So. It is done. Inherit The Void is recorded and mixed and we as a band and human beings have given everything we had in us. This album simply is the best piece of work we have been able to pull off so far.
If you are willing to lay down and listen to this album in peace for the first time, I promise it will be a small “trip”. The songs are all linked to each other, by the texts, but also by the feeling in the music. Using the words “theme album” would sound a bit too much pseudo-artistic crap, so let’s say that this album is a description of our time and the lives we live. It is made of somewhat incoherent thoughts interpreted and five dudes totally playing together.
Oh, and don’t you be expecting some over-compressed-everything-as-loud-as-possible concrete.
We wanted this album to also breathe and have some real dynamics on it. The sound is somehow close to an old-school vinyl sound, with soft, but rich upper frequencies and a big bottom, that still doesn’t eat all the dynamics from the sound. Hope you will enjoy it this way, at least we do.
That’s all for now, we are still thinking about our options concerning the mastering, but there’s still some time until March. This album is hopefully going to give something to at least least some of you.
In the end, when the moments have already faded, it’s only about the things you have given.
tiistai 2. joulukuuta 2008
maanantai 10. marraskuuta 2008
Inherit The Void - The recordings are done, Inherit The mix...
Last week I finished my share of the recordings by singing for two days and screaming my lungs off for three days.
I guess the best word to describe my feelings right now is "purified". I didn't have problems with my voice, the sound came out as brutal but clear as I want it and with a sense of determination. A big thank you goes to Ville and Mikko for kicking my ass so passionately and to Alkku (sound engineer) for making the whole process so easy going.
The only problems that I had was my head. Yeah, I know, it's nothing new, I'm a wackjob but seriously. I have never had such bad headaches in studio while recording. This has to have something to do with getting enough oxigen while singing/screaming but also the way your blood runs to your head on the neck area. I guess my neck is pretty much jammed, haha! The headaches started immediately when we started to record and even though I took some walks around the neighbourhood to get some fresh air alongside with a heavy doze of ipubrofen or codeine the pain didn't go away. My theory is this: jammed neck equals bad blood circulation to your head causes painful pressure to your head while screaming. Well, I guess it's just a normal routine when it comes to me recording vocals, there's always something trying to make my day a bit harder. Whether it's a bad case of hemaroids or diarrhea, or a stupid everlasting headache to fight with. But, I don't complain, I'm used to it. No pain, no game. Chuck Norris is the man! You'll definately hear me on the album going through that headache.
Anyway, back to the issue! The coolest moment of the recording happened right after I was done with my parts. We started to record the choirs and chants for the scream parts. Let me introduce you "The Bloody Hyena Choir Boys":
Williami "Howlin' Owl" Kurki
Samuli "Screamin' Rattlesnake" Mikkonen
Tomppa "The Raging Achtung-horn" Saarenketo
Antti "Dauntlessin Samwais Hellwig" Kopoti-Kokkonen
I acted as the "responsible" producer of this whole choir thingy giving the boys some instructions how to make a nice roaring chant shout. I have to say, I'm amazingly surprised about how easily we managed to get everything recorded when considering that only Tomppa had sang backing vox before. Everybody did a great job and the choirs sound massive and most important, it's us doing it, not anyone else. I'll promise you this much; we'll be adding another mic on stage starting from the first gig we'll do after the album is done. The evening continued with some heavy alcohol consuming and my last glimp of memory of that night is from the grill line of the Legendary Grilli Manix opposite the Legendary Torvi restaurant. Man that burger was hard earned.
Now the mixing starts and we'll be adding updates to our website as some news occure. We have plenty of shows already lined up for next year and we'll have more info about the album release in few weeks. It's almost impossible to sit down and wait for the release date but we're keeping ourselves busy with posting the news and making the promoplan for Inherit The Void. We're also planning to make a video on one of the songs so this will be interesting as well. And, of course the practise. We'll start putting up the live set to be the best it can be, in our opinion ;).
Wait... and Inherit The Void. Only five months to go...
~ Jules
I guess the best word to describe my feelings right now is "purified". I didn't have problems with my voice, the sound came out as brutal but clear as I want it and with a sense of determination. A big thank you goes to Ville and Mikko for kicking my ass so passionately and to Alkku (sound engineer) for making the whole process so easy going.
