Tiago's Music

Now and then I record music, often by myself, often for myself. Below there are some tracks and insights on why and how they came to be, alas, "writing about music is like dancing about architecture"

2026

Digital (5+5)
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This track is based on a simple melody with 4 notes and a silence, played in pairs, adding up to 10/8 bars. It has two main sections with two different experiments on how to make music out of this melody. The first section takes a prog-like approach, making complexity proud, explicit and fun for the player and music nerds at best. The second section tries to make the weirdness of a 5/10 blend into a immersive soundscape, comfortable to listen hopefully for most people. It's inspired by how I think Dream Theater "vs" Tool could approach the same musical idea.

The name digital comes from the number of fingers we have, most of us at least. Ten. The number most civilizations come up with as the base for all things math... but somehow doesn't seem natural at all when used in music. Fun trivia right there.

Last iteration: 03-06-2026

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Uphill
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In this track I did two main experiments: Same scale and roughly a single idea throughout the 5 minutes plus clean lead guitar on top of heavy rhythm guitars. It is more about an ambience than a foreground melody, maybe like 2018's Damp in that sense.

Last iteration: 10-05-2026

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Pregão (Madredeus cover)
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A cover of a hidden gem from Madredeus that always sounded incredibly "metal" to me, this version just makes it explicit. The last riff is merely inspired in what one of the original guitars was doing at the end of the song, but everything else tries to be as faithful as possible: tempo, key, harmony and melodies... the twist comes from the timbre and dynamics. The drums are of course entirely composed out of thin air (the original has no drums).

Last iteration: 08-05-2026

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Mute
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Mute captures the realization that I can't sing nor will I ever be able to use my voice in music as naturally as I use a guitar... and that's ok. This track is a double-down on me trying to get better at melody (i.e. guitar solos) and, to be honest, was a bit harder to compose than I'd anticipated; it took me more time to put out this year. The intro is the raw recording of me playing an unplugged electric guitar into a smartphone's microphone, which is usually how I record ideas for tracks. I don't like to record stuff off-tempo, off-pitch or that just sounds bad in general, but I also don't like to artificially over-correct stuff. Ideally I would record ideas in one take and that's a finished track... this intro is a reminder of how far I still am from that, a snap to reality of sorts, but it's also more real than the rest of the track and there's beauty there that always gets lost among the EQs, compressors, samples, overdubs and grid-snapping that follows.

Last iteration: 04-05-2026

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Limp
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This track uses accentuated off-beats to convey the idea of limping or otherwise moving while crippled. It was inspired by a phase where on and off I had injuries that actually affected my locomotion... I'm all better now :D This track picks up on a riff me and a friend (Luis Ferreira) have already tried to make music out of, the one that enters at 1m30s. Adding that riff into this music was absolutely intentional, as one of the biggest injuries I had was directly related to a day I spent with this great guy. This music is the second time I think I did an actual lead-guitar track (after Bird), where there's a leading melody and not just cool riffs (which would be fine too).

Last iteration: 09-03-2026

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Requiem
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For some time I have been doodling on the piano and came up with this slow-paced piece I quite liked. Sounds somewhat classical (with a bit of "Rush E" meme vibes to it) but what I found mostly interesting was the melody, especially the chromaticisms around G and D. Since piano is not an instrument I'm that comfortable with, it was particularly exciting for me to be able to speak through it using such a non-trivial language. In 2026 I picked up this piano idea, extended it with orchestration, rhythm and made an A section for this track. The B section came from a harmonic idea I had some time ago (coincidentally also explored in the keyboard), where I would have a bass note looping for 2 notes (ended up being B to G) and a higher note looping for 3 notes (ended up being A to G to F#), from which 2 x 3 = 6 chords would naturally pop up. Added one bar each for an atypical 6 bars/chords progression, repeated it and added two more chords that intentionally increase tension and resolve back to the first chord. So a 14 bar progression... that doesn't sound weird or forced. It's one of the ways I compose sometimes: pick up on a pattern of theoretical idea and try to make it sound like music, not an exercise. The name of the song is what it is because the piano part evoked that vibe to me from the get go, but also because 2025 was a year of loss and seemed like the right time to make music with it.

