Mechanization Album Journal: Kenosis

Kenosis Album Release Party

2011-02-15T12:19:00.000-08:00

Please join us: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=199448710068233

What this album needs, is more...

2010-12-30T07:37:00.000-08:00

HMT and I will be in the studio today doing some final production on Kenosis. We're getting very close to finishing this work of art. Our goal was to have it ready by the 2011 NAMM Show, but I don't think we'll make it. We still have to do mixing/mastering/replication, and those steps will undoubtedly take a few weeks.

More to follow...

Kenosis Album Update

2010-05-22T12:47:00.000-07:00

Terrorence takes a moment of studio time to go over a few things on the upcoming Mechanization album "Kenosis" and gives a pre-mix & pre-master sneak preview of "Medieval War Song".

Kenosis

2010-05-21T14:33:00.000-07:00

Dan Swanö, legendary metal artist and world renowned metal producer, just agreed to master the upcoming Mechanization album “Kenosis”. Although we’re still in the process of laying down vocal tracks and adding finishing touches to the album, we are excited beyond belief to hear that Dan is interested in working with us.

To better understand our excitement, click here for a preview of some of Dan’s experience!

The throat is starting to warm up....

2010-03-11T15:11:00.000-08:00

Terrorence here for a quick album update and introspective reflection.

Today I finished vocals for "Burning Shadows." This was among the tougher songs for me because the chorus riff is so catchy that I almost felt bad recording death metals vocals over the hook. I can honestly imagine a real "singer" doing something melodic with the chorus because it has "single" potential all over it. But don't expect to hear this one on the radio, folks.

Last night I listened to some of our old stuff. And when I say old, I mean WAY old-- as in, before Mechanization days. Back when we had drummers that couldn't keep time or play solid double bass. It's funny how that brings everything else down with it, and the rest of the band unintentionally writes cheesy stuff to match. Guitar players are limited on what riffs can be written; 'metal' vocalists attempt to sing poorly written melodies over that; and everyone loses in the end.

But not this time. We're not trying to book shows or appeal to masses. The new album is for real metal lovers only. And ironically our dedication for doing so has resulted in some pretty amazing material.

More to follow as I continue the process.

Drums + Guitars + Bass = DONE!!!

2010-02-28T09:56:00.000-08:00

That’s right folks. Terrorence here with a monumental update. Firstly, let me apologize for our absence from the project journal. We've been writing and recording just about every weekend for several months. Things have progressed so well that I’ve been more concerned with getting HMT’s tasty guitar and bass licks down on tape rather than keeping y'all informed of our progress. Alas, a project update is way overdue and now is the perfect time for it.

Yesterday we completed bass tracking and are officially finished writing and recording most of the new album (minus vocals)! We have drums, guitars, and bass complete for 12 solid mind dominating songs that are sure to make you mount a llama with sword in hand and ready to slay the world. I can’t even begin to elaborate how thrilled and proud I am with the new product. Every single song on this album is a masterpiece. Their structures are more complex, drumming is more creative, and the guitar riffs are beyond catchy. We’ve integrated so much depth in to this album-- guitars are quadruple tracked (at the minimum), bass is multi-tracked with direct line and mic feeds, and the list goes on.

During my downtime, I’ve also been focusing on learning the art of mastering. I don’t intend to master this album myself and will more than likely still ship it off to a professional mastering studio, but understanding the mastering process has really helped me to develop my mixing skills. I can confidently say that our abovementioned songwriting and my refined studio engineering and producing skills (tracking/mixing/etc.) combined with even my most rudimentary mastering attempts have already resulted in a sound that is 10 times better than the last album.

