RANT GALORE!
Update Tuesday morning, May 16th, 2023: Since I wrote this post on our Facebook page we have actually just reached $9200 of the $10000 goal! Now keep reading.
Haters!
It’s time for another massive and incredibly well-spoken rant, courtesy of Your King. The reason is simple; there’s a ton to report and we’re getting closer and closer, week by week, to the $10000 budget that we need to be able to finalize our 15th album.
So, sit back, crack open a cold one, read everything and then make sure to spread the word to your friends and/or enemies on Facebook or whatever platform you spend your precious time on. This last stretch quite possibly need all the help it can get, ok?
Here we go; a thorough heads-up on all kinds of stuff regarding the 15th album, the 7th TPH Donation Experiment and quite possibly some other awesome news.
THE TPH DONATION EXPERIMENT
As I have said before, this 7th version of the Experiment sure is on its way to be the longest running and hardest one to complete yet, but I’m not surprised considering the state of the world. With that in mind, though, the fact that we have come this far is humbling. Even if it’s very stressful to deal with, it looks like you’ll make it possible once again for me to financially summon my fave musicians and create yet another TPH milestone.
But, we’re not there just yet…
If you follow our Instagram page you know that we just reached $8700, which is absolutely fantastic! I thought I might as well update with every $100 level accomplished from now on to keep you all in the loop. But those “small” updates will just be posted on our Instagram. When we reach $9000 and $10000, you’ll know about it over at our Facebook thing, and quite possibly here at the official website, just like you’re accustomed to by now.
Here is the link to all the info you could ever need when it comes to The 7th TPH DONATION EXPERIMENT if you feel like helping out.
Shove that one down the throat of your buddies and tell them they are lesser humans/prime synthesizers if they don’t support the cause. That should do it, goddamnit!
RECORDING PROGRESS AND SOME OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION
– You already know that Mr. Sandström finished up his vocals a while back, right? If you don’t know, now you know.
– Ms. Asp has delivered incredible demos for all of the tunes and are now beginning the massive work of putting down The Real Thing. She has guaranteed she will have everything delivered to me before June is over.
– Drummer phenom Dirk Verbeuren will wrap up all of his magic and have it delivered to me before June is done as well. Still absolutely crazy that Dirk finds the time to do TPH again in the midst of his duties with Megadeth. I am forever thankful, Dirk!
– Lead guitarist extraordinaire Lasse Johansson (of Candlemass fame, duh!) has once again visited me inside The Dungeon, and while he did that he also managed to put down a buuuuunch (close to 20!) of insane solos. As always it’s mind blowing to record this gentleman over my music. He absolutely crushed it, as he always does. Thank you, Lasse! I’m beyond honored.
– Regarding artwork and so on… Seiya Ogino of Ogino Design has also promised to deliver this in June. Seiya has never disappointed me in the past with the work he’s done for TPH, so I really look forward to see what he puts together with the album title in mind (said title and artwork will of course be revealed as soon as possible after reaching the budget).
– My final work with details and whatnot within the songs is saved for the mix, but my work as a whole is done since way back. And I have never, ever, spent this much time with anything I have created as far as guitars, bass, orchestras and whatever else go. And believe you me; it shows.
MIXING THIS ALBUM TOGETHER WITH THE MIGHTY DAN SWANÖ OF UNISOUND
I have spoken to Dan about starting to mix in July. I suspect this will be quite the process, coz it always is considering the amount of work a TPH mix demands.
BUT!
All of this of course depends on if we reach the $10000 target in time or not… In the event of that not happening, everything will simply have to be pushed forward when it comes to the mix and mastering. This is out of my hands obviously, hence why any help with spreading the word about The Experiment is truly appreciated. But if everything goes well, I hope we can finalize this 15th album during July and August (Dan also needs his well deserved summer vacation, you know) and have it released to all of you who have helped us making this as soon as humanly possible when it’s completed.
But as said, it all depends on the budget being reached in time or not. We’ll see what happens and I’ll keep you informed as always.
Either way, I am so looking forward to start this journey with Dan once again whenever it’s time, coz this is the part where my musical vision truly is perfected. And it’s glorious to work with Mr. Swanö.
AND NOW TO SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
I have told you numerous times that I live for this shit; creating music in general and TPH in particular. So…
Welcome ABSURDEITY!
So what is this about then?
Well, during the course of working with this new TPH album (which takes more time than any sane person would ever freely invest) I decided to do this new thing called… yes, ABSURDEITY.
It’s death metal.
Actually, it’s quite some fantastic death metal with some thrashier stuff thrown in here and there for good measure. Becoz Exodus and Slayer are awesome. But most of all, it’s death metal. My eternal love for bands like Bolt Thrower is not a secret, now is it?
ABSURDEITY is simply my outlet for creating 1-5 minute tracks that blast, kill and thrash all over the goddamn place. Initially I didn’t even think about releasing it in any shape, way or form. I just need it to get some music out of my system, you know, and have something fantastic to listen to whenever nothing else impresses me. Which happens all too often in today’s music climate.
At one point (I might have been amazingly drunk) I thought about doing vocals for it myself, which wouldn’t have been my best idea ever considering I can’t really do vocals properly. But it wouldn’t have mattered coz, as mentioned, I didn’t create it for it to be heard by anyone but myself (and poor Mrs. K, whether she approved or not).
I did these 11 tracks (some 30-35 furious minutes of playing time) with the plan of having it being considered an “album” for me personally. Nothing more, nothing less.
Then it dawned on me…
Since Mr. Sandström had wrapped up his vocals for TPH, maybe it would seem like a great idea to him to sing some more on… hmm, let’s see… 11 tracks?! Without any pay whatsoever. Yeah, that seemed reasonable.
So I asked him.
I said, “- We share 50/50 of the 5 dollars we’ll get through, like, Bandcamp, coz with you on there it will sound as I want it to sound, and then I can let other people hear it!”
He said yes.
And here we are.
A week or 2 ago he spent a few hours putting down vocals for 3 of the tracks. And this absolutely shreds, people! There’s 8 left to do before I’ll hand this thing out to you all through some digital service of sorts.
Note: ABSURDEITY is not a band. It has no members. Except for… eh… me, I guess.
Mr. Sandström does vocals for this one, for which I couldn’t be happier since he’s the best out there. But if he doesn’t feel like earning another $2.5 with the next album (of which I have already written half, by the way), somebody else will have to do the grunts. Maybe YOU? I’ll deal with that when/if the time comes. But if I get to decide, Mr. Sandström is my only choice. I always write with him in mind vocal wise anyway, haha…
I am mixing this myself. It will have programmed drums (thanx, Toontrack!) and it will not have Andy Sneap qualities to said mix. But it’ll sound fine and you will dig it, unless your fave band is Pet Shop Boys.
Considering TPH is such a mammoth of a “job” to me when it comes to creating everything, ABSURDEITY is a musical place where I can just… play and slay. It’s ferocious. It’s groovy. It sounds absolutely killer.
Trust me.
Told ya… I live for this.
FINAL WORDS FOR THIS UPDATE
At this point there’s nothing more to say. All relevant info up to this point is in this post. Now, all of you… keep your fingers crossed we reach the budget rather sooner than later and that everyone completes their stuff as promised without any hiccups along the way, so the plans I have made will work out.
Coz I can’t wait to let you hear this 15th album.
I am so satisfied with what it’s becoming even at this stage; an absolute behemoth.
Thanx for the invaluable support you show me, time and time again.
Be well, my friends.
/ Your King
