Deuteronomium wishes to play every kinds of shows, in every kinds of places, for every kinds of people! They want to play as well as headliner as support act, both in clubs and festivals, bars and churches, indoors as well as outdoors, at night or day…

You (yeah, I mean exactly YOU reading this release!) are the one who can be turning this historical tour into reality! If you’re interested in helping us in a way or another, get in touch. Any kind of help, no matter how big or small, is more than welcome, whether it is organizing or promoting a show, giving a hint ’bout this tour to promoter/festival organizer/club owner etc, sharing gig posters and flyers or spreading this message around.

The time to act is now, so let us know what would be your share in the making of this tour!
Contact us: info AT northernpraisemusic DOT com

PS. We are pleased to announce that Deuteronomium has been signed to Northern Praise Music. The band wishes to thank Bullroser Records for the great years of collaboration.

I just listened to the mastered album through for the first time really concentrating on it. I gotta say it sounds like… Metal, with a capital M!!!

The album is in the making at the CD-factory at the moment, so it’s gonna be available soon, very soon…
In case you haven’t ordered it yet, make sure to get your copy among the first ones by ordering it directly from Bullroser Records NOW!

The last mixing day, three more songs to go, all of which are Miika’s compositions. Last night we got the last files for these songs. They were some narrative parts, done by Mark Broomhead, the bass player of Seventh Angel. This way we got a real, native british accent to the narrations instead of our own finnish “rally english” accent. There’s also an interesting aspect in this since the album lyrics are based on a book written by an english priest four centuries ago, and also Mark happens to be, not only english, but also a priest!

The first song we mixed today was album’s opening track, an aggressive death/thrash piece called Soul Sickness. Next one was a mid-tempo death metal song titled Sun and Moon. There’s a real “flight of the bumblebee” guitar solo by Kalle in it, followed by Miika’s only guitar solo on the album. The ending of Miika’s solo has got some AC/DC -feeling.

Last one to mix is also the last track on the album. The Bells Are Ringing is a pretty fast death/thrash song with tight riffing. There was also the trickiest part to mix – Mark’s narration in this song was quite challenging to get in balance with the music. Some parts of it come with music, when some parts come w/o music, and all of it should be heard well, sounding as natural as possible. In the end Arttu got it sounding very good, so we’re happy! The Wizard of Watercastle made great work, once again!

Now we’ve finished mixings of the album, so next step will be mastering it. We haven’t decided the place yet, and most likely we’ll ask for test mastering for a couple of songs from a few places before making the final decision.

DAY 11 Thursday, May 5, 2011

Third mixing day was started with Kalle’s song, How Deep Must We Dig? This thrashy piece sounds really energic and it also has a nice, freaky guitar solo in it. Next one in line was Manu’s song called Seven Critical Days (or Manu-waari, as the other guys call it. That means “grandpa Manu”, and besides his age, it also refers to Manowar because the verse riff kinda reminds their stuff…) Besides the Manowar-riff, the style of that song is actually black metal.

Mixing the album is pretty easy job for the band members – it’s mainly sitting on a couch, smiling and nodding: yes yes, sounds good! Arttu is a guy who really knows what he’s doing, and since we’ve been working with him for so long, he also knows what we want, so there’s not much to change in his work.

Third song today was a track called Solitude, composed by Miika. In that one – according to Arttu – there’s a swamp frog doing backing vocals… After that we mixed the ultimate proge piece of the album, Manu’s composition called Surgite, Mortui. So we got 4 songs finished today, leaving three more for tomorrow.

DAY 10 Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Mixing crew of today includes me (Miika), Jontte (our roadie), two cats and of course Arttu the man himself. The day started with listening two yesterday mixed ones and they really made me smile. This will be the nastiest Deuteronomium album so far, and that was one of our main goals to achieve with this record. We decided to make few changes for the song Alive, Immortal and after we spinned it few times Jontte uttered; this one is obvious radio hit! Well, I am not sure about that but the song really kicks some butt!

