PureVolume

Filidh is a solo project put together by composer/musician Mark Peters who was formerly involved for four years with Antioch, a metalcore band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Filidh is a new musical direction for Mark, in that it is not as heavy, but is at the same time more intense. This project also provides an outlet for more creative composition as Mark demonstrates a thorough understanding of the principals involved in writing orchestral compositions, and then proceeds to blend that with and intense metal rhythms and thick, crunchy guitars. While this concept is in new way new to the musical world, Filidh has a distinctive sound on account of the prevalence of the classical and baroque elements and the overall character of the pieces is influenced more by the likes of Palestrina, Vivaldi, and Musorgsky than by the modern metal and hardcore scene.

The music Mark has constructed is built like a great piece of architecture which describes something greater still. For Mark, each song was written to describe some aspect of the inherent and unchanging nature of God. Others have described the entire set as being thoroughly epic. Whereas bands with a message tend to have repetitious verses to carry the point, here the message is embedded in the music for those willing to listen nd decipher what the writer is saying. A dose of metal that deserves closer examination.

The live performance is impressive. Not in the psychotic chaos and bursts of chaos unleashed by many metal and hardcore bands, but rather in the simplistic nature of the visual elements of a well thought out dramatic presentation. In this way Mark demonstrates, that he is not only a musician and a composer, but a playwright, stage director, and actor as well. While the drama that unfolds is secondary to the music, it is highly effective in reinforcing the attitude and meaning held within each musical phrase. The experience is like listening to a collection of abstract art is each piece is painted in clear view of the audience and at the end one suddenly realizes that the pieces tell a story, that the songs as whole come together to make something far greater than the sum of its parts.

"Three kinds of light obtain; that of the sun and, hence, fire; that of the knowledge obtained from the instruction of wise teachers; and that which is possesed in the understanding of God, which illuminates the heart, and is the true light of the soul...seek the True light in all your ways, search diligently and with tireless perseverance. Take the Light as your law, your love, your guide, now and henceforth, forever."

from Patrick by Stephen Lawhead

"this is the way of it: trees live out of themselves; they neither kill to eat...nor do they toil for their food, but the All-wise nourishes them in season, their span outlasts all living things in creation. Their wisdom runs deep as their roots in the earth, even as their branches reach toward heaven in exaltation of their creator.
Yes, they may be cut down, and when they fall, they die. But whether they are burned in the fire or used for building, their lives are given for those they serve... so that even in death these giants of the land serve those who depend on them."
.
from Patrick by Stephen Lawhead