[GAME OVER]

Original Release Date: 12/21/4017

[GAME OVER] were students of the Gilded Age of Video Games, conquering classics such as Geemo-Man V, The Disappearance of Pronto Xevon, Medal of Quartonn, and the ever-evolving Ark of Fate (and its fifteen expansion packs). They are also, unfortunately, veterans of two Funk Wars (III & IV). Suddenly, these quirky games lacked the same excitement; too simple, now; too flinching. The horrors of battle had shaped Squadron Leader Ewex Drono and Municipal Sergeants Gwordi and Gwordo Byeraaz into near heartless drones. Fallen comrades, devastating destruction, the drone of marching forward endlessly into plasma strikes and pnumatic projectiles; they awoke in the night covered in sweat (or worse), breathing heavily, their multiple hearts thundering in their skulls. A local Veterans Affairs office provided a weekly group meeting in which creatures of their ilk could work through their post-traumatic stress in positive ways. Some painted, others screamed, and a social worker shared instruments for them to pluck and press. The Brothers Byeraaz found renewed strength in keyboard and drums, but lacked practice. Ewex had dabbled in the electronic bass before being drafted for Funk Wars III, and his playing days flooded his brain once more as the Brothers began to form simple melodies. With intrepidation, he slowly revealed his talent, thumping his instrument in the corners of the VA Hall. When approached by Gwordi and Gwordo, he felt extreme anxiety and almost leapt to the door and back into the streets. But his bassline received an injection of keyboard and drums, and a smile, and their collective fates were sealed. Bonding further over their former love of video games, they decided to tailor their music to those who had forgotten their youth, spoiled by the dregs of war, pestilence, and famine. They created their own video game worlds and wrote detailed soundtracks that transported others into their realms. loss condition, their sophomore album (technically a true debut, as their first release was a demo compilation passed around and copied until it had lost its beauty), imagined a warrior who had perished on the battlefield and entered the afterlife, fighting through the fiery underworld to the ivory gates of salvation, only to find that bliss was actually true darkness: permananet death. The album bleeps and bloops along, hissing and modulating as listeners are dragged through the highs and lows of interactivity (joyful completion and frustrating boss fights included). Their music quickly struck a nerve with other veterans, providing them with a soundtrack and a definition for their own internal struggles. Touring the VA circuit proved more than lucrative and restorative as others suddenly found meaning and purpose after their governments had indoctrinated them, sold them for scrap, and ignored their sacrifice with a hearty gift basket of see-ya-later. Veterans across the Universe rose en masse, demanding better benefits, stronger pensions, and, at the very least, a little respect. [GAME OVER] did not want for much after the release of loss condition, donating much, if not everything, to their fellow soldiers, in the hopes that it would someday make a dent. Many decades later, a companion video game based on the soundtrack, entitled Depths of Despair, briefly saw the light of day but was pulled from shelves when it was revealed that its final boss was deliberately unbeatable. Solemnity and exuberance are interchanged in veterans' minds, mirroring the boredom and excitement of war. loss condition was a reminder to the Universe that video games have their place, but the real world is much more frightening, and sometimes, we have to face it head-on, whether we want to or not. Hopefully, when you do, dear Audionauts, you have enough experience points to soldier on.

Side A

1. gate of oblivion

2. depths of despair

3. winged beast/golden fleece

4. loss condition

Side B

1. blaspheemer

2. blood_fire

3. ascension beyond the clouds

4. permadeath