So it was written - once on a square of paper, then rotated, written again. The square was filled to the point of incomprehensibility, and what was written served as a petition - to some saint, some deity, some idea. The square was written in the hope that someone would catch enough of the synchronicity to grab a firm hold of the cycle before it began again.

You've heard this story before. A fearsome premonition in a world too infatuated by power to notice the dangers in it. Small voices of protest, unamplified, unheard. A heroic stand against the forces of greed and corruption...or...well this is where your memory starts to fail. That perhaps should be how this story ends, no?

But perhaps there is no shame in not meeting force with force. Where does your strength lie? The rooted stance must sometimes break. Sometimes you must hide underground, observing the infinite patterns of rock and river and working through them. Shall you die a hero or live forever eroding the rocky face of your enemy, until they are dust just as you are?

Stumble under the unfamiliarity of this new form, then take flight, take root. The lines of rock and river are prepared to see this through. Unless we all are prepared again to cycle through another day, another year, another life-and-death, another more piteous rebirth, another more grueling education - then you as spirit-bird-tree, must find where those lines converge.

released April 6, 2021

All Music composed between October 2018 and January 2021.

Recorded, performed and mixed by Nahadoth (Adam Matlock) in January 2021.

Mastered by Alex Vogel at White Falcon Studios, Barcelona.

Artwork - "Alhambra Dream" © Janet Croog. Used with permission.(www.janetcroog.com,www.instagram.com/jacroog)

Many, many thanks to Shane and Jenn for their eyes and ears.

Thanks to Brennan, Daniel, Dylan, Erang, Evergreen, Greg, Jacob, Jesse, Jim, Jon, Justin, Lord Bill, The Keeper, Phillip, Ross, Sean, SG, Tom.

To anyone who has listened to this music over the last 5 years, thank you for being a part of this set of stories.