Information[]
Humanity is Thomas Bergersen's self-proclaimed "biggest project to date[1]" and consists of seven chapters recorded with a live orchestra, choirs, and vocalists. Thomas had previously mentioned working on a follow-up to Sun on October 3rd, 2018, and teased its release throughout the following months, including releasing a piece from it on Two Steps from Hell's official YouTube channel to celebrate reaching one million subscribers.
Track List[]
Chapter I[]
On March 5th, 2020, he officially announced the album's release on his Facebook page. Though it was initially postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the first chapter was finally published on July 1st, 2020.
Tracklist[]
| # | Title | Featured Performers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eleutheria | Bulgarian Opera Choir |
| 2 | We Are One | President Harry S. Truman (speech) |
| 3 | Beautiful People | Merethe Soltvedt |
| 4 | Wings | Merethe Soltvedt (unconfirmed; uncredited) |
| 5 | L'Appel Du Vide | Merethe Soltvedt, Claudio Pietronik |
| 6 | Orbital | Cinda M |
| 7 | Mountain Call | Claudio Pietronik, Merethe Soltvedt (unconfirmed; uncredited) |
| 8 | Humanity | Audrey Callahan |
| 9 | Beautiful People (EDM Mashup) | Cinda M, Merethe Soltvedt |
| 10 | Beautiful People (No Vocals) | |
| 11 | Wings (No Vocals) | |
| 12 | Mountain Call (No Vocals) | |
| 13 | Humanity (No Vocals) |
Chapter II[]
The second chapter was released on November 11th, 2020. It is said to focus on "our emotions as humans, and the things that bind us together and give us purpose, such as family, faith, children and passion."
Tracklist[]
| # | Title | Featured Performers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mир | Bulgarian Opera Choir |
| 2 | Crystallize | |
| 3 | We Are Legends | Merethe Soltvedt, Claudio Pietronik, Sam Brashear[2] |
| 4 | Your Imagination | Audrey Karrasch |
| 5 | The Stars Are Coming Home | Thomas Bergersen[3] |
| 6 | Take Me Back | |
| 7 | Innocence | |
| 8 | Fairytale | |
| 9 | Materialize | Audrey Karrasch, Bulgarian Opera Choir |
| 10 | Vaporize | Kimera Morrell |
| 11 | We Are Legends (Edit) | |
| 12 | The Stars Are Coming Home (Edit) | Thomas Bergersen |
Chapter III[]
The third chapter was slated to be released on April 21st, 2021 but was later pushed to May 6th, 2021. It is about "Love. It is unabashedly romantic. The heart of Humanity."
Tracklist[]
| # | Title | Featured Performers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sparks | Thomas Bergersen (violin) |
| 2 | Red | Merethe Soltvedt |
| 3 | First Kiss | |
| 4 | Butterflies | Thomas Bergersen |
| 5 | You Are My Home | |
| 6 | Magic | Kimera Morell |
| 7 | Born To Dream | |
| 8 | Little Star | Audrey Karrasch |
| 9 | Growing Old Together | |
| 10 | Until The Lights Go Out | |
| 11 | It Was A Life Worth Living | |
| 12 | Love Suite | |
| 13 | You | Audrey Karrasch |
| 14 | Sunshower |
Chapter IV[]
A few months after the release of Chapter III, Thomas revealed in a Facebook post that the fourth chapter had initially been slated to release on July 20th, 2021 but had to be pushed back after a health crisis and other rearrangements[4]. On August 3rd, he announced its theme and revealed the cover art: "Chapter IV takes you on a journey of science and mankind’s insatiable hunger to unravel the unknown of mind and matter as we explore the immensity of the universe, beauty of our home: Planet Earth and everyone on it"[5]. The tracklist was teased on August 16th[6], along with its release date of September 2nd.
Despite being the fourth chapter released, it features the first three tracks from Humanity to ever be released to the public. "Dear Mr. Alien" was released in conjunction with a poem on February 28th, 2018[7], before seeing a wider release on the YouTube channel on June 10th of that year[8], though its eventual inclusion on Humanity hadn't been disclosed. "One Million Voices" was released on the YouTube channel on March 1st, 2019 to celebrate the channel hitting 1 million subscribers[9]. Its release coincided with the announcement of Humanity. "So Small" was released as part of a "live musical meditation event" on April 7th, 2020[10], eventually being released as a single two days later.
