Back In Business

The journey continues.

We spent last weekend recording two "new" tracks and discussing what we've done so far and what is yet to be done. At this point things are looking pretty good and we're optimistic about finishing the album in next two/three months. We're aiming to release the album in March 2012, but we're not promising anything. Keep your fingers crossed.

It seems that we're taking our sweet time like we did on Diary, though we planned on making this album at a different pace. But we're not the ones to rush things. We have all the time in the world. But of course at some point we'll decide that enough is enough and that's it. Hopefully that will be sometime in February.

We're going back to studio during the Holidays and try to finish up few more tracks. Talk to you later.

Autumn Leaves

Seasons change and time goes by pretty fast. As the summer holidays ended, everybody scattered around the country and that has been slowing down the process once again. But fear not, though it might take some time, this record will be made. But I'm going ahead of myself. Since the last update, we've done a lot of things. Here's a little recap.

In July some of us got together in an old school building and recorded a few instruments there. There are some piano parts in these songs so naturally we decided to use the Grand Piano that was standing in a corner of one of the halls. It sounded pretty cool.

We played three songs with it, but later we decided not to include one of them on the album. It's a good composition, but at this point it just doesn't fit. We've been doing a lot of that lately. Killing our darlings. It's difficult but sometimes you have to make difficult decisions for the greater good.

For the greater good.

After that a friend of ours, Kari, came by and played some bass for us. Not just one bass but double bass. Since the first draft of this song, we knew we wanted double bass in it, and when we want something we get it. Most of the time. Well. almost most of the time. Okay, we usually never get what we want like a full size symphony orchestra, but we make do. The result is what matters, not how you get there.

Then let's fast forward to September. Last weekend we recorded saxophone and this Saturday we laid down some drum tracks once again. We didn't re-do anything, instead we did a whole new track and an ending to one song that was missing. We're pretty excited about this. It's always refreshing to have new track among the ones that you've heard and played so many times before. It's like a new kid in school. In Diary of a Dead Man Walking, the track 'Trinity' was a similar case. It came up really late and ended up being a crucial piece of the puzzle. Well, this new track in this album isn't a brand new song. It was considered to be included from the get-go, but got dropped out pretty early on. We forgot about it for about six months but then decided to make a new version out of it, and it ended up being awesome and probably just what the album needs. It was always important to have that song in that particular part of the album, regarding the concept and the theme, so it was a relief for us to get it to work the way it should. Most of the time this is the way it goes. Sometimes you have to let go and you can never force anything. If it really is a good idea it will come back again and find its rightful place.

There are about five tracks that are almost ready for mixing. The recording of the rest 3-4 tracks will hopefully be completed in next two months. We'll keep you posted!

The Shape of Things to Come

Last weekend we gathered in our makeshift studio and began to put the album together. We concentrated on seven tracks and three of them are now in pretty good shape and the rest are also well on the way. The exact number of tracks to be featured on the upcoming album remains a mystery for us too, but an educated guess would be something between 7 and 10. We don't want to make it too long, but we still want to include everything that we feel it needs. The record itself will be a concept album as the previous one was, but with different themes. What they are we're not ready to reveal, but it will have something to do with water.

If our music was uncategorizable (Is that a word? It is now!) before, it will be even more difficult to put us under a certain genre with this record. For us that is a good thing. With our last album, we were pretty much labeled as a metal band, though we've never really felt like one. Sure, it had some metal influences but the album itself wasn't a metal album, at least for us it wasn't. Neither will this one be. But who really gives a damn what it is, as long as it's good? We're pretty sure you'll recognize the sound but you will also hear a lot of new sounds as well. The album will feature one or two guest vocalists in the singing department, in addition to our own vocalists, and also some other guest appearances to give the songs what they need.

That has also been our guideline with this album in whole. To do justice for individual songs. Every track on this album will be different and have its own thing but also serve its purpose on the album. No more, no less.

What's going on

Two months has gone by since the recording began. Progress has happened but there's really not much to report though. Things are moving slow. There are seven of us and we want to include everyone in the process of making this album. It creates a challenge for us to find the required time together, but scheduling the bulk of the recording over the summer helps a lot.

We're officially on a break from touring, but yesterday we played a show at Rauma. The show itself was what it was, but a version of a new song was played live for the first time and it really was an eye-opener for us in some ways. It helped us to see things more clearly, things that we've been struggling with the new material. It gave us a new-found confidence and I believe it's going to be all good from here on out.

Some bass and guitar parts have been recorded and with the drum tracks they form a solid foundation for us to really start building the songs. You know, bring in the good stuff.

Lauri bringing in the good stuff.

Most of us will have our summer holidays in July, so we expect great things to happen then. We're able to get into specifics regarding the themes and style of the album once we've ventured a bit further.

So it begins

Hello everyone!
The recording of our new album has finally begun. We laid down drum tracks for eight songs. Knowing our working methods, there is a possibility that maybe 10% of these takes will make it into the album, but then again, there has been a fair amount of pre-production done, so maybe 90% of them will. Only time will tell. But you have to start somewhere.

Drums were recorded in our makeshift drum room, which was hastily put together in a building owned by my folks, and which happened to be empty at the moment. It wasn't great but it didn't sound bad either. Also, we're using pretty crappy gear and we'll produce and record the album ourselves, but there's really no other option. We don't have the time and the money to do things any other way, and our methods are what they are. We're used to working this way. And there's no telling how long this process will take, so loaning and renting equipment and facilities is out of the question. But we'll manage as we always do. 

Trust me. I know what I'm doing.

It has been almost three years since we've been in the studio, so we're pretty excited. Much water has flown beneath the bridge. There are elements in our new stuff, that was conceived two years ago, but also things that was composed literally yesterday. Our songwriting process is hard to describe and things are constantly evolving. We try not to limit ourselves and not to lock anything up too early. What kind of music this new album will hold inside, you may ask. There are a couple of songs you might have heard us play live, that are possibly included in the album, but we've also played a few that probably won't be there. All we can say for now is that we tend to work around themes and concepts and build our albums around them. Last time it was the post apocalyptic stuff, this time it's something else.

We'll continue by recording other instruments for these eight tracks and see where we stand. Stay tuned!