Last iteration: 03-02-2026

Original idea: 24-11-2024

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Fusion
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Winter is my least favourite part of the year, this music tries to convey both its gloominess and the eagerness of getting back to a more outdoorsy lifestyle.
Longing for more sun and its fusion-powered warmth is where the track's name comes from.
Fusion is another track where I primarily try to raise the bar on my guitar playing skills, making sure I'm technically uncomfortable more often than not.

Last iteration: 09-01-2026

Original idea: 04-01-2026

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Choraste (instrumental, Grutera cover)
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A cover of the track "Choraste por não sentir", from the 2014 album "O Passado Volta Sempre" by "Grutera". Electric guitar, bass and drums were added as overlays to the original recording, keeping the same track structure, duration, tempo and pitch. I didn't play drums for a year or so and this was a good excuse to pull out the old MIDI cables and force me to practice a bit. But mostly this was an exercise on composing guitar lead melodies. Covering tracks from Grutera (project from a dear friend of mine) is an itch I have had for years; this scratched it a tad bit.

Last iteration: 30-12-2025

Original idea: 28-12-2025

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2025

Silver
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The name Silver, from "silver screen" is a homage to the band Dream Theater, who were a very direct inspiration for some of the parts in this track. The outro in particular is a guitar melody that, at least to me, sounded so much like something John Petrucci would do that my original draft name for that part was Outrucci.
This was the first track I wrote after doing some DIY on the only acoustic guitar I have, an old Jasmine that likely no one ever had GAS over.

Last iteration: 27-12-2025

Original idea: 07-12-2025

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Torque
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This track groups some more blackmetal-inspired ideas I had lying around for some time, including some more recent influences of what some might call blackgaze.

Last iteration: 08-12-2025

Original idea: 25-09-2025

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Bird
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Bird was an attempt at having a very guitar-centric piece, where two guitars would dialogue with one another.
I ended up having the same guitar playing both parts in a continuous back and forth monologue

Last iteration: 07-11-2025

Original idea: 11-01-2025

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March
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A military march is what this song tries to sound like, in rock/metal terms that is.
This is a very riff-centric music and probably a good candidate to become a song.
Mid-way I also tried to dabble in styles that I'm less comfortable with such as metalcore or djent-adjacent soundscapes
Other than that, prog and thrash tropes are the main dish.

Last iteration: 02-05-2025

Original idea: 05-01-2025

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2024

Wilderness
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For many years I kept guitar playing as something that I think I do but in practice never happens. Every other month if that much I would sit on the couch doodling something in my acoustic guitar.
The intro of this song was distilled from all of those years, a little acoustic riff that insisted on not being forgotten.
When I actively started playing guitar and a couple of years later actively started composing again, I recovered this riff and made this track.
It tries to convey the feeling of a journey through a literal landscape. Through forests, valleys and steep rocky cliffs. Not a hike, but an unwanted nomadic experience, lasting several days.
A journey through wilderness with uncertain conclusion, hope wavering throughout.
It starts with a timid belief that we might pull through and ends with its confirmation, with the feeling of getting back home. Not frail and looking for convalescence but wiser and eager to make a better future.

Last iteration: 01-05-2025

Original idea: 28-12-2024

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Tempo (feat. David Henriques)
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This was the first track I made after a many-year hiatus in music composing.
I set myself to a simple silly challenge which was to compose a music with 81 bpm, because why not. 81 is an allusion to the year of my birth and the track was initially called "Vintage" because of that.
It went through many iterations as an instrumental, but it kept on feeling like a foundation, not a finished product and maybe adding voice could change that.
I challenged my long time friend and music partner David Henriques to come up with something and "Tempo" happened.
The lyrics are sung in Portuguese and so is the title of the song "Tempo" (translates to 'time'), which if read in English is a cheeky reference to the original idea of composing something around a specific tempo.

