5.-8.9.2006
2nd session: Recording rhythm guitars
It seems that this time we will do EVERYTHING differently. With the previous albums we've always recorded bass after the drums are done, but this time I played the rhythm guitars first. We did it this way mostly because of schedules and practical things. Since Titus is living in Amsterdam nowadays, and he wasn't able to be here right after the drums were recorded, I started to track the guitars. Also, since we have dropped our tuning one more half step down to D), it makes more sense to track the guitars first because when you record the bass, you can hear immediately if it's out of tune.
More technical stuff: Like on every previous album, I trust in one particular amplifier in this world. And that's a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier with a Mesa cabinet. (A BIG thanks goes to Lefa from HEVEIN who borrowed his cabin for this session!!!). And for those who are really interested, the only pedals I used were Boss Tuner and a Boss Noise Suppressor, which is the best noise gate there is. After trying severaI options, I miked the cabin with two mics; Shure 57 and Akg 414 through Focusrite Red 1 mic pre-amp. No eq, no compression. I just moved the mics back and forth to find the perfect spot. Because of this, the sound chain is probably the best you can get: the sound ALWAYS comes from the player's hand. I can't emphasize this enough!!! And oh, I almost forgot:
I played with my ESP Thunderstone custom guitar with Seymour Duncan JB pickups.
While recording the guitars I had a couple of flashbacks from the mid 90's. The new stuff is full of asskicking riffs that once in a while reminds me about my (and Titus') old band Antidote:-))). To be honest, I was really struggling with a couple of things, but luckily I have this history of playing thrash and speed metal for years and years. Otherwise I'd be doomed:-)). The new stuff will be heavier, but like I've been saying on the forum, we will never let go the great vocal melodies and stuff that makes this band sound like Thunderstone!!!
So guys, don't be worry. We haven't changed that much ;-). But man, it will be a surprise how this album will sound like...Can't wait to get it done!!
Mainly the whole session went great. The guitar sound is a total killer and it will be even better after I will play all the rhythm parts once more. So after that there will be 4 tracks of gutrippingasskickingearthmoving-guitars!!!:-))
9.-11.9.2006
3rd Session: Back to the Bassics 
Today I had the weirdest experience:
I was about to enter the studio for the fourth time to record bass for the new asskicking Thunderstone album and I wasn’t a bit hung over. If you’ve followed the studio diaries of previous recordings, that has been the one uniting theme with each album’s bass tracks.
Despite the awkward feeling of soberness and well-being, I started putting the bass tracks together with unprecedented enthusiasm. The reason for this was that unlike with the previous albums, we had actually rehearsed most of the songs live and I actually knew what to play! It might sound funny, but when you step into the studio and start learning your lines at that point, it just isn’t the same as knowing the song inside out – especially in metal, where I think the atmosphere is a very special and important thing.
My setup was the same as on the two previous albums (on the first I played a bass borrowed from Jari Kainulainen): A Fender P Bass with active EMG mics through a Boss Bass Overdrive into a Hughes & Kettner 400 w bass head and a H & K 4x10 cabinet. And again, the combination proved to be perfect. The crunch you will hear is my favorite sound, if you don’t mind me saying it myself =).
The actual session went really smoothly. After the first day, we already had six (or seven?) songs ready, and after a day’s break we finished the rest of the songs. The only one that proved to be a little challenging was the second cover song we decided to do. Without revealing its title yet, I can tell you that the bridge in the song has about all the chords imaginable – very not-metal… but still I think it will be a kick-ass cover!
We have still some things to go over (vocal lines, arrangements, some guitar parts, etc.) when I get back from Amsterdam next time – that’s in October – but as far as I am concerned, most of my playing on this album is done. Can’t wait to hear the final result! The songs kick some serious ass already, and I am sure that Kari’s keys and Pasi’s killer voice will add depth and strength unheard of in Thunderstone history!
Drink Beer and Get Naked!
-Titus-
October 2006
4 th Session: Singing, Roaring, Screaming and Whispering, that is, Recording Vocals.
Now this is the point where everything breaks down into little pieces.This is usually the way with our vocal recordings because when Pasi arrives in the studio, most of the time he hasn't heard a single note from the vocal melodies beforehand. So basically we always start from scratch.
The whole procedure goes something like this: I've been working with the melodies and lyrics before Pasi steps in, so I have some kind of a picture about the vocals we will record. Sometimes the lyrics fit perfectly with the vocal melody (then it's easy…), and sometimes they don't. We always record a round demo vocals first and after Pasi has had some time to get familiar with the melodies and lyrics he is ready to track it down to "tape" for real. This time I also did couple of demo vocals, but that's something you REALLY don't want to hear :-).
