Days From Evil

Album Info:

• Produced by Jagged Spiral
• Mastered by Reid Rejsa
• Cover Artwork by J. Stuart Johnson
• Release Date: 2008
• Miku Darkly Records – Some Rights Reserved
• Released under Creative Commons Music Sharing License

The Album Concept:

…I heard the Forced Entry in the dead of night; claws clicking on the floorboards as the thing walked up and down the narrow hallway outside my thin, wooden door…

…how long have we been blind? How long has this Monster existed? Do other people know? I do know this: It isn’t supposed to exist, and killing things that don’t exist, that must be OK.  But I don’t have the strength.  I have to Run…

…I don’t look back, I just drive. I never look back. The world is a blur, but I can still feel it behind me, creeping up like darkness as the sun slips away on the horizon. It’s waiting until nighttime. Even Hallowed Ground can’t save me now. Have to Stay in the Light…

…The car broke down in the middle of nowhere. Running on foot, and not much sunlight left. If it finds me now, there truly is nowhere left for me to run…

…Something on the inside has snapped. I actually heard it break in my mind. There are no other recourses that make sense. Someone has to take a stand. Time to Let It Out…

…To overcome your enemy, you must become like your enemy. You must understand their motives, their actions and reactions. To kill a monster, you must become a monster yourself.  To over come the fear of death, one must become intimate with it. One must become knowledgeable in it. One must become the thing they fear.

The thing is dead, but this is only the beginning. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that this monster might be intelligent, that it might be able to communicate, that there might be…

…others?

Lament takes hold. My God what have I done?

Many of them. MANY. And now they know my name, and they know what I’ve done. News, like blood, spreads quickly…

My decision has been made, and there is no alternative except to continue on the path I have started. I wish I had more hands, so I could hold more weapons. There’s Not Enough Bullets in the world…

The death of me shall be the simple fact that I wrongly assumed there was only one. Of course, in retrospect, it makes sense that if one existed there could be more, but I had no idea. They come in waves now, and each one of them make the one I killed seem like a Girl Scout by comparison. I’m off to die with fragments of The Last Song I will ever hear echoing in my head…

Track One – Forced Entry

Credits:

• Colin- Guitars
• Josh: Percussion
• Zero: Bass, Yelling, Whispering and Maniacal Laughter

Lyrics:

There’s something out there, outside the walls of this place. Hiding in the dark. Waiting. Watching. Planning. Plotting. You can’t see it. Can you feel it? And one day, when the moon is just right, it rises up in the cover of night. It comes around to find, and it comes around to feed. What you thought was real is not real.

It only comes to me at night, and tries to get inside my head, and I sweat with terror and fear as I lie wide awake in my bed. And outside the world goes by, while we go about our lives living the lies. And all this time we thought we knew, but what we thought was real is wrong. And the time is coming to tell, that I’ve been right all along.

Can you see it? Can you feel it? It sees you. It knows where you are, and it’s coming. Can you see it? Can you feel it? Can you feel this?

I’ve been waiting here a long ass time. The scratching at the walls…the crawling on the floor. Listening to it walk up and down the narrow hallway outside my thin wooden door. Somehow, in between the chemical haze of Haldol and Thorazine, I’ll find a way out . Away from that thing. Away from this place. How long have we been blind to the media lies, the thinly disguised silly compromises that feed the fantasy in the back of our minds, and turn us into the very things we despise? We have no right to be surprised when the times call for a hero to rise.

The nightmare isn’t here yet but it’s coming…nothing can keep it out.

Notes:

Forced Entry came from later writing sessions in Summer 2006, somewhen around the time “The Last Song” was coughed up. Once we had pieced together the overall concept of the album, this song adapted quite easily with few lyrical changes. Most of the lyrics for this song I created while driving around, listening to the rough demos. Before this song came along, I used to just stack the newest songs at the beginning of the demo cd burn, because I tend to listen to the newer stuff more often. It seemed a good song to keep as an introduction. It is an evil groove, and reasonable shoegazing music. -Z

Track Two – Monsters

Credits:

• Xtina – Female Argumentor
• Sarah Martin – Backing Vocals
• Teresa Lhotka – Cello
• Colin – Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Programming
• Zero – Male Argumentee, Bass, Vocals, Programming
• Josh – Percussion

Lyrics:

I asked if there were monsters, “there’s no such thing” they said. “There’s nothing inside your closet, or underneath your bed. Now dry your eyes and go back to sleep, it’s all inside your head.” I know they didn’t mean to lie, but I think they were misled.

