“We are naught but shades in this world, and will remain as such until either consumed, or freed.” – Hopefully not from something that actually exists, since this was made on the spot.

Yes, Laughter is now available for download. For an added bonus, here is a tiny bit of background for each track, such as the inspirations, references, or other such nonsense typical to social contact these days.

1. Futile: A simple little four-minute piece dedicated to the three virtues. Actually, more so the opposite of the three virtues. However, this song was designed with the idea of being, at least during the start, ominous. Later the piece becomes more chaotic and inspires a small sense of dread. The title of this piece is inspired by a line the Borg in Star Trek say frequently; “Resistance is futile; you will be assimilated.” The music in the piece has nothing to do with Star Trek, however.
2. Infinity: No real inspirational source here, although the piece carries a dark theme throughout. The violin section itself is actually fairly lighthearted, at least by comparison. The rest of the piece is just supposed to scare you, since the composer somehow considers this “music”! A truly terrifying thought.
3. Vex: “Hi guys, Vetches here.” This piece is a tribute to Vechs (the author of the Super Hostile map series for Minecraft), and his utterly evil maps (although they are actually quite fun, and balanced pretty well). The piece is, in a way, designed to mimic some areas in the maps, specifically ones involving brief periods of combat followed by a calmer downtime filled with a foreboding theme that Vechs manages to instill within the maps despite using a game that lacks graphical detail. As a side note, vetches are plants with small flowers.
4. Bohemian: Not a rhapsody, since that is a more emotional piece of music, but hopefully a piece fitting for an “out of place” occurrence or individual. This track utilizes changes in Reverb to change some parts of the piece to seem creepier. It also includes a heartbeat-like drum pattern in the background.
5. Venus: A theme suitable for the Roman goddess of beauty and love, this piece takes a five-minute ambient song led by choir to an entirely unsuitable piece for the Laughter album. Well, some parts of it fit, in the sense that the piece works as a prelude to a rising action. However, the piece is still mildly out of place. The goal here was to theme the piece around the idea of a slow-motion scene of a spaceship landing on a devastated world (or something to that effect).
6. Tea Time: So, time for a break from all those heroics to sip at tea and nibble on crumpets. Or just have some new threat show up. That works quite well too, sir or madam. This piece was themed around the idea of a group of individuals engaging in a peaceful activity before having something bad happen; such as a heist, alien invasion, returning evil or other such suitable event. Unfortunately, the string melody remains a bit too bright throughout the piece. At least the guitar, distorted drums, and piano fix that. The sound at the end signifies that the original ending didn’t work and that a darker ending was needed. The composer admits that the current ending is poor in execution.
7. Eromreven: The Raven Talks Backwards, Nevermore. Basically a two in-one reference, this piece’s title references a poem by Edgar Allen Poe entitled The Raven (the reversed spelling is based on a piece of music by Two Steps From Hell entitled “The Raven Talks Backwards”). As a fun fact, the first few notes of the main melody are based on “Transylvanian Lullaby,” as used in Young Frankenstein. The combinations of bells, church organ, and rain sounds have a strong appeal to the composer. As a final note, this piece is pretty cool with the powerful sounds created by the organ, in combination with rain and faster-paced piano melody. The thunderbolts and lightning (very, very frightening (me)) help add to the effect, although the slower cello parts sound more “sad” than they do “dark”.
8. To Be Continued: The three words feared by all watchers of television series’; To Be Continued… Basically, this piece is a tribute to all “to be continued” screens that happen in a moment of critical importance or intensity. So the piece has a lower start, risen to a state of fast action, and ended with a bang of slower, more dramatic, action. And fluffy bunnies of joy.
9. Slaughter: Prepare for, and participate in a montage of, the slaughter. A final revelation of the album’s true title, Slaughter invokes a strong mix of choir, distorted cellos, drums, and electric guitars to create a truly dark sound that should prevent children from sleeping at night. There is also a violin section, but it doesn’t do much for the primary melody. There is a modification (much more obvious now) to the image used for this song, so you can look at that too, after you download the song.

That’s it, all information about Laughter in one tiny article. If you are one of the very few that will actually download this album and listen to it, then you may find yourself interested in the next project from Eirynhart Sounds: Overgrown. There should be a preview for it up now in a drive folder linked to the Eirynhart Projects website (linked to Overgrown).