Lucid Dawn, the ten-track magnum opus was engineered, mixed and mastered by Zack Ohren (Suffocation, Fallujah, Wrvth, All Shall Perish et al.) at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California, and takes ARKAIK‘s multifaceted sound to an entirely new dimension, showcasing each musician’s creative potential and upping the proverbial ante of the brutality and technicality of their back catalog. With the addition of guitarists Miguel Esparza (ex-Hatriot) and Greg Paulson as additional composers, Lucid Dawn delivers a fresh approach to the band’s sound and the entire progressive death metal genre. As an added bonus, the album features guest appearances from death metal heavy weights, Trevor Strnad and Ryan Knight of The Black Dahlia Murder, as well as Bay Area live string quartet, Amaranth. Lucid Dawn is the second installment in a series of concept albums revolving around Cyrix, a disillusioned character in a dystopian society. In Cyrix’s world, dreaming is systematically controlled by a tyrannical ruler named Khaal-Li-Phar and his army of dark shamans, where people are forced to build monuments to the tyrant to stifle their imaginations and inhibit their ability to achieve a multi-dimensional existence. Lucid Dawn is a death metal take on American mythologist, writer and lecturer, Joseph Campbell’s monomyth, and the beginning of Cyrix’s “Hero’s Journey.” Musically and conceptually, Lucid Dawn carries the listener on a visceral expedition through the depths of evil and beyond the threshold of mundane reality.