BEING HUMAN is pretty simple thrash song with 4-5 short guitar solos and Arttu said that this one has more leads than other ones together. Kalle has made some amazing licks. Manu’s backing vocals are playing pretty big part of this song and we spent some time to make those well heard.
Very good start for the day and BEING HUMAN will propably become one of basic live songs in the future.

DIVINE COUNCEL supposed to be the “ballad” of the album and actually it is the only one with some clean guitar parts. After all the song turned out be pretty agressive but still melodic mid-tempo death’n roller. At first we tried to add some melodies to chorus but it did not work out…

GRAVEBED is very heavy old school song with 6/8 time signature. This is definitely the hardcore punk song of the album. In the middle of the song we decided to mix 3-4 whispering sentences overlapping to create some nightmarish feeling. Actually the album will include pretty much whispering stuff.

The day has been great and I am really looking forward to hear what Manu and Arttu will do with the rest of the songs.

DAY 9 Tuesday, May 3, 2011

It’s time to start the mixings of the album. Most of the time Manu will be in the studio with Arttu, who actually does all the work while Manu just sits on a couch and takes it easy, ha ha! Naturally, we started with drums, and a few hours was spent adjusting the drum sounds. After lunch Arttu adjusted the bass sound, and finally the guitar sounds. At this point he said that this seems to become the most raw sounding Deuteronomium -album so far, which was nice to hear, since that’s just what we’ve been looking for with this album! For wxample, there’s no trigged or sampled sounds used in drums, it’s all natural, acoustic – the real stuff! Also, we didn’t want to make the album sound too modern, overproduced and edited pro tools -metal, but wanted it to sound natural, so there might be some living in the playing. Everything doesn’t have to be exactly in the click, but it’s more important to have a good, groovy feeling in the playing.

Now that we had the basic sounds made, we started working with the songs, making the final adjustments for the sounds and the overall balance.

By 5 p.m. we’ve got the first song mixed. It’s Miika’s song called Alive, Immortal, and it’s got some punk-monk choir in the end of the song. The feeling after the song is kinda devout. Actually this would be a perfect ending for side A of an LP, and it actually is planned to be 6th out of 12 songs on the album, so… Well, one can always dream at least.

The second song we started working with was Manu’s composition called Arcanum Serpens. We got that one finished before it was time to call it a day.

For the recording I used my Line6 Toneport UX1 device and Pod Farm amp software. I recorded two tracks simultaneously, one was the plain signal which was then re-amped in the studio. The other track was a normal distortion sound for a reference. I lowered the distortion level so that I would have to play better in order to make it sound good. Not very fun but shoud be rewarding! I can’t wait how the final results sound!
-Kalle

DAY 8 Wednesday, April 14, 2011
This was a short day, as we got all the rest vocals recorded already by noon. Then we made backup copies of all the recorded material – just in case.
The next thing will be mixing the album, which will happen in May 3-6. Arttu will be cleaning the tracks before that, so there’s no need to spend any time for editing then.

Another great news is that the album cover artwork is ready. The picture was created by a very talented finnish artist Kirsi Salonen. So now Manu’s got plenty of time to work with the album layout. We should also take new promo pics soon, and they will be taken by our label owner and friend Lasse Niskala, who is a great photographer.

DAY 7 Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Third recording sessions started with listening a few songs from a finnish hc-punk band Delta Force, and when checking the album cover booklet, Manu noticed that the drummer is his classmate from elementary school!

Miika started with one of Manu’s songs and despite the fact he’s got some sniffle, his voice is in good shape. After that it was time for another of Manu’s songs, and man, it was a tough one! Around million words to shout into a 4-minute song that also is pretty fast and progressive one… But in the end also it worked out pretty well, for both Miika and Manu.

In between we went to a pizzeria close to the studio, but the pizza there was a disappointment – it looked great but had hardly any taste in it. Well, we got our stomaches filled at least…

Next one in line was Miika’s song that has a pretty long, doomy ending in it. Besides normal shouting, there’s also some spoken parts full of feeling in the end of the song.

We did a bit shorter day today to spare our voices so we can also give our best tomorrow. One complete song and some parts from another one are still waiting for vocals.

