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1. IN RENATUM/THE REBIRTH 2 Disconnection 3. Against All Odds 4. Heaven is Hell 5. 20/20 6. Daydreaming 7. Through the Smokescreen 8. One More Foot in the Mortuary 9. Betrayal (Hang Me Upside Down) 10. Rewriting Extinction 11. At the Dawn of Our Last Day At the Dan of Our Last Day is not only the final song of In Renatum, but it is also tellingly the last ever song to be recorded or released by Blood of Wecz. The band announced its intentions over the last few days to call an end to their 15 year career in order that they could pursue other dreams - Mark Talley seeking out a successful solo career, and Scott Rose-Hilton looking to become an author and a true family man. As the last song on the album, it is also the last song they ever wrote. It works as an outro to what has become the band's masterpiece, partially mirroring the intro track, but also managing to sound like it could easily stand alone. Given its significance, the song sounds understandably emotional and sad, and the listener can get a real feel of something coming to an end, something that has been a massive part of both of these men's lives bring laid to rest forever. The song starts with a real punch, not messing around with some of the slower and more gradual build ups they have employed throughout the rest of the album. This makes is sound very reminiscent of the Blood of Wecz of years gone by. It begins with a few thumping drum beats, quickly swept aside by a truly thumping and mind blowing flourish on the same instrument. It sets the pace for when the guitars and bass come in, flying through the briefest yet most breathtakingly pacey opening riff which really sets the stall out for the whole song will go. Seconds later, the main riff kicks in, the pace of the guitars almost unbelievable. It is obvious that Blood of Wecz have left everything in the studio on this song in particular. The drum play a quick 1-2 beat in the background as Scott's voice comes in, sounding more pained and emotional than it ever has in years. The sheer breakneck pace of the main verses mean that he has to almost bark out every word, giving his throaty growl an even more menacing element than it has ever had before. It's somewhat ironic, and yet very fitting, that a man who has become an icon in the space of 15 years saves his very best and most stand out vocal performance for the very last song of his musical career. Many would have gone out with a whimper, saddened that their art and their entire livelihood has come to an end, but not Scott. He delivers pitch perfect brutal vocal performance that will remind metal singers for generations that he is still a presence, still the bar that they have to measure themselves by. Each verse sounds almost more brutal and fantastically heavy than the last thanks to the added intensity in his straining and strengthening vocals. The choruses are the saddest part of the song, and also mark the most apt and slowest section. The music temporarily takes a rest from the frighteningly fast and heavy riffs that have been inherent in the verses, giving way to a higher pitched and more measured guitar tone throughout the chorus. Scott's vocal become a little slower, softer and clearer, while still remaining guttural and heavy. This section talks about how people get older, how things change, and how you start to realise as the close of a day, an era, comes closer, that nothing will ever be able to last forever. Each chorus ends with a few thumping beats on the drums at the last line, before it launches head first into the verses again at pace. The track is brought to a close by something quite reminiscent of the opening track of the album. After the pace of the opening 2 minutes of the song, it starts to slow for a few seconds, allowing Scott to almost speak the last few lines of the section, before all the music cuts, and he screams at the very limitations of his lung capacity "LET'S GO!" This brings about one of the heaviest, chunkiest lowest breakdowns of all time, sure to shake floors, rattle windows and break a few speakers in its time. This is Blood of Wecz signing off with a true bang, as the final two choruses are layered over what is without a doubt the heaviest sounds they have produced in almost a decade. This is a track that is more than a Blood of Wecz song. This track is Blood of Wecz. This is the final flourish that tells everyone "here we are, this is what we did, and now we're going out on a high. The track epitomises everything they've done while adding a final bit of swagger and style to it. This is not just a song. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the perfect goodbye. Mark Talley says: "Here we are then. The end of the journey. This song helps round off the album nicely for me. It's similar in style to the opener, a nice little burst of aggression that serves as like a flourish - the icing on the cake if you will. I reckon that book ends the album quite nicely, sort of making it like a nice little package or something. We also decided that since this is quite literally the very last Blood of Wecz song, we wanted it to sound like we put our everything into it, so we went all out. It made sense for this to be the last song we ever wrote as a band, as well as the last song we ever recorded as a band, so it was quite emotional - on two levels. In terms of the writing, it was a case of battling the need to be perfectionists. We both do it, but I'm far more guilty than Scott - we tend to tweak and change songs so often once we've finished writing them. With this one, it had to sound like pure Blood of Wecz, no messing. So we wrote it and then forced ourselves to step away. To let that first draft also