The Endless Mountain, by After Nations

The Endless Mountain

by After Nations

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HisGRANDmajesty This one goes to 11. Front to back, it is full throttle, wildly hypnotic, and always riding on the edge of the ineffable. This is music that you never want to end. And so I listen again and again -- It could be the soundtrack for anything as devastating as the explosions in stars. I don't really have a favorite song, as each one is flawless, with transition tracks cleansing your sonic palette in-between.

Fucking. Genius.
Favorite track: Jūra.

	/

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
First run of "The Endless Mountain", pressed on 12" transparent vinyl with black marbling.
Each vinyl comes in a premium 3mm spined sleeve, featuring matte lamination artwork, a square insert with liner notes and song-by-song description of the album's core concepts, a PE transparent sleeve for the vinyl, and re-sealable polywrap for the outer sleeve.

Includes unlimited streaming of The Endless Mountain via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Full Digital Discography

10

releases

Get all 10 After Nations releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Vīrya, The Endless Mountain, Féin, Mons, Aegenera, Consteleid, The Bearing Point, The Laceront Arc, and 2 more. , and , .

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1.	Mons 05:10	buy track
2.	) 01:01
3.	Féin 04:33	buy track
4.	)) 01:02
5.	Aon 04:12	buy track
6.	))) 01:07
7.	Cae 05:10	buy track
8.	} 01:04
9.	Esmé 04:11	buy track
10.	}} 01:05
11.	Širdis 05:22	buy track
12.	}}} 00:45
13.	Jūra 04:14	buy track
14.	( ) 01:04

about

After Nations is:

Andrew Elliott - Guitar
Dave Sandoval - Guitar
Matt Bosak - Bass
Travis Baker - Drums

~~~~~

The Endless Mountain is a concept album that traces a path through secular Buddhism. It explores the effectiveness of some lines of Buddhist thought and philosophy to reflect the nature and meaning of existence - separated from institutional dogma, cults of personality, or conceits of proscriptive means towards truth. It is an exploration and attempt to musically express my worldview, beliefs, and experiences, and to share those with anyone open to listening.

It begins with Mons, The Mountain, a metaphor for approaching and experiencing hardship, struggle, and change, in the pursuit of greater understanding. The challenge of ascent and awakening, the summit, is not the goal or destination. It is the means to practicing a different way of being.

On our ascent, we enter a cave, where we sit, and wait - to come into contact with Féin, the ego. The awakening to an awareness of ego as one of many aspects of Self, and recognizing and suspending the illusion of the ego as the true Self. It is a journey through the transformation of death and rebirth - into an integrated, harmonious Self. Questions arise: Who is experiencing this? Who is having this thought? Where is this feeling coming from? The illusion of separateness is broken.

The journey up the mountain has become a journey inwards. This new sense of Self and connection unfolds along a path leads to Aon, the awareness of the essence of unity and interconnectedness. It is the sound of a joyous, rapturous sense and knowing - that you are not alone in this existence. Not separate from or alienated away from life, but a part of it, always. And in that interconnectivity, there is a bittersweet, painful awareness of both the joy and suffering that is present in all life. It is the sense that signals how profoundly all existence is interwoven.

Cae - the concept of the sky - an empty, endless space. It is the vessel for awareness. It is the space from which our thoughts, sense of self, and our very existence arise. Emptiness is the container of ego, Self, everything. In asking the questions, “from where do thoughts and awareness emerge?”, we find the answer. They arise on their own, from emptiness. When we recognize the nature of existence as rising from emptiness, we more clearly see who we are, and what life is.

Our inward journey takes us then to Esmé, the essence of life. At its core, the processes of change and transformation are eternal. As we touch down into emptiness, into never-ending openness, we witness all things come into existence, and fade from it. Thoughts, lives, species, continents, planets, stars, galaxies. Everything.

Even further down, resting beneath and permeating throughout emptiness, our path guides us to another essential truth of existence. To Širdis, the heart of compassion. Sitting quietly, listening intently, observing openly, we touch an ancient way of knowing, feeling, and relating to all things: Compassion.

At last we arrive at the summit, where we come to Jūra - the vast sea that surrounds the mountain. Like the mountain and sky, the sea becomes a metaphor for the vastness of compassion. We begin to know compassion as an infinite sea. It is the intelligence that naturally rises from all things. Even when covered up by the wounds and trauma of life. Fear and anger too - know compassion. Though their presence reveals the delusion of separateness, fear and anger vigilantly seek to protect the thing they believe is separate. With or without understanding and clarity, beneath everything is compassion. It is the underlying awareness that feels, senses, and interconnects everything. It rests ever present, an eternal home and place of belonging within each of us - even as we arise, change, and fade.

We then seek to descend the mountain, carrying our insights. The path both up and down reminds us that - through all things - we are a part of existence. That we are a part of the universe experiencing itself. That change, emptiness, and compassion are inseparable and immutable. To awaken, to see more clearly the nature of all things, to both climb and descend in order to return to our awareness, and bring our understanding into dailiness. To repeat the process, over and again, as one changes, as life changes - all to be in step with what is. It is an endless practice.

