KATAGORY V taps producer DENNIS WARD to mix/master new album1

[Dustin]

KATAGORY V taps producer DENNIS WARD to mix/master new album.

Salt Lake City, Utah’s Progressive/Power metal veterans Katagory V have announced that famed German/American producer, Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69, Angra, Primal Fear, Silent Force) will helm the mixing and mastering duties for the bands upcoming 5th album, Resurrect the Insurgence.

Commented bassist/songwriter and founding member Dustin Mitchell: “I know it has been quite a while since we have had any official updates concerning the new album, and many of you were becoming concerned that we had fallen off the face of the earth, but I can finally say we are seeing progress and the Katagory V machine is in full motion once again!”

“First things first, we finalized the vocal tracks around the beginning of December, and also brought in guest vocalists, Norman Skinner (Skinner, Tramontane, Ex-Imagika) Shane Provstgaard (Sonic Prophecy) and John Yelland (Shadowseer, Disforia) to help with many of the backing vocals… a first for Katagory V! These guys were amazing and we want to officially thank them for delivering a brilliant performance in the studio! We officially wrapped up recording for the album in it’s entirety in January, at which point we took a little time off before tracking down an individual that could tackle the mixing and mastering of our new album; We needed someone that would have and ear and understanding for the direction the band is currently taking.”

“This is also another first for Katagory V, as we have never handed over our music to anyone outside of the band, and we knew it was time to take another step forward and do something different. We already had in mind a few people that would be able to help with our vision for this new album, but one particular name kept coming up over and over, and that was Dennis Ward. We are proud to announce that Dennis has agreed to take on this challenge, and will be putting his amazing talents to use with our music. His abilities behind the board are without question, and are key to the path we are taking with ‘Resurrect the Insurgence’. After hearing some of the initial mixes, we are confident that he will help us deliver a high quality album that will easily overshadow anything we have done previously both musically and sonically.”

Dennis Ward had this to say about the collaboration, “Mixing and Mastering the new Katagory V album has been a real pleasure. The new songs have a progressive touch along the lines of Rush-meets-Iron Maiden; it also surprised me to hear some good ol' hard rock riffing! The band has done a great job self-recording/producing this latest offering, and I think this is the start of a new chapter for Katagory V. I am sure fans of all rock genres will enjoy this album.”



:Spin:

 

[OrbWeaver]

Dennis is doing an AMAZING job. I can't believe how awesome Far Too Long sounds! It was a great tune to begin with, it's simply out of this world, now! I can't wait for him to finish the whole album.

 

[drum_addict_48]

Very exciting news indeed!
I'm one of the few people lucky enough to have heard some samples....It sounds massive.
I was also happy to hear that Dennis used the same drum sounds he used with Angra......(one of my favorite bands! \m/ ) The snare sound was a little more bassy than I was originally expecting... But it fills the space, sonically with perfection, to where it has it's own space and doesn't get lost in the mix.. (very important to me) So yes, I am happy with the snare sound. Also my kicks sound way fat. They sound huge and boomy, but with perfect attack, so when there are the double kick parts it nails you right in the chest! Just how I like it. Another thing I like about the drum mix is my cymbals....My Soultone cymbals sound very cool....Especially my chokes on the crashes and splashes. They hit so quick and punchy, and not to mention my effects cymbals are soooo unique, everything cuts tough the mix fantastically. So to say that I'm happy with the initial mixes that we're getting back is undersatement!
-Bizzaro

 

[ken from canada]

This is great news. Any idea how long it will take him to do his work on this recording? Are we talking weeks? Months?

 

[drum_addict_48]

This is great news. Any idea how long it will take him to do his work on this recording? Are we talking weeks? Months?

