Hey kids, here's the newest shit to punch your wall to. Introducing, 'Black Gold Reign II' the EP a.k.a. "still not signed, although that'll change soon hopefully" (yep, you heard that right!).
Track 1:
Title: Leather Lungs
Writing Process: On the 2 hour drive to the Hollywood Palladium show (fuck you traffic), us and our 3 man crew were getting shit faced on pot in the back of the van, basically screwing around and occasionally playing guitar or something, and Jimmy wrote this hardcore meets Exodus-esque thrash riff, and Matt just kinda started ad-libbing over it. Corey tapped out a rythm for it, and from there we came up with a couple chord progressions that fit well, and called it a wrap. Fantastic way to waste time.
Music: Pure hardcore-thrash crossover at its finest. The rythm guitar consists of a simple set of heavy as fuck triplets, backed up by a basic thrash drum beat. If this alone wasn't enough to make you jump out of your chair and begin violently moshing, Jimmy's guitar cuts through the mix, playing a shredding solo much like Marty Friedman at his best. This leads into a Slayer-ish intense riff, accompanied by wild double bass beats from Corey. Matt begins to belt out the lyrics, almost mimicking the voice Robb Flynn of Machine Head uses in 'Aesthetics of Hate'. They run through some galloping riffage and then jam into a smashing hardcore chorus, perfect for headbanging. They follow up with an anthemic post-chorus war chant and another blistering solo, this time played by Matt. The song closes with the same chorus/warcry. 2 and a half minutes of crossover nirvana.
Meaning: The songs lyrics don't have avy particular focus other than being bad ass. Thats as plain and simple as it gets for ya.
Track 2:
Title: Concrete Hell
Writing Process: During the sound check at one of our shows in Dublin, Matt just burst out into to this massive grooving riff, really similar to something Dimebag or one of the dudes from Lamb Of God would do. Corey and David joined him and I laid down these small licks and leads over it. We jammed on that for a while, and came up with a couple other riffs that complemented it well. When we got back to our houses in L.A., I went straight over to Matt's and we finalized the arrangement about 30 minutes later.
Music: The song starts with an explosive drum rythm, using mainly the toms and a good dose of double bass. The rest of the band plays one quick note, and then are silenced. Once the drum rythm plays out one more time, the band hits the same note, this time holding it. As the guitars fade out, Matt starts to play a heavy yet incredibly catchy riff. After a massive drum fill, the rest of the band joins Matt on the riff, Jimmy also playing the previously mentioned licks whenever he has the chance. This riff melts into the verse, which is just Matt half singing/half growling like Phil of Pantera or Robb of Machine Head over a simplified version of the intro riff. They run through a thrashy pre-chorus, building up into an anthemic chorus, complete with guitar harmonies and rough singing much like Maynard Keenan of Tool. A quick drum fill brings them back to the verse. They complete the whole verse-pre-chorus-chorus cycle again, and then Jimmy takes off into a blistering solo, and at the end of it, the band cuts out minus Jimmy, leaving a single note sounding out. They kick back into a massive chugging bridge/outro, which fades out with Matt and Corey screaming 'Hell' back and forth.
Meaning: The lyrics to song explain the life of a mentally ill child. He brutally murders his little brother, and is sent to a mental institute, which to him is a 'Concrete Hell'. The kid doesn't understand why he's there, and why his parents never come to save him, and in the end he commits suicide. Cheery story, eh?
Track 3:
Title: Black Phalanx
Writing Process: I've been working on this one for a long time, mainly because I'd written this fantastic 2 part harmony, and I came up with a couple ideas of how to add on to it, but nothing seemed to fit, so I brought it to the guys. David brought in this killer 3 note rythm, and Corey contributed some triplet stuff and a Iron Maiden-esque lead, and from there everything kind of fell into place. Matt and I penned a little dueling guitars thing and slapped it on with the rest of the stuff and called it finished.
Music: The song starts off with a bang, smashing right into some intense guitar riffage and blast beats, quite similar to something off The Black Dahlia Murder's album 'Miasma'. After a quick drum fill, Matt comes in screaming, over a riff that consists mainly of fast and grooving triplets. The chorus stands out in particular because it consists of 2 parts, a slow chugging mosh riff, and a blistering guitar rythm, much like the chorus of 'Drag The Waters' by Pantera. This followed immediately by a uber melodic and catchy guitar harmony. They cycle through these parts again, with the addition of a brutal breakdown in the middle of the verse. In this song Matt uses the more high pitched growling areas of his voice, along with experimenting with a Korn-ish singing voice, while David handles the deeper screams. Another highlight of the song is a shred-tastic duel solo, which is followed by a mammoth drum solo. They re-visit the intro riff, which closes up the song.
Meaning: The lyrics are rather simple on this one, describing epic medieval warfare, a lot like a 3 Inches Of Blood song without the mythical creatures.