8-Bit Universe: Coming to All-Con!

As some of you may remember, we released a con-exclusive CD when we journeyed to Dragon*Con in Atlanta last year.

Yeah, you know, this guy.

Well, we didn't want to give anyone the wrong impression and make it seem like we care less about our beloved All-Con, so at this year's con, we'll be releasing a new CD called 8-Bit Universe. "What's all this, then?" you're probably asking yourself (especially if you're a bobby...). Well, 8-Bit Universe is a complete chiptune remix of the entire Universe:Red album! That means that you'll be able to hear all seven of your favorite Universe:Red tracks in full-on, 8-bit, Nintendo-y glory! Holy explosive nerdgasm!

Have a sneak peak at the 8-Bit Universe label, won't you?

Click to embiggen, my child.

So if you're going to be at All-Con this weekend, swing by our table and pick up one of these limited edition badboys! And for those of you who can't make it, be on the lookout for 8-Bit Universe to make it your way soon!

See you at All-Con!

Tales from a Red Universe | Part Four of Four: Cardboard Residence

"Tales from a Red Universe" is a four-part exploration in which Thomas takes you behind the scenes of the lyrics and concepts of URIZEN's "Universe:Red." Slip on a spacesuit and join us for the ride, won't you?

(Haven't read Part Three yet? No problemo, look here!)

Boxmen

From my box I can see everything. Life and all the joy that it can bring. No I don't want to live beyond my frame. 'Cause in here the weather's always better, and life's a winning game! I find the scum outside to be a source of loneliness, but in my fear fortress the box has sown my redemption. Outside it's wet and cold... a violent sight I shan't perceive but through my filters and protection. I am a box man! What? I've never heard such ridiculous buffoonary! Why would I want to join you out there? Just look at my life compared to yours. I've got all the things a boy could ever want. Friends by the thousands, the very world at my fingertips! I'll never join you! Never! That's ludicrous... absurd! Outside again... could I resume that life? To know... I'd finally found a way I can feel safe outside....to know... to know! I'm fine to dull sensations of pain and agony, but to hide from danger I have hidden everything. An even keel... my life is plain and dull, but at last I have realized. Into the world I go! (Lyrics: Thomas Drinnen)

This song was inspired by the internet and the burgeoning internet culture that frustrates me daily, despite a clear inability on my part to simply "avoid" it. I still can't seem to escape its grasp. I would have to say that this song is a criticism of people who experience the world primarily through the filters of media, opting only for scant interaction with the "real world"... though, really, I am currently living the life of a Boxman myself... so... yeah... I should heed my own advice!

Tales from a Red Universe | Part Three of Four: Human Revelations

"Tales from a Red Universe" is a four-part exploration in which Thomas takes you behind the scenes of the lyrics and concepts of URIZEN's "Universe:Red." Slip on a spacesuit and join us for the ride, won't you?

(Haven't read Part Two yet? C'mon man, view it here!)

A New Revelation

(staccato 8-bit notes represent the universe speaking to humanity by way of science and technology) Oh yes, of course. Please allow me to translate. He says: Of the universe, it should be noted that yours is but one of many. That due to things like uncertainty... and probability... the landscape of your future is truly a matter of limitless potential, and that's good. I failed to grasp emotion, or suffer with disease. "Cold" and "loneliness" astound me. I tried to find a better "self" to be. I had hoped that beyond the stars, I would find a way. I had dreamed that behind the mind, I would find the answers. I had hoped, that through it all, there'd be much more to see. I had hoped that I'd finally find a "me"! And to summarize, existence is constantly splitting and branching off into new and wondrous paths. And each new moment holds with it any number of an unfathomable amount of possibilities. So for those moments giving rise to pain, it is to be hoped that elsewhere, along a concurrent path, an inverse moment is giving rise... to joy! (Lyrics: Thomas Drinnen)

"A New Revelation" marks the universe's (and the album's) transition of perspective from the totality of the vast without to the conscious within. During the song there are two sections where the synth line seems to be "speaking" to an unidentified human who is then translating the findings to the listener. This is meant as the universe revealing itself to humanity, thus creating this mutual duality where the universe and the human intellect are nearly one in the same, yet, nevertheless,  forever divided by their respective distinctions of perspective.... or are they?

Tales from a Red Universe | Part Two of Four: Universal Conscience

"Tales from a Red Universe" is a four-part exploration in which Thomas takes you behind the scenes of the lyrics and concepts of URIZEN's "Universe:Red." Slip on a spacesuit and join us for the ride, won't you?

