Joining us will be our brothers in ABSOLUTE VENGEANCE, who will also be releasing their new CD, Birth of Pestilence.

As if that wasn’t enough pure poserslaughter, the almighty cowled warriors of DETHLEHEM from Pittsburgh, PA will join in our victory! Check out their music video for “Circle of Deth” below.

Click here for the Facebook event page.

Gather, Darkness! is available for pre-order in our Web Shop and on the Burning Shadows Bandcamp page. This massive work is a concept album based on Fritz Leiber’s post-apocalyptic novel of the same name. It is comprised of three epic songs preceded by a full orchestral overture. It will be available at all the mightiest online media outlets including iTunes and Amazon beginning June 2nd.

Gather, Darkness!, was mixed by Kyle Paradis of New Alliance Audio Productions in Cambridge, MA. We sat down with him (500 miles away) to discuss the work he did on the album and about music in general.

What is your background/training in recording?

I’ve been an audio engineer from quite some time now. I received my Bachelor of Science Degree in Audio and Media Technology in December of 2010 from the New England Institute of Art in Brookline, MA. I have been a freelance engineer based out of New Alliance Audio Productions in Cambridge, MA since 2010. In addition to engineering, I have been a bass player for the last 12 years. I’m currently the bass player for a rock band based in Beverly, called I Was Awake.

Metal: great music or the greatest music?

Funny you should ask. In my humble opinion, metal is both the best, and worst genre of music in the world. Metal has given us some truly groundbreaking bands like Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Blind Guardian; but it’s also given us a far greater number of terrible bands like Attack Attack!

What was the biggest challenge working with a band long-distance?

Communication. When working with a band 500 miles away, you have to work via email. When working with a band in the studio, I can get talk with the band face to face, and make any decisions and changes in real time, with no guess work involved, as the band is there to let me know what sounds right. Working via email is a much more drawn out process. The mixing process would consist of me uploading mixes online, and then waiting on feedback
before I would make any changes, some of which involve a lot of guesswork and my own interpretation of what the band wants (example: lead guitar louder…do i turn it up 3db? 6? 9?) A mix decision that normally takes 5 minutes can take a couple of days, depending on how quickly the band gets back to and I make the change and throw it up online. On the other hand, working via email offers a level of comfort I am not usually afforded. I can make decisions in a room by myself, without any distractions that sometimes come with having the whole band in the studio. It’s a double edged sword.

What was the easiest aspect of mixing Gather, Darkness!?

The easiest part was definitely the overall performance aspect. Whenever I am tasked to mix an album I did not track*, I always worry about the performances I am to work with. Luckily, the performances I received were extremely tight, in tune, and in key, which isn’t always the case. I didn’t have to spend time aligning drum tracks, tuning vocals, fixing guitar edits, etc; and I was able to start mixing right off the bat.

*Gather, Darkness! was tracked in Burning Shadows’ studio, The Halls of Glory.

Which song overall was the most challenging and why?

“Breaking the Sanctuary” was challenging, primarily because of the outro. In the outro, you have the drums playing a lot of fills, bass, 2 rhythm guitars, 4 lead guitars playing complimentary lines which all need to be heard in some way, plus a choir, strings, and orchestra tracks. Being the grand finale of the album, this needed to be the biggest sounding section of the album, but I needed everything to be heard without obscuring everything else. It took a while, but I feel I got everything to punch through as intended.

If some other band out there wants their album to melt faces off, too, how can they get started working with you?

The best way to get in touch with me is through email: kylestevenparadis{at}gmail.com.

BEHOLD! The next Burning Shadows album, Gather, Darkness! will be available June 2, 2012! Pre-order Gather, Darkness!  here: http://burningshadows.bandcamp.com/

Gather, Darkness! is inspired by and named after the seminal science fiction novel by legendary author Fritz Leiber. This concept album is comprised of eleven tracks, divided into four distinct, tightly woven sections that unfold the story.

The cover was designed by JP Fournier, who has created such iconic metal album covers as Avantasia’s Metal Opera Pt. II,  DragonForce’s Valley of the Damned, multiple Edguy albums, Immortal’s At the Heart of Winter, and many more.

