Today Ambient Post-Metalcore band STILLNIGHT release their music video for “Eidolon.” This star-lit visual accompaniment marks the final teaser before they fully unveil their full-length debut album “Dream State” on March 25, 2022. The band is innovating the post-metalcore genre by integrating ambience to build imagery within each song. The music is heavy sonically and lyrically as the band digs into the heavy emotions of melancholy, depression, and sorrow.
Going beneath the tremendous roaring vocals and modern metalcore instrumentals of “Eidolon” is an introspective story about love and loss: “If you’ve ever had someone that you felt like had a huge impact on your life or you felt like you couldn’t live without, this song plays heavily into that theme.” – comments the band.
“It’s easy to feel uncomfortable, full of anxiety, and like your own head is screaming at you until someone comes along and silences the noise. This song is about feeling at peace in the presence of a particular person, not knowing how that can be possible, and then how it feels when you lose them. The lyrics as a whole can be viewed as a progression from a starting point and then a regression back to the original point, only now with the memory of having had something truly pure.”
STILLNIGHT is an American Post-Metalcore band consisting of vocalist Danny Sullivan, bassist Tony Rogers, and guitarist Kody Thompson. The group is bringing a new light to the era of modern metal music as ethereal ambient background cascades amongst the heavy riffs and crushing vocals. Their deep, emotional energy and introspective thoughts bring a darker, unheard side to the genre.
The band uses a genre label to describe their music, but not to define it. They trample the outdated expectations of metalcore by ranging from brutal breakdowns to somber verses to unlock an experience of deep emotional connection. Whether it’s a deep personal tie or a response from the music itself, Stillnight aims to connect with the intense feelings within sorrow and melancholy.
Stillnight’s debut record, Dream State, is set to release on March 25th, 2022. The trio plans to showcase their diversity through a wide spanning tracklist with something for every metalhead to relish in. Stay up to date on Stillnight’s upcoming announcements HERE.
We asked the bands guitarist Kody and vocalist Danny to share their thoughts on the creative process and the content behind their new music.
Kody: “Starting with how our instrumentals are written, I spend a lot of time developing the riffs, chords, background ambience, and just about everything else that goes into our songs. I’m very meticulous when it comes to the way I write because I write more based on emotion and how I feel during the songs and how they make me feel. It’s a push and pull relationship in the sense that the songs I write feed off my emotions but my emotions are also pushed by how the songs slowly shape over the course of being written.”
“A big part of the writing process for me is getting in a headspace that others may not willingly put themselves in.” – continues Kody. “I push myself to a place of melancholy to better understand how these songs are written and express more of the writing I want to present to the listeners, and mainly myself, during the process. While my methods of writing have changed over the years and slowly drifted away from digging to those darker places, I’ve found healthier ways to express that melancholy in the music, which allows us to create some darker themes and push boundaries we haven’t seen in the music we listen to on the regular. It’s a hard line to walk to find the songs we love writing and playing but I think we’ve found that line fairly quickly and are challenging ourselves within it.”
“Many things run through my head when I’m writing” – admits Danny. “One of them being that I want my words to be different and like nothing I’ve heard over and over. I challenge that with also wanting to write something relatable so I end up cutting entire sections or entire songs and starting from scratch if I feel like I get a better idea, something isn’t different enough, or if the words aren’t relatable enough. Another thing is that I want them to hit hard enough because I feel like if they aren’t hitting me hard, they won’t hit our listeners either. I want a reaction when people listen to these songs. I want them to think about it. I want them to look up the lyrics and get chills and have the lyrics stuck in their heads the way so many of the bands that inspired me and made me fall in love with this genre have done for me.”
“There are songs on this album that are tailor made for people that are going through the ringer. Elysian Forest is for those trying to prove themselves, Lustral is for those struggling with purpose. Heavier songs like Grey and Torchbearer are more for fighting back against the darkness, Everbloom is a beautiful tragedy that can be perceived in multiple ways (on purpose). Atonement is about accepting your flaws, no matter how great, Paroxysm is about feeling like you’re drowning. We really wanted to be hard hitting in every avenue.”
“Eidolon in particular; while yes, being about loss and love, goes DEEPER than that. It’s about how love can make you feel like you’re lost. How you can lose yourself in someone else. It’s also about how you can feel at the top of the world with a certain someone, until they’re gone and you’re left with nothing. You didn’t even realize it, you didn’t notice the change when it happened. You didn’t realize when you gained the illusion of invincibility until the discovery was made apparent. Now you’re a mess, everything is loud, you have no recollection of a beginning without that person. All you can recall is the current moment and the moment before, when everything was at peace.”
