General information
Album title: Sonic Birth
Release date: Sept. 11th 2020
Label: Metalville Records
Distribution: Rough Trade
Songs
1. Metature
2. Comfortable Darkness
3. Killing True Beliefs
4. Fractional Emotion
5. A Formula For Happiness
6. Inner Circle
7. You And Me Alone
8. Hurt
9. Destiny Inc.
10. Mind Treasures
11. With Others
Production & songwriting credits
Produced by Florian Zepf. Mixed and mastered by Adair Daufembach at Daufembach Studios, Hollywood, CA, USA.
All music & lyrics by Florian Zepf.
Recording credits
Vocals engineered and recorded at Vladimir’s home studio in Belgrade, Serbia. Guitars and additional backing vocals, additional programming and percussions performed and recorded at Florian’s home studio. Derek Sherinian's keyboard recordings engineered by Corey Mast at The Beachwood Manor Studios, Burbank, CA, USA. Loops and samples programmed, engineered and recorded by Kevin Moore at his home studio in NY, USA. Bass recorded by Conner Green at his home studio in Indianapolis, IN, USA. Percussion recordings engineered by Lennon Leppert and Luis Conte at Magnifico Studios, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA. Drums engineered and recorded by Adair Daufembach at Daufembach Studios, Hollywood, CA, USA.
Artwork credits
Concept for album cover and booklet by Florian Zepf. Artwork finalisation by Felix Schönberger.
Contributions
Vladimir Lalic – Lead vocals, backing vocals
Florian Zepf – All guitars, backing vocals, additional programming, additional percussions
Conner Green – Bass (all songs except "Inner Circle" & “Mind Treasures”)
Aquiles Priester – Drums (all songs)
Kevin Moore – Loops & programming on “Metature”, “Comfortable Darkness”, “You And Me Alone”, “Mind Treasures” & “Inner Circle”
Luis Conte – Percussions on “Killing True Beliefs” & “You And Me Alone”
Megan Burtt – Lead vocals on “You And Me Alone”
Joe di Fiore – Horns on “Hurt”, clarinette & oboe on “You And Me Alone”
Isaac Alderson – Uillean pipes and flutes on “You And Me Alone”
Kevin Buckley – Fiddle on “You And Me Alone”
Eileen Gannon – Harp on “You And Me Alone”
Leon van Egmond – Harmonica on “Metature”
Maria Grigoryeva – Violins and violas on “Metature”, “Fractional Emotion”, “Destiny Inc.” & “With Others”
Svetlova Elena Alexandrovna – Cello on “Metature”, “Fractional Emotion”, “Destiny Inc.” & “With Others”
Special guest: Derek Sherinian – Keyboards (all songs)
Sample credits
Song: “A Formula For Happiness”
The sample entitled „His gift“ was sourced from the website https://freesound.org/people/carmsie/sounds/332844/ (provided to Freesound.org by user Carmsie).
The sample entitled „Female news reporter“ was sourced from the website https://freesound.org/people/crashoverride61088/sounds/145180/ (provided to Freesound.org by user Crashoverride61088).
The sample entitled „British Air Force“ was sourced from the website https://freesound.org/people/kwahmah_02/sounds/255779/ (provided to Freesound.org by user Kwahmah_02).
The sample entitled „Yvonne woman screams painfully“ was sourced from the website https://freesound.org/people/thanvannispen/sounds/9436/ (provided to Freesound.org by user Thanvannispen).
The song „A Formula For Happiness“ contains portions of the sample “alliterative AM-radio crime news reporter.flac” used by permission of Tobias Ezra Queen. All rights reserved.
All websites with the mentioned samples accessed for the last time on July 6th 2020.
References
Song: "Metature"
Citation: “It is the sense of mystery that, in my opinion, drives the true scientist; the same force, blindly seeing, deafly hearing, unconsciously remembering, that drives the larva into the butterfly. If he has not experienced, at least a few times in his life, this cold shudder down his spine, this confrontation with an immense, invisible face whose breath moves him to tears, he is not a scientist. The blacker the night, the brighter the light.”
Reference: Chargaff, E. Heraclitean Fire. Sketches from a Life before Nature. Rockefeller University Press, New York, 1978, p. 114
Web resource: https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/478712.Erwin_Chargaff (accessed for the last time on July 6th 2020)
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Song: "Destiny Inc."
Citation: “…our knowledge can only be finite, while our ignorance must necessarily be infinite.”
Reference: Popper, K.R. Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge. Fourth Edition (revised), 1972, reprinted 1982. Butler & Tanner Limited, Frome & London, 1963, p 29.
Web resource: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/261419-our-knowledge-can-only-be-finite-while-our-ignorance-must (accessed for the last time on July 6th 2020)
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Song: "Destiny Inc."
Citation: “The stress on mechanisms has given rise to one of the curses of our time: the expert. It has made body mechanics out of physicians and cell mechanics out of biologists; and if the philosopher cannot yet be called a brain mechanic, this is only a sign of his backwardness.”
Reference: Chargaff, E. Heraclitean Fire. Sketches from a Life before Nature. Rockefeller University Press, New York, 1978, p. 121
Web resource: https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/478712.Erwin_Chargaff (accessed for the last time on July 6th 2020)
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Song: "Destiny Inc."
Citation: “Intellect's true concern is a negation of reification.”
Reference: Horkheimer, M. & Adorno, T.W. Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments. Noerr, G.S. (Ed). Translated by Edmund Jephcott. Preface (xvii) Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 2002
Web resource: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7399327-intellect-s-true-concern-is-a-negation-of-reification (accessed for the last time on July 6th 2020)
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Song: "Destiny Inc."
