November 9, 2023

WORLD BEYOND ORIGINS: Winter Legend

Winter has descended upon the Earth like a white bird, spreading its giant wings to shield the soil from freezing winds. She sang softly, her breath casting a thick layer of ice over lakes and rivers. Trees and animals succumbed to the drowsy embrace of the season.

Listen to Winter Legend by World Beyond

In the bottomless depths of the celestial ocean, shimmering with a sprinkling of stars, dreams came to life once again. They quietly descended to earth, stealthily slipping under the covers of sleeping people. Strange creatures, masters of illusions, in whose deception you believe until the very end - only when they dissolve in the rays of the morning sun do you leave the world woven of dreams from your most intimate thoughts, feelings, and experiences. And as long as the tiny starlights dance in the sky, the valley remains entirely under the control of the children of the night.


On one of these silent winter nights, two massive glowing stones plummeted from the sky. Many years later, craters where they landed transformed into two lakes, which gave birth to two rivers. Owing to the abundance of underground water springs, even during the coldest spells, the rivers remained unfrozen, as if a mighty force from within the earth kept it warm.

They say the people who inhabited these lands in the days of old worshiped the spirits of stone and forest. These spirits taught them how to shape the world in unimaginable ways for they possessed a rare gift - the power to make stones sing which were carried ashore by the current of the river. 

They say that the symbols etched upon these stones held sway over comets, celestial wanderers, and by weaving a melody with their magical voices, the people could even tame the ancient force that had receded into the depths of the earth at the dawn of time. The whisper of this force can still be heard on the misty swamps surrounding the ancient lakes, and one can discern the echoes of strange music in the babbling of the waters to this very day.



Villages and hamlets were asleep, birds and animals dozed off in the forests, and only in the snow-covered fields, where golden wheat once swayed in the breeze, there was a deafening rhythmic rumble and the clanging of metal.

Black as night, massive as a boulder, the colossus slowly strode along the riverbank, dragging thick chains behind it. Its head and face were carved out of stone, its arms bulged with muscles, and its legs resembled the trunks of mighty trees. The Unknown One was grim and silent, with thick steam pouring from its mouth, and its eyes were like wells in which tongues of blue flame danced.

It followed its path to where, under the starry sky in the midst of dense forests, runes gleamed on guiding stones, the meaning of which was known only to the Creature because these runes came to Earth from distant worlds that were once its home. Did it seek a way back, fleeing from captivity, or was existence itself involuntary for it? Perhaps it too was looking for answers to these questions in the valley of the never-freezing river.



Not long after, the forest awoke from a powerful roar. Where flashes of light were illuminating impenetrable clouds and century old trees were falling to the ground with a loud crash, ancient forces were clashing. The resistance of celestial and earthly beings, unbreakable stone and living power. 

A low rumble echoed throughout the earth, and waves of energy raced over the smooth surface of the river in blue sparks. This energy flowed through the ground along the trunks of spruce and pine trees, electrifying the air around them. And then a sudden thaw started the season of melting signifying big changes in the world.


The fight between the cold of the stone and the heat of the living hearts was over and a sudden warm wind brought sunny weather causing the snow to melt. Flocks of birds were rushing back home, forest creatures came out of their lairs to let the young radiant sun warm them. Winter finally came to an end, along with the legend of the people that once roamed these lands.


The world always takes back what is owed. A long time ago they tried to stop a cataclysm from happening and became nothing more than a legend. But when history repeats, a legend comes alive.

August 19, 2023

Eva and Nick's Wedding

This post is a special occasion as I would like to congratulate my friends Eva and Nick on their Wedding Day! 


I've known Nick Standing since the track Mountains of Gold for which he kindly agreed to record acoustic guitar back in 2013 on Newgrounds. I was so impressed by his guitar composition Mayhem Market that I couldn't think of a better musician for that role and I'm happy to say that he only excelled at his craftsmanship several amazing albums later as  Better than the BookJabun  and guitarist and a member of World Beyond. I am happy that Eva, the most caring, smart and hardworking person I've encountered, and Nick, a real gentleman whose openness, honesty,  skill and expertise are inseparable traits, met each other and became a couple.