The only problems that I had was my head. Yeah, I know, it's nothing new, I'm a wackjob but seriously. I have never had such bad headaches in studio while recording. This has to have something to do with getting enough oxigen while singing/screaming but also the way your blood runs to your head on the neck area. I guess my neck is pretty much jammed, haha! The headaches started immediately when we started to record and even though I took some walks around the neighbourhood to get some fresh air alongside with a heavy doze of ipubrofen or codeine the pain didn't go away. My theory is this: jammed neck equals bad blood circulation to your head causes painful pressure to your head while screaming. Well, I guess it's just a normal routine when it comes to me recording vocals, there's always something trying to make my day a bit harder. Whether it's a bad case of hemaroids or diarrhea, or a stupid everlasting headache to fight with. But, I don't complain, I'm used to it. No pain, no game. Chuck Norris is the man! You'll definately hear me on the album going through that headache.
Anyway, back to the issue! The coolest moment of the recording happened right after I was done with my parts. We started to record the choirs and chants for the scream parts. Let me introduce you "The Bloody Hyena Choir Boys":
Williami "Howlin' Owl" Kurki
Samuli "Screamin' Rattlesnake" Mikkonen
Tomppa "The Raging Achtung-horn" Saarenketo
Antti "Dauntlessin Samwais Hellwig" Kopoti-Kokkonen
I acted as the "responsible" producer of this whole choir thingy giving the boys some instructions how to make a nice roaring chant shout. I have to say, I'm amazingly surprised about how easily we managed to get everything recorded when considering that only Tomppa had sang backing vox before. Everybody did a great job and the choirs sound massive and most important, it's us doing it, not anyone else. I'll promise you this much; we'll be adding another mic on stage starting from the first gig we'll do after the album is done. The evening continued with some heavy alcohol consuming and my last glimp of memory of that night is from the grill line of the Legendary Grilli Manix opposite the Legendary Torvi restaurant. Man that burger was hard earned.
Now the mixing starts and we'll be adding updates to our website as some news occure. We have plenty of shows already lined up for next year and we'll have more info about the album release in few weeks. It's almost impossible to sit down and wait for the release date but we're keeping ourselves busy with posting the news and making the promoplan for Inherit The Void. We're also planning to make a video on one of the songs so this will be interesting as well. And, of course the practise. We'll start putting up the live set to be the best it can be, in our opinion ;).
Wait... and Inherit The Void. Only five months to go...
~ Jules
tiistai 4. marraskuuta 2008
Nailin' (Palin) the vox, clean edition...
Merry Christmas boys and girls!
I'm here at Villvox Studios in the village of Villähde, determined to blow this basement in to gazillions of bits and pieces.
Today we finished with all the clean vocals. We started last week when we recorded for three days and continued this week for five more days (three to go now). Last week I had some problems with my voice. This was mainly because of too long days and not enough voice maintenance. I guess I took off too ambitious wanting to make everything done as soon as possible. Well, live and learn as a good padawan accepts. This week we started out with the terms of the voice, meaning let's do as much as the voice can handle and when it starts to feel bad we call it quits for the day. Obviously a great game plan, eh? And, it worked.
I'm so exstatic to work with our producers. That's right, we have two right now. Ville is the main producer and Mikko Herranen is here to produce the vocal parts. That's fuckin' teamwork. I've learned a lot from Mikko I have to say (who I think is one of the best vocalists I've heard from Finland). The approach to every song has been like us finding the true essence and the meaning of the songs and live these emotions while singing them. Some parts are pretty personal so there's a lot of "pain" in the songs so the experience has been very emotional as well. The last six months in my life have been probably the worst ones. This helps me to recover.
I decided to open up this session of the clean vocal parts to you by putting some of the key lyrics here about what we've been singin here these last days. The order of the songs listed below is the order in which we recorded them, not the official track listing. The song names are working titles except few exception.
1. "Middle"
This is a song where the album takes some breath. We started with this one because it's the most soft one for the voice and it was easy to set the right mood for the recordings with this. It is an essential song which will be the watershed of the album:
"...all these thoughts cause too much pain; all the colours of childhood are turning grey. All that I fear, I now must face, so grant me this wish: give me time to inhale..."
2. "Trioli"
Probably the most heaviest song on the album. Riffs that are filled with lead and sledgehammers. You will definately find some new stuff on this colossal neck breaker. One of my favourites at the moment:
"...the bullet's inside and penetrates my mind; I'm trapped in you and the horror comes alive..."
3. "Mastoantti"
Now this is a very cool song with an ultimate leanback-groove. This feels like a tribute to Pantera's amazing "Far Beyond Driven" album. The lyrics of the song are in my opinion one of the keys to enter inside the message of the whole album:
"...poisoned by this need to kneel...I wash my face with filth, confession incomplete, and I leave this place in fires hoping it'll learn someday..."
4. "Superpowertrip"
One of the fastest songs on the album. Totally unforgiving. Very punkish as well. Trust me, this kills:
"...I decide how I should live, by the day, and create..."
