Rumors of War

This song is split into two parts. It introduces the theme for the King of the Sand and hints at the theme for the Conqueror of Worlds. 

Part 1: Chafing at the Bit (0:01-3:54)

"The King of the Sand is not king yet. He is only an aide to the king, who is weak and cowardly, clearly undeserving of the throne. The aide is mocked and humiliated for his dreams of power, but he will show them all! He will rule the throne with an iron fist. He needs but once chance to seize it..."

Part 2: The Conqueror Approaches (3:34-end)

"In the courts of the king's palace, it is heard in whispers. The Conqueror of Worlds approaches. Surely he will lay waste to Eremus, enslave its people, deface the temples, and make a mockery of the throne." 

The instruments used in part one are all geared towards the gravelly feeling of sand. I really wanted to capture that texture in sound form. The sound that plays the King of the Sand's theme here actually comes from two pianos. The sound of the pianos is reversed, filtered, and run through two delays, which are also filtered. I also added a distortion effect that is slowly mixed in to add a heightened sense of tension.

The themes of the characters are complex; they are represented by instruments just as much as they are represented by melodies. for instance, the electric guitar reverses are unique to the King of the Sand's theme and appear throughout the album whenever his character is involved, showing up more frequently as he devolves into madness. Here they only appear twice, very subtly, but in Vaecordia they are featured far more prominently to show the unraveling of his sanity.

The synths and patches used for the Conqueror of Worlds here are harsh, but subtle in comparison with what's to come. This shows the amount of fear surrounding this guy; his reputation is incredible! He and his armies can be likened to Attila the Hun and his forces, or Genghis Khan and the Mongol horde. Chaos is brewing...