ETERNAL RAVEN AT LAST
Eternal Raven At Last is the sixth installment of the mericanDREAM saga following: CYBER CIRCLES & A COSMIC HEART, Palace of the Sun, The Little Lunar Album, Wolves Are Very Emotional, and IINDEPENDENCE. In this sugary installment, Matthew A Cruz aka mericanDREAM spews out over 3,000 words throughout the album, enunciating the word DREAM just well over 60 times.
The story is going to be a smoothly paved trail for the listener to stroll on. As it is implied, there the Raven, Her Majesty, who carries a message from world to world. DREAM who is king, must hearken from those he crosses paths with. Yet, if DREAM is brave enough to play matador towards fate as the bull, he might wake up in a place where he does not desire to be.
As the writer, Matthew shares values, illuminating through biblical theology and Greek mythology. A hint of astronomy, in a discography-continuity embracing the sun, the moon, the sky and the stars. In the depths of Hollywoo—an original reference from NETFLIX’s BoJack Horseman—DREAMREALM is inhabited by animals. DREAM refers to himself as a leo, a lion. The occurring deuteragonist, possible protagonist (depending on how the listener interprets the album), the Raven is personified as a beautiful and mystical woman who is as God’s favorite messenger. Will she scream NEVERMORE to king DREAM.
It was a pleasant experience working on this album, even though looking back now, it felt so brief. Is my music mainstream worthy? Nah. And I’m okay with that. I did attempt to engage with other artists, even featured a young and pretty violinist, and an energetic lyrical freestylist—compensating them for their work. I hired my buddy, using my Canon EOS Rebel T7 with the 75-300 millimeter lense to take the photo of me for the album cover. He did a great job. Yes, I’m aware of the practicality in making an album while juggling between two to three jobs is fiercely difficult, but it is well worth it. Marketing for an audience—the proper audience—will come in time. Maybe. The focus was… to create and properly engage.
Drafting compositions in a melodic manner, including structuring and identifying chords as themes definitely helped in creating an impactful story. I scaled between defining characters and settings to what does their theme sound like. 808s and percussion lacked more than the melody, as I heavily depended on Splice samples—though I did manipulate the module, pitch, or length of the samples for a more original feel. Also for the bass, I didn’t spend nearly as much time as I did for the chord structure of the (treble clef) melody.
I maintained the mythological ethos, carried by the lyrics I wrote. The story is going to be a clear trail for the listener to stroll on. Yet, the moral of the story may vary between each listener.
The dynamic vibrations of this album—utilized resources included a community center grand piano, a trumpet, a three stringed and out of tuned violin (that I attempted to play), an acoustic guitar, ikea tall chairs and a support beam for drums, primarily recorded by an ICE snowball mic, and processed by FL Studios software.
The work does take a toll on the mind and body, and my personal freetime. I couldn’t dedicate myself to the gym as much. I couldn’t calibrate myself properly for my professional side. It is very taxing on the mind when you take your craft very seriously. But like the old adage says, don’t take yourself too seriously. I feel when I needed to, I lightened up. I try to do different activities, disrupting certain thought patterns. I explored my social circle, even met some people I feel are a positive addition in my life. And I continued to be a fan of things that have nothing to do with my craft. From Mid-December to the end of May, the process has been absorbent.
