Eremus

"Eremus": Latin for "wasteland"

"Eremus, kingdom of the wilderness. Once crowned in glory, now weak in the eyes of men..."

This was the third song I produced on the album. I say produced, but my production and compositional process are heavily intertwined so both were done simultaneously. The purpose of the song is mainly to set the stage for the scale of the album. Despite the title and grand scope of the song, the real theme of Eremus is subtle and doesn't appear until the very end of the song, played in piano. It appears again later in track 10, Fall of Eremus. 

The song as a whole starts off on a pretty dark note (no pun intended), setting the tone for the rest of the album. This is not a happy story. The kingdom of Eremus was once a glorious kingdom, but it is now on the verge of collapse. It sits in the middle of the desert, (hence the name). The focus of the song is more on the former glory of the kingdom. Its current state is dealt with more thoroughly in track 3, Rumors of War. 

Most of my inspiration for composition comes from imagery, particularly of the landscape. Thus, the setting of Eremus is particularly important in the instrument choices that create the soundscape of the album. Much of the ambient sounds are built around the idea of sand. This is especially seen in the themes for the King of the Sand (for obvious reasons). I'll explain that in more detail in my breakdown of Rumors of War.