Satanic powerviolence. Say what? Yes indeed, this is a thing, or at least a band. Decibel was so intrigued with the workings of the Southern California band Antichrist Demoncore that we teamed up with main man Sergio Amalfitano to offer an exclusive studio report on the makings of their Melotov Records debut, due June 24. Check it out below.
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In February 2014, the members of Antichrist Demoncore (ACxDC, for short) met up in Van Nuys at an inconspicuous house to record our debut LP after eleven years. Not exactly the type of location one would expect a “Satanic powerviolence” band to be laying down their magnum opus. It’s definitely been overdue and we couldn’t be more excited. Taylor Young of Nails fame was the obvious choice to record this project. We didn’t really consider anyone else. He likes pretty much every style of music that we like and can give us the sound we’re searching for. Dark and heavy. The 16 tracks recorded for the debut are a mix of power violence, D-beat, crust, punk, hardcore, and death metal, creating a violent and bleak overall sound. A reflection of over a decade’s worth of hiatuses and lineup changes and a maturing sound. Mastered at Audiosiege Media by Brad Boatright (From Ashes Rise, Warcry, etc.)
Day One: We all met up at Taylor’s studio after lunch. Setting up the drum set so Jorge (Herrera) could record today along with Aldo (Felix) and Jeff (Aldape) providing scratch guitar tracks. The kit consisted of a God City Instruments snare drum and a used DW performance kit (the same kit Nails uses live). Jorge was a beast. He layed down 16 tracks in seven hours, almost non stop. Taylor set up stereo KSM32 microphones throughout the room to get a good room sound.
Day Two: Aldo was using his guitar with LACE “Drop and Gain” pickups on day two of the recordings. Brian (Amalfitano, my twin and the newest member of the band) used a Gibson 61 SG reissue with a ProCo Sound Rat. Two amps were set up for this. A Maxon TBO pedal into a Sunn Beta Lead with a Marshall cab. Amp two was set up with an original RAT pedal into an Ampeg VT-40 with a Mesa Cab. The amps were blended together for each guitar and an active ABY pedal was used to send each signal to the amps. All 16 tracks were recorded as well as second guitars.
My wife and twin daughters came to visit the studio to show support. Or maybe start a band of their own. The girls started messing around on Aldo’s guitar and asking him to play them songs. I showed up just in time for the guys’ lunch break so we walked outside and the girls spotted a cat. The next ten minutes were spent running after them as they pursued said cat or in general just tried hiding behind shrubbery. Once we finally caught them and strapped them in the car they yelled “Bye, Daddy!” and we went off to eat at Wingstop. The next half hour was spent arguing whether Buffalo Wild Wings was better than Wingstop. Being the only vegan I pretty much just took Taylor’s side (pro Wingstop) to irk Aldo (staunchly BWW).
Day Three: Not sure how this was managed but astoundingly we layed down all the bass tracks. I say this because Jeff somehow decided to not sleep the day before. I’m not clear on the details actually. It was either an all nighter playing video games or drinking. Quite possibly both. But he showed up disheveled, wearing the same clothes as the day before. He’s a trooper though and did his job like a champ. Blazed through the 16 bass tracks in half a day. He recorded using a Fender bass with LACE Aluma P-bass pickups. The tones were blended together after the signal was split direct in as well as through a RAT pedal into an Ampeg SVT classic.
Day Four: On the last day of recording, I belted out 16 songs in one day. Including all backup vocals by layering up on sing alongs and parts designed to be sung live by the other members of the band. 23 total minutes of music. I sung into a Neumann M-147 to a tube pre-amp.
For some reason I thought it would help my vocals if I had a cold drink on me at all times. Apparently not. At the suggestion of my brother and engineer I switched to hot tea. This helped me so much more than I had expected. The first quarter of the session I was able to go through tracks quickly. I started having some cracking issues five songs in. Despite our songs having a range of 1-2 minutes max, having to do double takes and backups and switch between low growls, high pitched yelling and more straightforward hardcore vocals took its toll. We had to switch to doing shorter takes almost line by line before tea saved the day!
1) Destroy Create
2) Misled
3) Paid In Full
4) Vegangelical
5) Holmes
6) Overstimulated
7) Cheap Punks
8) Hipler Youth
9) Savior Complexxx
10) Endless Failure
11) Blood
12) Dead Cops
13) Keep Sweet
14) Lifeless
15) Filicide
16) Give Up
