HARDTIMES.CA

The last week of recording was a mixture of odds, ends, patch ups and add-ons. It is in the final week, always, when no matter how much time you think you have during the sessions to complete the album you want, the deadline crunch approaches and you always, always, always need more time. This turn around was no different. We redid vocals, we added vocals, had a few more guest vocals (Erik Rutan's amazing lines on "the Illuminaught" arrived on the last day), Sparky added a solo to the title track "Heirs to Thievery," and we contemplated various mix incarnations into the wee hours of each morning. Mixes were more or less completed at 6 AM on Monday morning February 1st. We had a wild night that included a bunch of friends coming over to hear the mixes, and our buddy Seth doing vocals on the Japanese-only bonus track known as the "Devil's Onion Ring." That one will turn some heads for sure, but since its a Japanese-only bonus track, I am guessing it will be a download sensation shortly after its release(!) Additionally, Blake from Pig Destroyer stopped by to lend a roast-worthy monologue of insults which will also most likely appear on the Japanese release, but we shall see. Now that it is all done, and I am safely far from the studio's pristine aural perception, I hear the record and find it difficult to objectively assess the creation. I know it sounds far better and more dynamic than anything we have heretofore performed, yet it is still sinking in. Hearing the same songs over and over for weeks in different mix incarnations can seriously mess with your head. I do however think we have something that we have not yet created -a very ripping, sonically clear and crushing recording that balances our myriad influences in death metal, grind and punk with a punishing efficiency. In the end, all we can hope to do is please ourselves, and that is what any musician should desire first and foremost -and I can rest assured quite comfortably on this one. Now, come May, this album will be unleashed for the rest of the metal-feasting masses, who will ultimately decide if this is a meal worth devouring- bon appetite!