Mountain Of Despair

Tonight I laid rhythm tracks for two more songs.
Conny and myself did another round of soundtweaking
and it seemed at one stage like we´d finally nailed it.
Conny was happy, I was too, but when we listened back
to the tracks... well, we couldn´t tell.
On thursday we will gather to listen to everything
I´ve recorded and make up our minds,
will I have to go back to zero again,
or can I keep on going forward? /Peter

Back On Track!

Going to the studio today was just work, and no fun.
Roger went along to support me with his critical ears and
Rick and Conny joined later on. The guitar-sounds,
after some tweaking, is now "good enough"and we prepared
for recording session. I recorded 4 songs without
any problems, and I'm aiming to complete rhythm guitar
sessions this coming week! I´m preparing myself mentally
for anything though... To be continued... /Peter

Back To Zero...

Today all previously recorded guitar tracks were erased,
and toying around with different settings on the amps,
and different guitars, began. This stuff can be a bit frustrating.
Peter laid down new rhythm guitar tracks for 2 songs,
and tomorrow we will be back with fresh ears to hear if
we can continue as planned. Let's hope for the best.
Full report tomorrow from Peter. /Rick

The Buzz Is Out!

This evening Conny, Rick and I gathered in the studio to listen to

the test recordings I did earlier this week. I got all thumbs up

regarding the guitarsound so we started to do some serious

recording. Everything went smooth, maybe too smooth.

I had a good vibe, my guitar was smokin´

and I recorded rhythm-guitar tracks on 4 songs in a haste.

When we listened back to the last song I recorded, we heard some

strange buzz going on. Hmmm.. so we started to search for what

was wrong. We sat in front of my amp with me pounding out

some riffs and we couldn´t believe what we were hearing.

Everything in the room was shaking due to the monstrous

metal-volume I use.

(for those who do not know this, you have to have to crank

the volume on your amp up to 11 when your´re playing metal,

or else you´re a sissy :-)
Finally we found the source of infection. Due to the volume,

combined with the massive gain and bass I use, my speakers

were basically shitting themselves into pieces when I played.

So, it seems I have to turn the volume down (my heart is crying),
and turn down the distortion and the bass on my amp to

get rid of the buzz, and in worst case, re-record all tracks all over!

Well, just another Heavy Metal Day...! /Peter

P.S Is there anyone out there who´s got a used cowbell for sale?

The Quest For The Ultimate Guitar Sound Has Begun...

Last night I spent the evening comparing different guitars, different settings on my amp and doing some test-recordings.. Am I satisfied with the results you may wonder? Let me put it this way... GAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!! 4 hours later, after comparing XX different tracks back and forth, I couldn´t tell what year it was, so I called it a day.. On my way home I asked myself: -Why didnt I choose the cow bell instead of the guitar, then life would have been so much easier. But you know what they say, no pain, no gain.. It´s all blood sweat and tears and so forth... No matter what, this weekend I won´t leave the studio until I have finished a couple of songs.. And if I can´t get the guitar to sound right then, I´ll use the classic phrase; "-Fxxk it! We´ll fix it in the mix.." To be continued../Peter

Mission Accomplished !

Ok, I will admit it. Coming to the studio today was no fun. I was not in the mood for playing drums, and I had an overall bad feeling about myself, and my limitations as a drummer. But as soon as I got my AC Milan shirt on, the same shirt I have recorded all our albums with, everything felt fine and I started to get loose. 3 hours later, all the drum tracks were done! For the whole album! After the first 4 first-takes, I felt something good was going on, I was definitely in a drumming mood, so we just kept on going. When we were all done, I had done 2 re-takes, on 14 songs!! Which means 12 first-takes and 2 second-takes! This has must to be one of the best days in my drumming life! So, the feeling I have while writing this is just incredible, lots of relief and happiness in there, I tell You! A big Thank You to my brother/engineer/photographer/DVD-director Roger Averdahl, for spending your precious time with us, learning us everything you know, and of course, my thanks to Peter and Conny for keeping the pace in my headphones while recording! So far so good! /Rick

Armed And Ready!

So, here we are, prepared and ready to go! Spent the first day in the studio miking up my beloved drum-kit, testing and thumping microphones all day. Everything worked fine, and thanks to our friends/engineers Roger and Björn, we could even do some outtakes with plugged in guitar to make sure the monitoring system also works fine. So, tomorrow, at 11 AM, we start the journey for "The Greatest Enemy" ! /Rick

Finally!!

Well boys and gals, its been a long time coming and way overdue, but its finally time. This friday, January 19:th, we will begin the studio work on our upcoming cd "The Greatest Enemy", and you will be able to follow the progress right right here at "The Greatest Enemy" blog.

Cheers!

/Conny, Fredrik, Peter, Richard - M.O.B