“The Dream” is Arcana Collective’s second single taken from “Atlas Lost, Act 1: The Long Sleep”, due for release on February 1st, 2023 via Wormholedeath. The Dream: Our world is crumbling. The Earth is faced with more disasters every day as the climate warms to an unbearable degree. Nothing grows anymore, and our only hope lies beyond this world. Stratton, a private investor in a new space age, has funded an expedition into the outer reaches of space to find a new home for the people of Earth or a miracle cure for our planet. He only needs one more piece to his elaborate puzzle – an experienced Astronaut from a long deserted space age – and Damian seems to be our only hope to lead the way. But will he be able to overcome the recent trauma plaguing him in the form of a nightmare cloaked in red?
The Dream is a very Latin-inspired piece with a modern metal twist. It’s one of the darker-sounding tracks on the album, but also has a melancholic turn in the choruses. I wrote a piece with a lot of dualities in mind: the 8-string guitar battling with the lighter 6-string parts, Damian’s sense of morality conflicting with Stratton’s manipulative greed, and the clash of acoustic and synthetic sounds. Overall, it has become one of my favorite compositions to date!