Emerging from the Bulgarian underground, Templum Silva delivers a deeply introspective debut with “May I Reach Dawn” — a self-released instrumental statement that fuses Atmospheric Metal, Post-Rock textures and Post-Progressive sensibilities into a coherent and emotionally charged whole. Crafted primarily by Yovan Parlikov, the record relies on guitar-driven architecture, patient dynamic build-ups and cinematic pacing to explore themes of endurance, renewal and inner transformation. Progressive Rock Journal reached out to discuss the creative process behind the album, the project’s origins and the path ahead.
“May I Reach Dawn” is presented as a fully instrumental debut. Why did you choose to work without vocals for this record, and what do you feel instrumental music allows you to express that words might not?
Honestly, It was never a choice, It happened kind of naturally. I wanted to express myself as fully as possible and that lead to the album being instrumental, because thinking only instrumentally wise allowed me to have more creative freedom and space to tie my ideas together. If a song has vocals, more or less you are obliged to have some kind of a structure that is dependant on those vocals, however complex the structure might be, there is a certain amount of limitness, while going fully instrumental removes that barrier. If there were vocals on the album , the songs would be different and the expression not as pure as it happened to be.
Can you tell us about the genesis of Templum Silva? When did the project begin and what were your initial aims?
Templum Silva began as an experiment in the late summer of 2024. I just wanted to try and compose some music under an artistic name and show it to my family and friends. I recorded a few instrumental songs and put them in an EP called „Into the Enchanted Forest“, which I uploaded to the Templum Silva‘s youtube channel. It was around a year ago and back then I did not think of what will follow after that. I have not imagined that there would be listeners outside my family, It was more of a personal thing and as I said an experiment to see what I am capable of. Now after releasing „May I Reach Dawn“ I see that there is interest in what I do from more and more people and I am beyond grateful and extremely happy.
The album title is evocative. What personal or philosophical meaning does “May I Reach Dawn” hold for you?
I wrote “May I Reach Dawn“ fueled by inner struggles, in times when I felt really mentally drained and lost. We all go through some things every now and then. Somehow I used these feelings to create something more beautiful than them. The record is built on really deep misanthropy, sadness, anger and disgust, which explains the dark titles and essence
of the tracks. The concept of the album is of a struggling man trying to survive the night and „reach dawn“ while put against his biggest enemy – himself. The title of the introductory track suggests the beggining of that night and everything that follows after it is a representation of the mind of that man – slowly diving into madness. However, at
the end he reaches clarity, acceptance and peace presented by the closing track „Seek strength“.
Please describe your writing and composition process — do you start from guitar motifs, atmosphere, rhythm, or another element?
When I compose, I usually start with some kind of an emotion then I come up with a guitar riff or a melody and then I build everything else as an extention of that. Most of the time, if not all of the time, I compose section after a section, I kind of imagine the structure of the song in my head and I balance between clean atmospheric parts and heavy distorted ones as I think that adds colour to the whole, a beautiful contrast which can be seen everywhere – be it in us, nature, life or existance. I experiment a lot and there are lots of happy accidents that are often the highlights of the songs. At last, I believe that the melody is the most important part of composing, I love melodic stuff and I try to have a good, emotional melody in every section of the song that I am writing.
The sound alternates between delicate arpeggios and heavier riff-driven passages. How do you approach dynamics and pacing across a full-length record?
Honestly, there is not a specific formula. As I said I try to balance myself between light and heavy, slow and fast, but it is not forced nor deliberate, It is just how I feel it. For example, shortly after you eat something salty your body starts to crave something sweet. It is the same when I compose, I cannot come up with two good heavy riffs one after another, I have to write something clean in the mean time, you know hahah.
Who performed on the album? Is Templum Silva a solo project in the studio, and are there guest musicians or collaborators we should credit?