Can we say it without lying, that there’s nothing in the night? Can we tell the kids there’s no such thing, when we turn out the lights? So when they ask if there are monster, I tell them, “Not for too much longer. Not for too much longer…”

Notes:

Teresa Lhotka adding cello parts to "Monsters"

The song ‘Monsters’ started as a three-chord jam I discovered one day while looking for a moody acoustic piece: D-minor, G-major, A-Minor. It was a powerful progression, and I could hear all sorts of lyrics clamoring inside my head. Excitedly, I played the three chords for Colin, who informed me that I had stumbled onto “Don’t Cry” by Guns-N-Roses. I was disappointed, but also pleased that I hadn’t ended up writing a “Dashboard Confessional” song. With a few adjustments by Colin and a jam session with Josh, we managed to piece together the structure of this song which now bears no resemblance to any G-N-R tune…

The lyrical content was intended to be from the first person perspective from the Hero of our story as a child, and focusing on the day when he grew up to realize that what he had been told about monsters all his life was not true. That they really do exist, and they don’t necessarily want us to believe otherwise.

‘Monsters’ simply wouldn’t be the same without the additional talent we brought in to help us out. Many many thanks to Teresa, who was willing to come into the studio and lay down some cello tracks, and to Xtina, who provided half of the ‘argument’ at the start of the song, which was entirely ad-libbed. Sarah Martin provided backup vocals, and sweetened up the “Ooohs” and “Ahhs”. She did such a great job that we removed my own vocals at the end which previously doubled with hers, and let her voice ring out solo at the end. It sounded much more haunting and beautiful, which was the entire goal of this track. -Z

Track Three – Hallowed Ground

Credits:

• Colin – Guitars
• Josh – Percussion
• Zero – Bass and Vocals

Lyrics:

High speed away from the black. You know there ain’t no coming back. Drive fast as the sun’s sinking down. Hallowed ground will not save me now.

How fast can I fly from the fear? Speed kills but the monster’s getting near. Time flies, and the lights fading out. Hallowed ground will not save me now.

You’ll never be safe sitting still. You got to move once you learn the truth, you got to fly, I think you’ll find that’s where the spirit lies, crashes, burns, dies. I’m all out. Acceleration will take the place of peace and quiet. Adrenaline will take the place of patience. And I’ll hold the pedal to the floor till the engine gives up! To you, who wouldn’t listen, to you who couldn’t see, you’ll get what you deserve! You can’t outrun the darkness! No one can outrun the darkness!

Shadows crawling. Daylight retreating. Darkness feeding on the light I need. Racing for the sun as it falls out of the sky. Hear the clock tock-ticking as the world goes by. I don’t know where I’m going, but I can’t slow down, and Hallowed Ground won’t save me now.

Notes:

“Hallowed Ground” had a bit of a love/hate relationship with the band. We all loved the fast, thrashy energy of the song, but it wasn’t working out, partially because we couldn’t decide where the song should *go* and partially because the lyrics I wrote really weren’t working. We spent an extraordinary amount of time on “Lightning” (the original name of the song), which quickly became the Highest Maintenance / Lowest Payoff song on the album, and we feared that it might not make the album after all our efforts.

I rewrote the melody for the vocals twice, and created four different versions of the chorus. Initially, the verse was simply a chant of four words: “White! Hot! Flat! Black!” Taking a tip from Nirvana and R.E.M (specifically the song ‘It’s The End Of The World As We Know It’) the nonsense I prattled off for the choruses meant nothing, and I thought that was a good thing, because the lyrics could be changed later to fit anywhere into the album concept. Right. Anyway, the first rewrite was just as easily forgotten. The third time, I tried to write something *BIG* and majestic, something truly epic. The result was cheese-tastic. The lyrics had Josh and Colin looking at me strangely: “Stay away from the dark! Hide in the light, in plain sight if you can! Keep moving into the light, at the end of the tunnel of darkness surrounding you!” Weird, I thought to myself, “I AM DEATH!” is Not cheesy? But “Stay Away from the Light” is… figger that one out.

There was no small amount of desperation to save this dying ember from the fire, and finally I asked myself, “What would Lemmy Kilminster do?” The answer was simple: he would cuff me upside the head, and tell me to stop trying to make the song bigger than it is. The first time I heard the guitar part, I said that it was music *made* to get into a high-speed police chase. So, “High Speed, away from the black…” became the first line, and the topic became a chase scene, where the Hero is running away from the monster. The night before we went into the studio to mix the song, I scrapped all the vocals, and let that first line guide the way to the fourth and final rewrite of the song. It got The Spiral Seal Of Approval, and promptly renamed to “Hallowed Ground”. Many listens later, I’m glad we never gave up on the song, because now I think it is quite good. Punchy, thrashy, catchy and contagious – one of those songs that sticks in your head after you listen to it. (Hopefully in a good way…) -Z

Track Four – Run

Credits:

• Colin – Guitars and Programming
• Josh – Percussion
• Zero – Bass, Vocals and Programming

Lyrics:

Hey now not so fast, time to end the game at last. You should know you can’t hide from your past.