5. "Black Sabbath"
In lyric-wise this could well be a letter that I've written to someone who is out of reach and maybe this person will find the letter after twenty years or so, reads it, and realizes that it's already too late to turn the direction. It's about those fatal choises that define the direction of our lifes:
"...and the moments start to fade, fade into the horizon, and it stains you all your life, no chance to apologise right..."
6. "Left"
I think this song is the catchiest one on the album. The chorus just haunts you forever after you first hear it (in a good way, hah!). Expect some massive clean vocal arsenal here, it's still metal as fuck:
"...All that you have, having it won't save your ass from the useless days that have passed. No higher purpose for some shared good cause, no salvation at the end of the story you have willingly bought..."
7. "Speedmetal"
A treat. Nice surprise. Unexpected turn. Consumer's wake-up call. The Truth:
"...fill in the blanks in your un-aimed mind, plastic for you to spend your time on, marching invasion overtakes us all and the seconds are running out..."
8. "Uusin"
Another fast ass whipper. We had some problems with this one finding out the perfect option for the chorus but we managed to get the pieces together to make it something special. It's a hit and run song with a big FU to all those fucking moral guardians who think their way is the right way. Go suck a pope:
"...the parasites, dealing this guilt with their lies, I dream of the day when the last of those leeches will die...
9. "Base"
Some of you have probably already heard the demo version from YouTube of this one. It's the perfect start for the album. Get's the juices going and the pits moving. This song is written for you, our fans, we owe it to you for all the great times we've had together. You're our base:
"...I choose the way of battle, scream my voice until it shatters. Are you with me!?! I keep my base..."
10. "Skitzo"
The most disturbed song on the album (not the band). It starts up with some bottled up anxiety, continues with a fullspeed rampage of rage and ends up in an awe. I don't want to describe this too much, you'll see:
"...living in fear for the rest of my life, trying to forget what I have seen. And the merciless eye made a part of me die, closed for now, still there somehow..."
11. "Right"
Combine the idea of a vengeance and hard core and you might get close to something like this song is:
"...you built me a world made of things I've grown to hate, but this world also gives me the right, the right to retalite..."
So there you go. I know you're pickin' your synapses right now and thinking "WTF?!?", but this is the shit that's going down right now. We're making the album of our lives as we speak and it is very satisfying. Tomorrow we start with the growls, screams, öriörioinkoinks and whatnots. This basement is set for annihilation.
~ Jules
I'm here at Villvox Studios in the village of Villähde, determined to blow this basement in to gazillions of bits and pieces.
Today we finished with all the clean vocals. We started last week when we recorded for three days and continued this week for five more days (three to go now). Last week I had some problems with my voice. This was mainly because of too long days and not enough voice maintenance. I guess I took off too ambitious wanting to make everything done as soon as possible. Well, live and learn as a good padawan accepts. This week we started out with the terms of the voice, meaning let's do as much as the voice can handle and when it starts to feel bad we call it quits for the day. Obviously a great game plan, eh? And, it worked.
I'm so exstatic to work with our producers. That's right, we have two right now. Ville is the main producer and Mikko Herranen is here to produce the vocal parts. That's fuckin' teamwork. I've learned a lot from Mikko I have to say (who I think is one of the best vocalists I've heard from Finland). The approach to every song has been like us finding the true essence and the meaning of the songs and live these emotions while singing them. Some parts are pretty personal so there's a lot of "pain" in the songs so the experience has been very emotional as well. The last six months in my life have been probably the worst ones. This helps me to recover.
I decided to open up this session of the clean vocal parts to you by putting some of the key lyrics here about what we've been singin here these last days. The order of the songs listed below is the order in which we recorded them, not the official track listing. The song names are working titles except few exception.
1. "Middle"
This is a song where the album takes some breath. We started with this one because it's the most soft one for the voice and it was easy to set the right mood for the recordings with this. It is an essential song which will be the watershed of the album:
"...all these thoughts cause too much pain; all the colours of childhood are turning grey. All that I fear, I now must face, so grant me this wish: give me time to inhale..."
2. "Trioli"
Probably the most heaviest song on the album. Riffs that are filled with lead and sledgehammers. You will definately find some new stuff on this colossal neck breaker. One of my favourites at the moment:
"...the bullet's inside and penetrates my mind; I'm trapped in you and the horror comes alive..."
3. "Mastoantti"
Now this is a very cool song with an ultimate leanback-groove. This feels like a tribute to Pantera's amazing "Far Beyond Driven" album. The lyrics of the song are in my opinion one of the keys to enter inside the message of the whole album:
"...poisoned by this need to kneel...I wash my face with filth, confession incomplete, and I leave this place in fires hoping it'll learn someday..."
