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Artwork by
Ed Herbers
Ed Herbers

Insomnia

from Tartarus

October 1st, 2025
11 tracks
46:24
Tartarus
Tartarus
Insomnia
0:00
5:24
Insomnia
Ed Herbers
Hours pass. The crew remains sequestered in the communications room. It is dark. They have limited food and water (only the small amount they brought aboard), and those resources are starting to run out. Exhausted but too frightened to sleep, they try to come up with a plan to escape.
3:58

Videos

A group of space-faring scavengers are navigating a remote region of the galaxy when the ship’s sensors alert them to an unidentified object looming in the distance.

“Sensors detect a massive freighter up ahead. Looks like it was powered down and abandoned out here. Its callsign is coming through as “Tartarus,” but there’s no other data available (manifest, origin, destination). I’m sure we could salvage some useful scrap from it—let’s dock and check it out.

Although the ghost ship appears to be empty, the crew quickly discovers that they’re not alone…and a simple salvage mission becomes a desperate fight for survival.

Inspired by media like Dead Space and Alien, Tartarus is an atmospheric and immersive dark ambient, sci-fi horror/suspense experience. Downloads of the album include a PDF version of the story visuals.

Credits

All songs produced and mixed by Ed Herbers.

Mastered by Exit Chamber

Album artwork by Ed Herbers, adapted from a costume piece created by Sam Herbers.

Big thanks to Adventsong for suggesting the album title

Several pieces from this album previously appeared in other contexts:
- "Promise & Peril” and “Insomnia” were released as singles in early 2023. At the time, I had no plans to use them on anything else, but as Tartarus started to take shape, I realized both of these tracks were perfect for it.
- “No One Is Going To Save Us” previously appeared on the “Passed Away” compilation, from Passed Recordings, in 2022
- “Entropy” previously appeared on “Heavy for the Hollers” a compilation benefiting hurricane relief efforts in North Carolina following Hurricane Helene.