Behind the Music: The Making of INRI by The No Longer

In the final episode of the Making of INRI podcast, the band describes the satisfaction of tying all of the individual elements together to bring about a climactic ending to their rock opera. 

In the penultimate episode of the podcast, the band discusses the divine appointment that allowed them to invite an old friend to participate in the project, connecting their musical past to the present. 

In this episode, the band goes back to where it all began and discuss a song Geoff wrote when he was 15 and how including it on the rock opera brought their musical career full circle. 

In this episode, the band discusses the very first song written specifically for the rock opera and how Geoff's vision for the project became clear to Nick and Luke through the original demo of Blood on My Hands. 

In this episode, the band discusses the pre-written songs that inspired the project and the satisfaction of being able to record them again the right way.

In this episode, the band discusses the difficulty of finding the right way to deliver a song so that it conveys the appropriate emotion, while also moving the story along. In this instance, the song bears little resemblance to the original demo.

In this episode, the band discusses experimentation and the different approaches they used in writing for the rock opera. Specifically, writing for other people, and establishing the rhythm section before the melody. 

In this episode, the band discusses exploring songwriting from the perspective of each person in the story and how they wanted to emphasize their personal relationships with Jesus rather than from an outside observer's/narrator perspective.

In this episode, the band discusses the challenge of including enough source material while not having too many songs. Luke and Geoff share their reactions to hearing Nick's demos of three different songs combined into one epic finale. 

In this episode, the band discusses exploring other musical genres, Geoff's attempt at writing a rap, and introducing additional characters into the story. 

In this episode, the band discusses how the last song written for the project became the first one to be released and ultimately tied the entire project together.

In this episode, the band discusses how they rebuilt an existing song from the ground up and ultimately decided to course-correct in order to include the character of Jesus in the first person more prominently throughout the story.

In this episode, the band discusses musical experimentation and their desire to develop a stronger narrative for the project.

In this episode, the band discusses how a song from a previous album became a catalyst for the rock opera and ultimately went on to become one of the pillars of the project.

In this episode, the band discusses the difficulty of striking the right tone for the project and finding the right voices to fit the roles. Nick and Luke share their initial apprehension at Geoff's intended direction for the production as a whole. 

In this episode, the band discusses how they used an old, previously unreleased song to develop the storyline and introduce the central figure from the perspective of three blind men who were healed by a yet unnamed figure. 

Nick, Luke, and Geoff Desiato discuss how they decided to begin their story during the Intertestamental Period between Malachi and Matthew. This was to convey the intense longing that Israel felt for the coming Messiah. The prologue was created using numerous messianic prophecies being spoken over each other that develops into a crescendo of sound, with the final spoken word being the last verse of the Old Testament, which then leads into 400 Years.

Songwriter and vocalist Geoff Desiato introduces the idea behind The No Longer's rock opera and how it came to be.