Well, Dustin would probably be best to answer this question, but I'll give it a shot!
Dustin and I talked about it the other day, from what he told me, we have already got ALL of the tunes back from Dennis with an initial mix completed. Which is 95% of the work. We just have a few adjustment left for him to make and then his work is complete. All of this has transpired in less than two weeks.... So if that gives you an idea. So where we are now is once mixing is done we have to get album art done, a photo shoot in, and the replication of the discs. We aslo need to feel out some options in the distribution side of things. Unfortunately all of that costs money, and by hiring Dennis rather than doing the mix in house like usual capital is pretty tight. So if you or anyone else want to start pre-ordering your copies that could only help speed things up a little..(lol) .
Ken thanks for you comments.... They are always welcome.
Bizzaro

 

[ken from canada]

I will most defineately pre order the moment it comes available.
It sounds that you will be doing this w/o a label backing, or am I reading too much into what you have written? I have no idea what the pros and cons of being distributed by a label all includes, but I am sure the band/Dustin has been around the block enough to know what is best for KV at this stage in the band's carreer.

 

[Dustin]

Well, Dustin would probably be best to answer this question

I will most defineately pre order the moment it comes available.
It sounds that you will be doing this w/o a label backing, or am I reading too much into what you have written? I have no idea what the pros and cons of being distributed by a label all includes, but I am sure the band/Dustin has been around the block enough to know what is best for KV at this stage in the band's carreer.

Yes, it’s true, I will have more insight on this matter, however, I doubt it would be of any real comfort. I’ll try to keep it simple:


Concerning what is left to officially complete the album, Bizzaro is indeed accurate. The “bulk” of the album is essentially done, and all the little things just need to be put in place and completed now. Dennis has other projects and commitments going on at the moment, however, We are just going over some of the minor touches to the mixes, so I anticipate that this part of the process will be finalized sometime around the end of the month. Everything so far is sounding AMAZING and HUGE!

Concerning the “how” and “when” it will be released: This is still all up in the air, and won’t have a solid answer on for a few more months. I am working on this any chance I get. With the amount of money and time that was put into this album, which is considerable (more than our last four albums put together!!!) I can only confirm that this album will indeed see the light of day sometime in the future, that much I can guarantee and would stake my life on.


Of course, there is a bitter pill to swallow with all of this excitment; How soon this will happen depends entirely on weather this is released via a supporting label/business partner, or independently by the band itself. If it is the latter option, and the band has to put it out on it's own, it will not be released anytime this year.... it would be virtually impossible to do on any financial level unless someone within the band can win the lottery.

 

[drum_addict_48]

Concerning the “how” and “when” it will be released: This is still all up in the air, and won’t have a solid answer on for a few more months. I am working on this any chance I get. With the amount of money and time that was put into this album, which is considerable (more than our last four albums put together!!!) I can only confirm that this album will indeed see the light of day sometime in the future, that much I can guarantee and would stake my life on.


Of course, there is a bitter pill to swallow with all of this excitment; How soon this will happen depends entirely on weather this is released via a supporting label/business partner, or independently by the band itself. If it is the latter option, and the band has to put it out on it's own, it will not be released anytime this year.... it would be virtually impossible to do on any financial level unless someone within the band can win the lottery.

Ken, the last thing I was to do is create confusion and false speculations. I guess the nutshell version is that we are getting much closer with this step being a big one, however, there are still a lot of unknowns at this point. Like the things Dustin mentioned for example.

 

[ken from canada]

No confusion or false speculation taken. The future is always pretty much unknown. I will keep my eyes open for future news.

 

[ken from canada]

So, how has progress been? Not really looking for a date or even a timeline, just wondering if you guys are still in limbo or is there possibilities on the horizon?

 

[Met-Al]

Hi, Ken!

Thanks for checking in with us. I know there hasn't been much activity on this forum in quite some time, and I'll take my fair share of the blame for that. To answer your question, we're currently shopping labels for the album. We're hoping that one of the million labels who have checked us out are willing to work with us, as it will help us save the money of putting this thing out ourselves. Once we have a deal secured, we'll look into getting the artwork and layout done. I speak for the whole band when I say that we're anxious to have everybody hear this album. We hate to make you wait, but we don't want to half-ass this one by any means. We'll keep you posted.


Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert