We recorded vocals for one of the songs for the final production demos for our new album yesterday, and we'll continue with two more on Saturday. Martin and I have worked on a variety of lyrics for months now
and some of the lyrics even go back much further than that. I had spent weeks preparing the vocal lines at my place and then took them to our rehearsal studio to practice them in absolute solitude, but with the energy of a live performance. As has always been true for Celtic Frost, numerous rewrites became necessary to make everything work as it must for us to be satisfied. Martin often coached me where certain lines did not yet create the feel we had both imagined. Martin has always been a most resourceful vocal producer, but never before have we collaborated so closely.
There had been some in and outside of the band who had already become slightly uneasy as we are nearing the completion of the album and there had not yet been any recorded lead vocals other than those I did last year for the "Ground" demo and a few that Martin recorded for some of his songs. It often bemused and sometimes annoyed me. I have always worked like that, and I have no intention whatsoever of changing my approach. This is the way I write best. Although I usually pen draft lyrics almost from the minute we begin rehearsing a song, it will take still so much work until I feel in my mind that lyrics and music truly merge. Most often, my vocals are the very last item to be recorded, and not everybody is happy about that. On the other hand, never have I prepared and practiced lead vocals for a Celtic Frost album more extensively and professionally than I do right now.
Martin's lyrics for "Ain Elohim", one of our most passionate new songs, are a significant body of work. The lyrics are extensive and deep, and the song combines some four different vocal styles. I approached it with a great deal of respect and finally sang it for the first time this week. And the song and me became one almost from the first try. I was stunned and relieved. So we decided to begin the already scheduled vocal recording sessions last night with "Ain Elohim". Erol engineered, Martin produced, and I sang. I have rarely felt more comfortable during a vocal recording session, and a lot of the credit for this must go to Erol, who was so quick, efficient and precise, and who, by now, knows by heart the sound requirements to bring out my strongest performances.
We finished the session late at night, Martin and I performing backing vocals. I am now looking forward very much to Saturday's session. We'll begin with the lead vocals for "No Thing Born" and
hope to complete maybe two more songs before the day is over.
Maybe our enthusiastic mood was boosted by our amusement over Sparrow-Hawk's ludicrous ten million word e-mail which we received mid-week and by my mocking of the hapless assertions contained therein. There's nothing better than somebody else proving to your friends what you have been telling them all along. Happiness is an album without dishonesty.