At this point, we've recorded the final vocals only for one track, which is btw called "Roots of Anger." And YES, I've revealed the very first title from the album!!! This song hasn't got the typical thunderstoneish catchy big chorus BUT instead of that, the mood and the feeling is something we've never achieved before. It's hard toexplain but maybe the best way to describe it is: Mystic, oppressive, evil...and of course HEAVY! We've also recorded demo vocals for 3 songs and we're about to start the real work with the final vocals. Also still a lot of work with the other songs, such as writing lyrics and composing vocal melodies. So there is still a lot to do, but since we had to postpone the release with 1-2 months (sorry guys...you WILL understand why. More about that later…), I'm pretty relaxed with the situation.
Couple of weeks ago Kari did some demo (hmmm, there are lots of word "demo" in this diary...I wonder why, hahaa!) keyboards, just to make it easier to compose vocal lines. We're also about to start working with them, so I'll write more after recording some final keyboards.
Take care,
Nino
The last episode: Panic strikes in the end...again!
The last two months have been really hectic. I remember when I was finishing Tools of Destruction, I made a promise to myself that I would not let things go this far next time I was making a Thunderstone album. I was wrong: this time it was even harder!
We recorded keyboards during 3 or 4 sessions and everything went really easy and we had a couple of good laughs with Kari while fooling around with sounds. Like I've said before, we wanted to do everything differently, so no exception with the keyboards. Kari brought all his vintage stuff to the studio and we spent some time just searching for sounds that would be a bit different than before. Now the keyboard sounds fit perfectly with the songs. They have more attitude than ever before... Listen and you'll know what I mean.
So many things have happened during the last weeks that I just can't (and do not WANT to) remember them all. I really pushed it to the limit this time. Here's a little example how my studio days were from time to time: 8am in the morning I played a solo for our own album, then build up a bass setup for Norther. After that I mixed Ensiferum for 8 hours and finished the day by doing vocals with Pasi. People can take a lot, but I reached my limit (or should I say LIMITER :-)) after a mixing session one day. Our schedule has been really tight because of the Eurovision thing etc., so I had to start the mix on Xmas eve!!!! I can tell you that it's definitely no fun to go to the studio on Christmas and start to mix metal after already working for 60+ days in a row. But hey, there's a face in the mirror to blame :-))). Anyway, after mixing one day, I called to my friend Jesse Vainio and asked if he could come and listen to my mixes just to get an honest opinion from someone else.
This was the point I started to collapse. Jesse listened and noticed that I've done couple of major amateur mistakes. Yes, I know that this is not the best promotion for me as a sound engineer and producer, but the thing is that I started to work with this album in the beginning of September and basically been working on it since that. So I was way too close to my own album and music and couldn't be at my best anymore. Fortunately Jesse was on holidays and able to take charge with the mixing. And that was the BEST decision I've made for a long time!! It was really hard moment for me to let it go and let someone else do the mixing. But it was quite soon that I noticed that this album would sound fucking great, so I was basically jumping around the studio while Jesse was mixing the album :-)).
The whole mixing went easily and the sound is something different from you usual metal album. It's really punchy and clear but at the same time very raw, violent and dirty!!! Attitude is the word! The guitars sound better than ever, drums are really natural with lots of attack still, and the bass is a killer, as always, thanks to Titus' right hand. I wonder what he's been doing with it to get his bass to sound like that :-)). Like I said before, the keyboards are totally different than before, but still fit perfectly with the new TS sound.
We've mastered our previous albums at Finnvox Studios with Mika Jussila but this time we changed that too (even though all the singles were mastered at Finnvox). Mainly because Jesse's been working with Svante Forsbäck from Chartmakers, we decided to finish the album there. That was the final touch for the album. The session took 8 hours, couple of beers, bottle of red wine and some whisky. We ended up partying until 5 am with Jesse.
Listening to the album now, I'm very happy with all the decisions I made during these painful weeks. All the little "mistakes" and "things" I didn't fix gives the album its own attitude and makes it even more personal to me. Nowadays, when everything's so edited, fixed and compressed to death, I think this album is FRESH!
Well, finally I want to thank couple of people because without their help, this album would definitely not sound as great as it sounds:
Jesse Vainio for saving my ass and being such an innovative person while mixing the album.
Leif Hedström for helping with the language and for lending me the killer amp DIEZEL!!!
Svante Forsbäck for being really enthusiastic and of course....feeding our alcoholic needs :-))). Pasi, Mirka, Kari and Titus for...You know why!!!!
Last but not least; all the Thunderstone fans!!! Without your endless support there would be no Thunderstone. Even though I NEVER make music thinking about the “audience”, you guys give me the last kick to keep me going on and always make me try even harder!!! THANK YOU!!!
With best regards,
Nino Laurenne