4. "Superpowertrip"
One of the fastest songs on the album. Totally unforgiving. Very punkish as well. Trust me, this kills:
"...I decide how I should live, by the day, and create..."
5. "Black Sabbath"
In lyric-wise this could well be a letter that I've written to someone who is out of reach and maybe this person will find the letter after twenty years or so, reads it, and realizes that it's already too late to turn the direction. It's about those fatal choises that define the direction of our lifes:
"...and the moments start to fade, fade into the horizon, and it stains you all your life, no chance to apologise right..."
6. "Left"
I think this song is the catchiest one on the album. The chorus just haunts you forever after you first hear it (in a good way, hah!). Expect some massive clean vocal arsenal here, it's still metal as fuck:
"...All that you have, having it won't save your ass from the useless days that have passed. No higher purpose for some shared good cause, no salvation at the end of the story you have willingly bought..."
7. "Speedmetal"
A treat. Nice surprise. Unexpected turn. Consumer's wake-up call. The Truth:
"...fill in the blanks in your un-aimed mind, plastic for you to spend your time on, marching invasion overtakes us all and the seconds are running out..."
8. "Uusin"
Another fast ass whipper. We had some problems with this one finding out the perfect option for the chorus but we managed to get the pieces together to make it something special. It's a hit and run song with a big FU to all those fucking moral guardians who think their way is the right way. Go suck a pope:
"...the parasites, dealing this guilt with their lies, I dream of the day when the last of those leeches will die...
9. "Base"
Some of you have probably already heard the demo version from YouTube of this one. It's the perfect start for the album. Get's the juices going and the pits moving. This song is written for you, our fans, we owe it to you for all the great times we've had together. You're our base:
"...I choose the way of battle, scream my voice until it shatters. Are you with me!?! I keep my base..."
10. "Skitzo"
The most disturbed song on the album (not the band). It starts up with some bottled up anxiety, continues with a fullspeed rampage of rage and ends up in an awe. I don't want to describe this too much, you'll see:
"...living in fear for the rest of my life, trying to forget what I have seen. And the merciless eye made a part of me die, closed for now, still there somehow..."
11. "Right"
Combine the idea of a vengeance and hard core and you might get close to something like this song is:
"...you built me a world made of things I've grown to hate, but this world also gives me the right, the right to retalite..."
So there you go. I know you're pickin' your synapses right now and thinking "WTF?!?", but this is the shit that's going down right now. We're making the album of our lives as we speak and it is very satisfying. Tomorrow we start with the growls, screams, öriörioinkoinks and whatnots. This basement is set for annihilation.
~ Jules
torstai 30. lokakuuta 2008
Mutantti
YO YO HO HO!!!
My point of view on the things that went on in the studio. The week spent in Petrax was awesome. Sauna every night, a few beers almost every night and I didn’t have to worry about recording anything that was going to end up on the final album. When Tomppa and Samppa played their ultimate and unforgiving beats I just jammed along. If I didn’t feel like playing, I just didn’t. I went downstairs and watched TV or took a shit.
At Villvox for the most of the recording, I had an underlying sense of anxiety and stress (and a few suicidal ideas) because I had to go to work during this whole time. There just wasn’t any way I could have had a few extra days off. But when the week of the guitars being recorded was nearly over, I was free for the weekend. And when I finally got to concentrate on recording my parts, I WAS ON FIRE!!! I don’t have so much to say about the sounds and how we made it (somebody turned the knobs and I said when it was ok) or even the order I played the songs (I can’t even remember), but I think I did a pretty good job.
This time around I really think that my playing has been unchained. No holds barred!! In fact everyone’s playing is OUT OF THIS WORLD!! I have been given the freedom to play whatever I wanted to play, still keeping the essence of the song in mind. The long period of rehearsing for the album was really us crafting our parts, so that in the studio there would be no worries about playing. But sometimes when I thought about the songs in my head over and over, I was concerned that maybe I don’t have all the twists and turns of the songs sorted out. And “what the fuck should I play on that part that comes right after the chorus before the ending riff” or something like that. But when I had my guitar in my hands and we were recording, the whole thing just flew out of me onto tape. I was just the instrument for the music to flow through. There is one solo in particular that I didn’t have a clue of what I would play, but when I got to it, it was just wild. And playing acoustic guitars long into the night was enjoyable. Blaablaablaa….
So, I am very thankful of this opportunity to leave my legacy in the world. This is something that is going to live on long after I’m gone. And I am completely satisfied of the result at this point. I can’t wait what it will sound like when Jules gets to throw his honey-soaked voice in on the mix!!!
