Synopsis: The synbio, Cerria, has led a loyal group of followers to the distant planet of Soludenia, hoping to find refuge from a dying Earth. Unknown to the new settlers, in the planet’s atmosphere are microbial lifeforms that cause strange hallucinations known as the ‘Kiss of Svorle’. Rather than terraforming the planet the new inhabitants decide to adapt themselves genetically to live symbiotically with these lifeforms. For some, the Augments, this adaptation sees their human capabilities enhanced, while others, the Chimeras, have aggressive mutant side effects and are cast out. A specially adapted group of tythlotic trackers protect Cerria and her followers. Cerria laments the loss of their utopian dream while the chimera roam the dark side of the planet slowly plotting their revenge.
- Kiss of Svorle (08:07)
- Pantropic Adaptation (08:07)
- Tythlotic Trackers (08:11)
- Ice Fields of the Eidola (09:34)
- Cerria’s Lament (07:09)
- Cimmerian Walkers (08:34)
Narrative backdrop for each track:
#001_SLD
Ejected from the suspended safety of our hermetic metal cocoons, our descent through the charged atmosphere of Soludenia was a rough awakening. The planet’s fractured cyan surface scared with deep fissures slowly came into focus as we neared our landing point. Gathering our hylonano exoskin from our lifepods we stepped out onto the ice fields of our new home. Gigantic, jagged cobalt-blue triclinic crystal lattices protruded from the frozen surface like silent sentinels scattered across the landscape.
#020_SLD
Twenty days on Soludenia and our advance expeditionary units have found concealed algid seas rich with life under the glacial valleys, but many have returned in an acutely disturbed state of mind. Plumes of microbial lifeforms spewed into the frigid atmosphere as the ice sheets perform their crushing tectonic dance, are thought to be the cause. The delirium, quickly passed on to others in our nascent colony, is vernacularly known, and feared, as the Kiss of Svorle.
#033_SLD
Cerria and the Council of Synbios, having been in conclave for some days, concluded that the only way to combat the vivid, horrific hallucinations is to adapt to live symbiotically with these lifeforms. Having re-engineered our fragile bodies once to survive a dying Earth, we must again refactor our genetic code to survive. Our biomechs have never before recoded DNA integrating an exogenous lifeform, and a disquieting silence has spread amongst us as we each await this experimental transfiguration.
#076_SLD
The unforeseen mutations we are experiencing continue to reshape our recombinant bodies long after the process of pantropic adaptation. At first, the Augments emerged, their sensory capabilities enhanced. In some, a fibrous network of auditory nerves covers their pronounced angular heads, emerging from dark recesses where ears should have been. In others, their skin comes to resemble the lattice-like structures strewn across the surface of the planet, lithe and sinuous, allowing them to move at great speeds. For the Chimera, whose bodies cannot attain genetic equilibrium, rampant cellular metamorphosis runs untamed.
#112_SLD
The bitter rancour between the Augments and the Chimeras has deepened, with combative factions clashing out near to Settlement#17. Cerria has sanctioned an elite group of Augments, the tytholic trackers, to eradicate the destructive threat. This fearsome group hunt in the dark, sensing movement not by sight but by long thorn-like tendrils extending from the sides of their head, their skin a mottled scaly blue. They communicate through unnervingly deep-toned guttural utterances that carry effortlessly across the open ice fields.
#166_SLD
Cerria has been keeping vigil for three days in the sacellum above Settlement#01. Her plaintive song laments the loss of our utopian dream for Soludenia, ever hopeful of the Augments finally finding peace. The insurgence of the Chimeras has abated, but no one knows how long this will last, and for now the ice fields remain unsanctioned crossings between settlements.
Credits: CD and Digital Download comes with a beautiful 16-page booklet with story text by Monty Adkins (SKRIKA), released November 15, 2022. Written, Produced, Performed – Monty Adkins (SKRIKA). Voice – Peyee Chen. Final Mix and Mastering – Erdem Helvacioglu. Artwork – Simon Heath.
monty adkins | SKRIKA 