All the things you tried to leave behind Lead you here, and now you find, time has come to draw the line. Where is it you think you belong? What’s the point of going on, when everything has come undone? Can’t you see there’s nowhere left to go? Noplace safe here anymore? Nothing left to call a home?

Run with all the strength you have to give. Run like you really wanna live. Run like you know what you’re running for. Run with all the strength you have inside. Run because there’s nowhere to hide. Run to get back to the way things were before.

Can you hear me? Can you see me? Can you feel me coming up behind you? Are you frightened? Can you tell me, How Fast Can You RUN? I wanna know now, what’s it feel like? What’s the fear like, building up inside you? Are you excited? Can you tell me, How Fast Can You RUN?

Hey now not so fast, time to end the game at last. You should know you can’t hide from your past All the things you tried to leave behind lead you here, and now you find time has come to draw the line…

Notes:

This song was originally named ‘Plung’ after the sound effect loop which the song was based on, and was later removed. Original versions of the song ended where the middle of the song is now, (just before the line “Run! With all the strength you have to give…”) Colin was never happy with that ending, he said it was like “turning the porno movie off just before the money shot” It took a while before the rest of the song was flushed out. and even longer before I could fill the extended section with lyrics. Lyrics for the second half of the song were easy to write – Bad lyrics, that is. I changed them several times and I’m not sure I’ll ever be 100% satisfied with them. -Z

Track Five – Let It Out

Credits:

• Yusuf Dervish – Lead Guitar
• Colin – Rhythm Guitars
• Josh – Percussion and Programming
• Zero – Bass and Vocals

Lyrics:

What’s inside me? Tries to drive me? Turn and face you. Time to let it out!

Fever burns me. Hunger turns me. I will bleed you. Time to let it out!

Coming for you. Right behind you. Look in my eyes. Time to let it out!

Notes:

“Let It Out” was the very first song Colin and I finished writing, sometime around the end of 2005, and it was originally called “FightSong1”, and used synthetic drum loops (since we had no drummer at the time). By the time we started working on musical score material for Pray For Daylight, we knew immediately that “Let It Out” would go over the big fight scene at the end of the movie (known to the production crew as “The Wheel of Death”). It’s a song made for getting into fist-fights.

We provided a version of the song to the director, Tony Bruno, who liked it so much he put it in both of the “Pray For Daylight” movie trailers:

Colin’s cousin, Yusuf Dervish, is from ‘across the pond’, and guitarist of the hyper-cool band Nothing Gained. While on a visit here in the States, (and with the death of Dimebag Darrel still fresh in our minds) he picked up the newly-released Dimebag Darrel signature wah pedal. About thirty seconds after taking the pedal out of the box, he had it all dialed in, and was wowing us with his wah-wah. We miked him up and played “Let It Out” for him, and Yusuf took the solo by the horns! The solo is wickedly fast and brutal. We were stunned. I think he did the solo in one take. Maybe two.

Zero playing the Dragon Bass - Weighs as much as a pirateship gangplank, and sounds almost as good

Most of the lyrics for “Let It Out” I wrote in the car on the way to and from work in the Fall of 2005. I would listen to a recording of the song without vocals, and ad lib some lyrics. At the end of one particularly shitty day at work, I started screaming lyrics in the car all the way home at the top of my lungs. By the time I got home, my voice was shot. I went straight from the car into the studio, and belted out some rough (*really* rough) lyric tracks. We spent far too much time trying to improve on the ‘voice’ of the song after that recording. Colin and I each tried several different voices, with several different moods, and in the end we decided that what I had originally recorded was the right voice after all. After the rest of the lyrics were written, I had one hell of a time duplicating the ‘voice’ I had on that particular day. It is frustrating enough to not know what to put in some area, but far more frustrating to know what you want, and continually fail to get it. Even after we thought we had the vocal track ‘locked’, Colin informed me that Jess was hearing the line “Beaver Burns Me…” instead of “Fever Burns Me…”, so we had to record the vocals again…

Track Six – Lament (Part II)

Credits:

• Kristi Bruno – Vocal Solo
• Colin – Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Programming
• Zero – Bass, Vocals and Programming

Lyrics:

With ghosts surrounding here, and memories circling – the past is always clear, I remember everything. And all the things I’ve done, all bleed into one.