JP also designed the entire artwork for the CD release of the album, which includes full-color art throughout and an 8-page booklet.

More information about the album can be found here.

Spencehammer

When I set out to write an orchestral introduction to the album, I had a clear idea of whom I wanted to rip-off.  Týr’s introduction to Ragnarok is a beautiful synthesis of the many melodic themes on that album.  Since Greg [the main songwriter of the rest of the album] had provided me with a wealth of melody with which to work, I had ample material for variation.

Often when I’m at work, or during a boring conversation, I’ll be listening to music in my head.  Sometimes, I’ll run across some gaps in my memory, so I’ll just make up an appropriate part to go in place of that which I’ve forgotten.  Other times, I’ll just add stuff in.  This is essentially what I did during the process of writing “Hymn To Sathanas” (which I always think of in my head as “Intro A Sathanas”); I took main thematic elements from each part of the album plus variations on what I thought those themes were (it gets loud at practice and I can’t always hear right), and wove them together into an epic, 4 minute overture.

So I have this sheet music, all composed and ready to go, but an orchestra of around 60 players is hard to throw together.  This is where Tim [Regan, Burning Shadows guitarist and recording engineer] and Kyle [Paradis, who mixed the album] step in to save the day.  Through exhaustive (insert technical something) and using (wires? Engineers?) they came up with appropriately epic patches for the Savage Philharmonic’s* debut performance.

As a drummer, I’ve always dreamed of making myself obsolete by recording samples of all my percussion equipment so that I can just synthesize it and get replaced by RVG’s drummer [RVG is a drummerless zombie metal band].  The sad truth is that this will never happen because 1. I’m far too lazy and 2. MIDI percussion sounds cheesy.  So, to avoid cheesing up “Hymn To Sathanas”, I decided that we needed live percussion (or at least live unpitched percussion…except for the gong.)  Gregory “Paukenfaust” Mueller stepped in and recorded a phenomenal bass drum part, as well as other section instruments.  I handled snare drum and, of course, triangle.  Kirk, we’ll get you on the next one.

Finally, once all the recording and MIDI selection and Kyle’s tireless mixing efforts were complete, we sat down to play “Hymn To Sathanas” directly into “A Thousand Lies”, as is intended…and realized that it was in the wrong key by a half-step.  So, Tim proudly donned the Hero’s Headphones, tweaked a bunch of stuff that I don’t understand and sent it off to Kyle for yet another mix.  Kyle equipped himself, I can only imagine, with the Mace of Mixing and beat the tune into submission.  So now, over a year after beginning recording sessions on this album, the music is at long last mixed and ready for mastering.  I can happily admit that the delay will be well worth it in the end.

*Savage Philharmonic name subject to change.  The Savage Philharmonic is now holding auditions for all positions.

The Oathbreaker EP has been rereleased with a new cover (and of course the new logo). Those who previously downloaded the EP are advised to open up iTunes and crush the memory of the old cover with the power and might of the new cover using the following procedure:

• With a fierce battle cry, right-click on the new cover, select Copy.
• In iTunes, select all the Oathbreaker EP tracks, right-click, and select Get Info. Raise thy fist into the air.
• In the square Artwork box, right-click and select Paste. Hit OK. Blast the Oathbreaker EP at full volume.
• Drink an ale in victory.

Users of other programs are advised to follow their manufacturer’s instructions for crushing the memory of former album covers, but the final step listed above still applies. The new Oathbreaker cover is being disseminated across the land and to all the digital music services as we speak. We expect full domination of the new cover within a month.

We will be announcing more details about the forthcoming full-length album in the upcoming months. The Studio Diary shall continue very soon, as well. Finally, we have several shows in Maryland booked, as you can see towards the top right of the new BurningShadows.com. We expect you all to be in attendance. Until then, farewell!

