Tag: SOULSIGMA

The Only Skull CD

A limited number of THE ONLY SKULL CDs are now available exclusively at NDM Express. 100 units total were made, with 25 reserved for the backers. If you were a Soulsigma backer at any level, you do not need to buy one, just contact NDM and send them your current shipping address, or if you are buying a book from them, make sure you let them know you were a backer and ask them to include your CD with the shipment. They are scheduled to arrive at the warehouse the week of July 13.

SOULSIGMA represents the current cutting edge of music and technology, with the combination of man and machine intelligence. All twelve songs are entirely produced with AI music technology, then edited with digital audio tools and mastered by a professional audio engineer to produce a very high-quality alternative rock sound that is original without feeling lifeless or uninspired.

The twelve songs on the album are:

3:35 RIDE AND DIE
4:17 THE ONLY SKULL
5:03 ANGEL IN FLIGHT
4:16 SEASONS
3:58 NEPTUNE GRIEVES
3:28 MY SECRET SIN
3:27 THE SHINING WIRE
3:15 THE WORD DESCENDED
5:29 ONCE THERE WAS SORROW
3:53 THE RIDE NEVER ENDS
4:04 A MERCILESS NIGHT
4:09 GIRLS LOVE GUITARS

All twelve songs were written by Vox Day, with the exception of The Only Skull and Once There Was Sorrow, which were co-written with George Gordon Byron.

Thanks to the manufacturer, you can check out a very cool 3D display of the complete packaging, including the disc art.

DISCUSS ON SG

On the Hook

Now that developers and creatives are sufficiently accustomed to using AI, the AI companies are reeling them in with monetization that is considerably more expensive than it was. AI Central has the details:

At one cent per credit, billing accrues on input, output, and cached tokens at the published per-model API rate. On Copilot Pro, the included 1,500 monthly credits carry a face value of $15 against a $10 plan price. On Pro+, 7,000 credits worth $70 accompany a $39 subscription. Code completions and Next Edit Suggestions draw no credits under any paid plan, and the new system eliminates the cheaper-model fallback that users with exhausted PRU credits could previously invoke.

On the first day of the new billing period, one Pro+ developer wrote in GitHub’s community forum that two hours of work had consumed 8% of a monthly 7,000-credit allocation, projecting full depletion in under two days. A separate developer reported that a single request to a large project had cost more than $6, writing in the same forum that such costs made reliable budgeting impossible for individual developers. On Reddit, a user reported that a single Claude 4.8 session had consumed 1,180 credits, 16% of a monthly Pro+ allowance, while returning suggestions described as mediocre and leaving the underlying problem unsolved.

On Copilot’s published model menu, GPT-5.5 output tokens cost 24 times more than GPT-5.4 nano output tokens, turning model selection into a direct billing variable. A modeled task representing heavy agentic iteration, defined as 250,000 input tokens and 20,000 output tokens, runs to 185 credits on GPT-5.5 and 27.75 on MAI-Code-1-Flash, a 6.7-fold cost gap for the same work.

This is a bit ironic, especially for writers, since the last FOUR Claude models have all been observably worse at writing fiction than version 4.5, which is no longer available. Opus 4.6 is still usable, but who knows how much longer access to it will be permitted? Fortunately, the newer models can still handle translations and non-fiction, albeit in a very bland, uniform style in the case of the latter.

Speaking of AI Central, this weekend I put up a post featuring not one, but two music videos, one an updated version of IF YOU HAD A TIME MACHINE, the other a work-in-progress of CHIBA CITY BLUES. Quality-wise, the video technology is about 18 months behind the audio quality, but it’s coming along quickly.

Whether it will remain readily affordable, of course, is an entirely different question.

DISCUSS ON SG

FADE TO BLACK

This theme song for the upcoming BLACK WARRANT crowdfund, FADE TO BLACK has proved popular on both AI Central and Sigma Game, so I put it up on UATV for the subscribers. The comic is already done, the novel is done, and the script for the film is two-thirds done. This is going to be big.

If he shows up at your door, you’re the one who brought him there…

The crazy thing is that this isn’t even the hardest-hitting song on the soundtrack.

