We have officially begun recording for our next full length album. As we previously announced, the next album will be simply a trilogy. An album-length trilogy, that is. For the time being, the songs are referred to as “Part 1”, “Part 2”, and “Part 3”. Fear not, though. All will be revealed in due course. And now, we would like to present the first installment of the Gather, Darkness! Studio Diary:
Day 0
Dave
The ritual of disassembling, cleaning, and re-heading my drums is one that I undertake every so often; whenever Burning Shadows records, I do this to make sure that we have the optimal, cleanest sounding drums to work with. This year, it took way longer than usual, because I’ve added 3 drums to my set. Not all of those are going to show up on the album, given that for consistency reasons we’re only recording with one bass drum, but I figure that if I’m going to one drum, I might as well do them all. We set up in the Halls of Glory, which was a real treat for me because I actually can walk all the way around my drums this time, rather than having to crawl underneath my snare drum to get behind the kit.
When I recorded Into the Primordial in 2006, I was a) underage and b) trapped in a corner. Literally. We recorded at RexRiot studios, and while RexRiot did a great job engineering the drums, the “drum room” was more of a torture chamber than anything else. The drums barely fit inside this little cinderblock closet, and we were recording with only a few mics. Now, for the inaugural drum recording in the Halls of Glory, we have mic’d every tom, including Tom Davy, so you’ll actually be able to hear my tom fills. The fills I play on Tom will only be released on the special, limited edition gatefold, which includes a bonus 2 DVD video version of the album, and is only available by mail order from Japan. Or Rockville.
Also we have a beer fridge now.
Day 1
Recording: Drums for a cover song
Dave
We’re recording a cover of [redacted] for your listening pleasure. Originally, we were planning this for the B-side of a 7” single in which we would perform an original and a cover tune. Scotty, if you’re reading this, we still want to! The drummer who performed the live version of this track is a big inspiration to me; I think you might hear a little bit of Mr. So and So in my performance of this album’s tracks. And now, having successfully proven that I can still play drums after two years in the Desert of No Drums, we’re all set to begin the gross undertaking that is our first concept album.
Tim
Since this album marks the first time we are in full control from start to finish of everything, I suggested we go ahead and record a cover before tracking the album, just to make sure we still know what we are doing. This recording session is also the first time I have tracked drums, as well as the first time I’ve fired up my recording interface to its full potential. The cover ensured we weren’t getting in over our heads, as well as to shake out the cobwebs before getting into the real album. What song did we do? I’m afraid I can’t tell you until it’s time to unleash it upon you!