Truth Decay (Hypnogaja)

Concept and Description

Truth Decay is a science fiction-tinged concept album in which all of the songs revolve around the central story of a world's dramatic, apocalyptic end - and how life cycles into new chapters. Hypnogaja blogged extensively about the album's concept in the form of letters between characters, fictitious press releases from the album's futuristic world and illustrations/images outlining the story arc. Hypnogaja's keyboardist, Mark Nubar Donikian, said in an interview with AOL Noisecreep that the album's music is influenced by rock music of the 70s and 80s - bands like Queen and Blondie - and that the futuristic sound and themes were inspired by the band's fondness for science-fiction.

Truth Decay was written by vocalist Jason "ShyBoy" Arnold, Donikian, guitarist Jean-Yves "Jeeve" Ducornet and John Scott Mulchaey, the band's executive producer and longtime collaborator.

Promotion and Marketing

Several months before Truth Decay's release, Hypnogaja launched a promotion campaign called 13 Weeks of Free Music during which they released a new song to fans weekly, along with accompanying blogs that unveiled the overall concept of the album. The band also produced a :30 album teaser trailer featuring scenes from “The March“ video, synced to the track “Dark Star: End Transmission.“ The day after its release, Hypnogaja fans posted the Truth Decay album for free download on numerous file-sharing, torrent sites and music blogs around the world.

In September 2009, Hypnogaja performed at the first annual 140tc (Twitter Conference) at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles and keyboardist Donikian served as one of the speakers during the conference's music panel, which also included Chamillionaire, Curt Smith of Tears for Fears and numerous others.

Cover Design and Illustration

The album cover art was illustrated by Kevin Grimm. The various paintings illustrate the album's concept, telling the story of one world's end - and the dawn of a new one.

Singles/EPs

Three singles/EPs - "The March," "Apocalyptic Love Song" and "Worship Me (I'm On TV)" - were released before the album launch. Each one contains bonus materials (i.e. unreleased b-sides, acoustic versions, extended versions).

Videos

The band has released four music videos from the album: “The March,“ directed by Nelson Cragg (CSI, 30 Days of Night: Blood Trails) and Marius A. Markevicius (The Last Supper, starring Eliza Dushku); "Things Will Never Be The Same,“ a fan-made clip that features Barack Obama's election speech, Yes We Can; "Dark Star," directed by Chil Kong and featuring Slimkid3 of The Pharcyde and dancers from America's Best Dance Crew, including choreographer Yuri Tag of Kabba Modern, Cindy Minowa of Kabba Modern and Geo Lee of Instant Noodles; and "Welcome To The Future," directed by Graham Baclagon.

Track list

1. "Dark Star" (4:37)
2. "The March" (3:54)
3. "Apocalyptic Love Song" (4:52)
4. "Worship Me (I'm On TV)" (3:27)
5. "Welcome To The Future" (4:04)
6. "Things Will Never Be The Same" (4:07)
7. "Kill The Humans" (4:00)
8. "Static" (4:01)
9. "Lucy" (4:18)
10. "Never Coming Back" (3:57)
11. "Last Man On Earth" (4:47)
12. "Rusty Moon" (4:25)
13. "Dark Star: End Transmission" (1:15)
14. "Cellar Door" (4:16)

Reviews

Truth Decay was released to numerous positive reviews, including a 9 out of 10 star rating from Outburn Magazine, which noted it as an "expertly crafted album." Many publications noted the album's concept and rock opera-like structure. Karen Bliss of AOL's Noisecreep.com wrote, "The 14-track recording (Truth Decay) centers on the world's dramatic, apocalyptic end and how life cycles into new chapters, sometimes with sudden force.'" Campus Circle cited it as "a high concept recording with a story arc about star-crossed lovers in a futuristic world where apocalypse and rebirth are looming." Erica Ramon of Hits Daily Double wrote, "ONE TO WATCH - a multifaceted band out of Hollywood that is quickly gaining steam."

Awards

Hypnogaja won the award for Best Alternative Recording Artist at the 2009 Hollywood Music in Media Awards. The band performed "Welcome To The Future" at the awards ceremony. The 2010 Hollywood Music in Media Awards awarded ShyBoy Best Male Vocal for Hypnogaja's remake of Donna Summer's worldwide hit On The Radio (which served as the b-side to the "Welcome To The Future" digital single.