I had been working on Epitaph since autumn of 2015, actively at least anyway, some of the themes I ended up using actually hark back to when I first picked up a guitar at the age of 15. I had previously released a selection of my demos on Soundcloud and an ambient drone album called ‘Sub Humus’, but these all just seemed a bit aimless and spontaneous, not that there is anything wrong with spontaneity in art, but I was wanting to create a solid and consistent body of work with a firm message and valid execution. Epitaph itself only came about after a while of playing with some musical ideas I had when discussing the merits and pitfalls of power and responsibility with some friends, we followed the rabbit trail and ended up talking about Tsar Bomba, the giant a-bomb developed by the Soviets. The idea of having that much destructive power immediately struck a chord with me (pun intended) and music started to write itself. I coupled these early ideas with old Soviet radio bursts and the drama was coming together nicely but it felt limited as a longer work, at best it would just be another composition to add to a mixed canon.
As I thought on it longer I decided to develop a theme of death and its immediacy, but also the way we, who are left, perceive those who have gone before. At this point I should say that I was a philosophy and theology student, thinking this way may seem convoluted but hey anything goes, right? I started to consider the things that generally are considered to be worth remembering or that are worth doing and why. Do we want to make a change? Do we want to be remembered? Are we just curious? This began to relate to various exploits of the human race and points in history which I then chose to use as starting points for each movement of a now vague form for a concept album.
credits
released March 18, 2018
All tracks written, produced and recorded by George Tunnah. Recorded between June 2015 and November 2017 at The Sanctuary (Home Studio) Mixed and mastered by George Tunnah.
George Tunnah plays: Electric Guitars, Acoustic Guitars, Bass Guitars, Mandolin, Ukulele, Banjo, Keyboards, Synths, Percussion and Drum Programming. Photography by: Everett Bowes, Tim Gouw, Tom van Hoogstraten and Keith Misner, portrait by Cre8ion.
Sustained by seismic psych riffs, proggy shifts, and vivid sci-fi storytelling, these Milwaukee cosmonauts command respect. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 29, 2023
The Long Island metal band's third album etches arena-sized hooks into their jagged compositions, deftly balancing experimental and poppy inclinations. Bandcamp Album of the Day May 12, 2022