What is Burnwake?
Burnwake is an independent alternative metal project created in 2025 by Oden Eriksson.
The album Where Sparks Begin was written as an emotional and sonic experiment, exploring the borderland between human feeling and machine-assisted creativity. Most of the music and lyrics were shaped with help from ChatGPT and ilovesong.ai, combining intuition with structure, inspiration with technology.
This project wouldn’t exist without the fire lit by The Warning, the extraordinary band formed by sisters Daniela, Paulina, and Alejandra Villarreal Vélez.
The Journey
Burnwake represents a fusion of traditional songwriting and modern AI assistance, creating something entirely unique in the alternative metal landscape.
Each track tells a story of emotional transformation, from breakdown to breakthrough, using powerful metaphors and raw honesty to connect with listeners on a deep level.
The result is music that bridges the gap between human emotion and technological precision, creating sparks that ignite the soul.
Where Sparks Begin
A raw journey through identity, disconnection, and rebirth. Written in the aftermath of digital noise, broken roles, and emotional detours.
Album Statement
This release is more like a rough demo than a polished production. The sound quality isn’t great. Some endings are awkward. A few parts sound way too robotic. But the ideas are here, and they’re ready to evolve.
13 Tracks
These thirteen songs trace the path from self-erasure to quiet power. Each track is a spark — exploring the layers we shed, the lies we swallow, and the voice we reclaim.
It’s not about breaking loudly. It’s about surviving honestly.
The Process
I’ve always loved writing songs. Working with ChatGPT has made the process both experimental and rewarding. Every lyric is shaped over hours or days — rewriting, testing different cadences and phrasing. I see myself primarily as lyricist and producer. AI helps render the track, but each final version can take up to 20 revisions until it truly feels right.
Tracklist
Each track is a spark – and every linked video features full lyrics as subtitles
Raincheck
A defiant song confronting emotional invalidation and systemic control. It channels a quiet resistance against manipulation and a reclaiming of self-worth through introspection and inner strength.
Decay
An exploration of the natural cycle of ruin and rebirth, blending emotional breakdown with environmental metaphor. It’s about surrendering to transformation rather than resisting inevitable change.
Phoenix
This track captures the pain and power of burning down one’s former identity to rise stronger. It embraces emotional collapse as a necessary part of healing and personal truth.
Offgrid
A personal revolt against the overstimulation of modern life. It describes the longing for solitude, silence, and reconnection with nature as a way to recover lost parts of the self.
Invisible
A deeply personal reflection on being emotionally erased and starved of affirmation. The song traces the wounds left by chronic neglect and reveals the hidden cost of long-term emotional abuse.
Bled Dry
This piece addresses the damage caused by having one’s identity denied or erased. It’s about reclaiming heritage, voice, and space in the face of systemic and familial suppression.
ECHO OFF
The track symbolizes muting the outside world to listen within. It’s a reclaiming of agency, where disconnection from toxic input becomes the path to inner clarity and rebirth.
Detox
A powerful unraveling of digital self-deception. It portrays the withdrawal from curated realities and the rediscovery of real emotion and identity beyond social media illusions.
Body of Lies
A confrontation with manipulation, where charm and deception unravel under scrutiny. The song reveals a journey of empowerment through exposure and emotional clarity.
Fray
A tender but unflinching portrayal of emotional unraveling and the fight to preserve what remains of trust. It shows the duality of love and harm coexisting within fragile bonds.
Brainworm
This song explores psychological manipulation and the way harmful beliefs can embed themselves. It’s a bold act of naming and removing those internalized distortions.
Shapeshifter
A reflection on survival through adaptation. The song reveals the toll of constant identity-shifting for approval, and the eventual decision to reclaim authenticity.
Midsummer Fire
A spiritual and cultural awakening rooted in tradition and defiance. It reclaims voice, memory, and strength through collective identity and ritual fire.
Frozen Sparks
I know exactly where this is going. Frozen Sparks will be born with the help of AI, just like before – but this time, every AI track will be replaced with real human performances.
No more AI releases, except for the occasional unlisted “demo” on YouTube. The songs will also be heavily rearranged, allowing them to grow into something entirely new during the recording process.
Vinyl Vision
This album will live on vinyl. Compression will be used only when absolutely necessary. The vinyl will carry the same natural dynamics found on records from the 70s and early 80s – and there will be no loudness war on the vinyl release.
Get ready to rumble and brace for BurnWake!
A Great Female Singer
During the upcoming winter I plan to rework selected tracks from “Where Sparks Begin”. I will replace AI vocals and background parts, update arrangements, and breathe new life into the songs.
I’ve got everything I need except one thing…
Are you a vocalist ready to help bring these sparks to life?