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Phantasmal

by Cara Neir

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    'The Threshold'. Design by Yasin Violet. Printed on Bella Canvas shirts. Available in Black or Cardinal Red.
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  • 12" Vinyl Health Points Infinity
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    Artist copies of Phantasmal. Health Points Infinity (splatter variant in photo).

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  • 12" Vinyl Hellfire Rex Variant
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    Artist copies of Phantasmal. Hellfire Rex (red variant in photo).

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1.
Menu (Intro) 01:35
2.
From ice caverns, to this... Slip into a matrix, a perplexed state of innuendo surreal Out of reach galaxies mesh with purgatory states Lost touch and lost grip, falling from the mountain We don't know how we got here. We've done everything we can This can only be another test but what we have will only get us so far We cannot exercise enough caution, we have to figure out the riddles of this house This melting candle stares me in the face, its beckoning flame a shimmering beacon of hope Musty and dank the cellar is, nowhere to dig or claw From the stag's head on the wall to the crimson flood of red curtains Slip into this matrix, a diseased state of mind Out of reach galaxies mesh with purgatory states The One becomes a blip and Rex engulfs the hope
3.
Like night and day New voice arise, whilst my old, rotten life fades Picked way too soon I'll never feel ripe ALL THIS PAIN INSIDE MY GUT CAN'T MATCH THE DARK THAT POURS THROUGH US
4.
"You have been untangled, servant I disconnect you" I've been bled from the pack and now must cross the Steppe if I'm to prove his vision's a lie But my arms are growing, it seems, I'm developing odd lumps scattered 'cross my body Everything about me seems less.. human So many arms.. I cannot think, I look around and all I see is them
5.
She screams at the top of her lungs as he rips and pulls at her clothes "In line to become one assume your role this human is primed and will be used" Claws dragging into the floor beneath her nails peel back Sent through the rotten course for Succipio
6.
Nothing tastes better than humans, I love the flesh I cannot see you but I've already heard you Pitch black holes are my eyes look deep Snacks for later at my reach Slackjaw freak you think of me
7.
Famines could not stop him Teeth in his mouth were rotten, combing all for meat A barnacle on mankind, Ireland wishes him gone Séamus the shameful Boasts of threesomes forbidden Though humans would fault him, The One keeps him hidden On trial for seconds he kneels in the Steppe Compatible vines of malice enter, fixate The vessel is here, the man is gone
8.
9.
Unkindness 04:39
Let not his kindness, his manners, fool you A crypt of blood oaths, and measures of phosphorus The lives lost per the spectral force are hounded by chaos She keeps the dead and dying at bay, thriving on smells foul Exhume the last and let The One forgo this carnal sin, unbridled, tainted Cycles of such vicious strife the two endure And for naught; The One struck down as himself, a pawn, allowing our king to rise Now, Frost, once revered, checks again out of history's essence "Return the bastards to their homeworld of pollution I permit you use of any realms necessary" Black peppers the sky, benign forces awry The house they left laughs in the wake of this mold creeping the streets, the seas, the air No amount of violence, violence, No amount of violence, violence will satiate "Return the bastards to their homeworld of pollution I permit you use of any realms necessary" It's been a pleasure to meet you, sir Arthur Frost It's been a pleasure to meet you, sir Arthur Frost "Mutilation and contempt," orders must be done So he shook our hand before he took our life
10.
Detritus and greys hang over my face They move, I flinch Recoil from the clanging static I hear, waiting for mine to wake Sensors wake up as quickly as our wonderland has come and gone We decide anyway to trust, it ambles along with us as we learn of Succipio "Purgatory, damnation, curse, there's a lot of words being thrown around but here's the thing, it's none of those. What's actually happening here is something on an absurdly metaphysical scale."
11.
"Captain, we have to play now" Nowhere else to go.. the best place to setup is here The group played their tunes for the entire sector to hear, a grandiose display of foolhardy valor They met the crew with confusion and awe as the group jammed out, all covered in viscera The two of them proceed forth and indulge in the break Something about the men reeks of intrigue, but they seem non-threatening among all of the deep purple hues coming from their derelict ship
12.
Through portals, summons, or brute force, I now require them dead Meddling of sorcery and dimensions unbound are condemned This time we cover all grounds Succipio is not to be left All must fall at the Steppe
13.
Flesh of the ripe, knees of the weak Rip and tear and jelly of the maw Skin off the face in shreds Bits of the nails stuck from rotted herself She grimaces as she strikes, it's almost as if she smells the ugly in us
14.
Urge to inflict Cycle of anguish Every wound to another Snaps back on my flesh Transparent reality The aching of moments Delusions drawn out Into worlds of torment Neurological swarming Thoughts splinter thin No escape from What comes from within
15.
Graven Rocks 01:06
16.
All of these monstrosities Mirror verse of ourselves Meshing with this version of Hell Splashing on tomes all the blood The Duke of Death, the Priest of Gnax Lives lost to spectral forces or not, they all end up as pawns Suffice it to say, we've lost Then wings of diamond formations appear through smoke As Millius appears, I stagger, trying to break my posture Looking at my partner, his gaze fixated on the creature, we talk Morphing into something, tethered to the nightmare, we become nothing The musings of the madman proved to come at a cost as we lost ourselves in its eyes Warping us out of this dimension and into one we have no past of Our structure is broken down into form. Form. Form. Form