Tracklist[]
| # | Title | Featured Performers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Space for Rent | |
| 2 | Apollo | Kate St. Pierre (vocals)
President John F. Kennedy & Neil Armstrong (speech) |
| 3 | Rocket to the Moon | |
| 4 | Cruising in Space | Merethe Soltvedt |
| 5 | Made of Air | |
| 6 | One Million Voices | |
| 7 | Made of Water | |
| 8 | Made of Earth | |
| 9 | Please Don't Go | |
| 10 | Made of Fire | |
| 11 | Dear Mr. Alien | |
| 12 | Rocket to the Moon (Reprise) | |
| 13 | So Small |
Notes from Thomas[]
More on the Album's Theme/General Production[]
This chapter focuses on space, the universe, our planet and philosophies of our existence.[11]
Chapter IV is about the universe, space, mystery, existentialism, our home; planet earth and the diversity of us humans who populate it. It was recorded with the help of countless amazing musicians, including Capellen Orchestra and Choir conducted by Maestro Petr Pololanik, as well as Four For Music’s studio orchestra and the Bulgarian National Choir under the supervision of Maestro George Strezov.[12]
"Space for Rent"[]
With the first track of the album “Space for Rent” I wanted to create a piece of music that had a feeling of home floating in space. Our home, planet Earth has this feeling to me. We feel safely planted with our feet on the ground, yet beyond the thin veil of our atmosphere we are fully exposed to a mystifyingly great unknown which we have only just begun to explore and understand.
"Apollo"[13][]
The second track in the chapter is “Apollo”, inspired by the famous moon landing in 1969. Apollo 11 represents one of the greatest if not the greatest marvel of human achievement and engineering and it remains a gigantic source of inspiration for so many, as well as an example of what we are really capable of when we focus our collective intellect as a species.
In order to accurately portray the event musically, I set out to create an explosive musical takeoff and the most massive wall of sound I could achieve. There is nothing gentle about this one!
"Cruising in Space"[14][]
Appropriately, the 4th track in the chapter is called “Cruising in Space” and is a symphonic metal track with a twist, featuring the voice of Merethe Soltvedt - Singer Songwriter. It is THE most challenging track Merethe has ever had to sing on, as I wrote the lead part originally with a synth sound and after recording the orchestra for the track I had the idea to send her the track and see if there was any way she could possibly reach those high notes. Unbelievably, she did, and so what we ended up with was a sort of duet between an alien (sung by Merethe ) and a futuristic synthesizer! And of course the backing of a full orchestra and choir, guitars, drums and whatever else I could fit (and not fit) into it. The track also has a little bridge which we call the “UFO interlude”.
"Please Don't Go"[15][]
Not everything on Chapter IV is mysterious, explorative, celebratory and adventurous…
The track “Please Don’t Go” has a music video in pre-production based on a sci-fi short story. With this music I wanted to create the feeling of absolute heartbreak, anxiety and despair from the loss of a loved one. To do this I made the main “instrument” the breath of a woman, whose breathing starts off anxious and grows faster and more and more intense as the track progresses. Towards the end there is a hypnotic repeated phrase that intensifies the feeling of sinking even deeper into an emotional black hole. It was probably the most difficult piece to write on the album, not because of the technical difficulties but because it is so emotional.
General Album Notes[16][]
Chapter IV makes a hard shift into totally different musical territory than Chapter III. It takes you on a journey of science and mankind’s insatiable hunger to unravel the unknown of mind and matter as we explore the immensity of the universe, beauty of our home: Planet Earth and everyone on it.
With the first track of the album “Space for Rent” I wanted to create a piece of music that had a feeling of home floating in space. Our home, planet Earth has this feeling to me. We feel safely planted with our feet on the ground, yet beyond the thin veil of our atmosphere we are fully exposed to a mystifyingly great unknown which we have only just begun to explore and understand.
