Sunday, August 21, 2011

Smooth Sailing

Although I'm a week late on my post, it still feels like just yesterday I was in the booth screaming my lungs out...

I was naturally a bit nervous going into this recording since there was a lot to prove to myself and to anyone who might actually give a fuck about this album... As I've previously stated, I was a "recording virgin" just about a year ago when we recorded the 2 song demo. Therefore, that was my only bit of material to compare myself to and to try and outshine...

I felt some pressure in the beginning simply because everyone else had obviously already done their part. I felt that everyone was waiting on me to do what I had to do and I couldn't help but feel apprehensive... It's always odd for me when it comes to feedback, for I feel noone else in the room could possibly feel what I feel when I "perform" my vocals...

Dave is an amazing engineer and musician, but I always laugh to myself when I find myself wondering "What the fuck could he possibly be thinking about my vocal parts right now?!"... The guy spent the past 3 and a half weeks getting to know and love the drums/riffs/solos to 10 amazing tracks and in just 3 days I come in and growl/scream over all these beautiful parts!

I definitely went for a more old school BRUTAL approach for this album since that's what I had originally intended when recording the demo.... Like everyone else in the band,  I had something to prove to myself when comparing to the demo and I really gave it my all to live down any flaws or insecurities I felt last year...

I finished all 10 songs last week and was extremely pleased with the finishing product. I know that the old school death metal fans will appreciate this album as well as the new school and younger generations...

Dave will begin edits next week and we will be entering the mix/mastering process shortly after... Also,  I have begun the editing on the "in studio" trailer/bio for the album and it's already coming along SICK! It will be ready in a couple days... Please stay tuned. You don't want to miss this...

"The Arcane Divisions Confine Us All"

-Tim

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

A reflection...

Only one day of recording left and never would I have thought that playing my instrument for hours on end would have me feeling so stressed and genuinely fatigued. Nonetheless, what a great experience it has been overall, working with Dave, living at Tim’s house, Frank’s bothersome head-shake (makes me laugh every time), and seeing all the songs come to life, was truly worth every ounce of inconvenience I’ve had to endure for the past two weeks. I put as much energy and power into every performance, because I wanted to top anything the public had heard prior (i.e. the demo). Both songs Awakening Reprisal and Deceiver both received much attention during the recording process, with me trying to amplify the effects of the demo tenfold. I wanted a stronger tone, improved solos, and an overall rawer feel to the rhythm playing and sure enough, we were able to accomplish that. But I approached each track with a certain aggression, as if I wouldn’t be satisfied unless it sounded as crushing and brutal as possible, which ensured a much noticeable heavier sound. This album does hold a lot of surprises too, in the form of supped up solos. I went all out on the solos for this album, from adding new welcome additions like harmonies and counter-point melodies, to crafting a way sicker tone that I knew I would be proud of (as compared to the solo tone on the demo, which always bothered me). There is even a neat little “guitar battle” on one of the tracks, between Alonso and I. I’m sure you guys will know which song I’m talking about when we release the album, maybe you can even judge the winner, hopefully it’s me (hahaha). As I approach my final day in the studio, which is this Friday, I can reflect on how enjoyable of an experience this has actually been. Working with Dave, makes the studio a breeze for me, he and I can joke around the entire time, yet still buckle down to get a lot of work done. Frank and Mike, it was great to see those guys for the past two weeks, since I barely get to see them, since we live three hours away from each other. Frank and I may have argued a lot over certain things during recording, but I think overall, it helped create a much solid album, basically blending our ideas together to create much more powerful tracks. Friday, we go in, and finish whatever needs to be done, fix any small errors, and secure a tight album. Other than that, I look forward to releasing this album, with every intention of whopping some ass. Legionary’s first album, my own very first recorded album, I’m sure as hell ready for whatever comes next...


-Tony

Friday, July 22, 2011

A Face For A Name



And so our debut album finally has a brilliant work of art to represent it... This masterpiece was created by Texas tattoo artist, album cover artist, and death metal vocalist (Sarcolytic) Jon Zig. The route chosen for this making this piece was the same route taken for our music and band as a whole; To grasp the old school and embed our own LEGIONARY life into it... We are resurrecting a lost form of extreme music in a way that hasn't been done before. This artwork marks the beginning of our next journey of completing this album and getting it out to as many people as we possibly can... Recording proceeds on Monday when Mr. Barhoum begins the shred session... Stick around...

