Music / IRIS (UK)

There is more you need to know through the eye of the beholder.

"Hither and yonder; be ready for wonder
Heed the holy fate
Open knowledge's gate; stand in line"

— Main Theme

IRIS is a solo project created by Will Ryan of DAGames, falling under the Will Ryan Originals umbrella alongside Pandorium. While originally a purely musical project that comprised of songs that aren't based on video games, it has since expanded to encompass a story and its still-expanding universe. The albums were originally developed as a cathartic output with the songs being symbolic of mental illness and how to tackle said illnesses.

The idea of IRIS was first introduced in the album Heart of an Artist which was released under the DAGames label^note (The IRIS label didn't exist yet at the time.) and featured songs that weren't inspired by video games. The project's second album, Goliath's Throne, would reveal a sort of story behind it surrounding the titular Goliath. It would be through Dawn of the Dimetrix, the third album, that the story as we know it today would come to conception and tie the previous two albums into it.

The story tells of Vegala and its two realms, Hithafol and Yondrathol, the conflict that would cause these two realms to clash, and the titular IRIS emblem; a powerful symbol of archival capable of grand feats if one is capable to wield it. Within Hithafol is a planet known as the Depths, ruled by Father Tyrant and Lady Fate. Among the planet's colony residents are their son, Goliath; the proclaimed "Omen Child" and guard of the Encrypt. Hovering over the colony would be the IRIS as it helps keep the colony together and functioning. Within Yondrathol is a world connected to the Depths known as Nadoria, ruled under the dictatorship of Abrahm Valentin.

Upon Abrahm forcefully acquiring and tampering with a strange meteorite, a wormhole would open due to the meteorite's mystical energies and reveal the Depths. Such actions would cause a chain of events that would lead to the deaths of Tyrant and Fate. Before they took their final breath, they instructed Goliath to take the IRIS and close the wormhole. In a grief-stricken rage, he would do so, which would lead to bright flash of light... And the Depths in ruins. The wormhole was closed but none survived the blast... Save for one.

Goliath would awaken after the blast to find himself not as he used to be. He was rendered as nothing but a skeleton with the IRIS merged with him, engraved at his right eye socket. From there, he would gain a pair of companions known as Ether Snakes which would strengthen him and accompany him from then on. On the other side, Abrahm would take advantage of this strange boulder, creating a clone of the IRIS known as the Dimetrix. He would endure many trials in his world as he attempts to gain more power before eventually clashing with Goliath.

There are currently three full IRIS albums: Heart of an Artist in 2018^note Released under the DAGames label., Goliath’s Throne in 2019, and Dawn of the Dimetrix in 2021. A remake album, Heart of an Artist: Resurrection, was released in December 2023.

In November of 2020, there was a Dungeons & Dragons inspired prequel campaign, Jaws of Dawn, that can be found on YouTube with a companion soundtrack; this campaign would chronicle the origins of Goliath, the story's protagonist. A YouTube audio series from the perspective of Abrahm Valentin began on May 6th, 2021 titled The Valentin Renegade Transmissions, detailing his rise to power, the creation of the Dimetrix, and his backstory. A video called The Beginning of Behemoth was also released on July 24th 2021, explaining the lore of the IRIS and the Depths while expanding a bit upon the lore provided during Jaws of Dawn. Come November of 2023, a YouTube audio series known as The Story of Vegala began which would provide more background to Vegala itself and reveal more of the backstories behind Father Tyrant and Lady Fate.

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Discography

• May 24th, 2018 - Heart of an Artist
  • Draw the Line
  • As the Lights Go Out
  • Heart of an Artist
• October 30th, 2019 - Goliath's Throne
  • Hibernation
  • Surveillance
  • Override & Conquer
• October 31st, 2020 - Jaws of Dawn Original Soundtrack
• August 22nd, 2021 - Dawn of the Dimetrix
  • Rock Bottom
  • I'll Find My Way
  • Plague
  • BioBond
  • Mothohive
• September 5th, 2021 - Dawn of the Dimetrix Deluxe
  • We Will Reform
  • BioTide
• November 23rd, 2022 - IRIS Main Theme (We Stand in Line)
• December 15th, 2023 - Heart of an Artist Resurrection
  • S.O.S (Resurrection)
  • Draw the Line (Resurrection)
  • Why Do We Hold (Resurrection)