about

Released on Zegema Beach Records. VINYL on zbrusa.com or zegemabeachrecords.com.

Phantasmal is a survival horror game. Chris and Garry find themselves warped from The One's RPG Gauntlet into a darker dimension known as Saint Succipio. Pulling the strings of this sinister and strangely familiar place is a pale entity known as Rex. Set in what seems like a suburban neighborhood is an off-kilter dimension with an eerie silence and inhuman presence lurking the deeper one ventures.

5 Characters were "unlocked" for this album from the Phase Out bandcamp vinyl pledge. A special tier of 5 pledgers were awarded with creating a character that we'd commission pixel art according to the character description and then adapt them into Phantasmal's album and dimension.

Millius (ally)
Bio: Ghostly gargoyle. This ghost’s history is shrouded in mystery, but sources say that it has fulfilled 1 of 3 “genie teleportations” and is looking to aid two more beings in order to escape the shackled purgatory that binds it. Very helpful but completely silent, it appears out of smoke as an apparition with gleaming diamond wings. This history was provided by a madman who claims to be Millius’ first “genie transportation”. He babbles (mostly incoherently) but incessantly repeats the story about his descent into madness due to the piercing light from this figure's eyes during the teleportation. He refers to Millius during this final phase as The Diamond Gargoyle. (Character by Lucas Norman / Dave Norman.)

Arthur Frost (villain)
Bio: Victorian ghost who acts a messenger and occasional mercenary to the main villain. He can teleport in a vaporous cloud and disperse himself via a flock of ravens as a means of attack. Can also shoot spectral energy out of his hands and walk through walls. His manner is sardonic, effortless, and urbane. (Character by Alec A. Head of Ghostbound.)

Captain Ishmael (neutral)
Bio: After killing, eating and curing the remainder of meat from that damned whale, Captain Ishmael was in need of a new adventure- he picked space. The crystal engine within his ship burned with the special coals he had found in the Bermuda Triangle, allowing the ship to move at warp speed. This speed allowed the ship to defy gravity completely, and so when the ocean curved, Ishmael's ship jettisoned into the air... and then beyond Earth's atmosphere.

