NEW ALBUM Q42 017/Q1 2018

[ESA1996]

So now the band is making new songs.

Will they touch the songwriting of Knuckleduster, or just rerecord it with the new sound and the new lyrics Alexi talked about...

Studio is this fall.

I think this time they should make songs with shorter duration but richer material and more speed. One identifiable beat serving as the backbone, and one memorable melody for each song, to create a feeling of flow, instead 'jumping from one section to another.' What I'd like is less support for the main riff, instead other instruments deriving a little to do their own thing while still serving the musical idea, thus creating richness. Doesn't necessarily mean more notes composed.

You've been saying this "memorable melody" thing for a few years now Not that I mind as I agree with most of what you say. My own songs have lately become really long and progressive with the downside of not being as "smooth" as they used to be (They used to be around 4 minutes long with a good flow from one part to the next whereas now they are 7-9 minutes long with more individual good parts but less of a good flow).

 

[Norbix]

HERE WE GO AGAIN BOYS

 

[(__Joonas__)]

I think Knuckleduster will become one of the greatest songs when they speed up some small sections here and there with doublebass and tremolo, plus better soundworld and better lyrics. Can't fucking wait.

 

[Inceptionist]

Idk if they can pull off re-recording knuckleduster. The aggressive guitar tone, the "AYDY" style keyboard, and overall dirty production are huge for that song. If they produce it to sound as smooth as IWC, I don't think it'll sound as good.

 

[(__Joonas__)]

I think it could sound interesting with sharp guitar tone, such that has noise too to create a feeling of echo for the riffs. Or just lay a keyboard choir for the chords using equally low octaves. Should be no problem for them to find the feel for the song's mood with a different sound, and they have freedom to do slight alterations.

 

[Hatebreeder01]

Back to standard-D tuning, more classical influences and simpler rythm is what I hope for. But I don't think Alexi is interested in that anymore.
The albums since 2008 have not been of my taste and I hope the direction will be different from those albums.

As Joonas said earlier, the music has to come from the soul to make a hit. You can't go into the studio and think you will make a Hatebreeder Pt2, it won't work. But it can be an influence.

 

[(__Joonas__)]

It really should sound like an epic fly through a dark world. If the creativity doesn't come from the heart, it'll sound like a bland riff recording session; only theoretically the same. It's like having two opposites, creativity from the soul and then manifesting something concrete out of it. Maybe musicians eventually develop such a brain signal for the instruments they can't hear vague musical ideas in their head, instead hearing only clear notes?

It's hard to give ideas, apart from the usual 'brutal riffs, eerie atmosphere and mysterious melodies'. Easier said than done. Maybe they could try doing the unexpected: you have a heavy riff, then you expect a verse or melody next, but instead you get a growl and an even heavier riff. You have a melody, and expect it to stop, but it builds to something more and more epic and harmonic. I'd like some simple but catchy riffs, extreme changes of tempo, and more focus on instruments doing individual things to serve one purpose, instead of doing same thing to serve no purpose. Try to make a song that would sound incomplete if you heard only the guitar track, but once the other instruments reign everything makes sense.

 

[Norbix]

I guess we can hope that Something Wild anniversary may have given them some old school inspiration.

But I think a large part of writing music is what gear you're playing it on. Alexi used to have that silky twangy lead sound that makes you just wanna doodle around a solo. Now he's got a more modern sound with low end that's impossible to not play chugga chugga stuff to. Sometimes I wonder what COB would be if their guitars were never stolen because those Jacksons just had that legendary tone.

 

[(__Joonas__)]

I'd like songs to have a recognizable drum pattern as the backbone so that you could have one section somewhere with the pedal and bass and pretty much nothing else, maybe a riff or synthisizers or whatever, those are some cool moments.

 

[(__Joonas__)]

I actually can't fucking wait to hear the new version of Knuckleduster.

And I hope the band makes this record extreme, wildly creative and electric. Passion and feeling should come first, then technique.

 

[RICJAMES]

Is there any news about the record yet?

 

[(__Joonas__)]

No. Last time there was nothing until they wrote 'drums complete' or something. And they never tell about what ideas they have for the next album. So expect nothing until... aren't they supposed to go to studio this fall already? It's hard to imagine they'd have an epic album done in this time amidst all the other stuff. I say extend the schedule by a few months, there's no reason to rush things if extra few months could leave an epic album for us to enjoy.