Story Playlists

• The Story of Vegala
• The Behemoth Arc
• The Valentin Renegade Arc
• Operation Baltorne

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Descend into the Tropes:

• Abusive Parents: Abrahm and Jebodiah's father, Gabriel. He was originally a good parent, but he sadly mutated due to ether radiation exposure causing him to go mad and start abusing the boys and kill his own wife. He then forced Abrahm to dig up his mother's grave and he buried himself in it.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: In Transmission 9, the Mothohive's shriek triggers a power outage in the Domeplex. This power outage corrupts Dovahcom's failsafe system, Dovahmoira. Dovahmoira then proceeds to "connect" with Abrahm, merging the two into one with Abrahm at the helm. The trope is still downplayed in the matter of Dovahmoira still being loyal to Abrahm. However, as shown in "Vegala Transmission", he is much more willing to call out Abrahm's actions compared to Dovahcom.
• Album Closure: "Ascend From the Iris" in Heart of an Arist, "Going Away" in Goliath's Throne and "Peace Be Thy Name" in Dawn of the Dimetrix.
• Album Intro Track: "Descend Into the Iris" in Heart of an Artist, "Havok Be Thy Game" in Goliath's Throne and "Dawn" in Dawn of the Dimetrix.
• Album Title Drop: This is done in Heart of an Artist with the Title Track "Heart of an Artist" and in Goliath's Throne with "Goliath's Throne.”
• Allegory: A lot of the plot points in the IRIS universe are allegories for things that happen in real life.
  • The Dimetrix was created by Abrahm because he wanted to copy what the IRIS did. This is an allegory for bootlegging and plagiarism of people's creations. People will see others' creations and try to create a copy and pass it off as theirs but, it will never truly be as good as the original.
  • All of the beasts from Jaws of Dawn.
    • The Claustronoctus represents the fear of breathlessness, isolation, and limited space. Basically, claustrophobia.
    • The Bipolisian represents the fear of your darkest side. Described as "one moment a Jekyll, the other a Hyde...this beast shows you that other side...causing a numerous amounts of emotional pain."
    • The Anxosax represents the fear of loud, irritable noises, not being good enough for the world, or that the world is against you.
    • The Paradigm Worms represent those who wish darkness and sadness upon you simply because they don't like you.
    • The Grief represents the helpless reclue of the things you've lost and the grip that it has on you.
    • The Mothohive represents all of these fears and feelings combined, forming a giant unholy abomination.
• Animalistic Abomination: Most of the beasts from Jaws of Dawn (excluding the Paradigm Worms, Griefworm and Tormentus) are these: the Mothohive resembles a cross between a moth and a hornet with wings resembling that of a butterfly or a dragonfly, the Claustronoctus resembles a lion, the Bipolisian resembles a spider or a tarantula, and the Anxosax resembles a hawk, a falcon, or an eagle.
• Blatant Lies: In Transmission 7, Abrahm shows off the BioBond (Jebodiah) to his audience. He tells them that Jebodiah "sacrificed [himself] to be part of the new beginning" when Abrahm actually shot Jebodiah and turned him into the BioBond against his will. He also tells them that the BioBond's siren is "merely a cry of joy", when it's actually a scream of pain.
• Bloody Horror: After Abrahm Valentin kills his brother, Jebediah Dunford, he experiments on him by taking out all of his organs and leaving nothing but his nervous system. He then puts him in a pool of his own blood, hooks him up to the Dimetrix as it's central data center, and forces hims to constantly process information from Nadoria's internet. Said information isn't pleasant in the slightest.
• Book Ends: The album Heart of an Artist begins with descension into the IRIS and ends with ascension from the IRIS.
• Cain and Abel: Abrahm Valentin and Jebediah Dunford respectively.
• Call-Forward: At the end of "Peace Be Thy Name", the guitar riff from "Havok Be Thy Game" off of Goliath's Throne plays. Even the names of the tracks, when put together, are this.
• Childhood Friends: Dovahcom and Abrahm, the former of whom was built by Gabriel to keep the latter company
  Dovahcom: Despite being but an artificial design, I am still here, and have never left your side since we were younger.
  Abrahm: You know that's one thing that'll never change. You were my only friend, the only thing that took interest in the things I had to say.
• Concept Album: All IRIS albums are concept albums that take place in the same universe.
• Deadpan Snarker: Dovahcom has a tendency to be this.
