Track-by-Track: Kilter’s Laurent David Talks Through Their Album ‘Ten Billion Years’

When it comes to Kilter’s brand new album Ten Billion Years, the stakes are high. Released via Excursus Production, it is a concept album focused on the birth and death of the solar system. There is a grandeur to the songs, with instrumental parts that are both powerful and dynamic. The band members spent over two years working on Ten Billion Years, a real labour of love that pushes the band’s legacy forward. This promises to be one of the most unique listening experiences you will have this year. It is both original and imaginative, merging both jazz and heavy metal influences together.

Kilter is based in both New York and Paris. They have been developing their innovative, inventive sound now since 2018, with the concept of merging jazz and metal long fascinating band founder and bassist Laurent David. Rather than focusing on either genre, David decided to embrace the richness of each artistic approach and merge them together. The instrumental compositions on the album explore spaces between the sounds of John Coltrane, Sunn O))), and Meshuggah.

Laurent David joins us today for an exclusive Track-by-Track rundown of Ten Billion Years, explaining how these tracks fit together.

1. “Built & Broken”

“The solar system is forming. A drop of water is born into violent chaos, tossed between molten rock and cosmic dust. It drifts through the blazing cloud that will one day become the Sun and the planets.”

2. “Falling & Vaporizing”

“Earth has formed. The drop falls to Earth as ice, crashes down and vaporizes in an instant… then falls again. And again.”

3. “Raining & Raining”

“As the Earth cools, the rain begins. A deluge. The drop merges with countless others in the relentless downpour of a world being shaped.”

Kilter ‘Ten Billion Years’ album artwork

4. “Rivers & Ocean”

“Rivers carve their paths. Torrents roar. Oceans emerge. The drop travels, swept along by the growing pulse of Earth’s waters.”

5. “Depth & Darkness”

“The drop sinks into the abyss. Down where light disappears, the drop discovers the vast and silent darkness of the deep ocean.”

6. “Living & Rising”

“Time passes. Life begins. The drop becomes part of the very first living organisms to emerge in the ocean.”

7. “Weather Cycle”

“Now the drop joins the water cycle — evaporation, clouds, rain, rivers. A constant flow.”

8. “Awakening & Living”

“Carried into new life on land, the drop moves from one body to another. Evolution is in motion. The drop is given a name.”

9. “Darkness Again”

“The drop is pulled back to the depths once more. Into the silence. Into the unknown.”

10. “Escaping to Infinity”

“The solar system nears its end. The Sun is dying. Earth’s water escapes, vaporizing into space. The drop departs… drifting toward infinity.”