Friday, April 23, 2010

Hey, Scotty. Tear it up.

Here's a take of Scotty's solo for "Blackhaven". This take didn't make the final cut, but it was successfully captured by an amateur film maker nonetheless.


In other news, the album is complete. It sounds great. Ben from Creator-Destructor records posted on his facebook "This Gypsyhawk record is un-fucking-believable. 2010 is gonna be a good year."

We agree!!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

An Institution Is The Lengthened Shadow Of One Gypsyhawk


"Gypsyhawk Rocked My Face Off" scribbled on the wall of the Gilman by a new unsuspecting fan the night previous.

Last day of recording at the castle nest. Scotty and Andrew are burning scales through the walls and leaving guitars in shards and pieces. Joe the Drummer finished some nice mallet work on his cymbals for "Eyes of Ibad" and hit the road to go be with his lady friend who is restless at home on top of some poor medical news. That's why he's The Debonair One. And Eric has had enough and contented himself to the safety of video games and tending his herb garden.

Tonight we're listening to near-to-total final mixes and are expecting great results. It looks like our 12 songs are going to be about an hour and ten minutes long. Rumors abound that Patience and Perseverance will therefore be a double LP when pressed on wax. We're pretty fucking excited. Tomorrow is the last day at the studio. We'll be in the Bay for a couple days after getting tattooed and wasting money. Hopefully we'll see some of you around.

Sincerely Yours,
Big S, Raven, Touchdown, and Jocaine.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

DAY 3




On the way to Castle Ultimate today we were listening to "Zombie Ritual" from DEATH's first album Scream Bloody Gore and I was thinking about how when I first heard the album I was a little surprised at how awesome it was. My initial love for DEATH developed with their later albums Human through The Sound Of Perseverance. Those albums provide a clear and obvious evolution that was so profound my instinct was that their earliest stuff was probably missable in that it couldn't possibly stand up to what they became. However, anyone who appreciates early death metal for it's more simplistic song structure knows that DEATH were probably the best at the genre even then. Listening to "Zombie Ritual" made me think about how GYPSYHAWK might develop as a band in 15 years or so and if we'll come anywhere close to the profound evolution that carried DEATH to their seminal status. Maybe we'll call our final album The Sound Of Patience and Perseverance.



Back to actual studio news. It's god damn beautiful in the Bay and almost a shame we have to spend all this time indoors. Yesterday the bass was a lummox lumbering throughout, but it got done. Guitars started today and most of the rhythms ought to be finished so we're right on schedule. Leads should be done tomorrow as well, then it's our day off with a show at the Gilman, then three more days of vocals, percussion, and mixing. Everything is sounding great so far despite being unmixed and with just one guitar. On another note, we received a nearly finished version of the artwork by Dan Lerner for the album Patience and Perseverance and it is unbelievably awesome. We're stoked, and you should be too.


Defending Good Times,
Gypsyhawk

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Light This Stude






In the Bay doing drum tracks at the moment. Zack has them cued up perfectly and Joe is nailing pretty much every take. Going smooth. It seems our primary concern will be just the sheer volume of work, 12 or 13 tracks, that we have to do in a week. We'll see.

Sunday night we played with LIGHT THIS CITY on their final show. I think the kids liked our schtick despite our guitars that don't grind, our vocals that don't scream, and our drums that don't blast. Apparently our brand of "boogie metal" (as one fan called it) has an application amongst the hardcore metal community. Although, it might have just been our prompt set up followed by a swift exit. We'll see this Saturday at Gilman if this is a universal sentiment amongst metal audiences. Playing along with us will be AT OUR HEELS again and 3 other bands that shred, kill, and eschew various nations' conventions like only bay area metal bands can.

Gypsyhawk, out.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

LOL BLOGGING LMFAO PB4UGO2BED



So it's busy like the corner of Santa Monica and Highland for us here in the Gypsyhawk. Monday night was our third and best night playing at Les Deux. Opening the night was SF's most mighty power trio SPACE VACATION who ripped it up like a black hole. Combining the thrill of NWOBHM greats like Angel Witch with the, uh, spaciness of Hawkwind these guys got the crowd properly warmed up for us. Judging by the whirlwind pit during some of our more mid-tempo jams I'd have to say they thoroughly delivered one of the best opening acts I've seen.

We played two classics, "Commander Of The High Forest", the obligatory "Gypsyhawk", and 4 new tracks "The Bokor's Procession", "The Rabble and The Ruled", "Defenders Of Good Times", and "Rebellion On The Western Shores". The crowd shit apes for all of them and guaranteed we here at Gypsyhawk are still on the right path.

Following us was HUNTRESS and they executed every muther fuckin last one of 'em. If you don't know yet about these titanic slay monsters then do your ears and eyes a favor and check them out.

Now back to our news. Sunday (4/11) we're playing at The BLVD. in Boyle Heights with thrash revival heavyweights LIGHT THIS CITY for their final show ever. Playing as well are black metalers THE FUNERAL PYRE, and AT OUR HEELS. Sore thumbs the Hawk will be but we'll hitch a ride anyway. So if you like our heavier stuff then come to this show cuz that will be the bulk of the set. The day after we head to The Bay to record our upcoming album Patience and Perseverance with Zack Ohren (ANIMOSITY, SUFFOCATION, DECREPIT BIRTH... Gypsyhawk?). The album is due out in June on Creator-Destructor Records and will include the 8 tracks from our S/T EP and the 4 new ones mentioned above. We'll be reporting from the studio while we're up there and let you know if we're fucking up or not.

Turn down the lights and turn up the tunes,
Gypsyhawk