I’m the storm that takes away, in a war that I designed. Memories never fade, of the ones I’ve left behind. Was it ‘Kill or Be Killed’ they say? Does it matter anyway?

Can I change the life I lived, and reconcile regret? It’s too late to forgive, and I cannot forget. What have I become?  My God, what have I done?

Notes:

“Lament (Part II)” was the very first song Colin and I started working on together in the Summer of 2005. It started out as the acoustic part Colin had been kicking around. The lyrical subject matter was based on the life of Saveau which he himself related to me one Fall day, as he and I were helping to move Jess and Colin into their new home. Just the small section of Saveau’s story I heard was astonishing, saga-worthy, and not without a healthy twist of remorse. I remember asking whether Saveau thought that he was “good” despite the things he had done. For some reason, I thought the answer to that question would release the lyrics which evaded my tongue for months on end. It didn’t. The life of Saveau is worthy of an entire series of books, and this ode to the voices in his head simply doesn’t do it justice for me.

The original chorus lyric was “In the dark I see them. In the quiet I hear them, and they ask me ‘why?’.” Colin asked me to change the line to “…and they were singing.” The ending on “-ing” was much harder to pull off in such an intricate song without sounding like I had an entire hive of bees up my nose, but Colin thought the words were more haunting. By the end of recording lyrics for the song, we were frustrated enough that Colin had me speak the part aloud instead of singing it; an effective effect, although more accidental than intentional.

It was a great honor to have Kristi Bruno (who played the Uncanny Cassie Banning in the movie “Pray For Daylight”) come into the studio to record vocals for “Lament (Part II)” which would ultimately be used in the movie score. We played the song for her with my vocals finished, and a big open space in the center, backed only by rhythm guitar, and put her on the spot to fill that space with a melody of Ooh’s and Ahh’s. She did a fucking awesome job with it. We were trying to decide whether we liked “Ooh” better than “Aah” or not, when I suggested morphing from “Ooh” to “Ahh” and back. In one take, Kristi laid down a vocal solo that was equal parts sweet, light, and beautiful.

…ah yes, the (Part II) thing. Later sessions of Jagged Spiral writing in 2007 unveiled another song about Saveau, one not quite so…unfurious, and earlier time-wise than this song. Obviously, the two songs were numbered to account for their time relationship to each other, which means you will be hearing a “Lament (Part I)” eventually. -Z

Track Seven – Not Enough Bullets

Credits:

• Colin – Lead Guitar
• Josh – Percussion
• Zero – Rhythm Guitar, Bass, Vocals

Lyrics:

There’s a fire inside that’s lighting my way. It’s a torch for something that was taken away, and it’s burning me up, but that’s OK. There’s a fire inside…and it’s lighting my way. There’s a voice in the darkness that’s calling my name. There’s a path before me, and I can’t turn away, like a moth drawn into a candle’s flame. There’s a voice in the darkness…and its calling my name.

And I won’t stop, each one I put down brings back another piece of this godforsaken town, another piece of my life that I can’t live without, and I wont stop…until the fire is out.

But we can certainly try, if that’s what you’d like – one at a time, get in line…and die.

Notes:

“Bullets” was born during the rough recording of a completely different song (I don’t even remember the other song) when Colin hit the three notes as he was warming up. I just about wet myself. “Um,” I said, punching the Record button, “Could you do that again?”

The next day, the structure and lyrics were finished.

“Not Enough Bullets” was the second song we labeled “Complete”, although the first song, “Let It Out” was not truly complete at the time; it still needed a live drummer to replace the drum loops and there was no bass line, yet these were only formalities, and we proclaimed “Let It Out” to be our first finished track in Dec 2005. “Bullets” was completed (to a ‘cigar’ mix) on 24 January 2006, and used as the theme song for the title credits of “Pray For Daylight”. A rough cut of the first 6 min of the movie including “Not Enough Bullets” was released on the web in Jan 2006. We were quite nervous about our music ‘going public’ and all the legalities involved. Actually, I had nightmares that Dashboard Confessional would steal the song and claim it as their own, hitting number one on the charts, and suing us for copyright infringement, just to spite me for years of ridicule on my blog.