Dear Eva and Nick!We all come from the stars and therefore, no matter the distance, we will always be connected through them. Please accept my most heartfelt congratulations on your wedding! May the future hold enough meteors to grant you any wish you might ever have!It brings me great joy to know little sky gems like you two always look after each other!

Check out the song by Better than the Book -1314 which Nick wrote to propose to Eva (and she said YES!) betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/album/1314-single

November 5, 2022

New Album Blindsight Available 11.11.22

Available at: Spotify / Apple Music / Amazon / QQMusic / Netease Music / Pandora / Deezer

When the war is over, all that is left is but a rotting corpse of what could have been. In time, new grass will grow on the graves of the people who threw themselves on the gears of war to stall them. But they will never know about it. It is up to those who live to make the best of their legacy.

When I was working on Mindshell, I felt alone. It was a lot like writing profound letters describing in details what was happening inside of me - the war and chaos raging, corrupting me from the inside. I was sending these letters into the unknown and never hearing back. No response, complete isolation, cognitive darkness. I held onto that darkness in hope I would one day be able to sense something in it that would draw me back into the light.

Stumbling, falling, crawling I was blindly following that path I had chosen. Over time, it started to feel like I wasn't the only one on that path, I just couldn't see the others. Side by side we were all walking in the same direction.
It could take several billion years for a photon to complete its journey across the universe and finally reach its destination, yet because it moves with the speed of light, for a photon there is no concept of time - from the perspective of a photon, this journey must be next to simultaneous. One could say a photon always knows its destiny.

The ability to look into the future from the darkness of today and see something that doesn't yet exist where we are headed is what makes us human. A promise of a better tomorrow. Even on the darkest days when there seems to be no hope for the future, I want World Beyond to keep you going, to strive for humanity and benevolence above all else because in this we shall never be alone. The only war worth fighting is the one inside our minds.

After a long wait, our new album Blindsight is finally available at online music services featuring remastered Mental Omega tracks with live instruments recorded by Maritza Vilibic (violin, vocals) and Nicholas Standing as well as original works. It took dozens of hours to finish each track and the final days have been the toughest. Just as much time is needed to animate the videos, so I hope in the end the wait is worth it.

With special thanks to Speeder, Nicholas Standing, Maritza Vilibic, David Klein II, Anthony G. Houde and 厄普西隆心灵专家.

Blindsight is available at the music service of your choice: https://fanlink.to/blindsight
Join our YouTube channel as "Creator" to receive a Bandcamp key: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRwQT10OBSzcJSOlvLHPvTA/join
 

 

September 7, 2022

Switching to a New Distribution Company

In the light of my current music distributor Routenote not being able to process payouts due to the British government sanctions I've made a decision to move our discography to another distribution company. Routenote has been very helpful with resolving my issues all this time, they quickly responded to support tickets and overall did their best to make our tracks heard worldwide and as much as I'm sorry to leave, I think it will be for the best for both parties. This will be a gradual process which may result in duplicate releases or some albums being temporarily unavailable on some platforms. I wouldn't want all the time you spend listening to our music or the money you invest in it go to waste and I hope for your understanding. 
Just a friendly reminder: you can become a member of the World Beyond YouTube channel to receive bonus tracks, images, exclusive videos, discounts and a lot more to come to support me as I'm getting our next album Blindsight ready for release.
 
Thank you. 
 
Kind regards, Vladimir

February 18, 2022

From Chaos Lyric Video



Introducing the new music video of our new song From Chaos from the recent single Revolt. With motion design by Vladimir Kuznetsov and 3D model elements by David Klein II, this lyric video is based on the original artwork "Attack on Yuri's Tower" by the artist LinkNov. It was a fun but challenging project and our third attempt at animating the game art of Mental Omega.
For the first time ever this video is also available on our new official Bilibili channel: World_Beyond.
You can download or listen to our music by choosing your favourite platform below!

Available at: Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music / Amazon / QQMusic / Netease Music / Pandora / Deezer