DAY 6 Thursday, April 1, 2011

The day started in not-so-good feelings, as when we arrived to the studio, we noticed that for some reason all the vocal tracks we recorded yesterday had disappeared… Or then it is just April 1st, we’re fooling you and everything’s fine in studio.

We continued from where we left yesterday, making the final fixings and additions for the vocals in opening track. After that we did a couple of easier songs – vocal-wise, that is. Actually they were easier rhythmically, but just as intense – shouting your lungs out all the time! The main vocal style on this album is aggressive thrash shouting, with some growls, screams, shrieks and yells as well as some semi-clean melodic vocals thrown in here and there as a spice. Also some spoken parts will be found on the album, but we’ll tell more of that soon…

Kalle’s song kept on haunting Manu – while recording his vocal parts to that one, he got a bad headache and started feeling really sick – almost throwing up, most likely because of lack of oxygen in his brains, caused by intensive shouting… Due to this he had to leave rest of his vocals to the next sessions. Miika still continued, and got his vocals done for a couple of more songs before his voice started being pretty tired. However, we were well ahead the planned schedule, so there’s no need to try and get any more vocals recorded today. So we decided to leave the rest for the next sessions, that will take place between April 13-15. Until then…

DAY 5 Thursday, March 31, 2011

Miika started the day with one of Manu’s songs and nailed the first guitar on the first take! The other one went pretty much in the same way, so he seems to be in very strong playing mood today. He got all the remaining rhythm guitars (4 songs) recorded in one and a half hour. Job well done! After that he played a guitar solo into one of his songs, a part that we call by name “läl-läl-läl-läl-lieru”. In the solo we used a Marshall JMP-1 rack pre-amp.

At this point it was time to enjoy microwave thai meals and coffee and ice cream as dessert. After eating Miika played clean guitars and one extra guitar into album’s “slow&sensitive” song. When starting to adjust the sound for the extra guitar, Arttu, the Wizard of Watercastle, said “ok then, now we’re about to make some art”. We tested a combination of SansAmp PSA-1 rack pre-amp and T.C. Electronic G-Force rack multieffect for the sound, but finally we decided to use an old Colorsound Supa Wah-Fuzz-Swell pedal, ’cause with it we got really twisted and disturbing sound we were looking for.

Kalle came to studio at 1.30 p.m. with the solos for two last songs. The lead guitars will be re-amped using Marshall JMP-1 pre-amp and the Egnater head. The cabinet is the same Marshall 4×12″ that we also used for rhythm guitars. After getting them re-amped Miika played one more lead into one of Manu’s songs. Then all the guitars were recorded, so it was the time to start recording the vocals.

Miika started with the melodic vocal parts. There’s not a lot of them on these songs, but still some. To the end of one song Miika and Manu sang some “punk monk choir”. And to the end of that “slow&sensitive” song Manu shouted his lungs out (maybe that gives you some idea of how sensitive that song finally is)…

Before calling it a day they got vocals recorded for the opening track of album, a really furious and thrashy song.

DAY 4 Wednesday, March 30, 2011

It’s the first day of the second recording sessions. The day was started by Manu recording the remaining bass parts, that one tricky riff in Kalle’s song and one complete song. Manu had been sweating at home with that one riff and made a new bass line for it, that actually made the whole part sound more groovy. All the basses were recorded by noon, so it was time for a lunch break.

With our stomaches filled with always so delicious microwave meals it was time to start seeking the right sound for rhythm guitars. We were testing both Koch, Egnater (by Rocktron) tube heads and Mesa Boogie tube combo, as well as SansAmp and Marshall pre-amps. We really liked the sound of Egnater head, so we decided to use it for the rhythm guitars, and record one rhythm guitar with Miika’s Gibson Les Paul and the other one with Manu’s Gibson Explorer. Explorer has a Seymour Duncan bridge pickup, so it’s got a pretty much different sound than Miika’s Les Paul with original pickups.

Around 2 p.m. Kalle showed up. He had been recording his leads and solos at home, so we wouldn’t need to spend so much time for guitar recordings in the studio.

Now that you can hear the songs with the guitar harmonies, they really start to get their shape – and what we hear, brings smile on our faces! By the end of the day Miika had played rhythm guitars for 8/12 songs. It’s good to continue from this tomorrow!

