(written by Islander)
Fans of astronomy may pass their eyes over the name Cepheidae Variable, pause, take a second look, and come away puzzled. But the band’s solo creator, Ryan Koepke from British Columbia, Canada, has an explanation:
The name “Cepheidae Variable” is a bit of nonsense. I wanted to name the project “Cepheid Variable”; however, I quickly realized every word and combination of words under the sun has been used at this point. So it became a play on words, and now it’s about a family of jellyfish.
Nonsense it may be, but the story brings a smile — and so does Cepheidae Variable’s music, though it’s far away from nonsense. As captured on the project’s debut album Primordial Reverie (released last November), it’s a head-spinning but carefully plotted amalgamation of varied inspirations and stylistic ingredients. Ryan’s identification of bands whose music has heavily influenced him gives some sense of that: Dream Theater, Haken, Intervals, Wintersun, and Caligula’s Horse.
The album is itself carefully plotted and tells a story, even though it doesn’t include vocals. As he has explained:
I think this album will have people who enjoy it as a whole piece, but also have two defined groups who are partial to either the first or the second half. I knew during the writing process that my choice might be divisive. I chose to use my own evolution of musical taste as the driving force behind the story and its tonality. Fans of symphonic metal, strong melody, and simpler song structure may enjoy the first half. Whereas those who enjoy a bit of chaos, uncertainty, and sci-fi influences will enjoy the second.
It also makes defining a genre quite difficult. I believe fans of progressive metal can all find elements they’ll enjoy. Not every song will fit the genre definitions of the listener, however, I think the album as a whole will be appealing. I’m trying to create a story through instrumentation. Heavily layered sections with orchestral instruments, synths, and guitars lead us through three distinct acts.
What we have for you today is a guitar playthrough video of the song “The Conduit“. Bearing in mind what Ryan said in the above quotation, it appears as Track No. 6 among the nine on the album, i.e., in the record’s second half. It follows directly from the song “Encounter“, which marks the start of the album’s more sci-fi-oriented and chaotic second phase, and it continues right where “Encounter” left off. As Ryan has said, “‘The Conduit‘ was visualized as a section of the story where the journey takes us through a portal in space that leads us to our final frontier.”
Eerie synths continue guiding us through the portal in the song’s opening, and booming taiko drums signal the significance of the transition, along with brightly dancing, futuristic keys. And then, although those swirling ethereal synths don’t vanish, hard-charging chords add a gritty, pulse-pounding groove, and fleet-fingered fretwork creates an air of jubilant exhilaration.
The guitar-work begins to sound darker and more sinister… and then suddenly vanishes… giving way to a dreamlike, celestial interlude. Coming out of the interlude, keys brightly dance again and drums boom — and then the music becomes both more chaotic and, when a breakdown lowers the boom, more pulverizing and more ominous.
The pace begins to accelerate again, and the music grows more frantic and unsettling, but the song ends in a phase that sounds both warm and wondrous — and thus concludes the album’s second act before the final act represented in the album’s last three songs.
The video is a fun experience as well, intertwining cosmic visions and Ryan’s playthrough performance.
CREDITS: Ryan Koepke composed the music and performed guitars and bass, and he also mixed the album, while Cole Millward handled the mastering. The stunning cover art is the work of Alex Eckman-Lawn.
For more info about Cepheidae Variable and to pick up Primordial Reverie, check out the links below. AFter the links we’ve included a full stream of the album.
https://cepheidaevariable.com/
https://cepheidaevariable.bandcamp.com/album/primordial-reverie
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0DFZHr1N4hUKjmV1mccmdV
https://www.instagram.com/cepheidaevariable_official
https://www.facebook.com/cepheidaevariable