kevin