  Abrahm: I know this! I've done my research! Ask all of my friends!
  Dovahcom: Friends, sire?
  Abrahm: JUST GET TO WORK!!!
• Deal with the Devil: In Jaws of Dawn, Father Tyrant makes a deal with Vyson Pavavorey, the ruler of the Damned after having been banished there with his colony by Tyrant and Fate during a war, to bring his soldiers back to life so that they can defeat the Mothohive. Their price is that when Tyrant's firstborn dies, he will be sent to the damned to be tortured for eternity.
• Eldritch Abomination: The Mothohive is a massive entity made of multiple tiny creatures and dark matter.
• Enemy Mine: This seems to be the case as of the Vegala Transmission. When the deities of Vegala Infinity intend on invading Nadoria in order to retrieve the IRIS, Dovahmoira suggests that Abrahm teams up with Goliath both as a way to repent for his actions and in order to take on the deities... To which Abrahm reluctantly accepts.
  Abrahm: Dovahmoira... Bring me the beast.
• Everyone Knows Morse: In Transmission 6, the BioBond (Jebodiah) communicates with his brother Abrahm via Morse code, which Abrahm inexplicably understands without issue.
• Evil Laugh: Abrahm lets out a very unsettling one in Transmission 7 at the end of the BioBond presentation and at the end of the Deadlock Transmission.
• Fate Worse than Death: After Jebodiah is shot by Abrahm, he is stripped to only a brain, eyes, and nervous system and turned into the BioBond, a central core for the Dimetrix. Not only is he fully awake and aware as the BioBond, but it also causes him immense pain that emits a terrifying siren when he "screams", and hes being feed tons of terrible information all the time. The "BioBond" song makes it very clear that he wants to die so the pain can stop.
• Foregone Conclusion: While we know that Father Tyrant and Lady Fate were present during Jaws of Dawn and their backstory has been revealed through Story of Vegala, they will still end up dying.
• Hate Plague: Various citizens of Nadoria have been exposed to this with the main signs of this, beyond their aggressive behavior and mindlessness at least, being glowing yellow eyes and low Vitamos-Z levels. It's so severe that Abrahm has to resort to mass mind control just to keep them in line, even if such a method is mainly used to further his own goals.
  Abrahm: They're all throwing each other under the bus, they seem to be feeding everybody unfinished building materials, they're beating each other up with it! I dare say... It's the most pathetic and most hilarious thing I have ever seen in the past few years!
• Heavy Metal: Most of their songs fit at least one metal subgenre. The only non-metal songs by IRIS so far are As the Lights Go Out (which ironically got a metal remake), You're Better Off, and Going Away.
• "I Want" Song: The song "S.O.S" is about the feeling of being trapped in a cage and wanting to be free from it, but those trying to help are actually making things worse; intended or not.
• Lonely Rich Kid: Abrahm Valentin was one during his childhood. He and his brother, Jebodiah, didn't have the best relationship and his only friend was Dovahcom.
• Power Ballad: "You're Better Off" from Goliath's Throne, and “I’m Sorry” from Dawn of the Dimetrix.
• Siamese Twin Song: This is done on Heart of an Artist with "Descend Into the Iris" → "S.O.S" and on Jaws of Dawn with "The Hive Emerges" → "Rise Against the Hive".
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • "Cold Man" is basically a big middle finger towards the world.
  • Dovahmoira invokes this towards Abrahm during the Vegala Transmission
• The Reveal: Gabriel Valentin wasn't the monster that Abrahm made him out to be. He actually mutated due to ether radiation exposure. This warped Gabriel's mind and he went insane.
• Tie-In Novel: It has been revealed that there are going to be a series of IRIS novels tying all the albums together and providing more exposition on the IRIS universe.
• Triumphant Reprise: "Ascend From the Iris" is one to "Descend Into the Iris" and "S.O.S".
• War Arc: The Behemoth Arc. This includes Jaws of Dawn, the one-shot video The Beginning of Behemoth, and the upcoming first novel.
• Villain Song:
  • "Rock Bottom", "Dimetrix", and "BioTide". "Rock Bottom" is about the origins of the main antagonist of the IRIS story, Abrahm Valentin, "Dimetrix" is about Valentin's copy of the IRIS called the Dimetrix, and "BioTide" is about the titular biomechanical killing machines, also the creations of Valentin.
  • "Castle That Burns" can be this to the Vegalian Deities when they destroy the castle of Vegala Infinity.

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