Tracks six to ten of Nostalgia For Infinity make up the Redemption Ark suite. These tracks are all inspired by Reynolds’ Revelation Space novels.
In this universe, humanity has fractured into competing factions defined by their relationship with technology, but all threatened by the Inhibitors, ancient machines aiming to preserve life in the long run, by destroying civilisations that become too intelligent.
The suite begins with Glitterband, which follows the history of the decline of a ring of 10,000 diverse, semi-autonomous habitats following the spread of a nanotechnological plague.
lyrics
Glitterband
Glitterband to rust belt, when the plague came
Tore apart the orbital canopy.
Ten thousand ways to live,
Now all that glittered is just a stain,
All that remains of our sanctary.
Glitterband to rustbelt, we fight in the dirt
Always alert for the shadows hiding,
The knife in the back, we kill for scraps, hunted for sport, by the rich and the bored.
Glitterband to rust belt,
The majesty, the worlds of light suffocated.
The night sky darker than it’s been for centuries, at the interface smothered where the plague propagated.
Glitterband to rust belt, where we connected our minds we find our vulnerability.
We let the virus in, and let it depose
The cores and polls and roles of connected humanity.
Glitterband to rust belt, the Belle Époque has been and gone, Machines in our heads withdrawn.
Lost inside where we used to decide what was going on,
Protected by Panoply.
Glitterband to rust belt, my world shrinks,
Disconnected, unable to feel so I fear.
The minds around me, cannot find me.
I shrink the, the empathy radius.
Glitterband to rust belt,
The jewels in the sky die,
Plague spread Nothing we could do
To stop the advance.
The dance of the metal and flesh. Into each head creep
The tiny machines
Patiently infiltrate the interface
Between you and me,
The inorganic, changing, melding, rearranging,
Creeping death of our connected fantasy.
credits
from Nostalgia For Infinity,
released May 6, 2020
Written, performed and produced by Malcolm Galloway and Mark Gatland
Wonderful, beautiful, densely layered music. I'm glad I gave this album several headphone listens before commenting. It did not immediately strike a chord with me, but the more I listened the more I began to understand and appreciate how fantastically rich and deep the sound is. For fans of atmospheric and melodic prog, this is an excellent addition. Bass and drum work are exquisite! paliojen_black
Fantasy progressive rock is not something I'd ever thought of. Yet Foreign Land, especially the Foreign Land track itself, transported me straight into an unknown, magical fantasy world. Hakim Zulkufli
Soothfully a phenomenal prog rock album—an instant classic. What motivates me to say so, is the music’s incredible expressiveness & its wonderfully cinematic song structures. Jargon is a very good fit with this band. It is quite evident that the band’s current lineup have great chemistry together & that they share a common affinity to this vein of music. I look forward to their next creation. Drifting Sun are definitely one of prog rock’s brightest lights. Thank you, DS!
9+/10. Alrihkh
The Long Island metal band's third album etches arena-sized hooks into their jagged compositions, deftly balancing experimental and poppy inclinations. Bandcamp Album of the Day May 12, 2022
Somehow these tracks hit the sweet spot of having emotional drive and payoffs without feeling like they're just 'highlights reels' stolen from earlier minimalist composers, or like academic exercises. The instrumentation/production is fantastic too and never sounds tinny or fake. In both the long tracks and the slow tracks themes and timbres evolve at just the right rate to be engaging but also to let you enjoy each stage of the overlapping lines. Excellent! Giles