ten the easy way

Album ten is done, finished as far as recording it. Laid down eight guitar solos in two hours...yes that's right. When you come prepared, great things happen. 

Discipline equals freedom.

I had most solos mapped out but left room for ad-libbing and "happy accidents", as those happen in the studio. That's the magic that you can't search for, it sneaks up on you. And then you try to recreate it and you can't. But who inspired me to play such off-the-wall solos (trust me, these are wilder than usual)? Steve Vai? Joe Satriani?

Trey Azagthoth of Morbid Angel.

You read that right.

No, there's no death metal on the new album but it IS really heavy, and at times it borders on pretty aggressive-sounding. Still has a LOT of melodies, which is important. So how did Trey come into the picture? I saw a short on YouTube about the making of MA's BLESSED ARE THE SICK. And the producer said that he purchased an Eventide H3000 Harmonizer rack unit, the same one that Steve Vai popularized. Trey was playing with patches and decided to use a different sound on each solo, so no two sounded alike.

Hmmm...

I brought this up to drummer/producer Mike Sabatini and he said "Do it!" So with my new (to me) Flamma FS06 Modulation Pedal, I coaxed out some truly bizarre sounds. Along with other effects such as the DigiTech Whammy, EHX Q-tron, and Caline Devilfish, my solos took on another dimension. (As if I could do anything remotely normal?)

Each solo has its own unique twist. And while I was never going to be an innovative, ground-breaking guitarist, this album sees me pushing the envelope more. I am not reinventing the wheel, just making it a bit rounder.

Now that the music is committed, Mike will take two weeks off and then start mixing it. We already picked what song will be the first single/video, so while I'm not in any rush to get things going (which is great), I am excited just the same. In fact, I'm way more excited than when I did my last cd. But we won't talk about that one...right?

No release date yet but rest assured, when one comes up, I will scream it from the mountaintops.

Is this my best album?

I'll let you decide.