Chapter I - The Demise of the Zombie Pirate LeChuck

A chamberful of Longbottom Leaf, please.

STUDIO, DAYS 1-2: THE DRUMS.

This thing on the left could be something captain Nemo would probably use. Or possibly a gnomish copper pipe. (+3 engineering).

But in reality, it's actually one of the microphones we rigged up to capture the drums yesterday, 29th of February. I was told that it's some sort of a weird hand-made supermicrophone which has in-built tubes and a compressor/limiter...and boy it sure sounded rude. Most likely costs a fortune as well. That being said, it's probably "one of those mics you think are awesome until you realize that it sounds so dirty you just leave it being muted in the mix at the end".

While Mörkö was rigging up the drums and getting the sound right with our trusted engineer Nino, I was busy trying to solve a puzzle consisting of pre-arranged temporary vocal parts and the new, final lyrics that didn't fit the places at all. After a couple of hours of careful editing, modifying and reconstructing the lyrics, I finally got them arranged into a shape which fit the song rather nicely. We then went through them with Katla, changed a couple of things, and we both were happy about the final result. I've been personally enjoying a lot working also with him on this album, as we've never done so tight collaboration earlier. In fact, there may be another nice little surprise in our sleeve concerning Katla if everything works out nicely. ;)

"I'm sure the kick drums were on fire after this take!"

Most of yesterday was spent for just getting the drums to sound exactly like we want to, and it was really worth it at the end. I had never worked with Mörkö in the studio before, so he wasn't exactly pleased about my rather anal approach for the sound I wanted, but it was time to introduce him what sort of fun it is to work with me in the studio. :D That being said, he also showed me how it is to work with him, and nailed the first song in about 25 minutes, leaving me rather baffled. And Nino as well!

When I finally got home, I had some quick dinner with my family and went to sauna with them....until I realized in the middle of that sauna that I still need to do the demo vocals for that song with the final lyrics before I forget the new rhythmic arrangements. I ended up screaming them in my studio room wearing just a towel, and of course it also dropped at some point. I'm pretty sure the sight of a fat man in his early forties screaming Swedish into a microphone naked would had been something to remember for a long time.

The next day we were supposed to start at 10 AM, but due to a last minute arrangement test for one song (which was supposed to be recorded that day) I finally arrived to the studio 11:30, only to be collectively informed by Mörkö, Vreth and Virta that the new arrangement idea I had sent them just before leaving to the studio was mutually rejected. I was expecting that, though, but it needed to be done to be sure about it. I hate the idea of never finding out if something would had worked. What really pleased me, though, was the way the told me about it. Every argument was based on raw facts, and all criticism was completely justified. That's how you give feedback!

We stormed through "the other of the two songs Mörkö hated most to play", had some lunch, discussed about the synths with Virta (who is now a devoted Korg M1- convert) and decided to speed up one fast song even more. It's usually quite hellish to record someone playing double kick drums in 195 BPM, but watching Mörkö doing it even without a drip of sweat was rather impressive. The benefits of having a background in technical death metal, I guess!

We left the studio at dinner time, and I was instantly dropped back to earth from my international rockstar/producer- utopia by an utterly broken washing machine at home. I spent the rest of the evening trying to clean up soaked clothes filled with small plastic parts (!!) with my wife, ordering a new washing machine (goodbye Mastercard, it was nice to know you) and arranging schedules with my mom so we could wash our clothes at their place while we wait our new machine to arrive sometime next week. If you guys are reading this, I might stink a bit in the studio at the end of the week. Sori siitä!

Tomorrow it's time for more drums. Thumbs up for Mörkö, who's been a fucking killer thus far!