And also I had my attempt at growing a studio beard. It was something really strange, it grew only on my right cheek… But I am a mutant…
My point of view on the things that went on in the studio. The week spent in Petrax was awesome. Sauna every night, a few beers almost every night and I didn’t have to worry about recording anything that was going to end up on the final album. When Tomppa and Samppa played their ultimate and unforgiving beats I just jammed along. If I didn’t feel like playing, I just didn’t. I went downstairs and watched TV or took a shit.
At Villvox for the most of the recording, I had an underlying sense of anxiety and stress (and a few suicidal ideas) because I had to go to work during this whole time. There just wasn’t any way I could have had a few extra days off. But when the week of the guitars being recorded was nearly over, I was free for the weekend. And when I finally got to concentrate on recording my parts, I WAS ON FIRE!!! I don’t have so much to say about the sounds and how we made it (somebody turned the knobs and I said when it was ok) or even the order I played the songs (I can’t even remember), but I think I did a pretty good job.
This time around I really think that my playing has been unchained. No holds barred!! In fact everyone’s playing is OUT OF THIS WORLD!! I have been given the freedom to play whatever I wanted to play, still keeping the essence of the song in mind. The long period of rehearsing for the album was really us crafting our parts, so that in the studio there would be no worries about playing. But sometimes when I thought about the songs in my head over and over, I was concerned that maybe I don’t have all the twists and turns of the songs sorted out. And “what the fuck should I play on that part that comes right after the chorus before the ending riff” or something like that. But when I had my guitar in my hands and we were recording, the whole thing just flew out of me onto tape. I was just the instrument for the music to flow through. There is one solo in particular that I didn’t have a clue of what I would play, but when I got to it, it was just wild. And playing acoustic guitars long into the night was enjoyable. Blaablaablaa….
So, I am very thankful of this opportunity to leave my legacy in the world. This is something that is going to live on long after I’m gone. And I am completely satisfied of the result at this point. I can’t wait what it will sound like when Jules gets to throw his honey-soaked voice in on the mix!!!
And also I had my attempt at growing a studio beard. It was something really strange, it grew only on my right cheek… But I am a mutant…
tiistai 28. lokakuuta 2008
Guitars
Prologue:
I have to admit that this album we are making has been so close to me for a so goddamn long time, that putting my thoughts in words is not an easy task. If the following seems a bit pseudo-artistic crap, keep in mind that I have not thought of anything else since last fall.
The feeling at the moment is a very satisfying one, because now I can hear the stuff for real. I have heard it in some crappy demos and just in my head, but now I hear it without having to straighten it out in my head.
I hope that every person that listens to this album is eager to read also in “between the lines”, since the musical dimensions are meant to support the texts and have some dialogue with them too.
This album will make us all proud of it, that I can guarantee, but we hope that it will also give some of you something to think, and most importantly, something to feel.
Every song on this album is a part of something we want to say, and it is not only a collection of songs, but it’s not a theme album either. It’s somewhere in between…
Aren’t we all?
So, something about the guitars...
We started to get in the songs with Antti already at the Petrax Studios, we played with Tomppa and Samuli when they recorded and recorded also some demo guitars, just to hear the overall feeling.
After a nice week at the Petrax, we were 10 kilograms heavier, due to Tiina’s unbelievably delicious cookings, but also ready to lock ourselves inside the Villvox basement to shred, shriek, scream, shiver and stomp the hell out of our guitars.
My setup for playing was quite complex in comparison to the ones I used on “Beaten” and “Disco”.
I used two heads, Peavey 6505 through a Mesa Boogie –cabinet (thanks to Jaani from Entwine) to get some mass to the sound, and a good old Marshall 100W Jubilee with MXR Wylde Overdrive pedal through the good old 4x12 homemade cabinet I’ve used all these years.
So we split the signal from my guitar to these two setups, and an unbelievably full sound was built.
I used three different guitars through the album, trying to pick the right ones in every song.
My good old “Vato Loco”, the Tokai Love Rock -92 with the 90’s heavy metal pickup from DiMarzio was the main element, but I supported it with the Jackson RR with SeymourDuncan active 18-volt pickup and my newest baby, Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature Stratocaster.
The Stratocaster with the Texas Special –pickups might be a bit unorthodox selection for playing heavy metal, but I must say that it gave the guitars some room to breathe. Also all the electric clean parts were played with this one.
Speaking of the clean parts, we used quite a lot of acoustic guitars on this album, also in parts you would not expect to hear them in. Keskusmusiikki, the best music shop in Lahti (or anywhere) was kind to lend us a 12-string acoustic and a nylon-string acoustic.
