My new EP is out :)
Download: https://undogmatic.bandcamp.com/album/shadows
To download for free, set the price to zero.
This is a contemplative EP with a few political statements about the past, the future and how to progress between the two. It's about the obstacles, the goals and everything in between. There is a huge tension in the world today but, the same time, many have the desire for peace and refuse and fall back into despair and fatalism (some of the tracks in this EP are about avoiding a complete adhesion to pessimism and fatalism).
I would argue that, for peace to be possible, every person has the moral duty to oppose reactionary ideas expressed by those who seek to maintain the status quo and/or abolish all social progress within their societies. Reactionaries are certainly some of the obstacles ahead, while freedom is undeniably one of the goals. Freedom from the shackles of despicable traditions, social norms and taboos; freedom from oppression and persecution; freedom from exploitation... alas, freedom to be happy and for self-determination.
The track "Shadow Of My Freedom (feat. Katerina Kovalenko)" is dedicated to those who suffer from police brutality, specially those who suffer from the most disproportionate systemic discrimination, one of the prime examples being the black community in the United States of America. It's been more than 52 years since the memorable "I have a dream" speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., and yet, despite all claims to the contrary, there is still racial discrimination, there is still police brutality, there is still blood dripping from those who abuse their authority and mercilessly kill more of their citizens whose rights are being trampled.
It's time to stop that cycle.
"We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
The track "Ibn al-Haytam" is dedicated to the famous Arab polymath from the 11th century: 2015 marks the 1000th anniversary of his important seven-volume treatise on Optics, "Kitab al-Manazir" (The Book of Optics). When will the Middle East recover from all this turmoil and restart its (once) prestigious pursuit of knowledge?
To learn more about his work:
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/science-in-a-golden-age/2015/09/optics-True-nature-light-150915111252365.html
Finally, the last track is a short outro to remind us of the Kurds successfully fighting against ISIS and other tyrants in the region. The Kurds are trying to establish a highly progressive society, something that's so atypical for that region in the last few decades. They definitely deserve our support not only because of their forward-thinking ideals, but also because they're one of the largest ethnic groups in the world without a state. They're also fighting to rescue the Yazidis who are being slaughtered by ISIS.
Learn more about the Kurdish people and their struggles:
http://stanfordpolitics.com/2015/10/understanding-the-triumphs-and-troubles-of-the-kurdish-resistance/
credits
released December 4, 2015
Credits:
Vocals and lyrics in "Shadow Of My Freedom (feat. Katerina Kovalenko)" by Katerina Kovalenko:
http://vk.com/katka_kov
http://vk.com/born4more
Speech sample in "Shadow Of My Freedom (feat. Katerina Kovalenko)": Martin Luther King Jr., speech during the Civil Rights rally on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. - http://archive.org/details/MLKDream
Photography by Dying Regime - http://flic.kr/p/dUJL4x