Reptile King
Goddess over Darkness and Light

home recording / symphonic prog / electronic rock / progressive metal / art rock / progressive rock

I started writing songs in 2017, having in mind the band where I was playing the keyboard at that point. Unfortunately, the band was soon going to dissolve, so that was that.

Alone and forsaken, trapped in the numeric bowels of my computer’s hard disc, my songs would keep on haunting me at nights. Even worse, songwriting woud soon turn into an obsession as new songs kept piling up. In lack of a fitting musical outlet through which to get my compositions out of my head and into the realm of the physical, I eventually decided to record the whole thing on my own, resorting to home recording, low-budget gear, and meticulous, at times tedious, synth programming. What this record lacks in professional refinement, I hope to have made up for in time and love invested in these songs.

Written between April 2019 and May 2020, and recorded between November 2023 and November 2024, this song cycle delves thematically into the feeling of losing control over one’s life – a feeling certainly shared by many in this day and age, which can stem from so many sources, as explored in my songs: be it life struggles (“Onslaught”), war and world politics (“End of Days”), modern day corporate schemes (“Vitreous”), depression and anxiety (“The Shadow”), climate change (“Into the Crepuscule”) and the temporal limitations bestowed upon our physical existence (“The Final Problem”). Then there is the title track, the one that holds it all together and which counterpoints this rather sobering subject matter: “Goddess over Darkness and Light” is an exploration of the all-encompassing, universal force that lies in music, the life-saving strength and inspiration that can be derived from it. The opening track, “Alphabet Man” hits a similar note by paying homage to the late Tim Smith (1961-2020), all things considered my most favorite songwriter/composer ever.

So there it is, please enjoy, and thank you for listening! And if you do like what you hear, it would be greatly appreciated if you left a comment on my bandcamp page.