Ishmael's ship, "The Humiston-Scoular" continued to move at warp speed through space, slowed only by a black hole. "Step off, you dirty black hole!" growled Ishmael. (To this day, Captain Ishmael is the only human capable of breathing or audibly saying anything in space.) The black hole wrestled the purple and silver ship, but "The Humiston-Scoular" was determined, like it had a mind of its own, and ripped away from the black hole. The force was so great it actually ripped five musicians from the other side of the space-time continuum into our dimension, where they landed in Ishmael's ship.
Convinced they are still in their own dimension, and appalled by the music of present day earth, they took up the instruments closest to their own with the intent to bring back the noise of their homeland. Not only have friends from the other side been able to join them onstage, their music has been known to put the souls of people from their dimension into the reciprocating bodies in our dimension. Should this happen to you, you are welcome to join them onstage to play or cheer and dance more than ever. But do not attack them, for Captain Ishmael keeps them safe in all their endeavors. Captain Ishmael can use telepathy, ability to warp time/space, and sonic shock. (Character by John Budrow of Captain Ishmael and the Sound Avengers.)

Designation: YLB (neutral ally watching from the distance)
Bio:A cyborg out of time, this melding of organic nervous system and machinery must have been state-of-the-art once, but aeons of neglect and decay have reduced it to a fraction of it's former aptitude. It moves in shambling, jerky pace, creaking and groaning before moments of great alacrity. Somehow after all these years the voicebox is still intact, and it alternates blasting abrasive, oscillating feedback, and ruminating on the philosophical nature of these dimensions. (Character by MISANDR.)

Milefecerium (villain)
Bio: Chaotic evil dog demon. A guard dog of an evil realm called Saint Succipio and familiar to its godlike overseer, Rex. She exudes a vile and noxious smell from her shadowy tentacles, potentially lethal to humans with long-term exposure. (Character by Jon Drew. RIP MILEY.)

Rex's Damnation of Monsters:

Bulkload: Former human scientist, now a lumbering abomination. Standing at 8FT tall with long arms that lumber and drag across the ground and his torso littered with small fingers and eyeballs fused and sticking out of his mutated skin. Shoulders are wide with bones protruding. Pitch black eyes and faced stretched down into a gaping, soulless void, where his lower jaw hangs.

Moonlight: A rage-filled entity with leather bindings on her face. Tattered clothing. Scars carved all over her body. Her nails are long and chipped with exposed and badly bruised feet.

Séamus: An Irish man and criminal who perished in the plague of 1847. Disheveled in appearance, teeth black and broken shackles that hang from his ankles and wrists. As part of his damnation, he is forced to live with vines protruding out of his abdomen along with his intestines wrapping around him, eternally strangling his neck.

credits

released July 29, 2022

Recorded in a haunted suburban home with discarded electronics and bootleg video game equipment procured from now-defunct antique shops in rural Texas.

All songs simultaneously written & produced immediately after the Phase Out session. Dec 2020 - Feb 2021 except 14 in June 2021 (by Burst Synapse). Vocals recorded May - June 2021.

Chris Francis - Vocals, Lyrics, Additional Synth, Intro & Interlude
Garry Brents - Guitars, Bass, Drums, Synth, Sampling, Backing Vocals, Production, Layout

Guests:
Leda Paige (sissynoise.bandcamp.com) - Backing Vocals on 3, 4, 5, & 9.
Dave Norman (zegemabeachrecords.bandcamp.com) - Backing Vocals on 4, 6, & 10.
Alec A. Head aka Arthur Frost (ghostbound.bandcamp.com) - Clean Vocals on 9.
MISANDR aka YLB (misandr.bandcamp.com) - Robotic Noise on 10 & 13.
Grotesque Misalignment (grotesquemisalignment.bandcamp.com) - Electronic/Noise Outro on 16.
Burst Synapse (burstsynapse.bandcamp.com) - Beat, Samples, Harsh Vocals, Composition, & Lyrics on 14.

Pixel Art Cover:
Cristian aka "Abueloretrowave" (instagram.com/abueloretrowave)

Vinyl Jacket Artwork (Back):
Pixel Art 'Red Room' by Przemek Berestko
Pixel Art 'Character Unlock' pieces by Thespianpixels

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Cara Neir Dallas

2008-2024 arlington, tx.

chris francis
garry brents

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