However now that HMT’s pieces are complete, the pressure is on me. I have to write and record vocals for nearly an entire album. How will I do this? How will I inspire myself to write so much poetry? Well, as HMT mentions below, don’t expect a sorrow-filled emotional catharsis to be expressed through the art of vocals on this new album. That’s retarded. First of all, you won’t understand them anyways (the new album will be primarily death metal vocals). Second of all, who the hell listens to heavy metal music for therapeutic content? I recently read an interview with Lemmy (of Motorhead). When asked how he came up with the concept for the lyrics he wrote for a song, Lemmy responded: “I wrote the lyrics in about ten minutes. . . It's rock & roll, you know. It's not one of those complicated things.” That pretty much sums it up right there.

Stay tuned fans. There’s more destruction to follow.

Outtake from a guitar tracking session back in September. This one didn't make it to the new album, so just imagine the ones that did!

Hard to keep up with all this solid gold metal progress!!!

2009-11-24T08:35:00.000-08:00

Hi friends,

Bob here - while I have a few minutes of downtime during this turkey break I thought I'd add a quick post to update everyone on the absolutely ball crushing metal that's been coming out of the terrordome lately.

Rest assured the metal did not stop after the post below. We've been hard at it, and by "it" I mean drinking beer for the most part. But luckily for you all nothing goes better with beer than metal. Mechanization metal to be specific.

In short, depending on our tastes (and our ability to crank out killer fucken tunes like no llama's business), we're almost done writing for the album! Now that's not to say we don't have a little ways to go - but the skeletal structure of this beast known as album #2 is in tact. We've got around 9 songs in the can, and to be honest if we keep nailing a whole song every time we meet we might just keep going forever. 45 song album, anyone?

The shit is just fantastic - aside are all the lofty "artist-esque" aspirations that might have gone with the first album (like making the lyrics mean something/female singing/etc). Fuck that. This time it's all just balls to the wall metal, death metal, dragon metal, volcano metal, tough ass metal. This album is destined to be low on the xmas wish list for fans of anything less than ultimate destruction in the form of heavy metal.

We've taken a few pics/vids over the past months but nothing too terribly exciting. I promise to make things more interesting when Terrorence starts laying down some vocals. This new iphone video feature will bring some gems.

So stick with us metal friends. Get em' in.

Another one in the bank...

2009-08-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

HMT visited the Terrordome for an all day metal recording session Saturday! Productive? YOU KNOW THIS! With ease, we wrote and recorded the guitars for another song.

It's funny how it's actually a challenge to write something simple. The new song is, by some standards, a bit slower than most of our new stuff. But it's an all around GREAT song and totally ROCKS! This one might as well be called 'Skippy' cuz the guitars and drums are EXTRA CHUNKY! Here's a few snapshots and ridiculous videos to share...

HMT shows up to track metal guitars with a 'venti' cup of Starbucks! WTF?!

The new weapon... yet to be named! Suggestions?

Terrorence's license plate represented strongly on the wall of the Terrordome. Now THAT is dedication to metal!

Terrorence is unaware he's being filmed as he describes how he'll clean up HMT's sloppy guitar playing!

Terrorence doing some scratch metal vocals and needing some practice!

Having a real job sucks...

2009-06-08T22:01:00.001-07:00

...because you can't just sit around in the recording studio every day creating hot metal. Yes, we've totally lagged on recording a new album (hence no studio updates). But to our defense, we've been making the world a better place in our day professions so that we can earn money to make the world an even BETTER place with our shredding. Alas, we enter a new summer of metal and our resolve is pure. Hopefully Terrorence will get a break from traveling for work, and we can push forth with getting this album done by the end of the year!

We met for an initial kick off a few weeks back, and we literally wrote & recorded the guitars for an entirely new song in one session. That was more than enough to inspire us.

We intend to be back in the studio almost every Saturday from here on out till this sucker is done. So STAY TUNED!!!

Mechanization dominates the 2009 NAMM Show!

2009-01-19T20:59:00.000-08:00

Alright there's no denying that Mechanization has taken a bit of a back-seat over the last few months. Between work, the holidays, and general life challenges, there just hasn't been enough time to dedicate to metal. And that is a major shame. So it's time to get back on track with Mechanization updates- starting with our attendance this weekend to the 2009 NAMM Show (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAMM).