Last iteration: 02-11-2025

Original idea: 24-02-2024

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2018

Damp
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I had my basement flooded
Everything got damp

Last iteration: 08-12-2018

Original idea: 08-12-2018

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2010 - Dystheistic

The Problem of Evil
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Last iteration: 10-10-2020

Original idea: 14-07-2009

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Burden of Proof
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Last iteration: 10-10-2020

Original idea: 14-07-2009

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God of the Gaps
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Last iteration: 10-10-2020

Original idea: 14-07-2009

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2010 - Replica

Replica was a progressive metal band I had to pleasure to be a part of. Created by myself (guitar), João Neto (guitar) and João "Tchico" Esteves (drums) during university years, it was our main musical creativity outlet for several years.
When Cláudia Andrade joined as the lead singer, composing for Replica became a more purposeful endeavor as we explored contrasts between aggressive instruments and melodic vocals.
Along the way Replica had several bassists, most notably Gonçalo Preto and Luis Ferreira.

Blackbox
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Last iteration: 07-03-2023

Original idea: 02-05-2008

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Deceptive Succession
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Red lightning in his eyes
gave his restlessness away
keep your sight (be)tween land and sky
you are compelled to obey
No retrys and no goodbyes
He was destined to decay
Faith and hope do not apply
You'll go blind within the day

Blown by the thrust
And now drowning in dust
And in dry scraps and rust
Alone, if I just
Turn this to smoke
to incite, to provoke
A gust or I'll choke
I breathe and I hope
I've strenght to ignite
to provoke, to incite
that dim, flickering light
I just might
Make my own dawn
With submission now gone
leave rank of a pawn
Earn the ground where I'm on

Free

Strange inner heat
Rushes from head to feet
Dusk comes and I seat
Alone with this beat

Red lightning in my eyes
Refract rage that makes you sway
I Look at you and see the lies
That maked me run from the prey
The end of you draws nigh
(It) did not came without delay
Faith and hope do not apply
Your journey here ends today

Lyrics by: Tiago Simão

Last iteration: 07-03-2023

Original idea: 12-10-2005

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Eye of the Storm
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Ravage my essence, fuel your hate.
In this ruined haven, abandoned temple you now desecrate.

Despoil this old soul, harvest your fate.
In this rotten cradle, forgotten birthplace you now forsake.

Bound to me, the storm again rises, profane sacrifices redeem
Bound to be, entrapped by your free will, you'll recklessly reap what I have sown

You failed to uncover the road that you bare.
All shall be over, soon we'll be there... ...in the eye of the storm.

Fulfill your purpose. Eviscerate!
Fusing self-destruction, a blood spilled arena you're bound to create.

Until your repose, obliterate!
Demise is before you, the door closed behind you.
Now it's too late.

Lyrics by: Tiago Simão

Last iteration: 07-03-2023

Original idea: 03-07-2007

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Fragmentation
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I've planted damage and loss
I've healed their fevers
I've kissed their pale wounds
Like an old unbalanced scale

I could not manage inner self, now I don't own anymore
Many tricks and more illusions, the beast within is on trial
Should not hear such whispers
Should not fear my only mind

Bring back my balance, don't steal away the floor
Forget our alliance, 'cause we are now no more
No more
No sour
For you I will undo the damage you have done
One life for two, who am I, who are you?

Bring back my balance
Don't steal away my mind
I do not approve you
Nor I want you no more

Lyrics by: João "Tchico" Esteves

Last iteration: 07-03-2023

Original idea: 15-05-2005

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Hunger
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Time and gloom forever endless
to sustain the hunger of time
if only we could have been bondless
apart the light in the noontime

The seeking leads a clue to
the fierce oldness of the flesh
in you I was brewing and grew
will we ever take sides and thresh?

