October 15, 2021

Often, the toughest but most gratifying part of making art is giving in fully to your darkest instincts, desires, and fears and thrusting them into the light. It can be terrifying to expose these parts of ourselves, the ones that we carry with us our whole lives, buried under decades of sorrow, regret, and falsehood that keep us chained to our perceived “fate” — just another lie, a story that we tell ourselves to keep us from burning away the shroud of unworthiness and ascending to our rightful places on the thrones of our own destinies. This kind of examination is worthwhile for its own sake, of course. However, occasionally, this willingness to engage with and excise that darkness opens us up to glimpsing the primordial heart of the human experience; something that is deeply relatable, baked into the very fabric of our being. When this is the case, there is nothing more gratifying than seeing our work take on a greater and deeper sense of meaning through interpretation by others who we respect and admire. Never before have I been so humbled by this experience than last night, when I first watched the video that Costin made to accompany our new single from Deceiver, “House of Cadmus”.

In all honestly, between the song itself and the arcane, primordial imagery that it inspired Costin to channel, I have never been more proud of something I had a hand in creating. This was a very difficult song for me, emotionally, to put to paper, and seeing it interpreted in a way that is so unexpected and beautiful, by someone who clearly understands deeply what I was trying to convey, makes it feel like I’ve been plugged into an infinite source of energy at the root of what makes us human. In this space, I know that I am not alone and that others understand and empathize with my struggles, each of us better relating to and making space for our own suffering through the recognition of our shared humanity. These are the moments in life where I feel in touch with my purpose and an undeniable sense of divinity that comes from within, not from without.

When you have a moment to yourself, listen to the song and experience the imagery Costin conjured up for “House of Cadmus” here: https://youtu.be/Sd9piVecSAw. This one may take a couple of viewings to fully sink in, but trust me when I say that it is worth the investment.

-Phil