Happy April fools everyone, I've just been trying to get into the routine of writing these blogs when something happens or comes to mind. It's still a new process for me so bear with me as I may post things a bit late.
Last week, Blood Ceremony revealed the album artwork and announced that pre-orders for their forthcoming album 'The Old Ways Remain' has commenced. This is the bands first album in about 7 years so they've been selling out like hot cakes. As of now I think all pre-orders are close to being filled so if you'd like to try and snag a copy before the completely sell out you can check it out here.
We recorded this album in early 2022 at Halo Studios in Hamilton, Ontario. The bed-tracks were recorded live off the floor through Halo's pristine SSL 4000 console, using their diverse collection of microphones and analog outboard gear. Once the final takes were selected, we transferred the audio to 2" tape via their Studer A80 tape machine for some classic analog warmth and tape compression. It really added a whole other dimension to the tracks that we were lucky to have at our disposal. All other overdubs were recorded digitally without employing any editing or plugins. It was quite liberating to record an album this way, not being hung up on imperfections or relying on technology to fix them. Everything you hear on the album has been meticulously performed and recorded, untouched by digital manipulation. The songs were then sent to the UK to be mixed and mastered by Richard Whittaker and painstakingly scrutinized by the the band and producer Paul Kehayas so ensure the recordings maintained their musical integrity.
The band is currently starting their online album campaign, leaking some behind the scenes photos from the recording sessions as fans eagerly await the May 5th release of the album on Rise Above Records, followed by a UK/Europe Tour with Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats.
I want to thank Sean for trusting me enough to take me on as their engineer, Alia for her professionalism and honesty, Lucas for his vibrancy and easy going attitude, Mike for always having a smile on his face and Paul for being such an open library of musical influences and knowledge, and always being willing to share as well as listen. I also had the pleasure of meeting Laura Bates on these sessions, one of the most accomplished and humble violin players I've yet to meet.
I also want to thank Roman Marcone at Halo Studios for introducing me to Sean and opening the doors for this to happen, Andrew Billone for being a diligent assistant engineer and John Maika for being a studious and attentive assistant.
Last but not least, big shoutout to Jordan Gauthier at YC Drum Company for supplying and shaping the drum sounds to exactly what the band wanted to hear on this record. It makes my job a lot easier when the drums already sound great in the room!
If anyone has any comments or questions about the album, please send them to me via the contact form here.
