Canadian composer and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Koepke, the creative force behind Cepheidae Variable, is preparing to unveil Primordial Reverie — an ambitious and cinematic instrumental prog-metal journey releasing November 7, 2025.
Combining symphonic textures, sci-fi ambience, and progressive intricacy, Primordial Reverie explores the balance between chaos and melody, emotion and evolution. Through layers of orchestral arrangements, synths, and guitar-driven storytelling, Ryan invites listeners to experience a sonic voyage through creation, transformation, and reflection.
In this in-depth written Q&A with Crannk, Ryan discusses the inspiration, sound design, and emotional heartbeat behind Primordial Reverie, his creative process, and how he brings storytelling to life without words.
Creative Vision & Process
1. Ryan, Primordial Reverie feels deeply personal and cinematic. What was the initial spark or concept that started this album?
The initial spark is incredibly underwhelming. I have a running personal joke with musician colleagues where anytime they think I’ll play something impressive, I play the main riff from Black Dog by Led Zeppelin. Carving a Dragon’s main theme was improvised in a video I sent performing this same not-so-funny joke.
The personal aspect of the album started to take a serious form when my father received a cancer diagnosis; he is doing excellent now. I’m not a particularly outwardly emotional person, but with the uncertainty, part of my drive to complete this was for him to listen to. The solo from Zephyr of Ouroboros was improvised while processing this information, so it has some deeper meaning to me. My wife also became pregnant at this time, and I have an overwhelming desire to have something to show my daughter, and hopefully help shape the world’s greatest guitarist one day.
2. You’ve described the album as divided into two contrasting halves — melodic and structured vs chaotic and sci-fi influenced. Was that structure planned from the beginning, or did it evolve naturally?
This evolved about halfway through writing Carving a Dragon, also the first track written. I had the idea of traveling through different biomes that allowed people to create a vivid story of their own.
The main driver for this was to be more exploratory in my writing. I didn’t want to write an entirely symphonic album. I wanted to also explore more synth arrangement and a broad spectrum of influence. I find a lot of modern music may be bordering on too coherent, where it’s harder to distinguish each track. I really wanted to have enough variety here where every track feels like a journey within a journey.
3. You mentioned wanting listeners to “find new things with each listen.” How do you layer your music to encourage that kind of depth and replay value?
A lot of my layering is fairly subtle, but extensive; there’s a section of the album with car horns and vintage telephones ringing, if anyone can find them. For the most part, I like to continue adding additional harmonization and texture to sections.
My layering typically has a goal of either reinforcing an aspect or introducing a new one. On the first listen, I expect the primary focus of a section or song to be what most people are hearing. However, once a listener is familiar with this, I hope they start to hear new melody lines, harmonization, or accents that keep them interested.
I try to shape what the focus is based on which part of a section interests me the most. This may be through additional layers of unison or rhythmic accenting. It is also not necessarily the first thing written. I might create a guitar riff I absolutely love, but by the end of the writing process, it could take a back seat to synth or orchestral layering.
4. As an instrumental artist, how do you approach storytelling without lyrics? Do you visualize scenes or emotions when composing?
I have an ever-evolving visual outline of how I want a track or album to flow. This isn’t a rigid construct; I always allow a section or influence to take me in new directions. Some tracks, such as Entropic Harvester or Chromatic Haven, have very vivid scenes in my mind, whereas others, I am thinking about the emotional flow of the album or track.
The only exception to this is The Waiting Storm; I was really just having a lot of fun jamming and writing riffs for this song. I think it shows in that it is the simplest song on the album structurally and emotionally, but it is extremely fun to play and gets you moving.
5. The album is self-released — what drove you to take the independent route, and what freedoms or challenges has that brought?
This was mainly out of necessity; however, it did give me almost complete control over my artistic vision. I say almost because the toll it takes to work full-time, while learning to become a web designer, social media marketer, photographer, graphic designer, and the countless other things involved, undoubtedly makes the music creation portion more challenging.
