Quietus of Autumn

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As we approach the release of our third album, “Quietus of Autumn,” I find myself hit with a very surreal feeling. We’ve been formally releasing music for a few years now, but this is the first album we’ve released as full-time musicians. The first time we’ve created music knowing that it’s not just for us anymore – it’s for you, and everyone else like you, making this possible for us. And you know what? There’s nothing better than that feeling.

The year since we released “Stillborn Reflection” has been an absolute whirlwind! That album was featured on the radio halfway around the world from us, and we were referred to as “one of America’s premiere symphonic metal bands” by one of the UK’s biggest metal magazines. For the first time, we actually have an audience for the music we make!

So we pushed ourselves to the absolute limit, to make this milestone album the best it could possibly be. If we’re being called one of America’s premiere symphonic metal bands, you bet your ass we’re gonna do our best to make music worthy of that title!

Everything about it is “leveled up” from our previous work, and we couldn’t be more proud. It needed to reflect the magnitude of what it means to us – and we think we succeeded! There are new and different elements throughout every minute of this hour-long album, but everything you expect to hear from Mute Prophet is still there in spades.

“Quietus of Autumn” represents the start of a brand-new chapter for us all. A couple of these songs were conceived as early as 2014, though they were never released. We developed and enhanced them – in some cases beyond recognition – to meet the peak of our abilities five years later.

The reason? Because the album’s release date – October 1st, 2019, will also mark the five-year anniversary of the day Adrienne officially became our vocalist. Those older songs were written specifically to process how terrible things were for us back then, and now with this new beginning in our lives, it seems only fitting to breathe new life into them and give them a home on an official album. But there’s more to it than that.

The word “quietus” means an ending, a death, but it can also refer to something that is soothing or comforting. And autumn, too, is a death-like change, but one that’s of course visually beautiful – and for me, quite comforting.

Thematically, “Quietus of Autumn” encapsulates the entire concept of a new beginning. We want this album to be a symbol for anyone who might need reminding that no matter how dark and hopeless life might seem, there’s always the possibility for change. Trauma can heal. Illnesses can heal.

And perhaps the most amazing proof that things can change? As you know, Chris started out homeless, working a fairly soul-crushing job to support his parents and siblings. Five years later? He’s married, and the proud father of a newborn son!

So, what exactly did we do to ensure that the album reflects such an ambitious concept? There’s no shortage of the emotive arrangements, complex riffs, cinematic scores, powerful vocals and shreddy solos you no doubt expect, but we’ve also had the opportunity to experiment with some new sounds as well – including harpsichord, acoustic guitar and a real, not-synthesized xylophone – and I (Kevin) even contributed some Marco Hietala-esque backing vocals on one song. Louisa also showed off her skills a bit more, providing some amazing bass guitar solos on a few tracks as well.

In my opinion, Adrienne’s vocals have also improved across the board. Her belting has both more power and more control, her opera is absolutely heartbreaking, she can reach some truly crystalline high notes, and some of her screams hit a level of fury and brutality that I honestly never imagined she could pull off.

All of this is set against some of the most ambitious arrangements we’ve ever attempted – the fast songs are faster and the slow songs are slower, there are heavy rhythms, complex polymeters and crazy time signatures, but none of that for even a second overshadows the emotional melodies and catchy choruses we love!

What’s more, the production is the best it’s ever been. It was essential to me to ensure that you could hear every single detail – and now you can, courtesy of some amazing new equipment such as this beauty here:

I just really hope you know how grateful we all are to you. Thank you for being a part of this wonderful crazy journey with us, and inspiring us to make the best music we’ve made so far. For showing us that everything can get better. 

As always, if you feel like it, please leave a comment below and connect with us! We always love hearing from you 🙂 Stay tuned – I’ll have another update on the album next week!

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