I went to Norway back in July 05 to record my tracks in Asgeir's MultiMono studio in suburban Oslo, and now it's finally finished and ready for you. I didn't get to hear any of the material before tracking my basslines, but fortunately it's the 3rd album and the 3rd band that me and Asgeir have jammed together in. And having the mastermind drummer also manning the controls in the studio just made finding those little pocket moments readily available for me and the solid rhythm foundation held true. I needed that kind of comfort level to lock in to while learning on the fly all these twisting and demanding guitar parts, and also meeting Daniel for the first time about 20 minutes before we started going over some of the material, there was that slim amount of time to learn the riffs and find out where to hang back and when to go off. But Dan gave me his own comfort vibe validating the reason I was asked to join in this recording. Hanging at Asgeir's house with the pro-level studio down stairs made the time constraints less stressful and after a couple of days cramming for the final and a couple of days painting sound waves, I was off on the 747 back to Cali. After the bass, there were only some vocals left to print and then Az and Dan went up to Børge's Toproom and mixed it. I love the Børge sound, there's something organic about it, something mundane and earthy...in a good way; a rarely transparent way. I got a copy after the mastering and I really like it. It's got that Control Denied slightly Death mix, but something new and totally unique with the individual musicianship and personalities rounding out the whole batch. Overall the songs are varied and have an exciting blend of everything. It's one of those times where an album with no previous rehearsal time, no live recording and no reason to sound cohesive...actually does. Like I said, the drums are totally kick ass, and Daniel is commanding respect with not only precision guitar work - both rhythm and soloing - but also composed a great slab of metal...and Øyvind is fucking king on vocals, and to note are the backing tracks as well, massive harmonies...! Bass wise, I think it's in my top-something...obviously with so little time to work stuff out it was mostly spontaneous, but the clear recording highlights any instrument at any time. A couple other Spiral Architect guys [Steinar and Lars (king god bass overlord)] made a contribution on a Death cover track too.
On paper, the talent level is high, but the proof is in the pudding...I mean just look at us:
Here's a press release from the man, Daniel "Peisy" Olaisen:
"It's 2007 and Scariot has been around for ten years! What better way to celebrate than releasing a new killer album. It's been almost three years since I started working and recording, and I never expected it would take that long to finally have this album in my hands. The reasons for the delays are many, but not important, as the fourth piece in the Scariot discography is finally availabe to you guys! I would especially give my thanks to Asgeir Mickelson and Øyvind Hægeland for making it all real and taking Scariot to a new level (hence the title). There were never one rehearsal for this album, though I never doubted it would be a great album. When it was clear that Steve DiGiorgio would join on bass, I was both flattered and proud. Man, he's been playing in two of my all time fave bands; Death and Testament! I also appreciate and I'm thankful that Steinar Gundersen and Lars K. Norberg, both from Spiral Architect and Satyricon, would lend their talents on Momentum Shift."
Convinced?
Dig it. Mange takk.
SDG
Awesome work Steve, that goes for the rest of the band as well...this one fits my musical taste almost perfect, this and the cranking new Twisted Into Form cd.
