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Vanisher, Horizon Scraper by Quadeca was one of my most anticipated albums ever. First, it was snippets that piqued my interest, then the absolutely beautiful singles, and finally that release announcement at the end of FORGONE: “ALBUM JULY”. Repeatedly, Quadeca has said it was ““absolute cinema”’ and to set our expectations higher. Could it really be that good?

Well, yes, It really was that good - it completely blew me away. However, those 14 months of waiting never could’ve prepared me for the bombshell that was CASPER. In all the best ways, through the insane production and lyricism, CASPER is a perfect ending for the album’s journey: how obsession of idealization can lead to self destruction.

Vanisher follows a linear story of a Captain that has gone out to sea to do the impossible - to reach the horizon. In the first few tracks, Quadeca sets the stage with the Captain’s intention of finding his purpose through his voyage. The instrumentation initially led me to believe that this album would be more lighthearted, but when I took a closer look at the lyrics, it became obvious that the Captain's journey won’t end well: self destructive tendencies can be seen in RUIN MY LIFE, such as in the lyrics “I might have to ruin my life, to make it mine.”

As the album progresses, the Captain continues to struggle with the sea and himself, which leads to becoming paranoid, and finally losing his mind. Personally, FORGONE reads to me as the Captain’s final hurrah, or remembrance of his old self. He knows that the inevitable has to happen, and the song’s heartbreaking instrumentation and lyrics makes CASPER even more effective as a closer.

Analysis

So finally, we are at CASPER, and the first minute is the perfect moodsetter for the song. I was immediately interested by the ominous, repeated thuds that echo against the chamber-like soundscape of the song. Its haunting quality is heightened by the first unresolved chord in an organ-like keyboard.

Here, Quadeca characterizes the Captain at this point of the journey perfectly: he asks, “Why can’t we go somewhere?” in an exhausted and solemn delivery, which encompasses the desire of moving forward to find liberation but being left without a solid destination. The repeated, high pitch vocals in the background are reminiscent of Cassini’s Division, the final track on Quadeca’s last full length LP I Didn’t Mean to Haunt You, and it adds to the similarly ghostly atmosphere.

“There’s a vulnerable feeling,” along with the introduction of the main chord progression, marks a tone shift in the song, foreshadowing the first bits of the inevitable. Then, the first noticeable signs of motifs from earlier in the album begin to show, such as the strings from THAT’S WHY and synths from WAGING WAR. Beyond just being really cool callbacks, the tone difference from the motifs’ original contexts and their use in CASPER is remarkable. These songs were from during a time when the consequences of the Captain’s self destruction were not fully realized yet. Now, combined with the atmosphere, these motifs are in a more foreboding context, signaling that we are about to see what will result from his actions.

This is where I first heard Harry Wilkinson, from the band Maruja, for the first time, as I was not familiar with him nor the band before this song. In one of Quadeca’s interviews, he mentioned something I agreed with; something about Harry’s delivery (and accent too) fulfills both the role of this God-like narrator and the voice of the Captain. “You were born with a lot to correct; You were born with a puzzle to solve,” he warns, as if to directly address the Captain.

Harry characterizes the horizon as an untamed creature, not to be dealt with. “If you didn’t chase it, it would have stayed still,” he comments, and that “The horizon is a prey like animal, that preys on men who prays like animals.” The clever word play made this part more memorable to me, which is important because it encompasses one of the album’s central themes: the horizon deceives the Captain, acting like it is meant to be caught or taken, but turns the Captain’s own obsession into the real predator that will prey on him.

More instruments accompany him in his monologue, and this is where we see Quadeca’s masterful worldbuilding through his production. The guitar lets out a sorrow melody; it knows how fruitless the situation is. Booming, distorted, and reverbed snares and bass kicks begin to strike. All of this paints such a clear picture of the landscape Quadeca wants to portray. Although we are still at “the calm before the storm,” we can still see the dark clouds forming ahead. We can feel the wind that will soon form waves that shall consume us. And now, our sail is becoming rockier and rockier, harder to control against the wind and waves.

But suddenly, a momentary pause. A couple snare hits - and you enter into a hellish, frantic drum break. The intensity catches your attention, and your heart pounds. A siren-like loop rings in the background. The once swelling and rising instruments are now rapid and panicked. And you hear something again, something so familiar, and then you realize - you hear the very first vocals at the start of NO QUESTIONS ASKED. But this time, the motif is twisted: what was once a curious call of adventure, now becomes a grave reminder of what led you down this path to begin with.

This change of pace is essential to the song, and having it early (well, 3 minutes into the song) masterfully builds into the end. To me, how Quadeca kept pace starting from this moment until the explosion at the end is an insane feat. The adrenaline rush you get from this is perfect, and paired with the now twisted motif of the very first vocals of the album, it leads wonderfully to the end. The instrumentation too - that bass’s sinister quality makes everything else sound so evil.

