Demians
Building An Empire

THE REVIEW

A boy locks himself in his room, he has many instruments, and for years he has played them and learned their modus operandi. He decides to express what has marked him, everything he has experienced, he wants to share it with himself, but also with a potential listener. Some people are born to do something, a mission, or simply to express certain values. Whether it is a work of art or a scribble on a piece of newspaper, you can see its uniqueness. The expression of the author, putting oneself on the line, the inner search expressed outwardly.

Nicolas Chapel has lived emotions on his own skin and decided to put them into music. Universal feelings, loves and dreams, melancholy and anger, resignation and hope: nothing more. What makes a piece of work valid when dealing with topics addressed by millions of people? Probably the approach to the theme, the sincerity in expressing it. This album is a soul that unfolds 8 times (9 if you count the successful bonus track), in a different but similar way. You witness the stripping of thoughts, a constant coming into contact with oneself. "..a blank page's worth a thousand words when only one song could destroy them all..", the value of a blank page is the same as a thousand words when one song can destroy them all. Being faced with a choice, and feeling that music can save you from your problems despite everything and everyone: "leave the dark, life seems so bright we'll free yourself from your thoughts now it's time to grow up". As we hear this message in our ears, the atmosphere becomes ethereal, moving from the melancholic sound of a clean guitar to the distortion rich in gain, the drum dispenses time like a clock, like life. The keyboards make everything memorable, eternal. "Is there a heart that could beat by your side if you can't believe in yourself? In you..and what lies beneath...you..in truth..and what lies underneath". Always the solitude, what truly remains inside us without interfering with reality because destined to remain deep within.

Time passes by, Nicolas continues his journey, very intimate, interpretable words, as if he wanted to make them universal. We have all felt such sensations, we can all be fascinated by the power of music, a cloud in a clear sky. As the pieces progress, the atmosphere becomes soft, muffled, Nicolas's voice continues to sensually guide us, or perhaps ours is just an autonomous journey. The words over which we have power, the construct, do not always make their way in the moments when they are needed: "These comforting words I'd want you to hear...I'm only dreaming". We try to make it understood, not to waste time, not to take anything for granted. What we do not say to the people we love today we might never be able to say. So we are left with the dream of what could have been if only we had found the strength. But sometimes, despite all this, words come, but in reality, silence is the right expressive medium for what will never come out of our mouths "..the words are yet to come, and still I feel like silence is meaning so much more to tell you what's unspoken but remains inside..". The notes tend to reach an end: "Imagine these feelings we could share