During the last day of guitar recordings, we gave the songs some beautiful tones with these softer instruments, hope you’ll like them.
And, the songs…
During the whole time we played the guitars, I had my “playing cap” on, and every time I got something in, I wrote it to the cap. For every solo I drew an “X” and every clean guitar I drew an “O”, for every acoustic guitar I drew a black dot inside the “O”.
For the intro, that has lived inside me for a really long time now, I drew a small note.
The song list on my cap seems to be the following (as in, in this order I played them in):
1. Base (surprise, surprise! This song was the first one, we built the guitar sound with this one)
2. Inherit The Void (this song will NOT be on the album, but we like it very much… ;) )
These first two names are official, the rest of them are not.
3. “SPT” (a quick song, somehow it reminds me of “Painbox”.)
4. “MastoAntti” (a really heavy song, that opened fully to me in the studio.)
5. “Left” (rocking, melodic but also grim, maybe “the song” on the album for me.)
6. “Skitso” (a weird, very blunt and dismaying song.)
7. “Right” (a fast, hardcore motherfucker punk song with something new from us.)
8. “Middle” (this one is for the ones who enjoyed “Learning To Die”.)
9. “Trioli” (a different song with some angry attitude, a real live song.)
10. “Uusin” (the newest song on the album, angry and fast, just the way you like it.)
11. “Speed Metal” (a song with a big “fuck you” to a lot of stuff. Really like this one.)
So, this is NOT the order the songs are on the album, we’ll save it for later.
When I look at the “playing cap”, there seems to be nine “X”’s and five “O”’s on it, with dots or without them.
All in all, the album is much more versatile in every aspect than our debut was, there are not too many songs in the same tempo, and also the keys in the songs change, it’s not only open C in every song. The intro I wanted to play in free tempo because of the character of this small emotion in simple notes.
I was surprised of the fact that how easily we got the guitars done, it seems that the time we spent on practicing before the studio was not in vain.
Now I’m headed back to the studio to listen to Jules doing his thing. And the studio beard just keeps on growing…
This is going to be great, be patient, my friends.
-Williami
I have to admit that this album we are making has been so close to me for a so goddamn long time, that putting my thoughts in words is not an easy task. If the following seems a bit pseudo-artistic crap, keep in mind that I have not thought of anything else since last fall.
The feeling at the moment is a very satisfying one, because now I can hear the stuff for real. I have heard it in some crappy demos and just in my head, but now I hear it without having to straighten it out in my head.
I hope that every person that listens to this album is eager to read also in “between the lines”, since the musical dimensions are meant to support the texts and have some dialogue with them too.
This album will make us all proud of it, that I can guarantee, but we hope that it will also give some of you something to think, and most importantly, something to feel.
Every song on this album is a part of something we want to say, and it is not only a collection of songs, but it’s not a theme album either. It’s somewhere in between…
Aren’t we all?
So, something about the guitars...
We started to get in the songs with Antti already at the Petrax Studios, we played with Tomppa and Samuli when they recorded and recorded also some demo guitars, just to hear the overall feeling.
After a nice week at the Petrax, we were 10 kilograms heavier, due to Tiina’s unbelievably delicious cookings, but also ready to lock ourselves inside the Villvox basement to shred, shriek, scream, shiver and stomp the hell out of our guitars.
My setup for playing was quite complex in comparison to the ones I used on “Beaten” and “Disco”.
I used two heads, Peavey 6505 through a Mesa Boogie –cabinet (thanks to Jaani from Entwine) to get some mass to the sound, and a good old Marshall 100W Jubilee with MXR Wylde Overdrive pedal through the good old 4x12 homemade cabinet I’ve used all these years.
So we split the signal from my guitar to these two setups, and an unbelievably full sound was built.
I used three different guitars through the album, trying to pick the right ones in every song.
My good old “Vato Loco”, the Tokai Love Rock -92 with the 90’s heavy metal pickup from DiMarzio was the main element, but I supported it with the Jackson RR with SeymourDuncan active 18-volt pickup and my newest baby, Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature Stratocaster.
The Stratocaster with the Texas Special –pickups might be a bit unorthodox selection for playing heavy metal, but I must say that it gave the guitars some room to breathe. Also all the electric clean parts were played with this one.
Speaking of the clean parts, we used quite a lot of acoustic guitars on this album, also in parts you would not expect to hear them in. Keskusmusiikki, the best music shop in Lahti (or anywhere) was kind to lend us a 12-string acoustic and a nylon-string acoustic.