be the finished article. And it worked. It sounds phenomenal. The other side of the emotion came at the very end of the recording process. We recorded the outro guitar duel as the very last part, simultaneously. So were both there behind the glass, and after the first failed couple of failed takes, we finally nailed it. When we hit that last note, side by side, the two of us just burst into tears. That was it, you know? That was the end of Blood of Wecz as a recording band. There was a lot of hugging, a lot of reflection. It's an emotional thing, to close the book on something that's been the biggest part of your life for a decade. I'll miss it for sure, but we've done ourselves proud with this one. I feel like we delivered the best album of our career, and we did something that we can be proud of forever. I'm happy with how it's all ending. It's important to go out on a high."Scott Rose-Hilton says: "There were a lot of tears, yeah....a lot of tears. This is without a doubt the hardest song I've ever recorded. It was almost like, we knew this was the last song ever, and we didn't want it to come to an end, and then when it did the floodgates opened. As I played that last note and I looked over, I just started to cry, and Mark joined in and we just bawled for like a half hour solid. It was traumatic, but I think it shows how much this song, this album and most of all this band, has meant to us both for the past 15 years. Everything else on the album was literally finished - recorded, mixed, ready to go - before we even set out to write this one. We wanted to let this almost stand alone for us - I mean as part of the album it fits seamlessly, it sounds like it's meant to be there - but for the two of us, it was important that this was an entity all on its own in terms of the processes. So we did that and we wrote it all on its own in isolation. We spent a whole day writing it, but as Mark said, the second it was done, we just stepped away and let it go. That was the hardest part for me because I have a thing about stepping back and then having a second opinion about a song later. I didn't initially like not being able to tweak it - it was Mark's idea, but in the end I have to admit it did give it a sort of a fresher feel that I don't think we could have had otherwise. It definitely feels like it was supposed to, like Blood of Wecz without any of the things that might have become attached over the years when we've become weathered musicians. In terms of how the song came out, I have to say I love it. I think it has the most ruthless aggression of any of the songs. It is unrelenting and it just has that sort of angry vibe that we've become known for. I love the way the drums start it and then it just kicks off. Lyrically, it's quite a deep and sad song though. It's all about getting older, coming to realisations about your life and being afraid to take that next step, which at this point in our career is quite apt. I wrote it for Mark actually. I think he's a bit worried about moving on and being on his own musically as a full-time venture, but this is basically saying you know...it's time to take the leap. This is definitely a sad moment in my life.Before I had my family, Blood of Wecz was everything in my life, and now we lay it to rest. I'm glad, like Mark said, that we've managed to go out with this album though. We set out to make something that could be true to who we are - as a band, as people, and as friends, and it was vital that this was right for that reason alone. And I think we pretty much nailed it. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is our best work ever. It's ambitious, far reaching and forward thinking, but it's also in many ways, the rawest, most stripped back and honest Blood of Wecz record of them all. Fifteen albums...and we finally got everything right at the final attempt. There's something quite poetic about that. It breaks my heart to bring this era of my life to a close and say it's all over, but I'm proud we did it in this way, and extremely happy that we can look back on the life of this band with real pride and know we made it. We did it all. LyricsLook out over the days to come, and swear they'll never end Take anything we want to fuel our muse And then lives are changed, those days cast up shame I felt so empty like part of my life was a ruse
My days are getting longer, where did these hours come from When did we start getting older, where do we store those days When did we back down?
And every day I'll be asked another question Will I ever reach those heights achieved Underneath my hand I feel a heartbeat getting stronger There's a new chapter to what I believe
No one will ever tell you, where you'll be carried next To success from failure, remove the weight from on your chest Life was always easy, given a challenge I'll fight on! Never give up, walk on, I'll love what I've become!
My days are getting longer, where did these hours come from When did we start getting older, where do we store those days When did we back down?
My freedom withdrawn, but what did I gain I've embraced the chance to grow I felt it slip away, and now there's no pain I'll wave a white flag and peacefully go
I stood on that ledge, afraid to take the leap Will the change be bold or is it just too steep? I expressed every concern, I grew from nothing Losing a part of me, but now I'll never go back!
Let's go!
My days are getting longer, where did these hours come from When did we start getting older, where do we store those days When did we back down?
My days are getting longer, where did these hours come from When did we start getting older, where do we store those days When did we back down?
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