Bay Area progressive black metallers CORMORANT are hard at work recording their upcoming full-length with Billy Anderson (Neurosis, The Melvins, Sleep, Primordial), at Sharkbite Studios. Vocalist/bassist Arthur von Nagel checked in earlier this week from sunny Oakland, California with a studio report:
“We’re recording at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California, and tonight while we were tracking there were riots going on about 20 blocks away. I’m sure it’s all over the news, even in the East coast. Absolutely awful police shooting. It was crazy leaving the studio and seeing a half-dozen helicopters circling the city. The studio itself is actually in a pretty nice part of town though, right around Jack London Square. We couldn’t be happier with it. Everything is pro: great equipment, helpful staff, comfortable vibe. They’ve recorded everyone from Cathedral to High on Fire to Cattle Decapitation. We’re scheduled to record from January 2nd to the 14th.”
“The songs are coming together beautifully. As of January 7th, all the drum, bass and primary guitar tracks are done. The basic tracks were recorded live almost exclusively, and then we began overdubbing vocals, solos and extra guitars. We’ve finished about 75-80% of the vocals so far. Guitar doubling is essentially complete, with just some acoustics and tertiary ornaments to add. We’re ahead of schedule and excited about how the material is shaping up. We’re proud of our last album, but in terms of fresh ideas, we’re going for broke on this one. Improvisational songs, jazz breaks, ultra-layering, 4-part vocal harmonies, insane guitar effects, mandolin, acoustic guitar, hand drums, nature sounds, fretless/fan-fret bass, black metal, sludge, post-rock, death metal, prog, doom, folk, NWOBHM… I know it sounds like a clusterfuck but we have a singular vision for it all and we’re making it work cohesively. In terms of instrumentation, there is cello courtesy of Lewis Patzer from the band Judgement Day. We also have piano/keyboards/organ courtesy of Matt’s brother Andrew Solis. Guest vocals are courtesy of Brennan’s sister Deborah Spake from the band Kung Fu Vampire, and of course Aaron Gregory from Giant Squid.”
“Billy Anderson is mixing the record as well as producing. We’d heard great things about Billy from a really cool Portland noise/grind band we’d gigged with called The Better To See You With. And of course his discography is no joke. So I sent Billy an e-mail through the contact page on his website saying we’d be interested in working with him. He got back to us pretty quickly saying he dug our stuff and we’d like to meet at the studio sometime to go over the details. I asked Billy how he’d heard of us, and it turns out Salvador Raya from the band Asunder mentioned us to him many months before I e-mailed.We hit it off immediately so we went with it. After 6 days in studio we can say with total confidence he was the right guy to produce our album. He knows his equipment inside and out, offers fantastic suggestions, and brings a really calming vibe that puts us in the best place mentally to record. He also has a horribly dirty sense of humor so he has us cracking up all the time.On the technical side of things, Billy’s assisted by Adam Myatt, Sharkbite’s capable in-house sound engineer. We have yet to settle on a mastering engineer, but we’re in talks with a few people whose work we really respect.”
“The mixing on the record should be completed within the next few weeks. Then after mastering, it’s just a matter of finding the right label to print and distribute the album. We’re happy to consider all offers. Best case scenario, we’d like to release in early-mid Spring.”
Band line-up:
Nick Cohon
Brennan Kunkel
Matt Solis
Arthur von Nagel
Check CORMORANT out on Myspace: www.myspace.com/cormorantmusic