The lyrics for ‘Not Enough Bullets’ spilled out in one single sitting, needing only a separate session of polish to complete. The easiest and fastest set of lyrics I have ever written, and I recorded the bass and rhythm guitars. The original drums were a loop, but Josh came in and lay down some great drum tracks in Dec, amidst a studio swarming with people, including Reid Rejsa who helped mic the drum kit, and Xtina who was intending to do a ‘mocumentary’ of the band, and catching all kinds of strange camera angles at Josh as he was playing. I love how simple the song is: the guitars and bass chug through the same simple pattern, and the thick texture of the different guitars (Les Paul panned left and Fender Strat panned right) really work well together. -Z

Track Eight – I Am Death

Credits:

• Colin – Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Programming
• Josh – Percussion
• Zero – Bass, Vocals and Programming

Lyrics:

I am death. I am shadow. I’m the hangman, waiting in the gallows. I am death. I am steel. I’m the weapon that cannot be concealed. I am death. I am fire. Unsympathetic, glowing object of desire. I am death. I am pain. I’m assassin, who cannot be contained.

I’m the fever burning in you that is tearing you apart. I’m the poison in your bloodstream that will slowly stop your heart. I’m the bullet in the chamber waiting for my chance to run, and I’m staring at your temple down the barrel of a gun.

Nothing can touch me. Nothing can save me. Nothing can stop me, I am death. Soon you will see me. Soon you will know me. Soon you will meet me, I am death.

I’m the noose around your neck that holds your body off the ground. I’m the weight under the water that pulls you down.

Notes:

Definitely a song to play in the car on your first date. This song was written in manic bursts of creativity, with long periods of immolation between. Like the other songs written before Josh came on board, the guitars and vocals were originally laid down to looped percussion tracks (not too different from a click track, really) and we had Josh replace the loops with live drums. I’ll never forget that Josh pulled off some killer drum tracks for I Am Death, and *then* Colin and I decided to expand the end section, and ended up cutting/looping Josh’s drum tracks. We would later have him back in to re-record to the edited version, which required no small amount of apologies so that he wouldn’t cut and loop Colin and myself.

This song appears over the end credits of “Pray For Daylight”. The mechanical chugging of guitars in this track always make me think of the cold-blooded assassin-machine Syria, the character who inspired the line, “I am death, I am fire; unsympathetic glowing object of desire”. -Z

Track Nine – The Last Song

Credits:

• Colin – Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Vocals, and Programming
• Josh – Percussion, Vocals and Programming
• Zero – Bass, Vocals and Programming

Lyrics:

Smoke, rising from the ashes. Repercussions of our actions. Moving in formation across the battlefield. Blood fills our footsteps, fills up our bellies. Never tire, we never hunger, never die, we never yield. We don’t stop for bearings or directions, instructions or corrections – leveling the mountains, burning up the woods. Nothing here can stop us. I wish that something could. We leave nothing, turning everything to darkness, spreading like a cancer across the countryside. You ask us for mercy? Death will be the answer. Nowhere you can run. Noplace you can hide. Noplace you can hide.

All your bullets and your blades, all your rifles and grenades, all your soldiers and crusades, they won’t stop us. All your weapons and your hate, all your crosses and your faith, all your fancy armor plate, they won’t stop us. Genocide is our religion, we will hunt you to extinction. You aren’t even competition. You can’t stop us. We will hunt you by the tens, by the hundreds and the thousands. You cant stop us.

Do you think that you can win? Do you know what you have done? You may think you stopped the nightmare, but it’s only just begun. Now the battle line is crossed, and the Fates are being cast, and a thousand more just like us are rising from the ash. Don’t you even think of hiding, you aren’t running very far. We’ll be bathing in your blood by light of dying stars, because now we know your weakness, and we know where you are.

Notes:

This song is mighty epic, and should pretty much define the genre of ‘Northern Metal’: Standard ‘E’ tuning, theme of troops going off to war in the grand finale of good against evil. A little marching, some wind and thunder effects, and volia! The idea for transitioning the end into an acoustic piece was stolen from Guns N Roses ‘Double-Talkin Jive’ and I think it worked really well.

Lyric writing was difficult because there are so fucking many lines to fill, it was like writing a gorram book. A book that rhymed. Dr Seuss I Aint, but I’m not displeased with the results.

In order to pull off a pseudo-dialog between the Hero and the Monster, we worked on different effects and vocal stylings for each. It just so happened that Josh stopped by while we were recording, and we put him on the spot to perform the voice of the Hero. He pulled some killer vox in one take (The chorus “Destroy me? Just try me…”). Colin’s ‘scratch’ track “War may take me down” ended up being a keeper as well. This would be the only track on Days From Evil where Colin sings, and the only track you will hear the three of us singing together, something we really enjoyed, and hopefully we can work on more in future recordings, while hopefully NOT sounding like Def Leppard. -Z