We’ve recently ran into a few issues with the new album which has caused some delays. Unlike previous records which were done in one studio, with one producer and over a short period of time, After Extinction has been a totally different process largely due to the Covid restrictions which have delayed the writing, rehearsals and recording of the album significantly over the past two years.  

We out of necessity have tracked the album across two studios (Gallow Wood Media and Unit One) with Talon Payne and Wayne Thompson contributing to the recording, production and editing of the album while we have been mixing the album ourselves and with advice from an external studio. I have overseen the whole project between managing the day-to-day business of the band and my day job. We have also been back on the road gigging with Neverworld and Planet Fatale which has meant much of my free time has been focused on making those shows a success on top of looking after the new album project.  

Recently this was pushed back when there was a hardware failure has resulted in further delays to the production after a handful of songs had been mixed, and between further revisions and contributions of the keys from Heidi Crowell.  This hardware issue has now been resolved and we are now moving forward with the album release again.

So, while the songs have been tracked and are sounding great in the raw, we do need more editing and changes as we go through the mixing process to give this album the best overall sound possible.

We debuted a fair chunk of the songs like since 2020 and many will hear that this is a completely different direction from our previous releases and represents an overall change for the band which we have matched with our new stage aesthetics and our brand-new logo. The new album has a march harder edge than the previous and is an album more influenced by our Speed Metal origins as opposed to anything really rooted in the NWOBHM movement which we had moved towards during The Waystone period of the band.

That is not to say we have lost the melodic stuff at all, there is a ton of that on the new record, but the music overall and the subject matter is much more in alignment with what is happening in the world right now rather than being mostly influenced by the 1980’s. It is a Metal record, and if anything, our least mainstream sounding record, and probably our least NWOTHM sounding album and production, although it is not as modern influenced (or progressive) as the material on Crisis of Faith and a lot more refined than out debut release, I think the best way to summarize it is it is our heaviest and angriest release yet.  

Lyrically we have touched on everything from battling Alzheimer’s disease, the culture war, drug addiction to the decline of western civilization and the evils of greed right through to the negative impact the existing Governments over-building policies have had on our environment. It is a bit more relevant lyrically than our past records I would say, it may upset a few people, but we have tried to keep it as balanced as possible.  

While the album has been slow to put together, we have soldiered on with the 5 new songs for the Patreon 21’ EP having recorded the bulk of those and started rehearsals for the 22’ EP material, oh which the band has now learned 4 of the 5 songs on that release so substantial progress has been made. The 21’ EP was delayed due to Covid restrictions and the band having to focus on the new album release.  

The 21’ EP is most definitely much heavier than the new album in places, but also has the most diverse range of songs. It is influenced by Speed/Thrash/Death Metal but there’s also a Sabbath inspired track on there and a song mocking industry created “alternative” bands that have come straight off a production line but sold as an organic thing.  

Anyhow I thought I would issue this update on just where we are at with the 3 releases which we fully intend to get out this year.