Saturday The Spiral decimated the studio, and slaved away at the last two songs. The first, (ironically called The Last Song) is sounding much better after running over it with a huge pallet of Level and EQ. Starting with just Drums and Bass, we built the song up to a non-overwhelming chaos. We re-recorded my vocals, and that song is coming together nicely.

Josh had to leave to visit some emo bands (something about needing hardware for his drum kit, don’t ask me…) so Colin  and I worked on the lead-in for Run. Let’s just call it High-Maintenance/Low-Payoff, but it was progress nonetheless, and even if it’s baby steps, I won’t call it a waste of time.

Tonight, I worked on the last of the lyrics for Run, and I will subject them to the scrutiny of the Spiral on Tuesday night. If they pan out, that could be the END OF WRITING FOR DAYS FROM EVIL. The first of many Lasts, and one of which you could consider a sign of the forthcoming of the album.

Well, the song Lament has reached critical mass and morphed into a Cigar Mix! Seven songs down, three to go….

…um what’s that? Oh, bummer… um, sure I’ll tell em…

I guess Josh just got a call from Greenpeace and they got a leaked version of On The Inside which they found in laboratory tests would kill small, furry animals when played back at average volume. The lethality increased if they solo-ed out my lead vocal track.

Well, we are going to release the damn thing anyway! I mean, it’s better than this, and small, furry animals were never really our Target Audience, if you catch my drift. Besides, Greenpeace protesting the release of our album is just the kind of press we are looking for…um, hold on a sec.

…What now? Alright, quit bothering me! I’m trying to blog here, fer crissake. What? Really? NO WAY! Aw, Shit! Did you tell him to kiss my ass? Fine, fine…

Well, I guess Chris Carrabba from Dashboard Confessional just called, and wants to buy On The Inside from us. That Cuts it! I guess that song won’t make the Days From Evil album after all. Shame really, all that work for naught, and such a…pretty song too.

So, as I was saying, Seven Down, Two to go!

Tonight, we lit the cigar on Hallowed Ground. Six down. Four to go.

Here is the status of Days From Evil on this, the thirty-eth of January, in the Year of the Spiral, two-thousand-and-seven.

Forced Entry

Long Done. Actually done since 1 Dec 2006, when it was entered in a contest for Rift Magazine. The results of the contest should be available in the next couple weeks. A version of this song (Not sure which version exactly) was posted to our myspace page.

Monsters

Done on 23 jan 07.

Hallowed Ground

Done today, 30 Jan 07! I re-writ and recorded the chorus for Hallowed Ground FOR THE FOURTH FUCKING TIME, and finally, it is agreed that the lyrics aren’t embarrassing, or stupid, or embarrassingly stupid. We are keeping the old lyrics for posterity, and so we have something to release when we run short of cash.

Run

Needs work. The lyrics for the end aren’t quite finished. The lyrics for the begin aren’t quite recorded. Josh is going to look into a choir. This might turn out to be the most majestic song since Stairway to Heaven.

Let It Out

Done on 20 Jan 07. Actually, this song was ‘done’ a year ago. lol. But I’ll be honest; at the time we didn’t know what the fuck we were doing. We remixed this and it is worlds away from the rough mix you can hear on the myspace page.

Lament

I would say that this is the furthest from done. The guitar is entirely looped from one correctly played section. The vox were recorded while I had a cold, and need to be redone. Badly. Then edit and mix. Serve with a gallon of absinthe with an LSD chaser and a dash of cinnamon.

Not Enough Bullets

Done 20 Jan 07. Right. Actually, this song was done a year ago, along with Let It Out, but again, “we know better now…” and so we remixed it, and the song sounds much better. You can hear the old ‘rough’ mix on our myspace page.

I Am Death

Done on 20 Jan 07, but some issues with the lower frequencies, so we reduced the bass and drums today (20 Jan 07), and now the vox and guitar stand out where they ought.

The Last Song

Oh boy. Well, lets just say that this song is NOT finished. We actually need to clone an entire team of Bob Rock producers to get this puppy under control, and a 42″ plasma monitor screen to see all the tracks at one time.

On The Inside

Very nearly done. I recorded the last of the vox today (30 Jan 07) so the vox tracks need to be edited, and the song needs to be mixed. This will be the next song finished.

Even after all the tracks are recorded and mixed (cigar version) we still have a lot to do. All the ‘in between’ bits need to be recorded (in some cases, written) and then we run the whole she-bang through the mastering process.

Once the master CD is done, then there is the planning for the cover art, duplication, packaging and distribution. And the party.

You didn’t know about the party?

Hmm….. stay tuned.

2007 = Year Of The Spiral

Last night Josh, Colin and myself patched up the holes in “I Am Death”, a song MADE to play in the car on a first date. Some day I’ll take a screenshot of the song as we work on it – it isn’t pretty. Actually, the visual is as abrasive as the music itself, and we might consider shipping a screenshot along with the song, to give it more punch.

We could also send a few sticks of Egyptian Musk incense, I think that captures the correct olfactory sensation of the song, perhaps mixed with the smell of burning plastic.

Actually, we could go a step further, and send Lugash along with the CD, and he could kick the listener in the crotch at appropriate parts of the song, so they get the full effect.

Anyway, the song is sounding pretty good, and certainly does not sound like it was recorded in a Turkish Prison.