HOMERIK Announces Cinematic Metal Opera based on Dante’s Inferno

https://linktr.ee/homerikofficial

Philosophical Metal Project Defined by Metal Music Educators Announces Cinematic Metal Opera based on Dante’s Inferno

The Circle of Dead Children (Album & Art Book with Lyrics) Drops September 20th

+ Novel Out October 31st

Homerik is doing something different. A story based on the archetypical medieval poem, “Dante’s Inferno”, The Circle of Dead Children is not just an album, but an entire story and concept that has its heart forged in the world of Metal. This is presented in the form of music, art and literature. The Circle of Dead Children speaks of the ‘Inferno,’ Dante Alighieri’s epic poem. The synopsis of The Circle of Dead Children describes the journey our protagonist, Dante, must take in his search for redemption:

The hell of war shocks Dante, a young, conflicted Nazi soldier seeking to escape his sins. His lover Elaina tries to get him to flee. They are met with Death and Damnation.

Dante finds himself on a perilous path in the Afterlife. Virgil, a virtuous spirit appears to guide the newly damned soul. He tells Dante, he has a calling from Paradise. First, however, Dante must endure an arduous journey through the Inferno!

The unknown meaning of the message from Paradise forces Dante to seek ways to free himself from the errors of his soul. He must uncover what harkens him toward the Divine.

Encountering demonic entities and painful reflections, a familiar voice haunts and helps Dante through to the coldest circle of Hell. There he confronts the Evil One. Dante renounces his former self, only to discover he shares grave desire with the Darkest Force.

Virgil and the forces from Paradise aid Dante, leaving the Inferno ready to threaten all with an unfathomable peril (to the Creator.)

Homerik will release its music and art for this concept on September 20th, soon to be followed by The Circle of Dead Children novel on Halloween.

“An artist must grow and stay loyal to what is sacred to them – their art – like the god Atlas, bearing the weight of the world on their shoulders. I had to remind myself on many occasions that Homerik was bigger than me. It was the word of God, yet I do not consider myself a religious man. There are just some things in life that take on a life of its own, this being one of them. Surely, the faith my compatriots had in me helped give me strength: Jonathan Kruk, artist David Millgate, guitarist and business partner Jason Stallworth, bassist and mixing engineer Nicholas Zalowski, and my guiding light to all that is good in this world: vocalist Elizabeth de Deus.” – The Mad Composer aka Ken Candelas

“Homerik and The Circle of Dead Children project was born out of a huge passion for one of the oldest and most beloved of art forms, the simple, but magical act of storytelling. Outwardly and on the surface Dante’s Inferno is without doubt one of the darkest and bleakest of cautionary tales, but if you dig deeper it’s more than just one man’s journey. It’s about mankind’s journey of self-discovery and our collective hopes for redemption. There’s much joy to be found here too. It’s in the pure joy of the written and spoken word and can be conveyed through sound, music and the joy of the artistic creation of images and pictures.

As with Victor Frankenstein’s creature, Homerik and The Circle of Dead Children was put together with determination and drive to produce something new from something old and a desire to create something that would ‘curdle the blood and quicken the beating of the heart’, just as Mary Shelly had claimed was the intent of her most famous work. As with Frankenstein, we had also built some kind of monstrous beast that is somehow much more than the sum of its parts. We now feel ready to unleash this ‘unholy’ thing onto an unsuspecting ‘populace’, to engender both fear and awe! Let loose the raging Inferno!” – Artist, David ‘Max’ Millgate

About Homerik:

At the helm of Homerik is our Mad Composer and twenty-first century architect supernal, Ken Candelas. The demons and hellish landscapes of Candelas’ story are conveyed by the twisted mind of graphic artist and illustrator, David ‘Max’ Millgate, and brought to life through the spoken word narrated by master storyteller, Jonathan Kruk.

Homerik brings the classic adventure of Dante’s Inferno to life with a new perspective in a Philosophical Metal opera featuring a Nazi soldier named Dante who finds himself deep within the conflicts of World War II, begging for forgiveness.

The Mad Composer brings this new musical landscape coupled with the addition of David ‘Max Millgate’s imaginative artworks and Jonathan Kruk’s eloquent narration to unearth this magnum opus. The mesmerizing vocal work of Elizabeth de Deus (Candelas), the enthralling guitar work of Jason Stallworth, and the heavy basslines of Nic Z elevate the album to new musical heights.

Homerik brings a message of quality over quantity and, above all else, an art form unlike anything ever seen before in the Metal community. The feats of Homerik are established by its three essential pillars: music, art, and literature. Taking after the world’s most revered masters, Homerik’s goal is to create a legacy that lasts many lifetimes.

Through a mutual friend while working on The Circle of Dead Children, The Mad Composer was introduced to the legendary guitarist and composer of Symphony X, Michael Romeo, who took a liking to the project and offered council and recording services to help enrich the album. Romeo‘s feedback was a pivotal shift in the development of the album. Candelas took the better part of an entire year to reorchestrate the music with new sounds and rewrite the lyrics. It was then when the rest of the vocals were recorded and mixing and mastering began.

More about Ken Candelas aka The Mad Composer:

Ken Candelas is a busy professional musician and audio engineer who has worked with and supported some of the most celebrated performers today including members of Gojira, Tesla, Ratt, the broadway musical Hadestown, Queensrÿche, and Transiberian Orchestra. He was a member of the audio team for Good Morning America music presentations between 2017 to 2020. Ken is also the composer, author, drummer, vocalist, orchestrater, arranger, recording and mixing engineer for Homerik. In addition to Ken’s work in music and audio, he is a respected educator in the New York City metropolitan area who participates in the AES Audio Educators Advisory Group in order to contribute to the discussion on audio technology pedagogy for renown companies such as Neumann, Empirical Labs, Oeksound, The Les Paul Foundation and many more.

Ken graduated with honors from Queensborough Community College as a Music Production major and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Audio Technology at The Sonic Arts Center at The City College of New York.

About Metal Mastermind®:

Ken Candelas, the co-founder of Metal Mastermind® and his metal cohort Jason Stallworth forged their decades experience as professional musicians into Metal Mastermind®, created to tackle the needs of the independent Metal community, i.e. help aspiring Metal artists and bands get to the next level in their performance techniques, production skills and music business education.

Candelas says “Metal Mastermind® is on a mission to educate metal musicians. Our slogan is ‘create your own sound’ and Homerik is a body of work that is a testament to that.”

Professor Ken Candelas offers his expertise to metal musicians with many courses at

Metal Mastermind® including:

Metal Music Theory

Metal Songwriter’s Forge

Metal Studio Designer

The site also features excellent, entertaining and educational metal blogs, for example:

How to Compose Orchestration for Metal Music

In total, five of the instructors at the Metal Mastermind® site have contributed to the creation of Homerik’s The Circle of Dead Children album:

Ken Candelas – The Mad Composer

Elizabeth de Deus (Candelas) – Lead Vocals

Jason Stallworth – Guitars

Nic Z – Bass