During the last day of guitar recordings, we gave the songs some beautiful tones with these softer instruments, hope you’ll like them.
And, the songs…
During the whole time we played the guitars, I had my “playing cap” on, and every time I got something in, I wrote it to the cap. For every solo I drew an “X” and every clean guitar I drew an “O”, for every acoustic guitar I drew a black dot inside the “O”.
For the intro, that has lived inside me for a really long time now, I drew a small note.
The song list on my cap seems to be the following (as in, in this order I played them in):
1. Base (surprise, surprise! This song was the first one, we built the guitar sound with this one)
2. Inherit The Void (this song will NOT be on the album, but we like it very much… ;) )
These first two names are official, the rest of them are not.
3. “SPT” (a quick song, somehow it reminds me of “Painbox”.)
4. “MastoAntti” (a really heavy song, that opened fully to me in the studio.)
5. “Left” (rocking, melodic but also grim, maybe “the song” on the album for me.)
6. “Skitso” (a weird, very blunt and dismaying song.)
7. “Right” (a fast, hardcore motherfucker punk song with something new from us.)
8. “Middle” (this one is for the ones who enjoyed “Learning To Die”.)
9. “Trioli” (a different song with some angry attitude, a real live song.)
10. “Uusin” (the newest song on the album, angry and fast, just the way you like it.)
11. “Speed Metal” (a song with a big “fuck you” to a lot of stuff. Really like this one.)
So, this is NOT the order the songs are on the album, we’ll save it for later.
When I look at the “playing cap”, there seems to be nine “X”’s and five “O”’s on it, with dots or without them.
All in all, the album is much more versatile in every aspect than our debut was, there are not too many songs in the same tempo, and also the keys in the songs change, it’s not only open C in every song. The intro I wanted to play in free tempo because of the character of this small emotion in simple notes.
I was surprised of the fact that how easily we got the guitars done, it seems that the time we spent on practicing before the studio was not in vain.
Now I’m headed back to the studio to listen to Jules doing his thing. And the studio beard just keeps on growing…
This is going to be great, be patient, my friends.
-Williami
maanantai 6. lokakuuta 2008
About the bass and Riki Sorsa..
First of all, I don´t have much to add what Mr. Mikkonen already wrote. But anyway, I was also very impressed to get to play at Petrax. What a great week we had. And what a great sound came out, we used two cabins, other was my own 1x15" and the other I borrowed from Mr. Broman of Damngod and it was MesaBoogie 2x15". Thank you Toni! Amplifier was the good old Marshall Jubilee. Strings I used we´re Rotosound and from this point I´ve got something to tell.
Rotosound strings are ok but this time they just did not work. I blame Riki Sorsa. I broke three ( yes that´s true, 3 ) E-strings by playing too hard. It sounds amazing because I use very thick strings. It was not so good because we nailed the songs together with Samuli and when strings just broke, you have to start from the scratch and it eats the feeling away. From now on, I blame Riki for every bad thing. Actually it felt like his spirit had surrounded us. You see, we found lots of old Suosikki-magazines from the early eighties at the studio. Almost every magazine had some story about Riki. And even when I was having my lunch break and watching tv, he popped out from there also. So he was really near all the time.
But after all I´m smelling bad but feeling good. The atmosphere at studio was GREAT! Thanks goes to Petri & Tiina, Alkku & Ville and of course my playing buddy, Mr. Mikkonen. That´s all folks, Tomppa says hello to everyone. By the way, the songs are starting sound really HEAVY and GROOVY. Fukin´ aye!
Rotosound strings are ok but this time they just did not work. I blame Riki Sorsa. I broke three ( yes that´s true, 3 ) E-strings by playing too hard. It sounds amazing because I use very thick strings. It was not so good because we nailed the songs together with Samuli and when strings just broke, you have to start from the scratch and it eats the feeling away. From now on, I blame Riki for every bad thing. Actually it felt like his spirit had surrounded us. You see, we found lots of old Suosikki-magazines from the early eighties at the studio. Almost every magazine had some story about Riki. And even when I was having my lunch break and watching tv, he popped out from there also. So he was really near all the time.
But after all I´m smelling bad but feeling good. The atmosphere at studio was GREAT! Thanks goes to Petri & Tiina, Alkku & Ville and of course my playing buddy, Mr. Mikkonen. That´s all folks, Tomppa says hello to everyone. By the way, the songs are starting sound really HEAVY and GROOVY. Fukin´ aye!
Drums at Petrax, Hollola
Sunday 28.9.08
It all started on Sunday when we packed our stuff and moved to Petrax studios in Hollola. I haven’t visited the place before so I was very excited when we first arrived. The building was beautiful and the playing room was huge. I wanted to put my playing gear ready at once. So I did. I made a little sound check and was very impressed by the sound of that space. I will be playing a lot of drums this week!
