OFFICIAL REVIEW:
www.divideandconquermusic.com/indie-music-album-reviews/daimon-alexandrius-ode-to-the-fantastic-castle


Story and Themes:
To chronicle the life and times of George Daynor and his Palace of Depression into a comprehensive piece of
music was an undertaking that came naturally and took on a life of its own. But with so many angles to choose
from with a writing direction it seemed almost impossible at first to pick a side to tell the story from. What came
naturally to us was trying to write from the perspective of the castle itself. Following the “if these walls could talk”
mentality and writing from the mouth of those walls paralleled the perspective of Daynor at times since the building
was an extension of this man and his life. So throughout the song you'll have to decide for yourself whose voice the
story is coming from which in reality was always Daynor's conflict. Was he lying? Was he telling the truth? Where did
his story come from? Are all questions surrounding the mythos of Daynor. Among the many voices you hear from in
the song you get to hear Daynor, the Palace, the angel who allegedly visited Daynor and at one point his adoring
public makes an appearance as well. One voice you never hear from is the voice of his wife Florence. This was an
intentional decision since his wife's role in the palace depression remains almost nonexistent as she was possibly
lured into silence for most of their marriage. By the end of the song you hear the rise and downfall of this man and
his vision. All eighteen minutes of the song are dedicated to the eighteen spires that once stood on the castle and
the angels that they were intended to perch. The song ends with a pleasant reminder that the land was there
before the man. The sound of swamp frogs (fowlers toads and greys tree frogs) and the running water fades in at
the end to rightfully reclaim the property after years of tourism and vandalism. Other sounds to keep an ear out for
are the occasional use of Christmas bells that symbolize the grand opening of the Palace in 1932 on Christmas Day.
Movements:
Traveling through the eight movements of the song you first gradually descend into the world of Daynor in the first
movement entitled “Subterranean” which is a reference to his “Subterranean Caverns” he built below the palace.
Immediately following this decent into a Willy Wonka-esque wonderland you hear the first voice of the song from
the perspective of the angel that visited him and told him to complete this tribute to the heavens in the movement
entitled “Voices.” This is followed by Daynors first words in the song as he responds to the angels demands with
“God as my witness.” This is symbolic in that not any person can confidently say that were witness to any of the tall
tales Daynor lived his life telling. This is another section of the song where the listener needs to decide who the
perspective is from in that the line “am I hearing voices or all these all noises?” could potentially be from the land
the palace is about to be built on. After battling fantasy and reality we continue into the section of the song entitled
“Welcome to the Knockout Room.” This is the instrumental movement that represents the construction process of
the building in combination with the construction process of Daynor's mind. In the background you can hear hints
of his positive affirmations which include, “The greatest piece of originality ever brought about in the history of Man”
“This is proof of externalized thought. Externalized thought is the outward proof of an inward vision” and finally,
“The only real depression is a depression of individual ingenuity.” These emphatic ramblings are combined with
the “Stone Age Music” he would make on his tours. Trumpet sounds and banging on metal objects fill the sound
space to simulate the world that Daynor would create on his guided adventure through the castle. It's the
conclusion of this section of the song that brings us into the view of the public eye in, “This is the Man and this is
the House.” Here we visit the voice of Daynor as heard from the perspective of his adoring tourists and the
underlying local skepticism that guides you into the next section entitled “Eighteen Spires” where the public turns
on Daynor after his conflict with law enforcement and a stint in prison. In “Ruins” he comes back to visit the Castle
after prison only to find his dream and his vision vandalized and burned to the ground. This is another section of
the song where the listener needs to decide what perspective the song is being written from in that the palace
and Daynor were both in ruins at this point in their lives. Where we conclude this tale of Daynor is with “The Devil
and his Gold” where Daynor celebrates his accomplishments in spite of the Faustian mentality that was his greatest
downfall. Daynor's story begins with the voice of an angel in Alaska as a gold miner and his story ends penniless
in the home of the Jersey Devil in the rusty Pine Barrens. He had a great vision and he let it get away from him.
He got greedy and abused the power of the Palace Depression. Where Daynor wins in the end is that his story
that he lived telling will die with him shrouded in mystery and curiosity. But, only Daynor, god, and the devil will
know the truth.