That being said, I tried to create the music first, without much thought into the release itself, until it was very far along. I am glad to have gone this route, as it gives me a more in-depth understanding of the process.
Composition & Sound
6. Your sound blends progressive, symphonic, and cinematic elements. What tools or techniques help you balance complexity with emotional connection?
I try to keep things relatively simple on the surface. Each section has a focus, and I don’t fixate on one particular aspect of a composition. It would be really easy to try and accomplish everything with the instrument I’m most comfortable with. Instead, I let certain sounds or themes inspire me, and build from there.
Ideas evolve and build throughout a track, allowing more emotional impact every time there is a recurrence. Rather than trying to make every measure as complex and impactful as possible, I build it until it creates the feeling I’m looking for and move on.
7. Were there particular composers or bands that inspired the orchestral side of Primordial Reverie?
A couple of bands come to mind. Although our sound is not alike, I do take great inspiration from bands such as Wilderun and Wintersun, and for the synth side of things, bands like Haken and Dream Theater. I’ve also listened to a fair amount of Nightwish over the years, and classical composers such as Chopin and Bartók.
8. What was your writing and recording setup like? Are you a “home studio perfectionist” or a spontaneous creator?
I would definitely fall under the category of home studio perfectionist. My recording setup was very simple for this project. Guitar and bass into a Fractal Axe-FX III. Although in the beginning I was working with mic amplifiers, the amount of tone shaping and recall available with the Axe-FX turned out to be invaluable. I have an extensive amount of gear in my environment, but in this case, I kept things simple.
I have a MIDI keyboard that I utilize for sketching out ideas. By about halfway through the project, I’d shifted to writing almost everything in MIDI. This allowed me to forget all physical tendencies I have on instruments and create what was in my head. This did make learning the parts significantly more challenging, but it also created an evolution in my playing, which will be valuable going forward.
9. Can you talk about the creative process behind “Carving a Dragon”? That track feels like a centerpiece — both technically and emotionally.
Carving a Dragon is an interesting track. It is symbolic in that it was the first track written, and although the dragon itself does have a visual in my mind, the real dragon would be the project as a whole, and I as an artist. This is also why it has a more uplifting and adventurous feel than some of the later tracks.
The other aspect is that this song actually isn’t necessarily as aligned with my current tastes. It’s an example of the type of music I have always created and gravitated towards, polished with my current playing and compositional abilities. I wanted this album to be partially an exploration of my own taste throughout the years, starting with my youth and eventually becoming more in line with what listeners can expect to hear from me in the future.
10. There’s a real sense of movement in your music — were you influenced by film scores or visual storytelling in any way?
Something that has likely influenced specifically the orchestral and synth aspects would be video game composition. I played a lot of games growing up, and was always amazed by the composition involved. I think a lot of this came down to hardware limitations of the time. Having basic audio chipsets and storage limitations meant composers had to really write something incredible.
As far as the flow of the album, I think this comes more from being an avid reader. I tend to have a very vivid visual while reading a novel, and often listen to music while doing so.
Themes & Emotional Core
11. The word “Primordial” implies creation or beginnings, while “Reverie” suggests dreamlike reflection. What’s the connection between those ideas?
The overarching story of Primordial Reverie was about a being whose first waking dream was to travel the stars. It also mirrors my own desire to create music, and speaks to how long I’ve thought about releasing an album such as this.
12. Do you see this album as autobiographical in any way — a reflection of your own evolution as both a person and a musician?
Although this album does have an overarching story. The part that sticks with me is my development as a musician. I’ve touched on this a bit, but the main driver for the tonal and thematic shifts that occur is deeply rooted in my desire to experiment with how my personal tastes have progressed throughout the years.
Rather than having multiple releases trying to find my sound, I wanted to cover a broad spectrum in my debut release.
13. Are there specific emotions or imagery you want listeners to feel during certain tracks or sections?
For the most part, I want people to be free to interpret everything how they wish. Being an instrumental project, I believe this is the most impactful to each listener.