The second track is a tribute to the 1969 moon landing and the famous Apollo 11 NASA rocket.
“Rocket to the Moon” is a full orchestral firework piece which depicts the intensity of space travel, which is then followed by “Cruising in Space”, a fun symphonic metal journey featuring Merethe Soltvedt. It is THE most challenging track Merethe has ever had to sing on, as I wrote the lead part originally with a synth sound and after recording the orchestra for the track I had the idea to send her the track and see if there was any way she could possibly reach those high notes. Unbelievably, she did, and so what we ended up with was a sort of duet between an alien (sung by Merethe) and a futuristic synthesizer! And of course the backing of a full orchestra and choir, guitars, drums and whatever else I could fit (and not fit) into it. The track also has a little bridge which we call the “UFO interlude”.
Furthermore we have a change of pace into a series of element tracks I wrote. “Made of Air, Fire, Earth and Water” are tracks that bind the variety of the album’s many musical styles together, with genres of music ranging from melodic progressive pop (Made of Air) to sophisticated choral and electronic work (Made of Fire).
The already well-known track “One Million Voices” is the center piece of the chapter and represents Humanity in all our cultural diversity.
With “Please Don’t Go” I wanted to recreate musically the feeling of complete and utter despair we feel as we experience the loss or are left by a loved one. The feeling can be described as a black hole that indiscriminately destroys the fabric of our existence. An anxiety that grows and grows as the feeling of loss becomes more and more real and unbearable. It was a hard track to make. To go about creating this I decided to feature a woman breathing heavily and increasingly rapidly through the length of the piece, and the voice “I love you” repeated in a hypnotic way towards the end.
The album concludes with “So Small”, which is a hymn to our existence in this universe. Our lives seem so small and insignificant when we look at ourselves spinning around on a planet in space that is tiny compared to the rest of the universe, yet to us it is home, and all we really know.
Songs For Ukraine[]
| # | Title | Featured Performers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wings for Ukraine | Bulgarian Opera Choir |
| 2 | Shield of Love | Bulgarian Opera Choir |
| 3 | Lament for our Children | Kate St. Pierre |
Chapter V[]
The fifth chapter is "an ode to adventure, the unexpected, the drive and passion, taking us on new and exciting journeys in life. New beginnings. Opportunities and magical encounters. It's the musical equivalent of that extra push we sometimes need to find our inner strength and confidence to take a chance"[17].
Thomas initially announced the album's completion on April 9th, 2022[18]. He then teased a small sample of the track "Memoria" on August 12th[19] before officially announcing it on January 19th, 2023 to be released sometime during March 2023. However, the release was then pushed back to April[20], with two singles from the album being released in the meantime. The first, "Night Queen," was released February 24th, 2023 and featured the vocals of Merethe Soltvedt. A month later, on March 24th, "Memoria" was released, also featuring vocals by Merethe. On April 17th, Thomas revealed the album would come out April 24th[21], only for it to be released three days earlier on April 21st.
This album features live performances from Merethe Soltvedt (vocals), Thomas Bergersen (violin), Uyanga Bold (vocals) and Claudio Pietronik (guitar). The track "Away With Your Fairies" is a rereleased and redone version of the track of the same name from Myth.
Tracklist[]
| # | Title | Featured Performers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aventura | |
| 2 | Iron Will | |
| 3 | Memoria | Merethe Soltvedt |
| 4 | Reflections of You | |
| 5 | Night Queen | Merethe Soltvedt
Thomas Bergersen (violin) |
| 6 | Heroica | Uyanga Bold |
| 7 | Dreamgarden | |
| 8 | Xunia | Claudio Pietronik (guitar) |
| 9 | Kingmaker | |
| 10 | Away with your Fairies (Humanity Version) | |
| 11 | One Last Day | Merethe Soltvedt
Claudio Pietronik (guitar) |
| 12 | Aventura Suite | |
| 13 | One Last Day (Instrumental) | Claudio Pietronik (guitar) |
Notes from Thomas[]
Notes on "Memoria"[22][]
"Memoria", the second single from Humanity Chapter V is out today! This song came out of one of my long morning improvisations a few years ago, and was initially going to be a slower piano piece. Instead I wrote lyrics for Merethe Soltvedt - Singer Songwriter and experimented with creating a big contrast between very homely and simple parts played by instruments like the acoustic guitar, piano and whistle, and a complete symphony orchestra with metal guitars and drums!