Citation: „No rational argument will have a rational effect on a man who does not want to adopt a rational attitude.”
Reference: Popper, K.R. The Open Society and its Enemies. Volume Two: Hegel and Marx. Routledge; New York, 2008, p. 255.
Web resource: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/karl_popper_141333 (accessed for the last time on July 6th 2020)
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Song: "Destiny Inc."
Citation: “Science is wonderfully equipped to answer the question »how?» but it gets terribly confused when you ask the question »why?»“
Reference: Chargaff, E. Voices in the labyrinth: Nature, Man and Science. The Seabury Press, New York, NY, USA, 1977, Chapter 1, p. 8
Web resource: https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/478712.Erwin_Chargaff (accessed for the last time on July 6th 2020)
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Song: "Destiny Inc."
Citation: “...triviality is evil - triviality, that is, in the form of consciousness and mind that adapts itself to the world as it is, that obeys the principle of inertia. And this principle of inertia truly is what is radically evil.”
Reference: Adorno, T.W. Metaphysics: Concept and Problems. Stanford University Press, Stanford, USA, 2001, p. 115
Web resource: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/340109-triviality-is-evil---triviality-that-is-in-the-form (accessed for the last time on July 6th 2020)
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Song: "Destiny Inc."
Citation: “Those who promise us paradise on earth never produced anything but a hell.”
Reference: Popper, K.R. as quoted in "In Passing: Condolences and Complaints on Death, Dying, and Related Disappointments" (2005) by Jon Winokur, p. 144
Web resource: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/770456-those-who-promise-us-paradise-on-earth-never-produced-anything (accessed for the last time on July 6th 2020)
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Song: "Destiny Inc."
Citation: “The gift of tongues, not explainable on the basis of natural selection, is the true attribute of humanization; and it is only fitting that it be revoked shortly before the tails begin to grow.”
Reference: Chargaff, E. Heraclitean Fire. Sketches from a Life before Nature. Rockefeller University Press, New York, 1978, p. 22
Web resource: https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/478712.Erwin_Chargaff (accessed for the last time on July 6th 2020)
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Song: "Destiny Inc."
Citation: “…science must begin with myths, and with the criticism of myths;…”
Reference: Popper, K.R. Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge. Fourth Edition (revised), 1972, reprinted 1982. Butler & Tanner Limited, Frome & London, 1963, p 50.
Web resource: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/karl_popper_383218 (accessed for the last time on July 6th 2020)
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Song: "Destiny Inc."
Citation: „It is frightening to observe that a progressive aphasia, not organically determined, appears to overtake large numbers of people who seem to be unable to express themselves except by hoarse barks and expletives.“
Reference: Chargaff, E. Heraclitean Fire. Sketches from a Life before Nature. Rockefeller University Press, New York, 1978, p. 22
Web resource: https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/478712.Erwin_Chargaff (accessed for the last time on July 6th 2020)
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Song: "Destiny Inc."
Citation: “Dissonance is the truth about harmony.”
Reference: Adorno, T.W. Aesthetic Theory. A&C Black, London, 2013, p.151
Web resource: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/384534-dissonance-is-the-truth-about-harmony (accessed for the last time on July 6th 2020)
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Song: "Destiny Inc."
Citation: “There exist mysterious links between language and the human brain; and the heartless and brutal way in which language is used in our times, as if it were only a power tool in public relations, a shortcut from sly producer to gullible consumer, has always seemed to me the most threatening portent of incipient bestialization.
Reference: Chargaff, E. Heraclitean Fire. Sketches from a Life before Nature. Rockefeller University Press, New York, 1978, p. 22
Web resource: https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1139772-heraclitean-fire-sketches-from-a-life-before-nature (accessed for the last time on July 6th 2020)
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Song: "Destiny Inc."
Citation: “The game of science is, in principle, without end. He who decides one day that scientific statements do not call for any further test, and that they can be regarded as finally verified, retires from the game.”
Reference: Popper, K.R. The Logic of Scientific Discovery. Chapter 2: On the Problem of a Theory of Scientific Method", Section 11: Methodological Rules as Conventions. Routledge Classics by Routledge, London & New York, 2002, p.32
Web resource: https://www.famousscientists.org/karl-popper/ (accessed for the last time on July 6th 2020)
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Song: "Destiny Inc."
Citation: “Life is the continuing intervention of the inexplicable.“
Reference: Chargaff, E. Heraclitean Fire. Sketches from a Life before Nature. Rockefeller University Press, New York, 1978, p. 20
Web resource: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/623242-life-is-the-continuing-intervention-of-the-inexplicable (accessed for the last time on July 6th 2020)
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Song: "Destiny Inc."
Citation: “In so far as a scientific statement speaks about reality, it must be falsifiable; and in so far as it is not falsifiable, it does not speak about reality.”
Reference: Popper, K.R. The Logic of Scientific Discovery. Appendix *i. Routledge Classics by Routledge, London & New York, 2002, p. 316
Web resource: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/karl_popper_392934 (accessed for the last time on July 6th 2020)
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Song: "Destiny Inc."
Citation: “Whenever a theory appears to you as the only possible one, take this as a sign that you have neither understood the theory nor the problem which it was intended to solve.”
Reference: Popper, K.R., Objective Knowlegde: An Evolutionary Approach. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1975, p. 266.
Web resource: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/68084-whenever-a-theory-appears-to-you-as-the-only-possible (accessed for the last time on July 6th 2020)