Since the departure of former bassist Aaron El-Zeftawy, Burning Shadows has searched for a new bassist. When the bassist search turned up nothing, the decision was made to find a live guitarist instead and move Tim Regan to play bass live. “The studio side of the band was fine, but the live show has been suffering without a bassist,” says guitarist/bassist Tim Regan. “Matt already knew a lot of the songs, has the face-melting capabilities we need onstage, and we are good friends with him, so he was the first person we asked when the decision was made.”

Burning Shadows is continuing to search for a permanent bassist.

Below, Matt Ibach performs Saxon’s “Power and the Glory” with October 31 at Defenders of the Old Fest 2:

Facebook Event Page

Show info:

• Artist: Burning Shadows
• Date: Thursday, November 17th 2011
• Time: 9:00pm
• City: Burning Shadows in Baltimore, MD
• Venue: Sidebar Tavern
• Address: 218 E. Lexington Street
• Country: United States
• Age restrictions: 18+
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

Day 20

Recording: Additional Drums, Keyboards

Tim

Drums? Did you do that forever ago? Yes. Yes, we did. The drums at the very beginning of the album simply weren’t thunderous enough, it was decided. So, we added 4 more layers of booming toms. There are something like 20 tracks of drums at the beginning now. You’re welcome.

As for the keyboards, this is one of the most interesting parts of recording. We generally don’t have anything entirely specific in mind for keyboards when we get ready to record an album. Dave has an incredible ear for this, thanks to his conservatory training. We added keyboards in wherever they fit. We definitely don’t try to shoehorn them into passages they don’t belong.

The amount of keyboards as the album progresses is the opposite of the background vocals. There are more keyboards as time goes on. I like to think of it as our protagonist lifting the veil and crushing the powers that be as he gains power and purpose.

As we were wrapping up, we stumbled upon two fantastic patches that fit perfectly at the very end of the album. One was a tremolo orchestra patch. Clearly this was perfect for the final note of the album. As for the other patch, you’ll just have to listen for it, also at the end of Part III. I will divulge that it was found under the “orchestral percussion” patch.

Day 19

Recording: Background Vocals

Tim

This recording session was one of the easiest we have had. Background vocals are scattered here and there on the album, but Tom had already laid most of the groundwork during the lead vocal recording sessions. We doubled some of Tom’s harmonies with Greg (pictured above), we doubled some more of Tom’s part with Tom, and of course I did my patented say-one-word-gruffly-so-I-can-get-a-vocal-credit-on-the-album move. Listen for it in Part II.

As the album progresses, the amount of diverse background vocals decreases. This was unintentional, but in terms of the story, it makes perfect sense, almost as if we planned it. (As the album progresses, the protagonist realizes the plight of the many and takes it upon himself to topple the Hierarchy.) The variation of the background vocals becomes less as you listen, but the complexity of Tom’s harmonies becomes much greater. It’s really a neat effect.

Day 17

Recording: Greg’s backing vocals

Greg

$2.49 Swedish meatballs and lingonberry sauce at Ikea? Best recording session so far.

Tim

Tom had fallen ill with the plague, so we laid down some backing vocals for Part 1 so as not to waste a day. Of course backing vocals never take as long as lead vocals, so we had plenty of time to journey to our local Ikea and feast upon Swedish meatballs of victory!

Day 18

Recording: Lead Vocals

Tim

Tom, having recently conquered the plague, returned to the vocal chamber with a vengeance! We started with Part 3, which has a vast “clean” part in it. These would require the best tone, so we laid down the vocals for this before the hours of epic intensity to come later had taken their toll on Tom’s tone. Part 3 also involves a large Choir of Tom later in the song. To his disbelief I insisted on recording many layered tracks of vocals in this part. We’re not on the level of Blind Guardian’s A Night at the Opera, but it is in reach. The end of the song and album involves a large crescendo starting with just Tom and a clean guitar, and ending in all out armies of sonic destruction. We spent a while on this part, as nailing this part would be important to tie the entire disc together.

After a refreshing lunch at a local establishment, we wrapped the up the day churning out Part 2. Paradoxically, Part 2 is simultaneously the longest song on the album and the one with the least vocals. The vocal parts are rather straightforward in a Primal Fear sort of way. There is quite a bit of variation stylistically in this song, as well, but not on the level of Part 3.