Before we update you on the campaign we wanted to let you know NINA AND JOSH WILL BE AT BALTIMORE COMIC-CON THIS WEEKEND! Come see us at booth 1815 if you're in town!
Now on to the campaign update:
We've just approved the final mix of "Lord Shiteater," the campaign bonus track!
As a reminder this was a full studio bonus track stretch goal that we hit. The song is not part of The Golden Hourglass album but is part of the Queen of Hell saga. What really matters is it's kind of a banger and will be in your ears soon! (We're planning to send it to you before the album.) We'll update you when it's out of mastering.
Here's a status update on all of the music from the campaign:
The Golden Hourglass album: mastered, awaiting vinyl test pressings
"Lord Shiteater": mixed, awaiting mastering
The Golden Hourglass instrumental mixes: these are next up on producer Kevin's plate now that the album and bonus track are done.
The Golden Hourglass 8-bit/16-bit versions EP: these will be tackled last because we want the main version of the album to be the first version you here. The alternate versions will be cooler if you've already absorbed the real thing!
We're holding off on sending the backer surveys until the vinyl test pressings have been approved. This will shorten the time between when you're actually charged for shipping and when your stuff will arrive. At this point we're running about 7 weeks behind the original delivery estimates, mostly due to the mix phase taking longer than estimated, but also because we hit so many stretch goals. But things are moving right along and we'll continue to keep you updated as we hit (metal) milestones on the road to the album release!
We're happy to announce that The Golden Hourglass is officially mixed and the album is off to mastering tomorrow!
The next couple of steps will be approving the album master and then sending the album to our vinyl manufacturer who will then send us the album test pressings for approval!
Recording was completed around July 6th
We received test mixes from producer Kevin '131' Gutierrez starting in mid/late July
The first mixes of the complete album were sent to us for feedback on August 7th
Through the rest of August we went through several rounds of feedback and updated mixes.
The mix was 100% locked on Tuesday of this week (September 1st)
The album was immediately sent to our new mastering engineer Brad Blackwood who is scheduled to do the first master tomorrow (September 4th)
Brad will send masters to be approved by both the band and our producer Kevin - it's possible there could be a few rounds of masters before we land on the final version
As soon as we receive the final masters we'll send them off to our vinyl manufacturer to create test pressings of the album
Mastering is a bit of a mysterious art to most music fans and one that frankly not a lot of people even think about. Just know that we're not cutting any corners! Brad Blackwood has worked with some huge artists and is a 3-time Grammy winner! You can read more about him here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Blackwood
That's it for today! We'll continue working on setting up the backer surveys while we wait on the masters and test pressings, and will be sure to give you a heads up when they go out! Joseph Schmalke's stretch-goal shirt image is done and Bo Bradshaw's is only a hair away from being done so hopefully we'll have mock-ups of both shirts in the next update too!
Thanks for your support, patience, and for making this album happen!
It has been just over three months since our debut album, Knight & Day, released on May 1st! We are incredibly proud of how this album has turned out, and we hope you are all enjoying what we've made.
I wanted to send a personal update regarding fulfillment of the Backerkit and the delays some of you have experienced. If you want more information about the nature of this personal update and the reasons for these delays, read below.
But, I wanted to primarily update you that I have resent surveys, and NEED you to please complete these so I can complete fulfillment through Backerkit. Otherwise, I need to do a massive snail-crawl through emails and pay for a ton of postage on my own to complete fulfillment. So please, if you have not completed the survey, please do so at your earliest convenience - they've been resent, so if you don't see them, please check your spam.
~~~
Now, for more information about the delays:
In full transparency, right as the album was released, I went through a series of massive life changes - I do not want to share any more details than necessary, but to be concise and to the point - I became divorced, and had to move last minute to aid in the separation. All is amicable, and as smooth as it could have been - but this doesn't change how difficult this process has been.
In conjunction, I had multiple performances and engagements that stole away much of my time and attention. Only now have things finally begun to slow, in no small part due to things being in flux in other bandmates' lives as well, but I will not share their details here.
I also became far more consumed with work, as summers are especially difficult for music teachers (my primary career), and as such, emailed and hustled daily to make sure I had enough work to keep me going through the summer, and to recoup the fact that I and my ex-roommates did not receive our security deposit. Suffice to say, it's been a financially difficult time, too.
These financial weights are compounded with the fact that I made a mistake calculating the costs for us to print t-shirts and pay for our musicians and collaborators. I ended up having to cover a significant portion of those costs out of pocket. This is fully my fault for not 1.) being more organized with regards to awareness of the time spent recording with our collaborators, and 2.) the lack of foresight and proper calculation on the planning side of things.
None of this is an excuse for these delays. There are plenty of other things that have delayed my ability to follow up with each and every one of you with regards to fulfillment as well, but I don't mean for this to necessarily act as an exhaustive list - more so a vulnerable, but overall necessary, act of transparency. I ask sincerely for understanding and patience, as I am now working to finish fulfillment for each and every one of you, and apologize I could not find the strength to complete all of this work sooner.
More importantly, I hope this situation has not overly soured your relationship with our music - we care so much about the work we have put in to the album, and I don't want any of that to be in vain. Everyone involved is incredibly talented and deserves so much support and further opportunities.
Thank you so much for reading, and I eternally appreciate your patience. Thanks for listening, and I hope all of you are healthy and well.
I realized I wasn't sure how many of you also follow the socials and site, but I wanted to check in over here to let you know Brazil is excited to not only play two shows this week, but will also be releasing an official live bootleg, uh...to boot.
