I started out in a metal band called Grievance Honor (GH). We played around the Midwest for about five years. Many of my ‘firsts’ were experienced during the GH years. The first time you hear one of your songs on the radio, the first time you get to play out live, the first time you get to be on TV – all of these were first experienced in GH.
After about five years I outgrew the GH sound and began yearning to create more emotional music so I left the band and started a small folk band called “Porch of an Angry Grasshopper.” We wrote a few songs and fell apart pretty quickly. I was really into the goth/post punk scene (especially Fields of the Nephilim and Bauhaus) and wanted to explore that style.
It was then that I started Sombrance (around 1997) and we began the evolution to where we are now. Much of the goth sound has fallen off yet I am still a big fan of goth music. I am very pleased with the personality that Sombrance has developed.
We continue to evolve our sound and our friends and fans have let us know that they like what they hear. To answer the next question for you who are reading this and wondering what to expect when listening to us, four of our biggest influences are Pink Floyd, StarFlyer 59, the Cure and the Violet Burning. Hope that helps!
I have also kept busy with an ambient side project called Ishur Ninku. I think that I listen to ambient/world beat music more than anything else and this is a chance to express that side of myself.
A few years ago I wrote a bunch of pop songs that my band-mates at the time in Sombrance rejected as being too happy. So I released them as a solo record called “Wallpaper Sky”. An interesting note is that the first track (Iliana) from that album is the most downloaded song on iTunes of any songs I’ve written for any of my bands/projects.
If you are so inclined, you can check out some stuff that is available for purchase or download below:
RICK MESTER – Freight Train (Single)
Release Date: September 6, 2023
Credits:
Song written by the great Fred Eaglesmith
Bass – Rob Williams
2nd Guitar Solo – Jimmy P Brown II (JPBII)
The Other Stuff – Rick Mester
Mixed and Mastered by Jimmy P Brown II
Apple Music – LINK
Pre-save for Spotify – LINK
Amazon – LINK
YouTube – LINK
Pandora – LINK
SOMBRANCE – Through Waterless Places
Release Date: 2017
Personnel:
Rick Mester – Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Keys & Programming
Rob Williams – Lead Guitar, Bass
Ian Baird – Drums, Sounds, Feedback
Kevin Reeves – Piano
Thomas Kinder – Bass
Kevin Reese – Drums
Mike Kushins – Keyboards
Mixed by Sir Ian Baird at Arjuna Sound
Mastered by Jimmy P Brown II at 3 Frogz Studio
Artwork by Rob Steel
Tracks:
- Rising – Lyrics & Credits
- Crown On a Cross – Lyrics & Credits
- All I Want To Know – Lyrics & Credits
- Sunswept – Lyrics & Credits
- Shades of Heaven – Lyrics & Credits
CDs are available at the Zophim Records CD Store.
SOMBRANCE – Eli 2010
Release Date: 2010
Personnel:
Rick Mester – Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Programming
Wade Baird – Guitars
Todd Hurt – Drums
Jimmy P Brown II – Bass, Vocals
Rob Williams – Guitars, Bass
Tracks:
- Back and Forth (lyrics)
- Mercy River (lyrics)
- Lucky 7 (lyrics)
- Wasting Away (lyrics)
- Crow on a Cross (lyrics)
- All I Want 2 Know (lyrics)
- Shades of Heaven (lyrics)
- Wasting Away (Lush Tattoo Mix) (lyrics)
CDs are available at the Zophim Records CD Store.
SOMBRANCE – Eli
Release Date: 2003
Personnel:
Rick Mester – Vocals
Wade Baird – Guitars
Todd Hurt – Drums
Jimmy P Brown II – Bass, Vocals
Tracks:
SOMBRANCE – Dark Days and Afternoon Sleep
Release Date: 2001
Personnel:
Rick Mester – Vocals, Guitars, Programming, Keyboards
Justin DeTie – Guitars, Keyboards
Jim Calvert – Drums, Vocals
Chuck Cummings – Bass
Jimmy P Brown II – Bass
Caprice Cummings – Vocals
Tracks:
- Hope Lies Beyond (lyrics)
- Annabel (lyrics)
- With Fear (lyrics)
- Purge (lyrics)
- I Need You Forever (lyrics)
- Tangram (lyrics)
- Alive (lyrics) (download 6MB mp3)
- Memories of the Fallen (lyrics)
- Cranberry Skies (lyrics)
- Nephilim Song (lyrics)
CDs are available at the Zophim Records CD Store.
SOMBRANCE – The Cold Awakening
Release Date: 1998
Out of Print
Personnel:
Rick Mester – Guitars, Vocals
Wade Baird – Guitars
Jon Cheatwood – Bass
Jason Sarino – Drums
Lael Clark – Guitars
Tracks:
- With Fear (lyrics) (download 3.5MB mp3)
- Resonance (lyrics) (download 4.6MB mp3)
- Autumn’s Breath (lyrics) (download 4.2MB mp3)
- Tribalamawa (lyrics) (download 1.3MB mp3)
- I Live Without (Bonus Scratch Demo Track) (lyrics) (download 3MB mp3)
- Autumn’s Breath (Bonus Live) (lyrics) (download 3.4MB mp3)
- Caving In (Bonus Scratch Demo Track) (lyrics) (download 3MB mp3)
- Cry To Understand (Bonus Scratch Demo Track) (lyrics) (download 6.3MB mp3)
RICK MESTER – Wallpaper Sky
Release Date: 2010
Personnel:
Rick Mester – Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Synths, Programming
Rob Williams – Guitars, Bass, Mandolin
Jimmy P Brown II – Guitars
Tracks:
- Iliana (lyrics)
- Waceke (lyrics)
- Take Me Home (lyrics)
- Resonance (lyrics)
- Colours of Life (lyrics)
- Elegy (lyrics)
- Sarlage (lyrics)
- Shooby Shiver (lyrics)
- Slow Moan Sunday (CD only bonus track) (lyrics)
- Squat and Rub (CD only bonus track) (lyrics)
CDs are available at the Zophim Records CD Store.
ISHUR NINKU – Beyond The Red Door
All songs written, recorded and composed by Rick Mester at Zophim Studios.
Guitars, Synth, Programming, Bass, Vocals, and random sounds by Rick Mester
Mixed and Mastered by Rick Mester
Release Date July 22, 2014
Track Listing:
- So Down Song
- The Mystic
- Latsona
- Ice Adorned
- Empire
- Space
- Amani
- Who Can Separate? (Bonus Demo Track)
- My Place (Bonus Demo Track)
- The Mystic (Bonus Bass Mix)
- Shroud (Bonus First Ishur Ninku Demo)
ISHUR NINKU – Contemplation: A Collection
Release Date: 2005
Personnel:
Rick Mester – Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Synths, Programming
Angel Poe – Vocals
Tracks:
- Hindu
- Persia
- The Faraway Sigh
- Dawn of RA
- Plague
- Cold
- The Coming Sun
- Bloodsoul
- Hate
- Out To The Unknown
- Dreams: Circa 1010 (Part 1)
- Cosmic Sojourne
- Spirit Rising
- Gored and Trembling
- Asian Rain
- Solemn Mindscape
- REM Galaxy
- Dreams: Circa 1010 (Part 2)
- Hollow Skies
- Mourning
CDs are available at the Zophim Records CD Store.
(p) & © 1998-2014 Sombrant Reality Productions/ASCAP
Unauthorized reproduction is against the law.