Monday 29.9.08
We started at 9.00 AM with a good breakfast and were ready to work at ten. The only ones who woke up that early were me and our engineer Mr. Kuosa. We had a good time to listen to the different variations of microphone setups. First we put two overhead microphones to the set and made a little recording. It sounded amazing just like that! Everything in my set sounded to be in good balance. I was very impressed. This space will give me the best sound I have ever got a chance to play with! After that we continued to put more microphones to the playing space. Many ambience mics to different places and listen to it again. After that we changed them and listened again. It was a teaching experience. When there was nothing to be changed we were pleased and satisfied. Oh my god, the sound is HUGE! Metallicas black album is nothing compared to this!! :)
Our producer Mr. Sorvali and my dear beat machine partner in crime Mr. Saarenketo were also very impressed and we started to check out the bass sound. Our recording method was to play the drums and the bass guitar at the same time in same space. That way we can achieve the maximal drive and grooviness to the songs if you know what I mean.
Everything was better than perfect and we started playing. We recorded the song that we humorously have called “Black Sabbath”. A very heavy song and maybe the heaviest song in certain perspective.
Tuesday 30.9.08
Breakfast at 9.00 AM and heavy metal at 10.00 AM. Everything was in order and we started to play. The first song that day was “Trioli” (name ain´t the official..:) Totally evil sounding song there: aggressive and twisted. We played it perfectly with Tomppa so we decided to leave it that way and started to nail the next song. That song was called Base. Very fun song to play. We got a good drive on and the drum & bass lines worked together like never before. It was totally nailed!
After that we went to eat like never before. The kitchen in Petrax studios makes it a heaven on earth…:) All the credits goes to Tiina Rappula. Thank you! After a good two-hour lunch-nap we were able to play again. In the evening shift we nailed two more songs: Superpowertrip and Schitzo.
Superpowertrip is maybe the fastest song of the record and it rocks like hell. It also contains a drum solo. In my opinion you should have a drum solo in every record! This is something to be waiting for! :) Schitzo (not the real name again) is the weirdest song of the record for sure. The song contains three different kind of parts and its very surprising. What were we thinking? I am totally satisfied to this piece!
The day started like the same. After a while we started to nail “Mastoantti” we had a visitor: Riki Sorsa! Tomppa got more involved with him so he will tell you more about him. Riki´s visit took our morning shift so we had the time only nail that “Mastoantti” –song. Yeah, it ain´t the real name. Can you guess where it comes from? :) “Mastoantti” is very groovy song and it is also very fun to play. It´s kind of straightforward song but you need a certain feeling to play it. It grooves like a moose! I´m sure you will love this one!
After Riki left us we went to eat and started our evening shift. It was time to make diamonds from the records most important songs called: “Left”, “Middle” and “Right”. The concept of those songs will be clear to you when you have a chance to get this record. “Left” is the hit song with a great drive and a killer chorus that you´ll never forget. Also Wiljami will play an incredible solo there. I´m sure he nails it! We nailed it also with Tomppa and what a great feeling…”Middle is a very emotional song with a huge dynamic. I thought my arms are going off after I played this one. Works in every frequency! “Right” is the brutal one. It´s not fair to tell you more about this, but I will promise this is something you have never expected from Profane Omen!!! :)
Thursday 2.10.08
The usual morning shift and two more songs to be nailed. Why? I wanna record more! Petrax –session has been the best this far. The sound and the atmosphere is something to be remembered. Well let´s get to the point. First “Dealers” a tricky one with an amazing drive. I had to play a while the beginning of the song until I got it perfectly. Here´s some unusual elements also included. Very fun to play again! Finally there was “Speed metal”. Totally straight-in-the-face –song and serious ADHD –stuff! :) This the headbanger! I am very proud of this. Certainly not a typical song but a great one indeed. It leaves nothing to be questioned so to speak. Rest of the day goes driving around and finding equipments for percussive elements.
Friday 3.10.08
This is it. The last day for me to record the best album I have ever been involved in. That´s for sure! This is the day for percussions. I am not going to make you a list of different instruments I used but I am going to tell you that they sound great. You should expect some unorthodox use of percussions in heavy metal! :) The result has never been this good and we have only drums and bass recorded. This album is going to kick ass!!! All in all this has been probably the best week for me as a drummer and I cant even imagine how fun it is to have a chance to play this record in front of a live audience!
From now on its fucking HEAVY METAL & HUNGER!
- Samuli -
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