Back in July/August, I interviewed Noctilucant (J. Mlodik) shortly after he dropped Crumbling Cities Echoing Their Terror—essentially a compilation of unreleased tracks that never made it onto Joe’s official albums. Though it has only been three, almost four, months since we’ve worked together to produce some content together, Joe has been quite busy. He recently wrapped up production and released an original soundtrack for a brand new comic titled Descension; it is sliced into six scenes which link up with the harrowing events that unfurl throughout the comic book’s 28 or so pages. He also just had his latest full-length record released into the ether, Bleak and Drained of Colour, through Noctivagant Collective not more than a couple days ago.

This latest record, Bleak, is what I call a “world-building” record. It tells the story of a lone man trapped in his bunker who muses over his lost and one true love, Emily. Taking place sometime after the events which spurned Noctilucant’s apocalypse in his debut record, Back to the Mud, the story told in Bleak occurs long after humanity’s downfall. Voiced by Scottish voice actor, play actor (The Jacobite Officer), and musician, Matthew Donnachie, makes Noctilucant’s chilling soundscapes flesh.

In an effort to continue building a series of conversations with artists, I sat down (virtually) with Joe and discussed with him his soundtrack for Descension, Bleak, and what lies ahead for Noctilucant in the looming year ahead. This episode differs a bit from the first in that I layered a mix of Joe’s tracks into the background of our conversation. It’s an experiment and I’m hoping to procure some feedback from listeners to see if it meshes nicely with the conversation or if it’s distracting. Feel free to email me with your thoughts; I also address this a bit in the opening seconds of the conversation. See below the embedded YouTube link for a track listing with time stamps and the respective album the track is from. Thank you so much for listening and your support.

1. A Solemn Night, 00:52, Crumbling Cities Echoing Their Terror

2. The First Light of Morning, 1:17, Oblivion to You All

3. You Can Hear the Cry of the Planet, 7:58, Crumbling

4. Scene V – The Crimson Tide, 15:12, Bleak and Drained of Colour

5. You Can Hear the Cry of the Planet (continues), 16:14, Crumbling

6. This Cadaverous Existence, 18:15, I See the Black Engulf the White

7. Dawn / The Feast, 24:53, Back to the Mud

8. Aboard the Darwin, 36:27, Descension Original Soundtrack

9. Those Peaceful Days of Our Past?, 46:16, Oblivion to You All

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To recap the hyperlinks sprinkled throughout the first paragraph above, you can grab a digital copy of the Descension original soundtrack for just $4 over at Noctilucant’s Bandcamp page. Joe does not have copies of Bleak immediately available on his Bandcamp page, but you can acquire a physical (or digital) copy of the record through the Noctivagant Collective Bandcamp page. Thank you again for your support.