Mechanization and Dave Lombardo, drummer for SLAYER!

That's right. What you see above is NOT a product of Photoshop magic. HMT and Terrorence met one of the greatest heavy metal legends of all time, Dave Lombardo, drummer for Slayer! If you know anything about metal, you know this man is one of the very few original authors on the book of heavy metal drumming. Lombardo is without a doubt one of the greatest influences on Mechanization's rhythm section. This single photo made the entire trip to the NAMM Show worth while and is a day we will never forget!

Here's some additional pics and videos from our day...

Terrorence throwing horns in front of a random wall of drums.

HMT keeping things strong in front of some dreamy drums.

Terrorence admiring the very metal BLACK drum kit of Joey Jordison, drummer of Slipknot.

HMT testing out a hot guitar.

HMT admiring the most metal guitar wall ever created!

Another pic with the greatest metal drumming legend of all time!

Terrorence in the Fender Guitars room. So metal!

HMT just can't contain the metal spirit!

While checking out gear in the Fender Guitars room, HMT looks to his left only to see Christian Olde Wolbers, guitarist for Fear Factory standing right next to him! Definitely a major inspiration in Mechanization riffage so we HAD to get a pic!

A few beers were consumed throughout our day of walking, thrashing on music gear, and observing music industry's finest. The beverages were mandatory to deal with some of the ridiculous shenanigans encoutered during the 5 hours of music industry burnouts. The video below is a small example. This crusty rocker was jamming over a synthesized karaoke butt-rock track, and his smile was so retarded, Terrorence couldn't even drink his beer!

Toward the end of the day, it was necessary to take a break in the Taylor Guitars oasis upstairs to enjoy some M&Ms and a quick Mechanization acoustic medley.

Overall the day was beyond successful. We were filled with metal inspiration while laughing so hard our faces hurted. It was an 80 degree January day in sunny Southern California, so we took the top off the Corvette and drove down the coast blasting heavy metal.

The water was calm in the Pacific Ocean while driving down the coast from Anaheim to San Diego. This is the life!

Keep coming back in the next few days, as more Mechanization updates are en-route!

Terrordome update...

2008-08-13T11:49:00.001-07:00

Just a quick snapshot of the new paint. Sorry the lighting is so poor in this pic.

A quick HMT riff session...

2008-08-13T11:43:00.000-07:00

HMT with a mini fender practic amp, playing around with some new riff ideas over a drum machine.

The Terrordome is getting some upgrades...

2008-08-06T09:41:00.000-07:00

Greetings metal fans!

Unfortunately our recording situation has been in somewhat limbo for a few months now. We've had some new neighbors move in next door, so we've been in a quandary on how to proceed with tracking. Therefore after much consideration, here are a few necessary upgrades that are under way.

No pics available yet, but the studio is finally getting an overhaul. We're putting on a custom paint design and acoustic foam tiling to assist in sound reflections. This process should be done by the end of this weekend and will look awesome when completed! Pics forthcoming!

One song in the bank...

2008-06-09T17:37:00.000-07:00

NEXT! All I can say is our new stuff is strong and our process is working splendidly. We tracked the final guitars for our new song "The Return" on Saturday. HMT nailed every lick flawlessly! In doing so, we decided to make a few small changes to the chorus vocals, so I will need to go back and add a couple vocal elements. But the big news is that we are ready to move on to a new song!

There's that chord we were looking for!!!

Thumbs up to HMT for practicing his riffs before recording!

Terrorence loves having dual displays!

Somehow hearing the vocals makes recording the guitars easier? I dunno, but that's what he says!

We return to light the fire...

2008-06-05T13:28:00.000-07:00

That's the first line of lyrics on the new album. And I have a suprise for you: these vocals were tracked today! That's right folks... Terrorence is not going to wait till the end of the album to lay down vocal tracks. I just don't think it would be possible to hold back for that long. So today I took a break from work and tracked the majority of vocals on our new song "The Return". My throat will relax a little over time, but overall I am happy with the sound. But then again, it's impossible to NOT like death metal.

