ORC Update: Week 1

This feature will be posted every Monday to document the weekly progress of the new ORC album at Metal XOR Studio.

The Studio has set a goal: to finish at least one song per week for the next two months. Depending on the progress of the album the project could extend another month or two (or however long is needed to complete the follow up to the 1999 album Purging the Great Abyss). This weekly update will chronicle each song that was worked on during the previous week.

Gargoyle just couldn't wait for 2008. On Monday, December 31, 2007, he was already in the Metal XOR Studio working on the first song for the new ORC album. The song was "Silver Sphere".

Song 01 - "Silver Sphere"
There were four sessions last week for this song. The first session was to get the general idea started. A short demo was recorded and sent to Attic Works Studio for feedback. With each session the song became more complete. In all there were four demos recorded to help with the mix and arrangement of the song. With a little more work the music will be finished.

Song 02 - untitled
This was a short experiment in simplicity. There were two tracks of rhythm recorded (consisting of drums, scratches, and voice effects) and two tracks of instruments. This was to see how quickly a song could be "thrown together" to become a real song. In two sessions the music was complete.

Song 03 - untitled
This will be the song that gets split between the two studios. Attic Works will record the first half and Metal XOR will record the second half, neither of them knowing what style or tempo the other is recording. Two versions of this song were recorded this week. The first version was the neutral version (called "Combo") that was one instrument playing the chord structure for the verse and chorus and a second instrument playing the melody/vocal line. It's the base from which both studios will record their version. The second version of the song recorded is Metal XOR's version of the song. Attic Works Studio sent their version of the song last nite to Metal XOR, so now it's a matter of splicing the two together.

Song 04 - an unannounced cover song
Whether this song makes it on the album or not remains to be seen. But in last nite's recording session the first half of this cover version of a popular song from 1970 was finished. The entire song should be done this week.


Also last week the ORC blog was closed (for now). This will keep all Metal XOR Studio news on this site.


See you in one week with the next update. . .