I don't think Alexi can rely on personal life tragedy inspiration this time... it's gonna have to be simply fresh in artistic ways. I hope they're creative and strive to do something radically different, instead of the same shit. Maybe less thrashy this time? Blend solos into the songs themselves by making lots of medium tempo melody lines to carry the songs? Start by focusing on inventing one epic riff and one epic melody for each song and then play around with them and see what comes up?

 

[Inceptionist]

Their tour schedule goes up until December honestly I don't think we'll hear anything until then, there's been such little communication from the band lately

 

[(__Joonas__)]

Anything can happen... Peter from Hypocrisy announced recently he has no motivation to do a new album for 'that band' now, that it would just sound forced. I think if Alexi's the only one who really loves that kind of music these days, it's gonna be a mental drag for him to do albums on tight schedule. We don't know much, but at least we gotta give credit for pulling off many many songs from the past. I've the feeling the next one might be their worst album if they continue the musical trend of the last albums, but they might also actually do something very different this time. I don't think anything good can come out forced; if the artist doesn't love his art himself, it's hard to make others love it. I'm actually quite excited, as long as they don't intentionally dumb down the music to appeal to wider audience, like In Flames did. Alexi should isolate himself from the city life for a couple weeks to solely focus on the new stuff.

 

[RICJAMES]

Anything can happen... Peter from Hypocrisy announced recently he has no motivation to do a new album for 'that band' now, that it would just sound forced. I think if Alexi's the only one who really loves that kind of music these days, it's gonna be a mental drag for him to do albums on tight schedule. We don't know much, but at least we gotta give credit for pulling off many many songs from the past. I've the feeling the next one might be their worst album if they continue the musical trend of the last albums, but they might also actually do something very different this time. I don't think anything good can come out forced; if the artist doesn't love his art himself, it's hard to make others love it. I'm actually quite excited, as long as they don't intentionally dumb down the music to appeal to wider audience, like In Flames did. Alexi should isolate himself from the city life for a couple weeks to solely focus on the new stuff.

I wouldn't mind if they put COB to sleep, for at least a year or two.
Too me, especially Alexis melodies and main riffs started to sound so
generic. Don't get me wrong, it's still higher quality than most bands
but it kinda lost it's definitive sound. On all albums there was always THAT
COB sound, The sound that made you always think THAT's COB.

I honestly find he should quit music in general for at least a year or two.
Even an excellent musicians spring of imagination can run dry at times.

And besides of all that, he should finally start a real glam/hard rock band
as side project, like he did with the local band just with original songs,
so he get his US music vibe out of his body. I want to hear the finish side again.
And no, I'm not asking for Hatebreeder 2.0

 

[dthmtl3]

My guess it won't be IWC 2. Since they are in a 'been there done that' sort of mood. So I don't think it will be in drop B either. As cool as drop B sounds when one tunes to it, and wow, that low B sounds wonderful, but for some reason it doesn't sound all that good on record. And I figure playing those older songs will have an influence. Beyond that I can't predict much, don't know what's going on in Alexi's life or what struggles they've gone through. In any case, I still hope for AYDY 2. I guess that won't happen either, so the best we can hope for is that Alexi is inspired and not just going through the motions.

 

[Hatebreeder01]

I wouldn't mind if they put COB to sleep, for at least a year or two.
And besides of all that, he should finally start a real glam/hard rock band
as side project, like he did with the local band just with original songs,
so he get his US music vibe out of his body. I want to hear the finish side again.
And no, I'm not asking for Hatebreeder 2.0

Not sure if I agree. If anything he could take a break from CoB and start Sinergy again! Won't happen but one can dream.
But I agree that I don't want another album in the style of ''America'', I too want that Finnish metal style.
What I hope for is that the 20th anniversary tour has given them inspiration back and love for that old style again.

CoB will probably always be my favorite metalband together with Sinergy but the albums since Blooddrunk has not been my style at all.
Their first 3 albums you can play from start to finish without skipping a song, almost the same with HCDR and AYDY too. I miss that.

 

[(__Joonas__)]

Since Alexi's recovering from shoulder operation, he'll probably come up with lyrics again. This was what happened with AYDY. I think some of the best lyrics are in Children of Decadence and Angels Don't Kill, maybe he should put more focus on it, IWC lyrics were kinda meh.

 

[Hatebreeder01]

Hopefully yes. The whole IWC record was kinda meh, so was HoB, so was RRF, so was BD. Harsh perhaps, but that's how I feel.

 

[Inceptionist]

I remember Alexi saying he put a ton of work into the IWC lyrics and thought they were his best. HB and FTR had awful lyrics but are their best two albums, so I'd be alright with them putting zero effort for lyrics and just focusing on the music again