Advent:Doom - Drums

Yesterday began our first day of tracking for Advent: Doom at Assembly Line Studios and what a fantastic start it was! First off, let me introduce the producer: Kevin is his name. Kevin's reputation with metal bands precedes him and we were excited to work with him. From his patience, to his metal knowledge, to his easy going yet professional attitude, everything has proven true. The band connected with Kevin instantly and we were on the roll.

The day started off with a power breakfast, short travel time and a morale speech between Carrion, Eddie, Nihilus and Mace. Unfortunately, Pyr's car had been rear ended on the way up to the studio. No major damage to his car and he is perfectly fine, but it took a bitch load of time to get on and off with his insurance company - so he was unable to attend. Luckily we had taken an ample amount of video and pictures for Pyr and you all to experience some of the action.

Load in was at 1:30pm at the new studio location in Sterling, Virginia. To get things moving in a timely manner, everyone chipped in to set up Mace's rather large drum set. It took 16 mics to encompass his entire set. The experience from countless shows kicked in and we had the drums set up in no time. After that, Kevin had set up the mics and the studio tech, Rich, set up the cables. The air was filled with dry humor and recollecting lines from movies, TV shows and songs. I'll tell you one thing; humor makes shit flow much more efficiently when there's that small connection between newly introduced people. There was a great presence in that room and we were very eager to get the magic going.

For weeks we had practiced to click tracks that Mace & Nihilus created on Cue Base and Mace had replicated his drums on there as well. Luckily the tempo maps and time signatures had transferred with the click midi file into Kevin's Pro Tools. This had cut a whole entire day of work for us. All of the clicks, tempos and time signatures were instantly and correctly lined up and ready to go. We knew it was critical to set up the drums quickly and have premade clicks because we had 20 minutes of detailed songs in one drum session. Even though we had a brutal schedule, Kevin worked with Mace leisurely yet efficiently.

The first song to track was Cacophony Rising. Even though it is our shortest song on Advent: Doom, Cacophony Rising has some of the most complicated tempo changes and drum fills - so Mace felt it was appropriate to record this one first. The thrashy, black metal-esque song breathed the essence of Apothys, and each member had the urge to pick up their instrument and jam along.

Eventually everyone was famished after these songs, so we took a trip to the Wegmans' food court. Conversations of poker, music tracking, recording antics, ensued as we pounded our food in a militant manner. Subsequently, we headed back to the studio in drab skies and stormy weather, which was fitting to the tone of our music.

Venomcrest was next in line. It is impelling how Venomcrest has the guitars slowly roaring in from the distance, ultimately crashing down with the drums in your face into a 19/8 time signature. It truly flows well without convoluting the musical direction. By this time, we knew we had a great session rolling. Take after take, with a few rough patches, proved the unswerving practices we held in prior weeks.

Finally we had reached the last track, Of Writhing Eyes. Since Of Writhing Eyes is by no means a simple song, it stands to reason that it would take a bit longer to track. Mace gave "reason" the finger, mercilessly exercising his intimate knowledge of the song.

It was around 10:30pm when we broke down the drums just as we assembled them - together. Only this time we helped knock down the mics and stands. Soon after, Kevin was in the booth making certain all the tracks were saved, transferring them all to back up devices and what not. Once everything was packed down, locked up and ready to go, we parted with the night's final jokes and handshakes all around on a job well done. Much needed and well deserved sleep was on everyone's minds as we headed to our respective homes, looking forward to day 2 of the Advent: Doom production. And we know you are too, so check back and keep it metal! \m/

~ Apothys