~~~~~

Inspired by The Wise Heart (Jack Kornfield), Start Where You Are (Pema Chödrön), The Neurobiology of 'We' (Daniel Siegel), You Are the One You've Been Waiting for (Richard Schwartz), music, and the courageous, curious, and compassionate people I've been gifted to meet and share life with.

credits

released July 20, 2022

Top 10 Post-Rock and Post-Metal Albums of 2022 ~ Post-rock Instrumental

Top 10 Albums of 2022 ~ Prog.Me

“The Endless Mountain is powerful, assertive, and feels like it’s bursting with joyous creative energy. The most apt comparison sonically is probably the djent-drenched prog-metal/post-rock of Cloudkicker, but heavier on the prog and lighter on the atmospherics. High-level stuff that definitely deserves your undivided attention.” ~ Heavy Blog is Heavy | David Zeidler

“…instrumental four-piece After Nations feel as much jazz on “Féin” or “Cae” as they do progressive metal, djent, experimental, or any other tag with which one might want to saddle the resoundingly complex Buddhism-based concept album, The Endless Mountain… it’s immaculately produced and every single second, from “Mons” and “Aon” to “))” and “(),” feels purposeful.” The Obelisk | JJ Koczan

“‘Mons’ and ‘Fein’ go straight for the jugular, chugging along to zany melodies not unlike Ocean Collective or Between the Buried and Me, but with a hair more groove. ‘Aon,’ is chunky too, but throws in a lot of space-y jazz moments that strangely fit right into the prog rock and math categories without even trying.” ~ Fecking Bahamas | Michael Whiteside

“Metal influenced math-rock magnificence.” ~ Postcard Elba

“…heavy style, great atmospheres, and engaging melodies, The Endless Mountain delivers for fans of high quality, technical Post-Rock, and tastefully flirts with Progressive Rock.” ~ Roadie-Metal

Written and produced by Andrew Elliott
Drums co-written on Esmé by Travis Baker

On this album:
Andrew Elliott - Guitars
Travis Baker - Drums
Zack Krishtalka - Bass

Recorded at GPMR Studios

Recording and mixing by Andrew Elliott

Mastering by Ray Marte, Westfall Recording Co.

Artwork by Timur Khabirov (All4band Design)

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about

After Nations Lawrence, Kansas

Explosive
~ ~ ~
Meditative
~ ~ ~
Expansive

Recommendations

discography

Vīrya

Aug 2023
The Endless Mountain

Jul 2022
Féin

May 2022
Mons

Apr 2022
Aegenera

Jul 2019
Consteleid

Aug 2018
The Bearing Point

Aug 2016
The Laceront Arc

Oct 2015
Wake of the Mendacon

Dec 2014
Unveil Panoptica

Apr 2014

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