Originally the ending solo part was intended to be performed on a violin or guitar, but I thought it would be more interesting to have Merethe do it, and as she so often does, she nailed it
General Album Notes[23][]
Chapter V is all about the adventure of life. It opens with “Aventura”, a theme written to represent the spirit of life’s adventures, trials and tribulations. It is purposefully subdued, starting with a simple piano setting the mood, slowly evolving into a blanket of warmth and love. I tried to write a piece of music that captures the feeling of standing at the beginning of a journey, leaving a part of your comfortable life behind, and plunging into an unknown future…
“Iron Will” completely shifts the focus from that feeling of leaving home, into the start of a bold and exciting adventure. The adventure of your life. This will be the defining step in your life. No turning back, just face life with bravery and an iron will to succeed and reach your goals and dreams.
“Memoria” was a song I wrote about becoming the hero in the story of your own life. A life that will live on for generations to come, in the memories of your friends and family. Merethe Soltvedt provided the vocals for the song, which started off as a very simple piano melody but later turned into a complete symphonic metal track. I tried to incorporate more traditional instruments, like the acoustic guitar and irish whistle to give it a sense of home and singularity. The contrast between the simple piano and guitar and the complete orchestra, choir and rock band creates dynamic depth, and paints a unique musical picture.
“Reflections of You” was a piano song I wrote in a time I felt directionless in life, and turned to the piano for some comfort.. and out came this little tune, which at first didn’t appeal too much to me. I nevertheless decided to finish it, record it, and finally produce it. There’s something about it that makes me feel some sense of comfort. I think it accurately describes the feeling of being lost and turning to your inner feelings to find back to your path.
“Night Queen” was never really meant to be what it eventually became, although you could argue that it became exactly what it was meant to be. I remember the song being born as I woke up one morning, humming a melody that seemed so familiar, as if I had heard it in a dream a long time ago. The sense of empowerment and strength with the more delicate and feminine nature of the melody drove it into the direction of an epic symphonic banger. As a last minute addition I decided to add myself on violin for the solo towards the end.
“Heroica” is the Night Queen’s more masculine counterpart. I decided to use bulgarian women and girls voices to create a musical atmosphere of villagers singing words and melodies of comfort to the men who bravely venture out of the comfort of their homes to provide for the village, the women, and the children. The immense talent of Uyanga Bold is the centerpiece of the song.
“Dreamgarden” creates a landscape of thoughts, dreams and desires in your head. A hero needs rest along the journey. This is that musical break, when you let your mind wander completely free, into a world where dragons, fairies and other mythical creatures exist. Your fantasy and imagination weave a complicated tapestry of colors and feelings as a musical breath of rest along the path of your adventures.
“Xunia” is based on an Indian wedding song. I turned this folk song into something completely different, although the spirit of the music is still the same. The union of friendship and family, and the incredibly strong bond that is forged in such companionship. The role of support we play in each other’s lives, sharing the adventures together and reaching our goals with someone special by our side. Claudio Pietronik provided the amazing guitar solo.
“One Last Day” was a song I wrote directly after “Reflections of You”, during a heavy period of my life. The meaning of the song hardly needs elaboration, but as the lyrical narrative comes to an end, the soundscape once again explodes with yet another great display of musicianship from guitarist Claudio Pietronik.
It is followed by “Aventura Suite”, which sums up the adventure in an orchestral rendition of many of the musical themes of the album, starting with the little motif of “Kingmaker”, and expanding into so many colors and textures, I can honestly say it was one of the most challenging pieces I’ve ever written. It carefully navigates through so many different musical styles, orchestrations, key signatures and pacings, I kept a notebook full of charts, melodies, transitions and tempo maps just to organize and arrange everything. As “Aventura Suite” wraps up the great adventure, we return to the main theme of the album, the “Aventura” theme, a reprise of the melody introduced in the first track of the album.