DAY 3 Friday, March 18, 2011

Manu is not known as the quickest possible guy to wake up in the morning, so he needed to get a couple of big cups of strong coffee before being able to start working. After that he started the day with one of songs he had written. After getting a couple more songs recorded it was time to have a lunch break, so we headed towards Damaskus, our long-time favorite kebab place in Jyväskylä. There we met J-J and his wife Mariana, and enjoyed the buffet offerings like kebab and pizza. With full stomach and good feeling we returned to the ääri of the sorvi.

During the afternoon Manu faced two riffs that almost broke his nerves… Almost? He had figured out the rhythm in them a bit incorrect way and that caused some extra challence when the mistake was noticed while trying to record the riffs. It was not too easy to change the counting in your head after training the riff incorrectly for weeks… Well, he finally got the first of them played and moved on to next songs. But after getting basses recorded for a couple of more songs, the other problematic riff came ahead. After trying to get the rhythm and counting for this fast riff in Kalle’s song for around 45 minutes, they realized the bass recordings couldn’t be completed during this day, so Manu decided to go on and leave the difficult riff ’til the next recording sessions. It’s funny that this same song was the easiest one for J-J to play in… Manu got one more song recorded before it was the time to call it a day.

By the end of the first recording sessions we had the basses played in for 10/12 songs. The next sessions will be on March 30 – April 1, when the plan is to record the remaining bass parts and at least all the rhythm guitars, maybe some lead guitars too. Stay tuned for more updates on the making of Deathbed Poetry – Hope Against Hope! Until then…

DAY 2 Thursday, March 17, 2011

The second day in studio started by recording drums for one of the most difficult songs in these sessions. This song, composed by Manu, took a bit more work but no real problems, more like getting the little drummer boy warmed up first.  Next one in line was Kalle’s composition, a real thrashy fist-in-your-face piece. For J-J it was a piece of cake – the second take of that one was really great playing and we were really satisfied with it. Day’s third song was a bit more complicated again, and surprisingly it was again one of Manu’s compositions. The other guys keep on wondering why can’t he just learn how to count to 8, instead of counting to 5, 7 or 9 most of the time. But hey, what can you expect from a bass player – 5,7 and 9 are close enough to 8, right?

All drums were recorded a bit before 2.30 p.m. Then we listened all the drums through just to make sure there’s no need to make any changes or fixings in them, before dismantling the drum setup and starting the preparations for bass recordings. Manu got basses recorded for two songs today, so he’s got 10 more to go tomorrow.

DAY 1 Wednesday, March 16, 2011

We started the recordings of our fourth album at Studio Watercastle in Jyväskylä on Wednesday, March 16. It was great to work with studio wiz Arttu Sarvanne once again – it felt like coming home when we arrived to the studio. At first we went to a local music store to pick up a new snare drum. Or actually two of them, so we could compare the sounds of two different snares, a brass Gretsch and a wooden Sonor. After trying both of them, we ended up using the Sonor in these sessions. After tuning the drum kit and finding good drum recording sounds, it was time to unleash drum artist Kontoniemi. He started really well, playing in a furious way. By 4 p.m. he had already played the drums in for four songs with some help of Miika’s demo guitars. We were really excited about the intensity of his playing!
For sixth songs J-J played demo air drums for Miika’s demo guitar, that’s something new!

By the end of first day of these sessions we had drums recorded for 8/12 songs. Not bad, huh?

Check out Brettian Productions website to see when they have the album out!

But good news are that our very own J-J is still in the row after spending a sabbath year from the band activities. So we’re gonna make the new album with him. Right now we’re making the final arrangements for the songs and rehearsing them. The recordings will start in March.

We’ll keep you updated on the progress of the album making process!

Yes, we’re talking about mr. Jayson Sherlock, who has kindly agreed playing drums for our new album! This is truly an amazing situation and a dream come true for us, and you can be sure we’re gonna give our best shot to make the album really worth having such a professional musician and a great guy involved in this process! To get an idea of what Jayson has been doing lately, check out his current band  inExordium.