I also did some work on the jungle beat toward the end. I'm hitting a creative block on that at the moment.

HMT will be coming over Saturday to record the real guitar tracks for The Return. It's going to be amazing. Look out for another journal entry afterwards!

A clip of what Terrorence just recorded. Not the death metal parts, but tough nonetheless!

Destruction

2008-05-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

It’s amazing how one afternoon can alter history forever. Here’s the headline…

Mechanization Enters The Studio To Begin Recording Its Second Album

That’s right folks… after taking a very healthy break, we have ignited the fire of a new heavy metal album. At this point the inspiration we have can not be quantified. In just a few hours we wrote and recorded scratch tracks for a song that can only be labeled as a masterpiece which quite possibly blows any song off Holon away.

Our approach is somewhat different this time. In this album, I (Terrorence) am taking a much more involved role in the writing process. Although I am not a guitarist, I am writing drum tracks and song structures then mouthing vocal and guitar ideas over them. I give the ideas to HMT and he turns it in to heavy metal legend instantly. After we massage structure and HMT fills in holes with riff ideas, songs are written that shatter bones in a single sitting.

Not to say the success of this new album will be completely attributable to my riff ideas; this is among many of the new writing styles we are trying. But it’s all aimed at the same goal… expediting the writing process while challenging our abilities to write songs outside of our safety zone. At this point the success is insurmountable. At the end of the day, HMT walks away with a completed song he can practice till his fingers bleed, THEN he’ll come back and record the real tracks. The licks on our new album will be so much tighter because we won’t be recording guitars that have never been practiced!

Another feature you will hear on the album is guitars. I mean, A LOT of guitars. We are doubling, and will possibly try tripling, the guitar tracks PER CHANNEL. The sound is unbelievably fierce thus far.

Amidst all this, we even found time to slay Satan and do some ultimate shredding on Guitar Hero III.

The new axe sleeps in a coffin.

HMT laying down scratch tracks with his new weapon.

Terrorence shows with the right technology even he can shred.

Terrorence is happy to be back at the helm.

HMT laying down some simple chunky grooves.

Onward we march towards Metal Land

2008-03-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and welcome to our heavy metal odyssey, otherwise known as the production/song-writing journal for our next album.

The experience of the last album will be very beneficial towards constructing this new opus. For one thing it shouldn’t take quite as long (Holon took about 3 years or so). However I wonder if what we’ve gained in technical terms will be effectively negated by our pickiness about the quality of the songs? By the way, that can only be a good thing for the listener ultimately.

For one thing, we are both ambitious in regards to making this new album just a total crusher. The songs will need to be very strong to our ears – just lots of fast guitar riffs, pummeling-yet-groovy drums, and I think we’ve decided things will be pretty straight forward death metal vocal style.

As I’m starting to write the first riffs for this album I can just hear Terrorence’s vocals all over the place. It became readily apparent to me on the last album just how versatile and unique Terrorence’s vocals are (especially the deepest of his deep) and most importantly how they become an instrument all their own when thrown on the riffs.

What this presents to me is the total freedom to relax and just write good chunky, fast-picked riffs and realize that his voice will makeup for whatever the actual riff lacks. The only problem with that is I need to relax on trying to write "the perfect riff". I do not feel comfortable with leaving a riff in the "that could workout given some things" zone. F that.

So I’m trying to broaden my perspective on what the riff needs to represent in any given song. Increase my song endgame visualization skills, so to say. To do this I simply listen to almost any song by metal bands I dig nowadays. When I single out the riff it is often quite simplistic – it becomes obvious that yeah, while sometimes you can write a whole song melody on the guitar, it is also possible (and more likely) to utilize the riff as a vital, impenetrable backbone for the rest of the song to mesh over.

Thus my mindset as the construction continues. I will continue to update this regularly each time I sit down with my guitar and coors lights.

This metal we create is life-affirming stuff. It literally shakes me internally at times with joy.