“Ice One H”
Opportunities
MYYST
Original Release Date: 01/12/3026
The Universe has a long history of seemingly stupid and futile decisions. One might say that breaking into a bacterial testing laboratory is a poor decision. And, you might say that forcing your way into one of the many storage containment units shows the intelligence of a fool. And, you also might say that cracking open a frozen cube of xecotarcilia (one of the deadliest organisms known to the stars) and dropping it into a warm glass of Jaarviz Harboughz's RAT (Radiation-Altered Transmographied) Soda, is a monumentally boneheaded decision. However, dear Audionauts, without this sequence of increasingly poor decisions, we would not have ever heard Opportunities: a trippy, low-stakes romp through the altered states of MYYST, two shnorlicks from the Buccor Star System. Known for their absurdly long trunks (which hung down nearly to their feet) and their sun-drenched skin tint, they had started the night with a gift of a bottle of the RAT Soda by a venue owner in lieu of pay; a gesture which incurred the wrath of their aforementioned trunks as they thrashed the dive bar to ribbons. High on the absurdity of their violence, they cracked open the RAT, but came away disgusted by its warmth. Seeking ice (the bar's stash had been dumped in the melee), they stumbled past boarded-up convenience stores and grocery markets in need of economic rescue. Without a remedy, they sat beneath a billboard, bathed in its orange glow, fully prepared to down the soda, which only became consumable when mixed with ice. They were in luck; the billboard happened to be for a clinic just up the road. "Specimens frozen on premises!" it claimed. That was all the motivation they needed. Several thwacks of their trunks later, and the front door shattered, their thirsty hands wrenching open the nearest freezer, while ignoring the red warning signs plastered on every surface. Out came the cube of ice from a tray labeled xecotarcilia: a bacterium that paralyzed the body and forced it to decompose from within until spontaneous combustion took pity on the poor unfortunate soul. Taking turns drinking from a beaker, MYYST was in no real danger until the ice cubes finally melted. With the specimen coursing through their system, they were treated to a psychedelic adventure of epic proportions. Their visions, the colors, the sounds, the tastes, the overwhelming sensation of floating, all were captured on Opportunities, an album about chances missed and taken; the feeling that things can only get worse while they are equally hitting new highs. The duo of Enrri and Erby was found nearly comatose on the floor of the facility, a tape recorder at their feet; the only evidence of what they had endured. Opportunities used the raw tape to create the album's soundscapes, the foundational floating that kept them preoccupied for what they believed to be sixteen Earth years, but in reality was little more than three to four minutes (their breaking and entering had immediately tripped a silent alarm). The album is filled with a calming sense of chillwave, layered over a frantic, nagging beat that relaxes and worries the mind while keeping its feet on the ground just long enough to stick its head in the clouds. MYYST experimented with other deadly organisms after learning their survival was due to a genetic defect in their shnorlick DNA that made them immune to the bacterium. However, their hypothesis led to nothing more than disappointment and indigestion. MYYST never really hit the same high, pun intended, that they did with Opportunities, proving that the gateway's magnetic pull ceases to be once you step through its threshold. The album is regarded as a pioneer in the Xeco Movement, a series of albums built upon being under the influence (think DOT.EXE's Micro Dos and The Slate Cutters Jupiter Juice), and is still a staple of MYYST's live performances, even if they are only welcome at dive bars that pay their acts in RAT Soda.
Side A
Welcome to the Void
Ice One H
Floating Now?
Rainbow Road
Side B
Trapped Between Dreams
Halfway Home
Missed Opportunities
Havin' A Laugh