DISCUSS ON SG

Cruel Dominions

I found this old mix of THE WORD DESCENDED that I’d forgotten I did back in December, and was frankly kind of blown away by it. I think it’s going to have to go on the Soulsigma CD. Anyhow, it’s up on UATV for the subscribers. If you’re feeling down at all over the Espstein coverup, I think this will prove a salutary reminder that it doesn’t matter what they do, because they will never win.

DISCUSS ON SG

The Fatal Kiss

I’ve been working a bit on the next Soulsigma album, which is going to be entitled BYRONICS and will consist entirely of songs based on the poetry of George Gordon Byron, better known as Lord Byron. And while I’m not playing any of the album songs publicly or putting them up on UATV now, I have been playing a few of the experiments that didn’t make the cut on the Darkstream.

THE FATAL KISS is a song based on EUTHANASIA, which is one of Byron’s less-known, but more intense poems. It is mordant, obviously, but for some reason, it reminds me of Plato and The Death of Socrates, in which the philosopher wonders why anyone should fear something akin to the best night of sleep one has ever known.

Then lonely be my latest hour,
Without regret, without a groan;
For thousands Death hath ceased to lower,
And pain been transient or unknown.
“Aye but to die, and go,” alas!
Where all have gone, and all must go!
To be the nothing that I was
Ere born to life and living woe!
Count o’er the joys thine hours have seen,
Count o’er thy days from anguish free,
And know, whatever thou hast been,
‘Tis something better not to be.

Now that is a wordsmith! In any event, a UATV subscriber requested this one be added to what is now a 46-song music library available for listening and downloading to subscribers.

DISCUSS ON SG

IF YOU HAD A TIME MACHINE

The first bonus track from THE ONLY SKULL campaign has been released as a single. You can hear it on Unauthorized, on the various mainstream music platforms, and on YouTube. The second bonus track will be released as a single next Monday, and I have no idea when the third bonus track, being the organic one, will even be recorded, so that one will be a while.

In other news on the creative front, a new chapter has begun in the serialization of TEMPUS OCCULTUM on Arktoons, chapter four, entitled Deceptus Eclipsus.

The abbot’s study was illuminated by tall windows that admitted thin blades of afternoon light, slicing through dust motes that danced in their path. As I entered, I sensed the weight of authority in the room—not just ecclesiastical, but something older, more primal. Father Umbertus stood by the abbot’s desk, his expression tense. Abbot Gerhardt sat behind it, fingers steepled, his face an impenetrable mask. And there, by the window, stood the stranger I had observed in the courtyard, now examining a celestial globe with affected interest.

“Brother Lukas,” the abbot intoned, “may I present Doctor Alessandro Visconti, Chief Archivist of the Vatican Apostolic Library.”

Visconti turned at the mention of his name, fixing me with eyes so dark they appeared almost black in the shadowed room. The ring with the quartered circle gleamed on his right hand as he offered a slight bow.

“Brother Lukas,” he said, his Italian accent precise yet subtle. “I have heard much about your… scholarly endeavors.”

“You honor our humble abbey with your presence, Doctor Visconti,” I replied, bowing in return. “Though I confess I am surprised that my humble work cataloging manuscripts would attract the attention of the Vatican’s Chief Archivist.”

A smile flickered across his face, cold as winter sunlight. “The Church takes a keen interest in all scholarly pursuits, particularly those concerning the correct interpretation of historical documents.”

DISCUSS ON SG

Spring Break Extended

  • The two bonus tracks promised to Gold Skull and White Leather Skull backers have been sent out. Both A MERCILESS NIGHT and IF YOU HAD A TIME MACHINE were professionally mastered by the same professional engineer who mastered the 10 album tracks. They’ll go up on UATV after the rest of the album is uploaded there. They may be released as singles or b-sides later. We’re now working on the organic bonus track, which is an entirely new song that is arguably the best yet.
  • Vibe Patrol released the Spring Break Extended mix of A DRINK WITH A COCONUT today. It’s on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube. You can always keep up with new releases by using the links on the left sidebar.

DISCUSS ON SG

The Only Darkstream

Nothing dramatic, actually. But tonight’s Darkstream will be a listening party for the new SOULSIGMA album release, so if you are interested, please stop by. And if you’re not interested, then please don’t because we will not be discussing JD Vance, Russia, the release of the Epstein Files, or anything even remotely related to current events.

DISCUSS ON SG