I sincerely wish you have as much excitement and enjoyment from this music as I had composing it.
Chapter VI[]
Chapter VII[]
Trivia[]
Other Trivia[]
- Despite being the first two pieces from Humanity that were released to the public on YouTube, One Million Voices and So Small are on the album's fourth chapter.
- Once the album is released in its entirety digitally, it will also be released as a physical boxed set.
- A music video was released for L'appel Du Vide.
- L'Appel Du Vide is a rework of Chosen One, a piece accidentally released on the industry version of Battlecry.
- Orbital is a rework of In Orbit, a single released by Thomas in 2018 and later released again on Catch Me in 2020.
- This is the second time Thomas has released a track called Wings, the first one having been on Dreams & Imaginations.
- Each chapter has a different theme, as revealed by Thomas on Facebook:
- "Take Me Back" is a reworked version of "Running With Keepers," a track that was originally released as part of the soundtrack to Colin Frake: Asclepius.
- The lyrics to Mир were written by Marina Koreneva[26].
- Chapter III had a suite released on the 21st of March, 2021. This suite revealed that Little Star, previously released in 2019, was going to be rereleased as part of this album.
- Another single from the album, Red, was released April 9th, 2021, featuring Merethe Soltvedt.
- The vocals from Rocket to the Moon (Reprise) come from vocal kit 2 of a sample library called "Future House 1" by Dropgun Samples and were sung by Park Avenue.
- Though uncredited and unconfirmed, One Million Voices seems to take vocals from Esil Duran's version of the Bulgarian song Lele, Yano.
- In much the same way, Xunia seems to take vocals from the Punjabi wedding song Kuey Te Paani Parhendiye.
- By late June, 2024 Chapter VI had been recorded twice.[27]
- Ryo Ishido's cover contains the text Hunanity definition is - compassionate, sympathetic, or generous behavior or disposition: the quality or state of being humane.
- The music video for Aventura Suite, uploaded on Thomas' YouTube channel received a trailer on the Two Steps From Hell channel.
- The version of Aventura Suite that can be heard on its music video is different from the version on the album. Most notably, it is missing solo vocals.
Gallery[]
Music Video[]
Humanity Cover Art[]
.jpeg "Chapter V (non-streaming).jpeg (219 KB)")
Singles Cover Art[]
Vertical Promo Art[]
Animated Cover Art[]
I have no idea why these exist, but they do.
References[]
- ↑ Thomas' post on March 5th
- ↑ Performers credited in the YouTube release of the track
- ↑ Thomas confirming that he sings on "The Stars Are Coming Home"
- ↑ Thomas announces Chapter IV will be released soon
- ↑ Thomas reveals Chapter IV's theme and cover art
- ↑ Chapter IV's release date and tracklist revealed
- ↑ "Dear Mr. Alien"'s first release
- ↑ "Dear Mr. Alien"'s YouTube release
- ↑ Two Steps from Hell's post about One Million Voices
- ↑ Thomas announces the release of "So Small"
- ↑ Thomas explains more about the album's theme and discusses "Space for Rent"
- ↑ Thomas discusses the album's theme and general details
- ↑ Thomas discusses "Apollo"
- ↑ Thomas discusses "Cruising in Space"
- ↑ Thomas discusses "Please Don't Go"
- ↑ Chapter IV's official page on the website
- ↑ Thomas' post officially announcing Humanity Chapter V
- ↑ Thomas announces Chapter V is done
- ↑ Thomas teases "Memoria"
- ↑ Thomas reveals Humanity Chapter V's release date has been pushed back
- ↑ Thomas announces the new release date for Humanity Chapter V
- ↑ Thomas' explanation of "Memoria"
- ↑ Humanity Chapter V's official page on Thomas' website
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/thomasbergersen/posts/3339268422783611
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/thomasbergersen/posts/3623250324385418
- ↑ Thomas confirming who wrote the lyrics to Mir
- ↑ Thomas Bergersen via Facebook - "Humanity VI has been recorded, extended and recorded again 😂"