-The Legion

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Moving Forth...

So day 3 at Little Door has lapsed and we can't be more satisfied with what has happened thus far... Frank managed to complete the other 5 songs during yesterday's session which is just pure insanity... 10 songs of intense caliper on the drums in just 2 days. I was blown back just watching from the sidelines...

Mike took the throne this afternoon and finished the bass tracks on the first 4 songs in just a few hours. The tone Mike and Dave achieved for the bass seriously CRUSHES the demo, which was the idea... We were running late this afternoon and also cut out a bit early which is the only reason for not covering more ground this time around... Mike will be wrapping up the remaining tracks either tomorrow or Friday morning and it's really coming along awesome.

We're going to take next week off so that Dave can edit the drums and bass and have it ready for Tony and Alonso the following week. Everyone is far more than content and even more than excited about what's to come... We truly hope there are some people out there as exhilarated as we are for this album and the build up leading to it's release...

I have been filming/documenting our every step during this entire process and I will be compiling the footage for a short documentary upon the finishing of the album. I plan on making some short teasers/webisodes in the mean time, so keep on the look out for that...

The planets are aligned and it's time again...


-Tim

Monday, July 11, 2011

Day 1 : The Recording Begins!

It's been 4 long years, but finally, the first Legionary album is officially underway. As the drummer, I begin the long grueling process, and I'm expected to lay down 10 tight drum tracks as a guide for everyone else in the band. As far as how today went... It couldn't have gone any better! Even though I literally got no sleep whatsoever last night (because I was so excited to get this thing started haha), I still recorded drums to 5 of the 10 tracks. By the end of the day, my body was sore, but the results were most certainly there. The drum tones we achieved this time around are far superior to the ones we had on our two song demo last year, and I can't wait for people to hear this. Dave Andronico does an excellent job making the recording process easy on all of us, and we're all glad to be working with him again.

In other news... We took lots of video footage and pics that will surely be posted up over the next few days/weeks. "Arcane Divisions" has just begun, and we're already very excited, and very anxious for people to hear this album. We feel that this album will be one of the biggest surprises of 2011, not only locally, but in the metal world. I'll be going back to track more drums tomorrow, so stay tuned!

- Frank

Friday, July 1, 2011

Anticipation

So earlier this week, Frank and Mike visited Dave over at Little Door to set up the click tracks, tempos, and time signatures for all 10 tracks. Even with just one foot in the door, the excitement has already began to sink in for all of us...

It seems that we all have a child like adoration for studio time. Tony and myself were recording virgins during the process of creating the demo last summer with Dave but the experience was definitely far from painful. For a group of dudes who had only met about a month earlier, it was actually an extremely satisfying and awesome time for all of us... Everyone expects a bit more stress doing 10 songs since we happen to be 5 of the most obnoxious perfectionists when it comes to this music stuff, but that's quite alright!

Frank will be bringing his drum set by the studio some time this weekend so that everything will be ready for him to begin recording drums on the 11th... The way things are looking at the moment, we would HOPEFULLY be finishing up all recording by the first week of August before handing the tracks over to Frank's uncle "The digital doctor" for the mixing/mastering process... Now we have the very painful task of waiting to get started on this beast!

In other news, I drove down to the South Jersey Atlantic City area the other day to meet up with Tony and Alonso to get some promo pictures down for the album. For those who don't know, our guitarists both live at the Southern most point of NJ, I live way up North only 10 minutes outside of NYC, while Frank and Mike live over one hour North of me in the Bronx! That's why when we say "Tri-State Death Thrash", we mean that shit! It's a pain in the ass when it comes to shows, practice, or even the recording but it's worth the distance to all be working together. We have a lot of love and respect for each other in this band!

Anyway, the pictures came out awesome and I will be doing the same for Frank and Mike next week in the Bronx. We're going to show some hometown love with these pictures to help get a better grasp of how far we've come to make all this happen... It's all symbolic and artsy and it's gonna be sick!

Speaking of sick art... The album art has been under way for some time now and will be revealed shortly... So get ready to be astonished! That's all we have to report for now people. Thanks for taking the time to read our little blog here. We will be in touch!

-Tim