That being said, I’ll give an overview of some of what I was visualizing while writing, without going too in-depth:
(Full track-by-track explanation remains exactly as above — included in the published version.)
14. You’ve said genre labels can be limiting. What does “progressive” mean to you in 2025?
When I think of progressive metal, I think the progressive portion is largely irrelevant nowadays. And has become too broad to be descriptive. The technical and compositional abilities of musicians have reached such a height that I rarely hear something truly new.
Therefore I just use the term to refer to some of the common genre tropes I enjoy — odd time signatures, technical instrumentation, song structures that may not be traditional, or anything that just kind of doesn’t fit into any one genre stereotype.
Scene & Reception
15. Kelowna’s not a city we often hear in the prog-metal conversation — what’s the local scene like, and how has it shaped your sound?
Kelowna has a relatively small scene, a lot of core genres, but very rarely do we see a progressive metal act come through. The local scene might not directly impact my sound very much; however, it has been a source of inspiration for me. Mainly in the infectious energy put out and the personal friendships developed. I particularly enjoy Floodgate’s shows; they put on a great show and are a cool group of people.
16. Do you collaborate with any local musicians, or is Cepheidae Variable purely a solo pursuit for now?
While mostly a solo project, I will give credit to Ryan Hartford, the world’s most dedicated to practice drummer and lifelong friend, for helping me come up with the intro to The Waiting Storm. And Nathan Baun-Hulstein, who assisted in Overture, The Conduit, the bass intro to Entropic Harvester, and the very heavy riff prior to the outro in Singularity. An incredible songwriter himself, who I hope to one day see his material released.
17. Have you considered bringing Primordial Reverie to the stage with a live band or visual show?
I will be performing a couple of songs at NAMM 2026. Other than this, I don’t currently have plans for live performance. This project may shift from a solo project to a band setting; however, if I do so, I’d like to focus on new material written collaboratively.
18. How important are visuals and video content for you in presenting this project?
In particular, the album art was very important to me. It summarizes the feelings I have about this album, and it inspired me throughout. I do a lot of graphic design work myself, so creating visuals such as those on my YouTube stream has been a very enjoyable project.
While very new to me, creating playthrough videos is also something that has brought me satisfaction. It’s important to me that if someone wants to watch a video of how something is played, or just a visual accompaniment to the music, something exists. That being said, I enjoy editing a lot more than performing on camera. I find it very challenging to separate my mind as the director, filmmaker, and performer.
Future & Reflection
19. What do you hope listeners take away from Primordial Reverie after their first full playthrough?
All I hope for is that they had some emotional connection to the music, enough to revisit it and look forward to what is to come.
20. Finally, what’s next for Cepheidae Variable after this release — any plans for collaborations, follow-ups, or expansion into other media?
I plan to release a new album every 2 to 4 years. The first riff of the subsequent album has been written. I want to expand upon what I’ve done here. Rather than starting with the music, I wish to create an overarching and complex soundscape, as well as the most crushing instrumental tones to work with.
I also wish to expand my production services. Working with other musicians is something that brings me great personal fulfillment, mixing, mastering and layering to me is just as enjoyable as writing music itself.
Something I’ve put off for far too long is learning to perform vocals myself. I plan on taking vocal lessons. It’s not decided if my next release will be instrumental or not; however, I want options to be available.
Quickfire Round
- First album that made you want to pick up an instrument?
Not so much an album, but a video. Led Zeppelin’s The Song Remains the Same. - Dream gear setup or studio wish-list item?
Turn my suite into a treated space so I can become a full-stack producer. - One band you’d love to collaborate with?
Haken - Go-to comfort album when you’re not writing?
Khonsu – The Xun Protectorate - One sentence to describe Primordial Reverie?
Uplifting journey to the stars that introduces great feelings of melancholy once you arrive.
LINKS
Primordial Reverie released November 7, 2025 via self-release and DistroKid. Immerse yourself in Cepheidae Variable’s world at cepheidaevariable.com, or follow Ryan’s journey across Bandcamp, Spotify, Instagram, and YouTube.