Catch Brazil live this week:
Thursday 7/23 @ Portal - Louisville, KY w/ The Burning Paris, Coastlands, Star Guided Vessel TICKETS Saturday 7/25 @ Post Festival - Indianapolis, IN w/ Kylesa, Torche, Junius, and more TICKETS
And be sure to pick up "Live at HI-FI," the official board bootleg from the 2019 reunion concert at HI-FI in Indianapolis. This is coincidentally where Post Festival is also taking place. So, it's like full circle.
We'll have new merch with us (hoodies, tees), plus the Philosophy vinyl LP, what CDs we have left, and some really cool DL;BR distro stuff as well.
Come out, we'd love to see you... Jonathon/Brazil/DL;BR
We've just emerged from the studio and all recording for The Golden Hourglass is complete! We took some video and will post more updates soon. But first we have a very special announcement:
One of your fellow members of the Legion of Thunder has stepped up to sponsor the instrumental mixes of the album and the trading cards! Pete from Ohio is a longtime fan and supporter who wanted to do something special not just for the band but for all of you too! He told us he sets aside some money each year to do something cool and this was a way to make hundreds of people happy.
So you'll all be getting the instrumental mixes of the album when the digital goodies are delivered, and backers getting any physical merch will now get the trading cards! (We haven't decided exactly what to do with the cards just yet but they'll likely be playable proxy cards. We'll probably be putting up a poll to help decide exactly what we do!)
Let's hear it for Pete!
Ok, it's time for us to get to work on the backer surveys and album layout while we await mixes! We'll be back soon with updates featuring video we took during recording, sneak peaks, behind-the-scenes, etc.!
Less than two hours left, we just smashed another stretch goal and are already close to the next!
THE 8-BIT/16-BIT VGM EP IS UNLOCKED!
WE ARE LESS THAN $400 AWAY FROM UNLOCKING THE BO BRADSHAW ART!
You all have already done so much! But we know *you* want that Bo Bradshaw art too. So just in case it comes down to the wire, we've added two new autographed cymbal add-ons that could potentially put us over the top for another stretch goal:
JUSTIN'S FIRST BROKEN CYMBAL
CHRIS'S LAST BROKEN CYMBAL
Cymbal's make great wall decorations! Just sayin'! ;)
JUSTIN'S FIRST BROKEN CYMBAL
CHRIS' LAST BROKEN CYMBAL
Updated stretch goal list!
Whatever happens in these last minutes we just want to say THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! None of this would be possible without you. Thank you for putting us back in the studio and for allowing us to continue doing all of this. You rule!
This update is going out wide to everyone on our mailing list. TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO BACK THE NEW ALBUM!
Big thanks to everyone who joined us on the live stream tonight! We're delighted to announce that the "Lord $#!te@ter" bonus track & 7" picture disc stretch goal was unlocked while we were live! That means:
ALL BACKERS WILL NOW GET THE EXCLUSIVE "LORD $#!TE@TER" BONUS TRACK, and;
THE "LORD $#!TE@TER" 7" VINYL PICTURE DISC IS NOW AVAILABLE IN THE ADD-ONS!
The song and picture disc will only be made available to backers!
For current backers:
You *don't* have to add the picture disc before the campaign ends;
You *will* have an opportunity to add items after the campaign ends when the backer surveys go out! However;
If you want to help us hit the next stretch goal (the bonus 8-bit & 16-bit VGM versions EP) you can add it and/or other add-ons before the campaign ends!
Also, in kind of big news, we've just learned that it costs us almost nothing extra to make this picture disc two-sided! So you can expect an equally colorful Side B...although we're not sure what song and art will be on it yet!
Here's a look at the picture disc design featuring artwork from our Queen of Hell: Initium comic by the incomparable Mike Ratera!
New 7" picture disc in the add-ons!!!
HERE ARE THE REMAINING STRETCH GOALS THAT NEW BACKERS CAN STILL HELP US UNLOCK
We are back in the studio working on the album and recorded lead guitars & keys for two songs today and worked on some production ideas. There are a couple of videos up onour Instagram page. Once the campaign is over we'll start posting more behind-the-scenes content here on the campaign and on our Patreon!
Thanks again to all of our backers for making our metal dreams come true and putting us back in the studio for our tenth album! You rule!
THE CAMPAIGN IS COMPLETE! Thank you so much for your support which totally blew us away, especially in the last two days where you all super-charged the campaign and smashed FIVE stretch goals!
We would normally post immediately when a campaign ends however Justin, Kevin and I were in the studio recording all day yesterday! Our full band get together this week was Thursday night's live stream, so please consider the toast at the end of the stream our big group thank you to all of you!
Being able to make records like this, with all the time and attention that go into them, is really a dream. Thank you for making that dream come true!
Post Campagin Schedule
LATE JUNE - RECORDING & STARTING ARTISTS ON STRETCH GOAL ART
JULY - MIX & MASTER, simultaneously with;
JULY - BACKER SURVEYS SENT & PACKAGING LAYOUT
LATE JULY/EARLY AUGUST - ORDERING VINYL & OTHER MERCH
LATE SEPTEMBER - RECEIVING VINYL & OTHER MERCH, ORDERS LOCKED & POSTAGE CHARGED, SHIPPING BEGINS
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER - SHIPPING CONTINUES*
*For those new to our campaigns, we don't use a third party fulfillment service. I pack and ship everything myself with a little help from the band where possible. Due to the autograph options and add-on items, almost every package is unique and no bulk packing is possible. So you get white glove service from the guitarist, but it will take a while to ship all rewards! We'll continuously update you during this time!
Ok, I'm back in the studio in a few hours so it's time to practice! We'll update you from the studio over the next two weeks!
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