It is only me performing on the album. As silly as it sounds Templum Silva is just me with my guitar and my bass guitar in my bedroom. The drums are programmed which may dissapoint some people, but that’s fine. Regarding the album cover, I came up with the idea of it and a friend of mine – N.Taneva did a fantastic job to bring that idea to life.
Could you walk us through the choice of sounds and tones (guitars, amps, effects, production approach) used to achieve the record’s specific atmospheres?
I have a 7-string Ibanez and a regular 4-string bass guitar again Ibanez and a Behringer audio interface, but I cannot tell you the models as I am not that into gear. The guitar is tuned to B Standart and all songs are in that tuning, except for “May the Dark Shine Your Way” which is in Drop D. I used only digital amplifiers which again may dissapoint some,
but this is my way of doing it.
Which artists, records or non-musical influences most informed the aesthetic of “May I Reach Dawn”?
Bands like Katatonia, The Ocean, Hypno5e and Tool had and still have the biggest influence on me as a composer, so these four probably. Despite this the album happened to have it’s own unique sounding and I am really happy with that.
The tracks read like chapters of a single narrative. Did you work with a conceptual framework while sequencing the album? If so, how did that shape the songwriting?
As I previously mentioned the album is conceptual so yes, I had a conceptual framework in mind while putting the album together. This made the songwriting process kind of easier or maybe it would be better to say clearer as I knew towards which direction I must be going.
How did you handle production and mixing — self-produced, or did you work with an engineer/producer? What was the main production challenge?
“May I Reach Dawn” is entirely self-produced. I handled everything from the recordings to the mix and master. I had a hard time achieving a balance between all of the frequencies and the sound levels of the tracks.
This is a self-released debut. What drove the choice to release independently, and do you envision working with a label in the future?
It was never a choice to release independently. I release music seriously since not too long ago. When I released this album I did not even know how exactly labels work, moreover how to get myself signed to one. I thought I should first do one or two releases on my own so I can use them as a portfolio for a future signing. To be honest, I really wish to get Templum Silva signed to a label soon.
What is the Bulgarian underground scene like for Post-Progressive / Atmospheric Metal at the moment — are there peers or local scenes that supported the project?
I have no idea about the underground scene here. I can name a few bands, but If we are to talk about Post/Progressive/Atmospheric Metal I cannot name you even one. You see, In my playlists there are no Bulgarian bands. I do not say that they are bad, I just have not yet come across a Bulgarian band that I would listen to. No one supported the project except for the people in my circle, but none of these people play in any bands.
Do you have plans to perform these compositions live? If yes, how will you translate multi-layered studio arrangements to the stage?
To perform these compositions live would be a dream come true. Certainly, I cannot do it alone, for Templum Silva to perform live I would need more human capacity, but I believe that with the right people all the tracks can be translated to a live performance.
Looking back on the composing and recording process, what are you most proud of and what would you do differently next time?
There is no a particular thing that I am most proud of. I am just happy with the effort that I have put and grateful for the result of it. For the future, I would probably try to be more consistent with my writing processes.
Finally — what’s next for Templum Silva? Are there ongoing writing sessions, collaborations, or an EP/album roadmap you can share?
Recently I released a single titled “The Weeping Oak”, which is the first song by Templum Silva to feature vocals (growls). This track is part of a still unfinished full-length album, which I have been working on for quite some time now. I hope that soon I will be able to share more info about that.
Progressive Rock Journal thanks Yovan Parlikov for his time and for sharing insights into the creative heart of Templum Silva. “May I Reach Dawn” is available via Bandcamp; it stands as a confident debut from an artist committed to emotional depth and sonic detail. We look forward to following the project’s next steps and to hearing these compositions in a live setting.
Purchase “May I Reach Dawn” on Bandcamp: https://templumsilva.bandcamp.com/album/may-i-reach-dawn
Read our Review of the album here: https://progrockjournal.com/review-templum-silva-may-i-reach-dawn/
Stream the album via our YouTube channel: