Haha, thank ye kindly !

The last two months have been rather odd for me musically. Just as my main band was looking to expand our lineup, the drummer leaves us high and dry for another band and cancels the shows that we had booked in December and January. He then gets the guitarist to join said band and while the guitarist wanted to do both bands, ours is in an indefinite hold since he understandably can't afford to drive out an hour and back for two bands' practices every week. So I've auditioned for a couple bands since then and am contemplating what to do with the songs that we had ready for an album among others. At least one audition is still pending but I may be doing some live bass for a former bandmate's power metal group and we're thinking about starting another doom project started at some point in the near future.

On the bright side, I did manage to get some songwriting done for the first time in months and have written two new songs since last night. They're both in a groove metal style but it's the first time I've written anything in C tuning and they kinda remind me of Cleansing-era Prong or Fight in some ways.

it's been pretty cold lately so I haven't done shit.

Currently writing a sick disco/soul song with a bunch of loops. Really digging it.

I've been writing some heavy metal riffs akin to Agent Steel, Manilla Road, with some classically picked passages to add atmosphere a lot like the latter. Also have galloping riffs similar to Darkthrone and Primordial, with a heavy metal approach. Some black metal riffs are poking their noses into the process as well, of both the fast blister-speed and cold Scandinavian chord variety, a la Immortal. I like trying to piece everything together so I'm not sure if I'll integrate the BM riffs or ignore them for the time being. I'm pretty positive I don't want to write solely BM songs, I get bored of that. At any rate, I'm busy so progress is slow, but there are some ideas I'm happy with in the works. Should be interesting.

Vocally I've been practicing a lot of stuff. I experience less breaks once I sing higher which is cool. I also managed to use the whistle register but I really lack control up there. Seems like my highest note is an awful E6 or so.

With my guitar I'm currently using this program called ''guitar scales method'' that my guitar teacher recommended.

Same old shit really. Write stuff off and on, try to find people to record.

This is the song I made last night. It was completely spontaneous but I really enjoy it and can it kind of challenged me to think differently composing it.

More drums have been written for Blasphegram. Best way to describe them stylistically is think of if old Sepultura had blasting in it.

I just finished an album, it's up in the promotional forum. Here is the link though http://carbonizedgnawingmandible.bandca ... the-elders

I'm probably going to write a new Death Witch song. One that's a bit longer, but more violent. Probably in the Leviathan vein.

Wrote another song for Pentu and I definitely keep "writing" better stuff. Just a lot harsher and definitely more focused on atmosphere and ambience then just pure noise.

I wrote out a drum interpretation of To Die For from the score of The Lion King. It's the piece that plays during the stampede scene. There are so many odd times changes in this.

Starting a southern rock side project with two friends of mine, and I think it's gonna be a really fun thing. We want to go for a super nasty, gritty, sound that's going to leave the listener with the taste of whiskey in their mouth, and the scent of smoke in the air. So far it looks like I'll be doing vocals, guitar, and writting all of the music. This will be an awesome challenge for me.

In the midst of writing one of my best songs so far! It's 7+ minutes, and it's an atmospheric-sounding track. It's a 70/30 mix of black metal and gothic-esque metal. I like to call it dark metal because the lyrics are not gothic as I see it.

If all goes well, it will be on an upcoming black metal compilation CD...

Production on Hollow's first demo EP Requiem is going under way. The lineup of this recording will be

Myself: Vocals
Feigr of Hitaheglir: All instruments

Who knows when we'll have it finished and out, but I'm just happy and glad to say that it's on it's way.

A few of the newest rough mixes for the new Sorrowseed album came in today. I'm really liking the direction it's going sound wise. I showed our producer Frost by Enslaved and Pure Holocaust by Immortal as reference points for a drum mix, and he worked that reverb heavy, late 80s to mid 90s sound in there perfectly. Sounds like something that actually did come out of 1992 production wise.

Have recorded two songs for a CD release, its pretty Lo Fi and minimal but has turned out okay. These are old songs that I have been working on for some time now, and have made numerous changes to the lyrics and music so it has been quite a long process. Previously I have worked with video which is good but my main goal was to do some audio stuff. Just some logistical things so sort out then I can release it.

Currently not producing any original metal music. I am working hard on a concept album with my folk/indie band, which follows the story of a boy growing up after a nuclear apocalypse. With luck, I'll have some rudimentary recordings up soon.

Atragon have managed to land a support slot with Grand Magus next month. I am quite okay with this.

Practicing my ass off for guitar recording next week. Here's a tip to get your playing from liveshow-good to recording-good: restart the whole entire song the moment you make a mistake. Not just flubbed notes or messing up the structure, but anything at all that isn't 100% perfect. Even if it's the very last note of the song, and you missed a pinch harmonic because your thumb was sweaty and causing your pick to slide out of position. Restart the whole damn thing and do it again perfect.

I'm on a musical break for a couple of months to finish my thesis and coincidently, my Les Paul stopped to sound altogether - looks like the pickups are dead. So, I'm planning to get a new guitar after the thesis is done and start the recordings for the Forestfather full-length, since there's music already written for at least 2 discs.

Still, I pick my acoustic guitar (like 30 min per week) and some stuff comes, but yesterday I picked the dead guitar and did like half of a death metal song for Vahset. It reminds me to later Immolation on the fastest moments; there's a slow interlude which sounds totally doom/death. Damn, I hope to be back to business soon!

Well if you are recording they can just record over the part you fucked up on. You don't have to be perfect. If you can get it right the first time that's awesome but starting the whole thing over will waste so much studio time. And if you are paying for it you want to get as much done as soon as you can.

Right now i'm in a black metal/gothic band named Belial handing some of the vocal duties, For my own projects, i've been focusing on electronica and ambient works. My first album i put on bandcamp yesterday:http://etherealfrequencies.bandcamp.com/ Once Belial gets going i'll have stuff with that being done

Korg has re-created their classic MS-20 and I am going to buy the fuck out of it.

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2013/01/k ... nual-pics/

Later today I'll be recording demo tracks for my band's material so far. It's about 35 or so minutes of death metal between me (drums) vocals, an electric violin, and some synths that we'll write after we get everything done. We're gonna splice parts of songs together similar to what Gorguts did for their new album because pretty soon we'll be going to a studio do at least the drums so it will sound better than an sm57 in a concrete basement. I'll post a link here in a couple days or so.

Oh no I meant when PRACTICING for recording dude haha. If you can play it once through at home flawlessly, it will make recording much faster and you don't have to edit stuff to make it sound more and more fake.

Recorded some guitars yesterday with Mesa Roadster and one Shure SM57. Even with the shit acoustics of our rehearsal space, the guitars sound enormous. There's also a bass recorded with the SM57, and again the sound is massive, aswell as another guitar with the SM57 and a couple of other mics through an ENGL Screamer combo.

Sadly the mics didn't really capture the sound of the Screamer as well as the Roadster.

Well didn't do much over the entire week since I was getting back to my regular routine of my workout... anyway over the week i managed to do 4 vocal tracks for Draug's full length upcoming.

Sat. had a band practice... long time since I had a band practice and even longer since it was a full band (meaning 2 guitarists, bassist, singer) Took the song I wrote and we added plenty more opposing guitar and bass lines so now it sounds so much better than the original skeleton. Pretty much was able to sit back behind the drumkit and focus on actually just writting drumlines and well composing the song as a whole like a conductor. Everyone is happy with how shit is going thus far and I already have some material ready for the next song. So hopefully next practice we can finalize the timing and perfect playing it through.

Goat Martyr is coming together painfully slowly. I've got 2 1/2 songs done (currently working on another one as we speak, it sounds...alright. If I come up with something better I'll chuck this one) and so far it's just me and two other dudes. One of us is the lead vocalist, I'm the bass player and backing vocalist (main songwriter as well) and the other dude's probably going to end up doing rhythm guitar.
I've also been reading some occult texts to help me with lyric writing since I already know a great deal about Satanism and Luciferianism (since I myself somewhat fall on the LHP, although I'm an atheist as well). I'd rather my lyrics aren't the generic, Dark Funeral satanic stuff. I chucked most my previous lyrical experiments, too.

my band merihim has yet to come out of its writers block. we havent made a song in over 4 months. we have several started but unfinished

time to fire everyone

Just released a full length album today, black sun rising. It's got my new logo on it and I'm really happy with the album overall. If anyone wants to hear it, it's here:
http://onlyashadowremains.bandcamp.com/ ... sun-rising
I also took one of my songs for the grindcore challenge and started making it into a full length song, since I liked the riffs so much. I think I finally got my SM57 in the right place on my cab, so I started tracking some songs for my next album. And I wrote another grindcore song and decided to name it "punched in the prolapsed rectum", hahaha. Oh yeah and divorces take forever, even in california. Minimum of 6 months. Fucking fuck.

actually really liking that black sun rising album and I normally don't give a shit about stuff that's more melodic but this is just the right amount of good meaty riffs and then more subtle not gay happy melody.

release it on cd

good luck with your divorce... ugh on that.

Anyone have any experience to share on how the SM58 holds up compared to the SM58 Beta for recording vocals?

Woot, I'm an official member of a band I started out as a huge fan of, here's a review of the first album I appear on

http://www.lesstalkrecords.com/grindcore/?p=3800

Finally got my SR-16 and (re)learning how to use it. Fixed the latency issues I was having in Ableton and now I'm just arranging and multi-tracking my first new song. Really wish I could just write and record in a studio instead of at home, but oh well...

That's kinda the sound that I'm going for, melodic but not too much. Somewhere between death metal and melodic death. My next album will probably be a little heavier, but still keep roughly that amount of melodic stuff. I just need to design the back and inner covers and I'll do a CD release. Overall I'm really happy with this album though. I think it really captures my natural playing style. THanks for the best wishes. At least I was able to use the divorce as lyrical inspiration for the song a choice of darkness, haha. So hey, I got one good thing out of it.

damn, that sucks. The songs you've written so far (especially Oath of Obedience) have been on repeat on my iPod for quite a while now along with bands like Marduk and Belphegor lol. I actually really like the band.
I wish I could help in some way but I'm all the way up north.

Had Controlled by Fear practice and our bass player couldn't practice so we played as a 3-piece and sounded good. Going to write 3-4 more songs and start playing shows. Our vocalist wants us to be chaotic and grindy powerviolence and the drummer and I are more into crusty death metal/grindcore. Either way we are going to focus more on songwriting then on how we sound. The comp we are on is coming out in probably a month so I'm excited.