Let the leaf blade push through
and heads of wheat rise formation
So that finally the grain ripens
life and growth unto perfection

And may you seemingly regret
I cannot cope this nor will bare
for shure I wont ever forget
my soul indeed wont be shared

May everything that has own breath
and every breath of life rest
I am the sprout of your own wrath
dont pour me out of myself

And so are shaped these miracles
but dont make me your staff of life
I will not be your staff of life

Lyrics by: João "Tchico" Esteves

Last iteration: 07-03-2023

Original idea: 02-10-2006

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Obey
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Like behind a fourth wall
I can see Her dispossessed
From no place and to nowhere
They come and go ephemeral at best

Act as they are told to
Dragged to think and suffer by request

Suffering at Her whim

Only one path to choose
And a million to confuse
surprised I stare

The words they tend to say
And the gestures they display
Are written somewhere

Their dreams are made not dreamted
hope is just hope and hate is the same

We look deep down inside
We gaze deep into our eyes
With a hope-filled glare
That craves for something new

Beyond this movie-play, beyond white, black and grey
Beyond this pre-constructed kind of path we live today

With no role-model
Only the will to go much further

Beyond this movie-play, beyond white, black and grey
Beyond this pre-constructed kind of path we live today

Lyrics by: Cláudia Andrade

Last iteration: 07-03-2023

Original idea: 02-10-2006

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Reborn
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Last iteration: 07-03-2023

Original idea: 02-05-2008

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Seamless I: The Ascension + Seamless II: The Descent
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Seamless: The Ascension

From the chasm I emerge
A hollow shell, an empty slate
For my maker to create,
To mold To write, to shape

I don't want to be this perfect
Mirror of the flesh
Reality's shown to me as
Something I reject

I look at myself through
The eyes of an infant
I stare at my father's reflection
Just another ungodly creation

From innocence I evolve
A clean mind, a pure ghost
which knows no fear neither joy
for one more soul to prey on

The karma of another one
becomes my own
Recollections of the unknown

From myself I'm destroyed
Fading being, a false replica
Feeling nothing more
But the dreams of a stranger

I don't want to be this perfect
Mirror of the flesh
Reality's shown to me as
Something I reject

Seamless: The Descent

“Fiery the angels rose…”
Childs of our mortal sin
Destined to repent

Expelled from the world
Our own paradise lost

Candles burning in emptiness
Flames grasping for air

Plunge to the wasteland
To search for the fallen Seraph
You'll find yourself

Your book is already written
Already written
Your fate
Already written

“Fiery the angels fell…”
Childs of an impure god
Destined to cease

Expelled from the world
Our own paradise lost

Purest souls in perfect shells
Living in clockwork demise

Fly to the lost seas
To search for the fallen Icarus
You'll find yourself

Your book is already written
Already written
Your fate
Already complete

I live, and I die, therefore I am…

Lyrics by: João Neto

Last iteration: 07-03-2023

Original idea: 02-05-2008

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2009 - Soul Harvest

Nulla
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Last iteration: 10-10-2020

Original idea: 27-02-2007

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I: In the Jaws of the Prey
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Last iteration: 10-10-2020

Original idea: 27-02-2007

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II: What No Walls Could Contain
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Last iteration: 10-10-2020

Original idea: 27-02-2007

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III: Saudade
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Last iteration: 10-10-2020

Original idea: 27-02-2007

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IV: And God Bled
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Last iteration: 10-10-2020

Original idea: 27-02-2007

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V: Punish the Meek
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Last iteration: 10-10-2020

Original idea: 27-02-2007

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VI: Assassin
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Last iteration: 10-10-2020

Original idea: 27-02-2007

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VII: Long Live the Martyr
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Last iteration: 10-10-2020

Original idea: 27-02-2007

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VIII: Soul Harvest
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Last iteration: 10-10-2020

Original idea: 27-02-2007

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2007

Overflow
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Last iteration: 31-07-2007

Original idea: 31-07-2007

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