As Harry continues speaking, his delivery matches the intensity of everything else in the song. This is the verse he wrote, instead of Quadeca, and goodness it is incredible and so vivid. I loved his use of juxtaposition here, such as describing the Captain’s loneliness as a “symphony” to really emphasize his isolation. In addition, his writing adds so much to the Captain’s character, as seen in the physical description of “Years of no expression left him bitter, comatose” and “he gives a toothless grin.” Both paint a grotesque image of a hollow man in his own downfall (along with a reference to how he might’ve developed scurvy).

Harry’s immersive lyricism continues to show a vivid picture of the apocalypse: “Lightin’ strikes the ocean,” “Waves as big as mountains,” and “The blankness of oblivion” all, when recited, follow a repeated rhythm that act like cultish chants about the Captain’s inevitable end. “Consumed by the roar of fear, a thousand voices grin” implies a crowd watching the captain’s demise, while personifying the ocean as the crowd to further add to how everyone is waiting for the inevitable.

Here, Harry’s delivery really shines through when he calls out, “Climbs up to the sail, clutchin’, wishin’ for tomorrow.” The desperation on “wishin’” shows just how dire everything is. Combined with every other instrument, you are utterly overwhelmed with everything you hear; every sound is raccous and flaying out in every direction, but Quadeca makes them all together to say that yes, this really is the inevitable.

More of the incredible buildup of the song can be seen here. Harry’s lines and rhythmic delivery become more frantic as the drum’s breakdown becomes more apparent. The lyrics’ imagery all paint such a hellish picture, as seen in “Vanish like the stars on a dark, misty night”, “Evil housed the wind as it barks in his mind,” and “The thunder splittin’ eardrums, like the sound of metal snappin’.” The choir, the rising synth, the bass, every instrument mimic the thunder, the waves, the ocean, all overwhelming you with its unstoppable force; you are hit with the truth that you are no longer the captain of the seas, no longer the captain of your life; you have ultimately lost all control.

Harry closes with, “It’s hell on earth he knows,” and it’s exactly hell that gets unleashed. I’ll tell you this, I’ve never seen such a clear picture from just audio. Cymbals crash down relentlessly upon you, and you become paralyzed as you feel the full ruthlessness of the ocean. The chords peak up in pitch and fall back down, mimicking those waves that cover your view. And the way the saxophone just cries out is so incredibly heartbreaking, with its acoustic quality making it so human when juxtaposed against the rest of the industrial, tumultuous soundscape. It wails and wails, but just like the captain, it is absolutely defenseless.

With the bass, the crashing of drums, the desperation of the sax fighting against everything, you can see, with full clarity, how tall the waves are, how close you are to being swallowed by the abyss below, how close you are to your demise - and it builds and builds until you hear an explosion. An explosion of so much noise and turmoil, a sound so chaotic, that you can faintly hear it as an angelic choir, as if the gates of heaven are already welcoming your soul.

And then, the sail flips over, and the waves consume you.

Finally…the distortion. Now, if anyone talks about Vanisher, they will for sure talk about CASPER, and when someone talks about CASPER, they will for sure talk about the distortion. This is the pivotal climax of the entire album, and it’s so. Well. Executed. By far, it’s the most immersive moment in the album, and definitely one of the most immersive pieces of art I’ve experienced.

Immediately, you are hit with intense walls of jarring noise, with the strength of all water mass on earth. And, silence. You are submerged and you hear the water crawling around your ears. You swim up - the next wall of noise pierces you again. What follows is a desperate cycle of fighting for life: you gasp for air and try to swim up, but the waves, oh the waves, how they try to keep you down. All the weight of the journey is realized here; The captain’s obsession of reaching the horizon, finally just barely scraping it, and the full extent of his self destruction are illustrated. Genuinely, it is hard to find words to describe this experience.

But then, when you expect to hear the next wave crash into you, you only hear muffled waves and thunder. The last waves die out, as you are now underwater and everything is muffled - and you are left wondering, “What did I just hear?”

Final Thoughts

CASPER, undoubtedly, is one of the best works Quadeca has ever done. I don’t know if it’s my favorite song ever, because I feel like it transcends a song - it’s more of a moment in the album than a self contained track. Whatever it is, it’s definitely the craziest, most jarring thing I’ve heard. Its emotional impact solidifies the album for me (honestly, it made me cry), and is rightfully critically acclaimed. Also, personally, it’s a top 10 album closer of all time. Please suggest any other contenders.

I hope that this breakdown/analysis made you appreciate the track just a little bit more, because fully writing this down enhanced my experience as well. And whatever Quadeca does next, this song, and the rest of the album, proved to me that I fully trust him with his artistic decisions. No questions asked.