(Haven't read Part One yet? Foolish human, view it here!)

A Budding Consciousness

I will not tolerate this boundary, I find it troublesome indeed. I will not yield to limitation.. in fact I'll never yield again. I'll find a way to save my blissful state and backwards facing dream. The simple "I" that became, will not be made to live as "we". Ah, every moment it worsens... this, thickening awareness. Cluttering and corrupting my peace. Wretched questions with seemingly no end! I can see it in the distance... my doom! The cursed "why?!" I find this state of mine to be a harsh eventuality. And I shall not fear nor oppose. I'll find what it means to "know". I'll find the substance of my glee. I'll take it back to when "I" was the answer to most everything. I'll find the surface of my glee and suffer fate no more. I want to make this whole world go away. (Lyrics: Thomas Drinnen)

Here's where things start to go wrong for poor old Mr. (Or Ms... or Mrs... or Dr.) Universe. Having burst onto the scene with a great deal of pomp, we find the universe in an awkward and unforeseen predicament: it is growing a multiplicitous consciousness by way of universal laws, the developing order of the settling universe, and, of course, humanity's ever growing awareness of the universe from within (or, as Carl Sagan put it, humanity is: "a way for the universe to know itself").

Tales from a Red Universe | Part One of Four: The Big Bang

"Tales from a Red Universe" is a four-part exploration in which Thomas takes you behind the scenes of the lyrics and concepts of URIZEN's "Universe:Red." Slip on a spacesuit and join us for the ride, won't you?

In The Beginning
The tale of Universe:Red begins many moons ago... like, a whole lot of moons. It traces its origins back to 2007's Universe EP, and even contains a track (Nothing is Epic) that was recorded a few months before the completion of URIZEN's 2005 debut: autocratopolis!

The Universe EP was something of an embarrassment to me, I must admit. I marked it as my first big failure in the Uri-realm. Initially, It was a CD brimming with potential, but that potential was never fully realized in its first incarnation. Essentially, we had given ourselves a deadline as a band to have an album finished and, in an effort to solidify this deadline as absolute, we went ahead and booked a "CD Release" concert which would mark the day that we needed to have the CDs back from replication. Unfortunately, the results were... less than favorable.

At the time of Universe's birth as an embarrassingly underproduced CD, I was working full time during the week and, as a result, the final moments of Universe's completion came down to two very sleepless weekends in a row. During this time, we made sweeping last minute changes to the music, fought terribly with the vocal melodies in "A Budding Consciousness," and left ourselves without enough time to mix or master the album properly. Then, for some reason, we released it anyway. Oops! At some point, I do plan on going into much more detail about the creation of the original Universe; the turmoil I personally suffered at its disappointing hands, and the decision to re-record, re-mix and re-master it, but that's a story for another day. The subject of this blog will be the lyrics of Universe:Red and the overall concept that they attempt to convey.

MetalMania Videos: The Whole Package

In anticipation of our upcoming show at Tomcats West in Fort Worth on Saturday, January 22nd, us UriFolk took it upon ourselves to film some promo videos in the style of a certain 1980s-era sports entertanment entity, which now has something to do with saving pandas...

Whatcha Gonna Do, Brother?!?

Soon, the other bands on the bill were joining in on the fun, and a very entertaining series of videos resulted. In an effort to make things easier for you, the fans, we have decided to compile those videos here, chronologically, for your veiwing pleasure. Enjoy!

DecemberHolidayMadnessSpecialsHolyFuckinShit!!!

 

Happy Nondescript Inoffensive Winter Celebration Season, everyone!

To celebrate the season of giving buying, the URIZEN Online Superstore is offering FREE shipping on all CD orders now through the end of December! (Shipping charges still apply to international orders and the 13" plush URIZEN dolls because that shit is expensive and we ain't made of money!)

Not only that, but every single order will receive a FREE URIZEN sticker and a FREE mystery gift! As you'll remember from the Universe:Red offer, the mystery gift consists of whatever random thing we happen to find at the time of shipping. Past mystery gifts have ranged from URIZEN posters and robot toy kits to URIZEN-edited young adult novels and signed pictures of *NSYNC (signed by URIZEN... not *NSYNC). Someone even got a toy dinosaur! WOW!

So don't delay! This offer only lasts until December 31st, so order now to get your UriGoods in time for Christmas/Hanukka/Kwanzaa/Robanuka/Festivus/GERD Awareness Week/your Winter Solstice ritual! 

URIZEN Online Superstore at BigCartel.com