Demos compiled from late 2013 to mid 2014, featuring Tom Davy on vocals and Sky Barron on Drums along with various guitarists (Sean Murphy and Justin Delise).

Notes on the Album Art

A few words must surely be said for what for me is an iconic piece of art that adorns the front of this demo compilation. This was made by my brother Justin in 2009 when Cryptic Warnings was first founded. It was originally intended to be the artwork used by Cryptic Warnings for our first release (which of course never even began, much less got finished).
As the years wore on and Celestial Tide was formed in late 2013, I decided that I would finally use this striking piece of art. The orbiting structure, whether it’s a space station, or an alien artifact who can say, portrays a sense of wonder that is the bed rock of science fiction. In retrospect I see it as a beautiful metaphor for the triumphs and setbacks of our own species. We are capable of creating such wonders, and equally as capable of losing it all.
Over the years this piece became weirdly synonymous with my own attempts to create a viable line-up, over and over again I would get so close and then it would all crumble through my fingers. As such, it became doubly important that when the first Celestial Tide demo was released in April of 2014 that it would feature this piece of artwork, nearly 5 years later.
And again, here we stand 10 years later, and as a way of further honoring the struggle and constant fight to put a viable band and line-up together, I use this art once more, and for what I believe to be the final time. With the beautiful Nexon logo adorning the front, I’ve never felt more at peace with the loop being closed, this is where it’s all led to.

Final Statements

This demo compilation brings together 9 songs that all in their own way embodied the evolution of sound and vision that I was undergoing back in late 2013 and early 2014 when I finally revived the spirit and vision of Half Past Sane and Cryptic Warnings. Celestial Tide only existed from about November 2013 to May 2015 (when Alex Shalenko joined), a little less than two years of total time. In that short-time I was able to consolidate (and lose) a solid line-up that was able to crank out these 9 demos.

What’s more, is that I was able to crank out songs that I had swimming in my head for years and finally hear them with a high level of skill and musicianship. Most rewarding of all however was getting to work with so many people that I had worked with before and bring them all together in a united set of songs. Working with Tom specifically, especially after the fallout of Half Past Sane was particularly gratifying.

Now 5 years after the release of the Reach Higher Demo in 2014, which featured 4 of these 9 demos (Reach Higher, Lord of Pain, Ode to the Fallen, and Descent into Madness), I can finally release the entire batch of demos in one complete package. The beautiful thing being that with the 5 additional demos added in and set to a proper track listing, the demos form the basis of what would have been a killer debut record.

In my head cannon, that’s how I hear this compilation, and that’s the beauty of a release such as this. For those of you who have any familiarity with my work, this is a fun look at some rougher and earlier versions of familiar songs (and in the case of Liberty’s Stain, the only look). For some this can be just a fun compilation of rough demos and if you’re so inclined it listens like a full-length demo and represents the output of a line-up that could have been.

Yours Always,
Chris Dagenhart