PREFACE
Ken ‘The Mad Composer’ Candelas, author and creator of Homerik’s “The Circle of Dead Children.”
An artist must grow and stay loyal to what is sacred to them – their art – like the god Atlas, bearing the weight of the world on their shoulders. I had to remind myself on many occasions that Homerik was bigger than me. It was the word of God, yet I do not consider myself a religious man. There are just some things in life that take on a life of its own, this being one of them. Surely, the faith my compatriots had in me helped give me strength: Jonathan Kruk, artist David Millgate, guitarist and business partner Jason Stallworth, bassist and mixing engineer Nicholas Zalowski, and my guiding light to all that is good in this world: vocalist Elizabeth de Deus.
As an independent artist, I had the privilege to create freely and so I exercised that freedom as much as I could. But, it did not come without its own challenges and heartache. Since the start of this epic I have moved twice, fired my entire band, fell in love, started a business during a pandemic, and changed careers all while diligently working on and funding “The Circle of Dead Children.” When asked why on earth did this project take almost a decade, I simply retorted: knowing what I had to go through, would you have done the same?
My initial idea began in 2014 after hearing the first violins of Limbo in a dream, properly inspired by watching a film called “As Above, So Below” with my brother-in-law, Guido, the night before. I was living with him and my sister, Carla, and had just taken a World Humanities course that summer and was exposed to Dante’s Inferno, as well as other ancient stories such as Candide, The Odyssey, and the story of Genesis in the Bible. At that time, I thought the concept of Hell was intriguing and so I named my preliminary work “Hell”. It was a voice memo that I finally developed into something bigger the following March. It was because of that course that I stumbled upon the name “Homerik”, a derivative of the word homeric; of epic proportions.
Since then, I had grown a tight bond with Homerik’s former bandmates. That bond dissolved when trying to record “The Circle of Dead Children” in 2019, but recording the album wasn’t the reason why. Up until that moment, I struggled with the participation and loyalty of my bandmates. I enjoyed the camaraderie of brotherhood, but they didn’t understand the foundation of what Homerik was supposed to be. Yes, here I realized my castle was built on sand and my closest friends were akin to nothing but a bucket of crabs.
To say that I was heartbroken that my band could not understand my vision would have been an understatement. This would have been the moment to quit everything. Were it not for the quick response of Elizabeth and Jason, I might have! I’m so grateful to Elizabeth and her family for taking me in and offering me a safe and creative space to work. Jason graciously re-recorded all the guitar parts out of pure sincerity. A true friend. His performance was the fuel to my fire that this was going to be something great beyond my wildest dreams.
All the while I had the chance to meet one of my influences, Michael James Romeo of Symphony X (many thanks to Bill Ahearn for his profound friendship which led to this encounter). Mike gave me some sage advice about this project. I considered what I had learned from him and knew I had to step up my game. Thus began the entire reconstruction of “The Circle of Dead Children”. It took everything I had to re-orchestrate the entire album with the newer, more advanced software and tackle the missing pieces: bass, lyrics and vocals. The pandemic of 2020 gave me the necessary time to really sit down and work on these arrangements. It was in 2023 when I finally called out the first final mix of the album.
So, to retort once again to the question ‘why did this album take so long?’ I say, the better question is: what does it take to make something legendary? What hardships are required to bring something bigger than yourself to light? What do you say to someone who asks, ‘what do I need to prepare for?’
Prepare to risk everything. Or gain nothing. Prepare to venture deep within yourself into the omniscient pits of doom. Prepare to retaliate with what is your truth or falter into darkness. You are your worst enemy. But, just like Link did in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time when he faced his darker self in the Water Temple, you can persevere and conquer your reflection, too.