AND SO THE KING SPEAKS!
Haters!
I’ll sit my ass down right here on my Secretlab Throne inside The Dungeon and type quite a lengthy read for ya now, so grab a drink of your choice, sit your ass down too and take it all in if you’re even remotely interested in what the fuck is up with the process of completing our 14th album, ok? Some of this you have heard before, but hey, it all needs to be brought up again.
First off, naturally we have to reveal the status of the 6th TPH Donation Experiment as it’s the foundation for us to even be able to record an album, as you know. When I fired this one up I had a feeling it would be the longest and hardest one yet to make a success considering a couple of things! One of them being a goddamn pandemic making people lose jobs and income. Add to that it seems like people care less than ever when it comes to actually buying music/helping to fund a recording.
With the past 5 successful Experiments we have reached the monetary target pretty much each and every time within 6 months, which is absolutely amazing considering there’s “only” been some 200-250 people making it happen, you know. We’re 5 months in now and as of this writing we are quite far off the $10000 goal with 143 people supporting the cause. We just broke the $6400 barrier thanx to some CD Baby sales of older albums and the always mighty 666 SEK donation that some heroes throw in every now and then on top of the incredible people who donate something every month. So, we’re moving forward slowly (we rot) at least, but it feels like this will take a while, just so you know.
And this is exactly why I initially stated that I will start paying everyone involved with the recording as soon as money comes in instead of waiting until the goal is reached, as I have in the past. Coz doing that would delay everyone’s performance for as long as the Experiment’s fulfillment would take, meaning my invaluable co-musicians could start recording this 14th album in maybe 3-4 months from today instead of being where we are at right now in the recording process, which you will soon be aware of.
But the bottom line is, for me to be able to finalize this 14th beast of an album down the line, I still need to raise roughly $3600 so I can pay everyone in full and finally get to the mixing process with Dan Swanö of Unisound fame.
If you wanna help out with spreading the word that a mere 150 SEK donation towards the recording will push us further towards the goal, please do so. And no, I’m not asking you to donate again if you already donated, you already did your part, but I’d appreciate if you get the word around. Here’s the link for you to use where all necessary info is available when it comes to The 6th TPH Donation Experiment! Share the link on your Facebook/Instagram pages and/or inform your metal buddies in any other way you see fit. With all that boring-as-fuck-but-oh-so-important bullshit out of the way, let’s fill you fine ladies and gents in on the interesting stuff, yeah?
Here’s where we are at recording wise:
If you follow TPH on Instagram or Facebook you all know that Chief Captain of Grunts, Jörgen Sandström, wrapped up his insane vocal work back in the end of May. If you didn’t know that, you do now. And as always, and it bears repeating, he shows why he is the gold standard in his field.
The Almighty Hate Queen, Ellinor Asp, delivered her insanity in the shape of some 40000 WAV files just a week or so ago. Pardon my language, but Jesus Fucken Christ what an effort she’s put in once again! I will never cease to be completely floored by the stuff she comes up with and the voices she pulls off. It’s like having 100 different women in one when it comes to Ms. Asp. It’s just downright fucken spectacular how much talent and musicality she possesses.
Oh, I also happen to have some mildly talented drummer on board for this 14th album. You might have heard of him. He goes by the name of Dirk Verbeuren. Yeah, I once again have to deal with having the best muthafucken drummer I have ever heard. Life is rough, huh? The fact that I can still have Dirk’s otherworldly playing in my music baffles me every day. I’m so grateful he would have it no other way than to play on his 6th consecutive TPH album. And what he’s bringing to the table once again is just arse exploding. He wrapped up his stuff a few weeks ago. And yeah, it seems like we finally have gravity blasts in TPH this time around.
Candlemass guitarist/guitar legend Lasse Johansson and I are currently trying to get our schedules in order so he can come visit The Dungeon and record his solos. When that day comes (which shouldn’t be very far from now) it’ll be a joy meeting up with him again and record his magic over a few hours. This part of TPH is so special to me and something I always look forward to; spending time with one of the coolest muthafuckers on Earth who also happens to be one of the best lead guitarists known to mankind, hearing him put down solos in my music! Yeah, it truly is special.
The guy responsible for the artwork and everything this time around, Seiya Ogino of Ogino Design, has fired up some incredible shit. I had a vision for the cover that I shared with him and what I got back was nothing like it, at all. The difference? Well, he took my ideas way further and created something I could never think up which beat my original vision to a bloody pulp. Goddamnit, that guy is so fucken good. I am currently waiting to see the rest of the lay out, but if the cover art is something to go by, well, yeah. This part is nailed.
I know that some of you are curious if I have invited any guests for this album. And yeah, there will be two of them. One has been kind enough to participate in the past; the legend Johan Längquist of Candlemass fame. I was sitting inside The Dungeon with this part that I had a killer vocal melody line for and I wanted a male voice on it! One email later and I had the honor of having Johan’s fantastic voice on a TPH track again.
The other guest is guitarist Simon Johansson, you should know him from his work in bands such as Wolf and Memory Garden, as well as being in charge of renowned SolnaSound Recording in Stockholm, Sweden. Awesome guy, awesome guitarist and awesome beard. I’m so happy he chipped in a beautiful solo and now there’s two Johansson’s doing solos on a TPH album! Majestic!
Last but not least… What is my role in the middle of all this? Once again, if you follow TPH on Instagram you know at least a little… But what you see on social media and what I actually do in reality is obviously quite different. Not only do I add some small additional guitar and bass things here and there, every now and then, on top of the absolutely massive wall of existing guitars and bass, nope! Usually I put in at least an hour or 2 a day, every day, when I have to attend the day job. Now I have vacation! Now it’s a different story altogether.
I go up around 04.00 in the morning, enter The Dungeon and fire up the list for what I have to do with each and every song. And then I get to work. All day (almost), every day (almost). With the occasional break thrown in for good measure. Thanks to everything unholy that I have the most remarkable wife possible by my side when it comes to this part of the process.
You know, I have always worked extremely hard with the music for TPH, but this is definitely the most time I have EVER put into an album. By far. And I still have quite some work left to do before I will feel “finished”. And then, then comes the mix. Phew!
But yeah… This is what I am. This is what I do. It’s not something I recommend for everyone. I suggest you do something more straight forward with your music. Vocals, guitars, bass, drums. That’s a great recipe. I understand it and I also do it from time to time, but I can’t do that with TPH. That’s not what I hear in my head. To me, what is brought forth music wise with TPH has to be far more intricate and complicated to satisfy my whole musical entity. Pretentious, huh? Sure it is. It’s also the truth. I love this shit.
So, comrades… I have to continue my work here. Got stuff to do. The list is getting shorter day by day, which is awesome, but typing all this shit takes away from what’s most important to me; the music of TPH.
Again, please spread the word about the Experiment. As said, “just” $3600 to go before I can pay everyone in full and we can start the process of mixing our 14th masterpiece as soon as my remaining work is completed.
Album title? Well, here are the first letters of every word:
S.V.I.T.E.O.D.
Bring on your guesses!
Cheers, Haters!
