Rock Monsters Romania

Have you ever listened to a song for the first time and thought immediately, “What’s the story behind it?” But what about listening to a song multiple times and discovering different meanings with each play?

This is how I felt after listening to byron’s new album, “Efemeride,” which will be released on the 6th of October, an album that reminded me to think deeper about lyrics. 

The songs included in this album take you on a journey to discover your inner self, explore your feelings, and contemplate the relationship between the past, present, and future. They do so in a streamlined manner, leading you through a rapid succession of powerful emotions and thoughts.

“Cine sunt eu să mă opun?“

The first song of the album, “Cine sunt eu să mă opun?” was released last month. It has a slow start, with a bit of eerie sounds, heavy riffs, another small and chill pause, and again heavier riffs.

The beginning made me think a bit of Asian temples, and I already had the image of their entrance in mind. The lyrics are powerful, questioning life but also promoting meditation as a way of confronting the ongoing battle of past, present, and future, an idea that can also be found in the title.

For me, the song presents life from the beginning to the end in a melodic fashion.

“Monstrul de sub pat“

“Monstrul de sub pat” is one of my favourite songs on this album and I admit I’ve been obsessed with it since the beginning of the year.

The initial sounds that remind me of the Romanian dark caves in the mountains are in perfect sync with the title, and in tune with the first song on the album. However, shortly after, the lyrics will transport you from a blank space to a crowded one–crowded not with people, but with thoughts. The title is like a metaphor to me: when you’re a kid, you’re afraid of monsters hiding in your closet or under the bed, but when you grow up, the monsters (especially the anxiety) are still there with you, and this time you need to fight them and win.

“FMR“

This song saddened me and led me to contemplate many things as it portrays the reality of life after death.

The initial piano notes and the opening lyrics introduce an eerie version of death, one in which you contemplate your life after it ended. The perspective is scary, and it represents one of the most powerful anxiety-inducing thoughts that a person can have. The music intensifies the pressure and enhances the overall impact.

“Fericiți mereu“

Byron’s slow style is back, this time with a touch of blues. As the name suggests, the song presents a happy vibe in a poetic way that evokes dreams of a serene place with green fields and a small railroad cutting through the grass.

I believe this is a great song for contemplation, and it serves as a reminder of the simple pleasures in life, like being loved and having inner peace. It highlights that you don’t need much to be happy; all you need is inner peace, and everything will be fine.

“Cadou“

In a completely different manner than you might expect, “Cadou” is probably the happiest sad song ever released by the band. You can dance to it, sing along without paying much attention to the lyrics, and include it in a party playlist without a second thought.

The song depicts the need for dopamine and communication in a humorous way, telling the story of someone who doesn’t understand what’s wrong when life is a bit off — an essential ingredient for happiness.

Since it was previously released as a single, it’s no secret that it is one of the songs I’ve listened to the most this summer. It gives off a summery festival vibe, and while I might not listen to it as frequently during the darker and deeper seasons, it will probably reclaim the top spots on my “On Repeat” playlist on Spotify as soon as the first flowers bloom in Spring.

“Prea târziu”

This is another song with an interesting beginning, and I played it on repeat a few times before listening to the rest. I feel the lyrics could have started a bit later than they actually did.

For me, this song reminds me of “Anima.” It has the same style and orchestration. However, I lived it even more. I loved the message, I loved how it sounds, and for a few times, I skipped the lyrics and just listened to the instrumental. I hope byron will release the instrumental in a bonus version of the album.

“Încurcături“

The first thing I noticed about this song was that it had no intro, and I heard the lyrics without the music. 

As the name suggests, the song is about the troubles encountered in life and the waiting and patience needed to solve or accept them. The fast pace of the song creates a vivid mental image: a huge intersection choked by cars and people.

Then, the lyrics abruptly stop in the middle of the song to make space for the amazing flute in the background, as if all the troubles have vanished – the flute is like a solution that brings peace to the mind.

The second part, which features an instrumental masterpiece with drums, guitar, and flute in perfect harmony, along with Dan’s voice, feels like an incantation. The short lyrics are disguised as simple verbs related to the theme, providing an optimistic conclusion to end the song on.

“Memento“

The second longest song tore me apart from the beginning to the end. The first time I played it, I couldn’t fully concentrate on it as my mind was already miles ahead in the past, reliving some of my most powerful memories.

Even though I can’t guess the band’s interpretation of the melody, I used the brief pauses to stop the song and contemplate it and the past in general, as the past is what defines us to a certain extent, whether we accept it or not.

I loved the progression of the lyrics, like a small story of our lives that feels like involuntary memories that flood the brain. The repetitive background sounds kept me connected to the song, and I could genuinely feel my heart syncing its beats to it.

I feel this song is perfect for meditation and reliving memories, whether they are sweet or bitter. And the ending? It’s so abrupt that it brings you back to reality. The whole song feels like a hypnotic dream, and the emotions are so intense you want to press the repeat button again and again and again…

“Oricât ai vrea să fii mai mult“

Whenever you hear the acoustic guitar starting the song, you know it’s a deep one, and this is another example.

This is the song to listen to after “Memento,” as you’d love to escape your past and evolve, but you’re reminded you’re just a human after all, a human who, unfortunately, can’t escape their traumas and problems, no matter how hard they try. It’s a song that left me speechless and grounded me after the previous ones, but there is one more…

“În infern“

I can’t really tell if this song is actually an outro created for this purpose, or if it’s just an orchestral masterpiece. But what I can say is that it encapsulates all the vibes and moods present throughout the album, combining all the styles and the messages in eleven minutes. It’s a song that takes you on a journey through Dante’s Nine Circles of Hell, but this time, it’s the mind and anxiety that guide you, a powerful force that we can’t control but can fight against as best we can.

Words are unable to capture the feelings you experience during these minutes, so I won’t try to do that. This is the type of song that you must listen to in order to understand, because it’s not just a song, it’s an experience.

CONCLUSIONS

“Efemeride” will be one of the greatest alternative albums ever released in Romania, and it will move you from the beginning to the end, prompting you to reconsider your future, embrace the present, and learn from the past. It offers a unique experience and a depth of feelings and emotions that places the album in a category of its own.

You can pre-save the album here, and I would also recommend keeping an eye on the release tour that will start really soon.

Review by Radu Mihai