The Ophanihm by Silent Deep Ocean

About the Album
The Ophanihm began as a simple idea—just a handful of remixes, an attempt to breathe new life into existing songs. But as I returned to the recordings Tehina and I had created, something shifted. I didn’t just hear songs—I heard moments. Echoes and emotions still alive.

There were pieces of music we had set aside, fragments we didn’t finish, and tracks that never had the chance to shine. But they spoke to me again, urgently—as if they were demanding to be remembered.

Some songs were born in the middle of inspired chaos. Others came quietly, almost shyly. But all of them carried something sacred—what happens when two people create honestly, without pretense. They reflect the warmth, fire, frustration, and beauty of our creative process. Of our friendship. Of what we built together.

What began as a small project became something far more meaningful: an album shaped by memory, longing, and the impulse to hold on to what still stirs in the dark.

Track-by-Track Explanations
1. The Ophanihm
Named after the celestial wheels described in Ezekiel’s vision, this track evokes ancient mystery and divine movement. Tehina’s voice drifts like wind through sacred halls—an invocation, a summoning.
I wanted to step away from the tale of Emberil here—not to abandon it, but to explore a different kind of mythos. Something older. Something full of light, fear, and awe, but still set in the same cosmology as Emberil’s Abyssiverse.

2. Resurrection of Orion
This was the first piece we made together, and in many ways, it will always be the most important to me. It captures the spark of discovery—the thrill of realizing we had found a sound, a synergy. Her voice here feels ancient and new all at once.

3. This Scar Is an Open Grave
Originally written for In Dark Eternity, we both felt this track needed to be heard sooner. There’s something feral and immediate in it—grief not yet settled, pain that still breathes. It's a scar that hasn't closed, and maybe isn’t supposed to.
It was left out of the final cut because, at the time, it did not fit the style of In Dark Eternity. But now, I believe it fits perfectly.

4. Leaves on My Tomb
A song that predates our collaboration, but one I always felt deeply connected to. It draws from the mourning beauty of bands like Saturnus and Helllight. When Tehina added her voice to it, the song took on an entirely new shape—one that felt like falling autumn leaves onto a forgotten headstone.

5. Nothing More to Say
Composed in the quiet, restless hours of a sleepless night, this track holds the ache of unfinished conversations and the silence that follows something profound. It’s about regret. About longing. About reaching for something just out of view.
The “Shadowed One on the Distant Shore” is a metaphor—and maybe more than that. Darkness always calls out to darkness.

6. What Was Left Behind
This song was almost lost—buried in forgotten folders, shelved for some future album. Tehina initially loved the melody, as it was inspired by a conversation we had about the futility of life. I added a poem to it and a few low growling parts near the end.

7. Passing into Infinite Light
Originally released on The Throne of Whispers and Dust debut, this piece was written in memory of someone I loved deeply—a friend and companion now gone. It felt right to include it here again, a reminder of how grief transforms, yet never leaves.
I always wanted to record vocals for it, as they would undoubtedly add great impact to the recapitulation of the secondary motif. At the time of its original inception, I was influenced by atmospheric black metal acts such as Grima and the almighty, immortal Summoning. I also was extremely unsatisfied with the overall mix, especially the synths.

8. The Throne of Whispers and Dust (Arranged for string quartet)
The title track of the debut album, now reimagined for string quartet. Stripped of distortion and layered with sorrowful beauty, it becomes something more intimate—something that was once overshadowed by its funeral doom heritage.

My heartfelt thank you to Tehina: You are amazing! This album is dedicated to you.

Silent Deep Ocean will return in the winter of 2025. Stay deep and dark until then!

Silent Deep Ocean is the funeral doom project of Gregory Ritchey, Fusing atmospheric doom, gothic metal, post-black metal, and dark ambient elements, his music dives into the abyss, where sorrow, salt, and soul converge in an ocean of melancholic beauty. Stay dark, Stay Deep!